The Battle for Burma

Roy Conyers Nesbit

Nov 2009 · Pen and Sword

About this eBook

The struggle of British, Commonwealth and American-Chinese troops against the Japanese in Burma was one of the decisive campaigns of the Second World War. British India was threatened by the Japanese advance, the fate of the British Empire in the East hung in the balance. The tropical climate dense malarial jungle infested with vermin and swept by monsoon rains made the fighting, for both sides, a remarkable feat of arms. Yet the war in Burma rarely receives the attention it deserves. Roy C. Nesbit, in this highly illustrated account, traces the entire course of the campaign. In vivid detail he describes the British retreat and humiliation at the hands of the Japanese invaders in 1942. The Japanese were fanatical and trained in jungle warfare, well-equipped and backed with an overwhelming air power. The Allied response was to build up their forces on a massive scale eventually over 1,300,000 personnel were involved and to train them to fight in the jungle conditions. Their counter-offensive, launched in 1944, culminated in the battles at Imphal and Kohima which turned the course of the conflict, and the reconquest of Burma was achieved just before the atom bomb was dropped.

About the author

Roy Conyers Nesbit has a long-established reputation as a leading aviation historian. His many books include The Royal Air Force: An Illustrated History From 1918, RAF in Camera, The Battle of Britain, The Battle for Europe, Arctic Airmen, Eyes of the RAF, The Battle of the Atlantic, Ultra Versus U-Boats, Reported Missing, The Battle for Burma, and The Strike Wings.