Introduction

The following introduction is taken from the Pen and Sword website:

General Stilwell’s ad hoc force of Merrill’s Marauders, American-trained Chinese divisions, Kachin guerrillas and General Wingate’s Chindits conducted a northern Burmese offensive that led to the coup de main seizure of Myitkyina’s airfield in May 1944. In August 1944, after a protracted siege, Myitkyina town on the Irrawaddy River fell to the Allies. At the same time elements of General Slim’s 14th Army were mounting a defence of northeastern India at Imphal and Kohima against Imperial Japan’s 15th Army; Operation U-Go, led by General Mutaguchi, from March to July 1944. Thereafter, the Allies began two major campaigns.

First, the northern Burmese Sino-American offensive re-opened the land supply route to China via a newly-built Burma Road, which replaced the American Air Transport Command’s ‘Hump’ airlift that had kept Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek’s Chinese forces supplied.

The second offensive was by General Bill Slim’s multi-national British 14th Army under, which advanced south-east through the Arakan. The ‘Forgotten Army’ eventually re-occupied Mandalay and Rangoon.

These legendary campaigns are superbly described in words and images in this fine addition to the Images of War series.

Review

This offering from Pen and Sword as part of their Images of War series in Titled Burma Victory 1944-1945 in authored by Jon Diamond. This is a soft backed title with a card cover protecting the 240 pages within. The book is presented in a portrait style, with the font and text size used making reading relatively easy for those of us who are getting older. The contents of this title are presented as follows:

Acknowledgements

Abbreviations

The IJA’s 1942 Conquest or Burma and the 1943 Allied Response

Wingate’s Operation Thursday and Stilwell’s Myitkyina Assault 1944

Commanders and Combatants

British and Indian Defence of Imphal and Kohima, 1944

Allied Advances Across Burma from India

Allied Drive South of Myitkyina with the Construction of the Ledo/Stilwell Road

Epilogue

Bibliography

The Images of War titles are a Godsend to modellers as it brings a huge quantity of photographic data from specific locations and times and presents it in an easy to absorb format. The layout is tackled with a short introduction in text for each chapter, and you are then presented with a large number of period photographs each accompanied by a written caption. With the photographs being period offerings, it means that the modeller can replicate some or all of the information in the photograph and have photographic proof that what they have done is accurate. The War in Burma can be considered in the same style as the US beach landings against the Japanese, and was arguably the hardest fought in the worst conditions against a ferocious enemy. 

Conclusion

This offering from Pen and Sword looking at the Burma victory is a title covering an aspect of World War II that does not get much in the way of coverage, and this title goes some way to addressing that. The photographs in the book are all of a very good quality, showing troops of all nations with coverage of the Ghurkha forces being of interest to me. The result is a well rounded title that is rich in photographic content and reference.