British Army 1939 45 (3)

Historical Overview of East Asia Campaigns

The lightning Japanese offensives in East Asia in 1941/42 inflicted a series of costly defeats on the ill-prepared and badly supported British Commonwealth forces in Malaya and Burma.

The ''forgotten'' 14th Army on the India-Burma border slowly built up its strength and its tactical expertise; and Wingate''s ''Chindits'' proved that units supplied from the air could operate deep behind enemy lines. In 1944 General Slim''s troops decisively smashed Japan''s last offensive at Imphal and Kohima; and over the next year they drove the enemy relentlessly back through Burma, reducing them to starving fugitives by the final victory in August 1945.

This concise summary of Britain''s East Asia campaigns is illustrated with many rare photographs, and eight detailed colour plates.