Robert Lyman, The Reconquest of Burma 1944-45 (Osprey, 2023)
Until 1944, the war in Burma had not gone well for the Allies attempting to fend off the Japanese invasion and protect India. The Allies finally held their ground then turned the tide in a relentless attack that drove the Japanese back to Rangoon and beyond. In this book in Osprey’s Campaign series, Robert Lyman narrates that story.
Lyman begins with the origins of the campaign 1944, which lay in the opportunity created by the Japanese failure to seize India. The British had struggled until then to reconquer Burma for logistical and strategic reasons, but victories at Imphal and Kohima opened the door. Despite misgivings from his command, Lieutenant-General Bill Slim was determined to push the retreating Japanese to their destruction. Slim’s perseverance is at the heart of Lyman’s story.
As in all Osprey’s Campaign series, consideration of the opposing commanders, forces, including orders of battle, and battle plans precedes the action. That began with Operation Capital, Slim’s initial assault across the Chindwin river. This was carried out in the face of severe opposition by the Japanese and the unforgiving Burmese environment. Then Slim crossed the Irrawaddy in a bold manoeuvre to drive the Japanese back again. Air power and transport proved decisive in allowing this to happen. Nevertheless, the fighting around Meiktila proved particularly intense, but the Commonwealth forces prevailed, unlocking the Japanese hold over the Irrawaddy. Mandalay fell soon afterwards. Meanwhile, Commonwealth forces gained ground in the coastal region of Arakan, resisting fierce but wasteful Japanese counter-attacks at every advance. Then began the race for Rangoon, which had to be completed before the May monsoon arrived and was conducted mainly by Indian army divisions. Lyman takes time out of his narrative here to praise the irregular Burmese forces and the SOE for their roles in the advance. Rangoon fell under the pressure of Slim’s advance and an amphibious operation, Dracula, just as the first storms hit. A Japanese attempt to break out over the Sittang river met with a hail of destruction. Over 180,000 Japanese troops died in the campaign to Slim’s 14,000 – Lyman has little sympathy. A quick guide to visiting the battlefields today follows. That sounds just about as difficult as the campaign itself, though without the worry over Japanese bullets and shells.
Lyman has written an enjoyable introductory narrative of a startlingly successful Allied campaign. It was also a complicated affair, and Lyman does well to single out Slim’s singular leadership in addition to the role that Commonwealth and local forces played in his victory. Lyman’s text is ably supported by Osprey’s usual high quality colour plates, and the selection of photographs was also well chosen. As a military history student or wargamer, you can enjoy this book as a survey, or use it as preparation for Lyman’s more detailed book on Burma, A War of Empires (Osprey, 2021).
