The Burma Campaign: Disaster into Triumph, 1942-45

545 Pages·2011·4.41 MB·English

by  Frank McLynn

THE YALE LIBRARY OF MILITARY HISTORY
Donald Kagan and Dennis Showalter,
Series Editors
ALSO BY FRANK MCLYNN
FranceandtheJacobiteRisingof1745
TheJacobiteArmyinEngland
TheJacobites
Invasion:FromtheArmadatoHitler
CharlesEdwardStuart
CrimeandPunishmentinEighteenth-CenturyEngland
Stanley:TheMakingofanAfricanExplorer
SnowUpontheDesert:TheLifeofSirRichardBurton
FromtheSierrastothePampas:RichardBurton’sTravelsin
theAmericas1860–69
Stanley:Sorcerer’sApprentice
HeartsofDarkness:TheEuropeanExplorationofAfrica
FitzroyMcLean
RobertLouisStevenson
C.G.Jung
Napoleaon
1066:TheYearoftheThreeBattles
VillaandZapata
Wagon’sWest:TheEpicStoryofAmerica’sOverlandTrails
1759:TheYearBritainBecameMasteroftheWorld
LionheartandLackland:KingRichard,KingJohnandthe
WarsofConquest
Heroes&Villains
MarcusAurelius:Warrior,Philosopher,Emperor
FRANK McLYNN
The Burma
Campaign
Disaster into Triumph 1942–45
NEW HAVEN & LONDON
First published in the United States in 2011
by Yale University Press.
First published in hardcover in Great Britain in 2010
by The Bodley Head. First published in paperback by
Vintage Books in 2011.
Copyright © 2010 by Frank McLynn.
All rights reserved.
This book may not be reproduced,
in whole or in part, including illustrations, in any
form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107
and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by
reviewers for the public press), without written
permission from the publishers.
Yale University Press books may be purchased
in quantity for educational, business, or promotional
use. For information, please e-mail [email protected]
(U.S. office) or [email protected] (U.K. office).
Library of Congress Control Number: 2011930214
ISBN 978-0-300-17162-4 (hardcover: alk. paper)
Printed in the United States of America.
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library.
This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO
Z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper).

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To Pauline
This page intentionally left blank
Contents
Illustrations and maps ix
Preface xi
Chapter One 1
Chapter Two 16
Chapter Three 42
Chapter Four 69
Chapter Five 90
Chapter Six 110
Chapter Seven 136
Chapter Eight 159
Chapter Nine 183
Chapter Ten 209
Chapter Eleven 232
Chapter Twelve 258
Chapter Thirteen 293
Chapter Fourteen 328
Chapter Fifteen 364
Chapter Sixteen 386
Chapter Seventeen 412
Epilogue 446
Notes 457
Index 501

Illustrations and maps
Illustrations
1. Burning camp © Keystone, Hulton Archive, Getty Images
2.Archibald Wavell and Joseph W. Stilwell © William Vandivert, Time
& Life Pictures, Getty Images 3. W.J. Slim © Keystone, Time & Life
Pictures, Getty Images 4.Burma campaign © William Vandivert, Time
& Life Pictures, Getty Images 5. Strategy meeting on the Burmese
border © William Vandivert, Time & Life Pictures, Getty Images
6. Chindits in Burma © Hulton Archive, Getty Images 7. Military
briefing © Keystone, Hulton Archive, Getty Images 8. Joseph W.
Stilwell, Chiang Kai-shek and Madame Chiang © Fred L. Eldridge,
Time & Life Pictures, Getty Images 9. General Stilwell pictured with
a group in the Burmese jungle © Haynes Archive, Popperfoto, Getty
Images 10. British forces behind Japanese lines © William Vandivert,
Time & Life Pictures, Getty Images 11.Cairo Conference © Keystone,
Hulton Archive, Getty Images 12.Louis Mountbatten © Central Press,
Hulton Archive, Getty Images 13.Wounded at casualty clearing station
© William Vandivert, Time & Life Pictures, Getty Images 14.Chinese
infantry during Burma campaign © William Vandivert, Time & Life
Pictures, Getty Images 15. Dead Japanese soldiers lying next to road
© William Vandivert, Time & Life Pictures, Getty Images 16.General
Slim in London © Keystone, Hulton Archive, Getty Images 17.William
Joseph Slim and Bernard Montgomery © Hulton Archive, Getty Images
Maps
1. Physical map of Burma; 2. Political map of Burma; 3. Japanese
invasion of Burma 1942; 4. Chindit operations 1943 & 1944; 5. Battle
of Kohima-Imphal 1944; 6. ‘Capital’ & ‘Extended Capital’ 1944–1945
ix