Thank you for posting sir. My wife had a Great Uncle who fought in Burma with General Slim. Like many folks of his generation, he was reticent about discussing what he did in the war. He told me that he was part of the BEF and got brought back from Dunkirk on Operation Dynamo. Later on, the first thing that his sweetheart knew about him going to Burma was a pre-arranged phrase in a letter that he sent to her that meant he was being shipped out to Burma. She didn't hear from him again for eight months. She held on for him, awaiting his return. After he returned home, they were married. I knew them as an elderly couple. Both rather frail but still very much in love. Uncle H liked to sit in the kitchen with his feet up by their old coal fired rayburn because his legs were giving him some gyp. The Lord has gathered both of them to his bosom a good few years now and the world is poorer without them because they were good folk. I'm looking forward to your posts about the Forgotten Army, because Uncle H didn't care to talk about it. Again, thank you for posting.
A completely different character to the revered Douglas MacArthur (who in my opinion is widely overrated) I don’t know much about slim but thanks for the video, he seems like a general everyone would love to serve under - Semper Fi
He wasn't without failure, but perhaps humility and learning from mistakes was one of his biggest assets. A commander not afraid to change things and is not afraid to say so gets respect from his troops. He had marvelous support from his army group commander General George Giffard and Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia Command Admiral Lord Mountbatten. Slims best asset as a general was his utter ruthlessness to destroy the Japanese formations.
Absolutely agreed, a good leader seeks the wisdom of those around him as well. One thing I always respected about Slim, was the fact he never pushed to get his favourites in with him, he was happy to work with those around him, regardless who they were
I once met an officer of 14th Army at lecture about Slim's boss Lord Mountbatten. As people discussed the virtues and misfortunes of that controversial commander this officer stood up and said 'enough! all must be forgiven, because the single most important decision Mountbatten ever made was to insist that Slim, and Slim alone should lead the 14th Army, and that is how we came to win the war!'
I'm 64. I had an uncle Bill who, after serving in WW2 in the Merchant Navy and being torpedoed twice, joined the British Army late in the war. He was posted io Burma around the fall of Rangoon. He was due to be part of the planned Allied reinvasion of Malaya. This was cancelled after the Japanese surrendered, following the dropping of the 2 US atomic bombs. He was forever grateful. Uncle Bill died in the mid 80s aged 68 of lung cancer. He was a heavy smoker. He was good to me when I was a young kid in the 60s. I remember him well.
I read a book called The Unforgettable Army. I highly recommend it. It features a quote by him on a visit to a battalion of, if I remember rightly, the King's African Rifles. When he asked the men what the unit was like, they said it was bad. He replied that there were no good or bad units, only good or bad officers. He repeated this advice to officer cadets at a dinner at Sandhurst. Definitely a soldier's general. I also believe he would have succeeded in any of ghe theatres of operations, but I honestly think Montgomery would have been a failure in Burma.
Without doubt Britain's greatest WW2 General. Fighting a vicious and suicidal enemy in appalling country and terrible weather and with low priority in supplies, he and his creation, 14th A rmy, inflicted on the Japanese their greatest land defeat. I believe that Slim could have achieved what Montgomery did, but definitely not vice versa.
You are right, I am 55 and read/watch military history, only discovered Bill Slim in recent history, also Burma was the forgotten war but perhaps Netflix could make it real for a new generation
Slim was great. Would it be possible for British Commander Richard O'Connor next? He's another underrated one. He was the closest thing Britain had to a Panzer general like Rommel.
That picture was taken during the first Chindit campaign, the man on the left is then Colonel Michael Calvert, another great soldier. This photograph appears in Shelford Bidwell's "The Chindit War" it describes the man with the carbine as the CO Lancashire Fusiliers, I think Miss Lumley's dad was a Gurkha officer so perhaps the picture is incorrectly annotated. I'll have to search through my attic to see if I can find my copy.
@alanpearson7554 I believe her Dad was a Gurkha officer, you’re correct, which was a big reason why she fought so hard for the Gurkha Justice Campaign.
I am still trying to understand how Burma was in any way a strategic place in WW2. OK, A great place to send Commonwealth troops to get killed and thin the population, but in terms of strategic necessity, in terms of preserving India just to hand it back to the Indians... ... What was the point? What strategic materials were worth fighting over in that part of the world? Tea? Ghee? Curry Powder? Opium?
