There is also distance table from the main airfields-air supply was vital to sustain this campaign&again just shows the sheer vastness of the theatre. I will keep banging the drum that this 1945 campaign in Slim and 14 Army's legacy, & it's treated too much as a footnote in the public consciousness
The second map helps understand the distances involved once 4 Corps was in the Gangaw Valley to the edge of Rangoon, and the dates they hit the various key points-750 miles by road in 6months,destroying a Japanese Army in the process. (IJA armies ie 15 Army, are equivalent to British & Indian Corps)
I love it because it shows how 4 Corps capture of Meiktila caught most of the Japanese Burma Area Army to the north,in the central dry belt where 14 Army advantages in tanks&air could be used. That's why letting the Japanese think Mandalay was the main target was crucial, pulling troops into a trap
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
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
As my maternity leave comes to an end, a reminder that I’m now offering an archive photography service primarily for museums/archives in the south east England (IWM, TNA, BL etc etc) to help make ends meet. Details below:
lucybetteridgedyson.com/archive-rese...
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
For Stilwell this was excellent news, there would be no confusion, ignoring, or questioning of his decisions now he was effectively Commander-in-Chief of the CEF, acting on behalf and with the blessing of Chiang.
If you know you know...
#IFKYK
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
I liked it and it wasn't too much (for an antique watch). For scale, here it is next to one of my 14 Army Lego men! All the lume is gone from the hands, but I think its an exquisite piece of craftsmanship.
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
Royle is excellent and well balanced 👍
There are a lot of photos (including pic 2 in this post) & some IWM film footage that some people claim to be Nunshigum (monsoon in film is the giveaway). There were no cameras on Nunshigum during the action & the tanks were back down on the plain that same afternoon, so be wary of posts claiming it
This meant that all of the tank commanders were killed or wounded-& after a quick regroup, the attack was continued by the NCOs, and eventually cleared the ridge. It was a tough fight, & the closest the Japanese came to Imphal itself. You can read a LOT more detail in my first book Forgotten Armour.
As they approached the twin bumps the Japanese opened fire & the difficult work began clearing the main bunkers on the features, & the numerous slit trenches either side of the ridgeline. The tank commanders had to have their entire torsos out just to make sure they didn't slip over the sides.
8 M3 Lee tanks of B Squadron of the 3 Carabiniers and 1/17 Dogras were sent up to clear the Japanese off the ridge, and after a punishing 1000ft climb (~3000ft above sea level), they inched forward over the Pyramid (sources slightly disagree on which bit of the left fork was Pyramid tbf).
For a tank at least, Nunshigum was a razorback ridge, but the Indian Army had come up with and trained for new bunker busting methods that had been successfully used at the Admin Box in February 44. The Indian Army was very quick to share the results and refinements of the system across its units.
Once the Japanese were established there, digging their customary bunkers, they would soon be able to put artillery fire onto Imphal Main Airfield, thereby closing the biggest runway for the vital air link suppling 4 Corps on the Imphal Plain.
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!