Description
Book SynopsisIn the mountains and jungles of occupied Burma during World War II, British special forces launched a series of secret operations, assisted by parts of the Burmese population. The men of the SOE, trained in sabotage and guerrilla warfare, worked in the jungle, deep behind enemy lines, to frustrate the puppet Burmese government of Ba Maw and continue the fight against Hirohito's Japan in a theatre starved of resources. Here, Richard Duckett uses newly declassified documents from the National Archives to reveal for the first time the extent of British special forces' involvement - from the 1941 operations until beyond Burma's independence from the British Empire in 1948. Duckett argues convincingly that `Operation Character' and `Operation Billet' - large SOE missions launched in support of General Slim's XIV Army offensive to liberate Burma - rank among the most militarily significant of the SOE's secret missions. Featuring a wealth of photographs and accompanying material never before published, including direct testimony recorded by veterans of the campaign and maps from the SOE files, The SOE in Burma tells a compelling story of courage and struggle in during World War II
Table of ContentsNote on Translation and Transliteration List of Abbreviations List of Maps, Tables, Pictures and Paintings Introduction and Literature Review Prologue: Burma, its Geography, and its People Chapter One: The Oriental Mission, October 1940 – December 1941 Chapter Two: The Oriental Mission and the First Burma Campaign, December 1941– June 1942 Chapter Three: Reorganisation and Early Operations, August 1942 to August 1943 Chapter Four: Getting Behind the Lines: The India Mission in Burma, September 1943 – December 1944 Chapter Five: Operation Character, November 1944 – September 1945 Chapter Six: The Billet Operations: Nation, Manual and Grain, November 1944 – September 1945 Epilogue: A Legacy? Force 136 and Post-War Burma, 1945 – 1950 Conclusions Sources and Bibliography