The irony of that is the Indian Army had the numbers and could have easily overwhelmed the Japanese Army in Burma by themselves, but the Brits held them back until General Slim took charge. BTW he was also the best British born Governor General, Australia ever had.
@@bushranger51 Burma was a logistics nightmare. I will admit, Slim was very good at organizing logistics and adapting rather old fashioned Indian Army practices to Jungle Warfare. That is true. What is noteworthy is that there was only one Indian commissioned officer in the British Army, as far as I know. Captain Mazumdar, imprisoned at Colditz for years and subject to racist abuse from some of his fellow officers. He managed to escape with a fellow Indian late in the war from a different camp. Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders were the ONLY effective unit at Singapore AFAIK due to the terrible traditionalism of the British Army at that time. Slim did much better, I'll give him credit for that.
@@PATTHECATMCD I had an uncle who had joined the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders in 1933, aged 17, and fell into Japanese captivity at Singapore after fighting them down the Malay peninsula. He survived captivity and rejoined the regiment after being freed, retiring from the army in 1960 with the rank of RSM. No finer man ever walked this Earth.
@@Kevin-mx1vi He was remarkable just for surviving captivity in a WW2 Japanese POW camp. In itself that was a daily battle of willpower. Occasionally I bump into a guy who was a child at the time. He was in the civilian internment equivalent in Malaya. Likewise, he's got a diamond will and character.
Thank you for posting sir. My wife had a Great Uncle who fought in Burma with General Slim. Like many folks of his generation, he was reticent about discussing what he did in the war. He told me that he was part of the BEF and got brought back from Dunkirk on Operation Dynamo. Later on, the first thing that his sweetheart knew about him going to Burma was a pre-arranged phrase in a letter that he sent to her that meant he was being shipped out to Burma. She didn't hear from him again for eight months. She held on for him, awaiting his return. After he returned home, they were married. I knew them as an elderly couple. Both rather frail but still very much in love. Uncle H liked to sit in the kitchen with his feet up by their old coal fired rayburn because his legs were giving him some gyp. The Lord has gathered both of them to his bosom a good few years now and the world is poorer without them because they were good folk. I'm looking forward to your posts about the Forgotten Army, because Uncle H didn't care to talk about it. Again, thank you for posting.
Sounds like he had quite the tough war, respect to him
Thanks for your comment.
And thanks for sharing his story, he sounds like a tough old boy.
My Aunt Beatrix was engaged to a Chindit who never came back and she never married. It was a hard fought war in South East Asia.. Very hard.
Absolutely brilliant!! Thank you for promoting interest and respect to “Uncle” Bill and the Forgotten Army
Thanks for watching, plenty more content on the 14th to come over the next few weeks!
A completely different character to the revered Douglas MacArthur (who in my opinion is widely overrated)
I don’t know much about slim but thanks for the video, he seems like a general everyone would love to serve under - Semper Fi
Fought a tough war in unforgiving circumstances
Slim was unusual in not having a huge ego and had no time or use for getting publicity for himself.
Yes, the British Greatest General.
He wasn't without failure, but perhaps humility and learning from mistakes was one of his biggest assets. A commander not afraid to change things and is not afraid to say so gets respect from his troops. He had marvelous support from his army group commander General George Giffard and Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia Command Admiral Lord Mountbatten. Slims best asset as a general was his utter ruthlessness to destroy the Japanese formations.
Absolutely agreed, a good leader seeks the wisdom of those around him as well.
One thing I always respected about Slim, was the fact he never pushed to get his favourites in with him, he was happy to work with those around him, regardless who they were
I once met an officer of 14th Army at lecture about Slim's boss Lord Mountbatten. As people discussed the virtues and misfortunes of that controversial commander this officer stood up and said 'enough! all must be forgiven, because the single most important decision Mountbatten ever made was to insist that Slim, and Slim alone should lead the 14th Army, and that is how we came to win the war!'
I'm 64. I had an uncle Bill who, after serving in WW2 in the Merchant Navy and being torpedoed twice, joined the British Army late in the war. He was posted io Burma around the fall of Rangoon. He was due to be part of the planned Allied reinvasion of Malaya. This was cancelled after the Japanese surrendered, following the dropping of the 2 US atomic bombs.
