Ursula Graham Bower spent her life rebelling against the narrow roles society forced upon women. Expected to do embroidery and marry well, she instead fought for an education and sought a life of true purpose in the mountains of Manipur. #Women #WWII #India
It's a two for one on #MapMonday - 4 Corps' operations in the reconquest of Burma, in the first map in red. 19 Div was originally 4 Corps but when the deception advance down the Gangaw Valley was decided it was switch to 33 Corps - so it changed to green partway through the campaign.
This was a real pleasure, the first of a two-parter on Ursula Graham Bower, with her daughter Catriona Child. This week UGB’s fascinating early life up to the Japanese invasion in 1942.
Our new episode is live! Catriona Child tells the early story of her mother, Ursula Graham Bower, known as the Naga Queen. From Roedean to the remote hills of India, learn how she led a vital watch and ward scheme against the Japanese invasion. #Podcast #WWII #India
😂 absolutely right!
Tomorrow on The Forgotten War Podcast, we explore the life of Ursula Graham Bower. Her daughter Catriona Child (R in pic1) joins Jack and Rob to discuss how a London debutante became a legendary guerrilla leader in the Burma campaign. Get ready! #History #WWII #Burma
What I love about Slim is that he is always so polite and understated about adversaries after the war. For example, he described a discussion with Wingate about guerrilla warfare as a ‘lively discussion’ - knowing Wingate and knowing Slim’s postwar code, that was a blazing argument 😂
The friction between Orde Wingate & General Slim shaped the Burma Campaign. One was a relative traditionalist, the other a radical insurgent. We discuss how their conflicting visions for victory impacted the war against Japan & the high costs of Wingate's drive #History #Slim #BurmaWar
Some words I have written today: The most important aspect of this first meeting for Stilwell was the issue of command: ‘it has been a hell of a mental load’ he confided in his diary, ‘apparently he [Chiang] told the Fifth&Sixth [Chinese] Armies to take orders only from me as soon as I arrived’.
From eating raw onions to unconventional hygiene habits, Orde Wingate was far from your average soldier. But behind the eccentricities was a man who gained the ear of Churchill & Roosevelt. We examine the personality that drove a military revolution in the jungle #History #WW2 #Wingate
My #ThingThursday this week is a nice little find, a First World War era watch, it somehow still ticks if I wind it but doesn't keep time so I just leave it be. The strap claimed to be original but who knows, its certainly old.
To a degree, Wingate revolutionised warfare with Long Range Penetration. By using air supply to support troops deep behind enemy lines, he challenged traditional military thinking. Learn how these tactics changed the Burma Campaign and the heavy price paid by the soldiers #History #Chindits #Warfare
Major milestone this afternoon/evening. I crossed over the 60k mark - so halfway through - on my next book about the 1942 Retreat Campaign. Rangoon has fallen and I’m just getting into the Chinese in the Sittang Valley. Preparing myself for Stilwell’s entry! 😬
Before Burma, Wingate’s time in Palestine & Abyssinia defined his approach to war. By forming the Special Night Squads & adopting Zionism,he broke all military conventions. We explore how these early&some controversial experiences shaped the man who created the Chindits #Palestine #Chindits #History
Was Wingate’s genius rooted in his faith? Born into the strict Plymouth Brethren, he possessed a dramatic certainty that he was on the side of righteousness. We discuss how his religious background made him a lifelong outsider and a uniquely uncompromising leader #Faith #Leadership #WWII
Today's #MapMonday is also an on this day - 13 April 1944! This is the map I made to illustrate the assault on Nunshigum - about 5 miles northeast of Imphal. The Japanese 51 Regiment captured it a few days before, in an action that also saw the award of a VC to Jemadar Abdul Hafiz of 3/9 Jats.
This week we delve into Wingate - the man, myth, legend. His eccentricities, his conduct, his ideas, and some of his fascinating (and at time controversial) past. Catch it on your podcast app from today.
Our new episode on Orde Wingate is live! Jack & Rob explore the controversial leader of the Chindits and his impact on the Burma Campaign. From his radical ideas on jungle warfare to his post-Longcloth legacy, discover the full story of this polarising figure now. #WWII #Chindits #Podcast
Awesome! Thanks to all our listeners, keep listening, sharing etc - we want to make the Burma Campaign part of the mainstream of Second World War history!
Lovely to see us creeping into the top 250 Apple UK history podcasts - we couldn’t do it without our listeners, thank you all.
A big aim of the show is to make the Burma Campaign central to how the SWW is remembered. There are so many wonderful stories to tell and we are only just beginning.
😂 yeah fair enough - it’s like you’ve listened already!!
Tomorrow, we examine the complex life of Orde Wingate. Was he a military genius or a dangerous eccentric? Join Jack Bowsher and Rob Lyman as they unpack the legacy of the man behind the Chindits in our latest episode. Don't miss this deep dive into history. #Burma #Wingate #Podcast
Still convinced this is the casting we need for Wingate in a Chindit film #joewilkinson #chindits #wingate #ww2
Was Operation Longcloth a military success? While it achieved some isolated short-term chaos in northern Burma, its strategic value was improving Allied morale & as propaganda. What was the legacy of Longcloth & the sheer audacity deep in Japanese territory in 1943? #HistoryPodcast #WW2 #Chindits
Love this! Cheers Ian
A lifejacket on display in a museum showcase.
At least one Chindit - RAF signaller Arthur Willshaw - had a bright idea to help with the river crossings. He liberated a Mae West from stores and carried it with him throughout Longcloth. Later used by his kids as a seaside beach toy in the 1950s, and now in #IWMLondon.
River crossings & the dense jungles of northern Burma posed a lethal threat to the Chindits. Without their own boats, logistics were a total nightmare. We cover the brutal physical toll of the 1943 op as soldiers faced starvation, disease, & the elements in upper Burma. #WWIIHistory #Chindits #Burma
Having missed #ThingThursday last week while I was unwell, I'm back! Its another example of a birthday present that shows how my wife secretly supports my 'war parp'!
77 Brigade was a remarkably diverse force.Reservists,British regulars&Gurkhas,some of whom had to march 140miles across rugged hills just to reach the start line. Hear the of the men who were prepared for the extreme rigours of the 1943 operation in our latest pod #MilitaryHistory #Soldiers #Podcast
