S.Woodburn Kirby (1895–1968)

Volume IV of the combined Army and Navy history of the Burma and Pacific campaigns covers the British Campaign that culminated in the recapture of Rangoon. It's an unfamiliar story to the English speaking world, but was a major part of the destruction of the Japanese Empire. The reclamation was vital to the interests of the British in this area and did a good deal toward the final peaceful transfer of power to the local politicians and governments in these countries in 1947. It should be read in conjunction with George MacDonald Fraser's "Quartered Safe Out Here", Slim's "Defeat into Victory", and John Master's' "Road Past Mandalay" to flesh out the great difficulties and triumphs of both armies, Anglo-Indian and Japanese, entangled in that most difficult country.
Did I tell you that the maps are great compared to other military histories I have encountered?
I read the HMSO edition published in 1968.… (altro)

this volume of the Official British War history covers the Burma army's retreat to the Indian Border, and the difficulties with their American and Chinese Allies at that most difficult time. The maps are so apparently good, that one is left hoping that other countries could update their to the same high standard. It would be a good idea to compare this volume to Slim's account in "Retreat into Victory, his war memoirs of this front. the Japanese get more credit than the USA Pacific based account gives them. There's an impression often given that the Japanese were especially adept at warfare in the tropics, but this account reveals their difficulties as well as those of their Anglo-British opponents. I read the 1962 edition.… (altro)