Hello everyone, I am currently researching a PhD on the experience of the British soldier during the Burma campaign. The chapter that I am currently working on will discuss the preconceptions, attitudes and views that the British soldier had of the Japanese soldier and IJA before, during and after taking part in the Burma campaign. if anyone has any information, documents or book recommendations that discusses the above themes I would be extremely grateful.
Luke, This topic has appeared before from memory, in a moment I will add what was found searching the Burma & India section in Theaters of War. Others far more familiar with the issues will be along. See: Burma and the Environment 1942-1945 That was the only thread readily identifiable using attitude, there are seventeen others id'd by: http://ww2talk.com/index.php?search/19432574/&q=attitude&o=relevance&c[node]=53 Such preconceptions have appeared, though in the context of the Malayan campaign - a belief in superiority of the British Commonwealth over the Japanese. I have a recollection that many years ago I read chapters in a few books, notably on the Malayan campaign and probably Williamson Murray's tomes comparing the allied and Japanese military performance. The IWM Oral History collection would be a good place to check out.
If you have not read it already, I strongly recommend what Louis Allen has to say on this subject in the last chapter of Burma: The Longest War. He cites a wide range of participants, from Slim downwards. Practically every Allied memoir of the campaign discusses the Japanese.
I think Monsoon Victory by Gerald Hanley gives an interesting account of how the Japanese Army came to be hated for its seeming obsession with death. I seem to recall the author writing about encountering Japanese dead everywhere as they retreated from the failed Imphal offensive. They would die rather than live to fight another day, wounded were abandoned to end their lives with a grenade, many died of sickness and malnutrition due to poor logistics. Having once feared the Japanese, it seems that British, Indian and African troops became sickened by their enemy's total disregard for life. I hope i have remembered this correctly. Steve
Do you not feel the need to get to know the campaign, the officers and men, rather than the opinions of re written history. It was a totally different age. Before the war the country was rent with the General Strike and recession. Their attitudes and values were much different to ours. May I suggest that amongst the myriad of publications and documents available in archives, that you include publications like the following, written by men who were there. Otherwise you will be studying media rather than life at the time. 1. Prisoners of Hope by Michael Calvert (Kindle version) 2. The Silchar Track by Terence Malloy which is a collection of memoires of the officers and men of the 1st Northants Regt. in the run up to and during the battle of Imphal. They both give down to earth descriptions of the campaign. Molloy makes some scathing comments at the back of the book about modern attitudes. Not a particularly large book which at times can be a bit pricey. You will need to check online with used bookstores. 3. Fighting through to Kohima by Michael Lowry (7th Indian Div) 4. Battle Tales from Burma (10th Baluchi Regt) by John Randle both available on Kindle might be another option.
And George Macdonald Fraser’s memoir “Quartered Safe Out Here”, which discusses the subject with considerable honesty.
Check out the post-victory article in 1945 citing General William "Bill" Slim; not a solder, a leader admittedly. See: Uncle Bill
"The Little Men" by KW Cooper paperback published in 1975. Written by an infantry Platoon Commander. A down to earth story of a man and his platoon fighting in Burma. Told in graphic detail, the thoughts and emotions of fighting to win against a determined enemy and help his men his men to survive. Parts of the story have stuck in my mind ever since I first read it in 1975. This book influenced my borrowing many books on the subject from the County Library in 1980 - 84 before we had children. In 2012 I began using Ancestry and discovered that two of my relatives fought in Burma. Spent the past week looking for it in bookshelves and boxes. Now, fast approaching 75 I am about to read it once more. I hope that what I have learned since my last reading doesn't spoil the enjoyment. At least it is original and not been edited to meet modern academic perceptions. There is also a hardcover version with a posher cover, mucho deniro ! Edit: As the OP has not appeared of late I will add to my previous posting. The book is every bit as impressive as it was in 1975, albeit a little yellowed with age. No punches pulled it was written soon after the events, when memories and emotions were running high. No photo's, they are not needed, his descriptions bring it all to life.