He was forever grateful. Uncle Bill died in the mid 80s aged 68 of lung cancer. He was a heavy smoker. He was good to me when I was a young kid in the 60s. I remember him well.
I read a book called The Unforgettable Army. I highly recommend it.
It features a quote by him on a visit to a battalion of, if I remember rightly, the King's African Rifles. When he asked the men what the unit was like, they said it was bad. He replied that there were no good or bad units, only good or bad officers. He repeated this advice to officer cadets at a dinner at Sandhurst. Definitely a soldier's general.
I also believe he would have succeeded in any of ghe theatres of operations, but I honestly think Montgomery would have been a failure in Burma.
Fantastic book, helped greatly with my research actually, I’d second your point and recommend it to anyone!
Without doubt Britain's greatest WW2 General. Fighting a vicious and suicidal enemy in appalling country and terrible weather and with low priority in supplies, he and his creation, 14th A rmy, inflicted on the Japanese their greatest land defeat. I believe that Slim could have achieved what Montgomery did, but definitely not vice versa.
Thanks for this video
Jungle fighting very very unpleasant even if you win. It was nasty work
You’re absolutely right, it really was a tough and hard war for the men of the 14th!
You are right, I am 55 and read/watch military history, only discovered Bill Slim in recent history, also Burma was the forgotten war but perhaps Netflix could make it real for a new generation
My Dad went to school with Slim at St Phillips school in Birmingham.
Oh fantastic! Quite the school chum!
My father was in the 14th army. He was at the fort dufferin battle in the royal artillery smashing the walls down
My father was in the Royal Scotts with Slim
Slim was great. Would it be possible for British Commander Richard O'Connor next? He's another underrated one. He was the closest thing Britain had to a Panzer general like Rommel.
Joanna Lumley's father is at 8:39. He is on the right with the carbine under his arm.
That picture was taken during the first Chindit campaign, the man on the left is then Colonel Michael Calvert, another great soldier. This photograph appears in Shelford Bidwell's "The Chindit War" it describes the man with the carbine as the CO Lancashire Fusiliers, I think Miss Lumley's dad was a Gurkha officer so perhaps the picture is incorrectly annotated. I'll have to search through my attic to see if I can find my copy.
@alanpearson7554 I believe her Dad was a Gurkha officer, you’re correct, which was a big reason why she fought so hard for the Gurkha Justice Campaign.
I am still trying to understand how Burma was in any way a strategic place in WW2.
OK, A great place to send Commonwealth troops to get killed and thin the population, but in terms of strategic necessity, in terms of preserving India just to hand it back to the Indians...
... What was the point? What strategic materials were worth fighting over in that part of the world? Tea? Ghee? Curry Powder? Opium?
The irony of that is the Indian Army had the numbers and could have easily overwhelmed the Japanese Army in Burma by themselves, but the Brits held them back until General Slim took charge. BTW he was also the best British born Governor General, Australia ever had.
@@bushranger51 Burma was a logistics nightmare. I will admit, Slim was very good at organizing logistics and adapting rather old fashioned Indian Army practices to Jungle Warfare. That is true.
What is noteworthy is that there was only one Indian commissioned officer in the British Army, as far as I know. Captain Mazumdar, imprisoned at Colditz for years and subject to racist abuse from some of his fellow officers. He managed to escape with a fellow Indian late in the war from a different camp.
Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders were the ONLY effective unit at Singapore AFAIK due to the terrible traditionalism of the British Army at that time. Slim did much better, I'll give him credit for that.
@@PATTHECATMCD I had an uncle who had joined the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders in 1933, aged 17, and fell into Japanese captivity at Singapore after fighting them down the Malay peninsula. He survived captivity and rejoined the regiment after being freed, retiring from the army in 1960 with the rank of RSM.
No finer man ever walked this Earth.
@@Kevin-mx1vi He was remarkable just for surviving captivity in a WW2 Japanese POW camp. In itself that was a daily battle of willpower.
Occasionally I bump into a guy who was a child at the time. He was in the civilian internment equivalent in Malaya. Likewise, he's got a diamond will and character.
@@PATTHECATMCD You ever heard of Richard O'Connor? He's Britains Desert Fox.