We Gave Our Today: Burma 1941-45

by William Fowler

Nearly a million strong by 1944, the British 14th Army fought and ultimately conquered the Japanese forces that invaded Burma and strove to break through into India. But the victory was hard won, with great suffering along the way. With priority given to defeating Germany, these troops were last in line for additional men and equipment, and they joked about being “The Forgotten Army.” Here is the story of these remarkable soldiers, whose monument at Kohima reads: “When You Go Home, Tell Them Of Us And Say, For Their Tomorrow, We Gave Our Today.”

 

Genres: Nonfiction, History

269 pages, Hardcover

First published February 26, 2009

Reviews

[Keith W · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have never read a book on World War II in Burma before so I learned from this book and enjoyed aspects of it but it is quite flawed. The book does a good job of setting the stage for the Japanese invasion and conquest of most of Burma by describing their conquest of Malaya, the sinking of REPULSE and PRINCE OF WALES, and the loss of Singapore. It also does a good job of explaining Britain's fighting retreat through most of Burma to areas in the north and India. The chapters on the Japanese invasion of the Imphal plain and the fierce fighting in and around Imphal and Kohima were also well done, I thought. However, little attention was paid to the fighting by the Chinese units under Gen. Stilwell in the north as the author seemed mostly interested in action in which British and Commonwealth units were involved. Also, there were numerous disconnects and abrupt topic changes in the chapters. Nor did the chapters cover their topics completely. For example, when I read Appendix 1, which was an update SEAC Supreme Commander Lord Louis Mountbatten gave at a press conference in August 1944, I learned about fighting and events that were not covered in the book, even though Mountbatten's remarks were meant simply to provide an overview rather than a detailed account of what happened. It left me wondering what else may have been omitted from the story. Some of the maps were good, especially the one for Imphal and Kohima, but some were inadequate as the text would mention fighting in and around towns that were not shown on the maps, leaving you to wonder where the action was taking place. Also, there were numerous misspellings and lack of punctuation in the text, causing me to wonder if the book had even been edited before publication. In this day and age, there is no excuse for such errors in a book, especially one from such a prominent publisher as Weidenfeld & Nicholson. To me, the best aspect of the book were the tales of individual exploits and heroism, many by men who received the Victoria Cross. Some were absolutely unforgettable. Finally, the book does a good job of making it clear that the fighting in Burma was savage and fierce, and survival in the jungle, especially during the monsoons, was challenging, to say the least.