BURMA '44

The author of Sicily ’44, Normandy ’44, and other acclaimed works of military history returns with a look at a significant yet overlooked World War II battle.

As always, Holland is adept at setting the background for his analysis of the battle. In 1941, a few days after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, Japanese forces sank the cream of the British Asian fleet, quickly overran the British colonies of Hong Kong, Malaya, and Singapore, and chased British forces out of Burma into India. Preoccupied with Germany, Britain gave its huge Indian army low priority in men and supplies. Recruits were trained in desert fighting and sent to North Africa until its conquest in 1943, when India received more attention. There followed a massive influx of supplies, training (morale was terrible), and better commanders (India was a dumping ground for failed officers from the European theater). Just as the British were completing preparation for their offensive in February 1944, the Japanese launched their own, broke through, and surrounded a number of units and their headquarters deep in the jungle. There followed 15 days of brutal fighting which, unlike previous encounters with the Japanese, succeeded. This Battle of the Admin Box is considered the turning point in the India-Burma campaign. Holland, a meticulous researcher, excels in describing the lead-up to the battle and the quality of the leadership—Briton William Slim was certainly the most competent Allied general facing Japan—and he includes many lively anecdotes on individual fighting men. WWII buffs will enjoy a detailed account of the climactic battle without making much sense of it, since the fighting took the form of a series of bloody, small-unit actions in a confined area. The author’s extensive maps don’t fully explain the minutiae, but he does ably capture the abundance of heroism and the satisfying outcome.

A lesser-known campaign receives well-deserved attention.