A War of Empires

Robert Lyman is widely regarded as one of Britain’s most talented military historians, with fifteen best-selling works of history published to date and numerous appearances on television including the BBC’s ‘Who Do You Think You Are’ and a range of documentaries including two in the ‘Great Escapes’ series, on Tobruk (1941) and Kohima (1944). He was the military consultant to the BBC for the Victory over Japan memorial celebrations in the UK in 2015 and again for the 70th anniversary in 2020. He spent 20 years in the British Army and is an elected Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. In 2010 he helped General Sir Richard Dannatt write his autobiography, Leading from the Front. A frequent traveller to the US, Asia and Australasia, he lives in England.

Author’s Note
Timeline
Introduction

Part 1 – Hubris, 1942
Prologue – Major John Hedley, 4 Burma Rifles
1. Burma at the Intersection of History
2. Defending Burma (Badly)
3. A Hurried and Ill-Considered Plan
4. The First Shots
5. ‘We Could at Any Rate Send a Man’
6. A Slim Chance to Save Burma
7. The Battle for Lower Burma
8. Exodus
9. Independence Armies
10. The Reason Why

Part 2 – Hiatus, 1943
Prologue – Lieutenant Philip Brownless, 1 Essex Regiment
11. Aftermath
12. Taking Stock
13. Arakan Round One
14. Bharat Choro!
15. Vinegar Joe’s Travails
16. Trying to Crack the Donbaik Nut
17. Irwin’s Blame Game
18. ‘Our New God, Orde Wingate’
19. Re-thinking Training
20. Building a Base
21. ‘A Blind Man Searching for a Black Cat in a Dark Room’

Part 3 – Resurrection, 1944
Prologue – Lieutenant John Twells, 1 Gurkha Rifles
22. Arakan, Again
23. Ha-Go
24. Okeydoke
25. Sinzweya
26. The March on Delhi
27. Cock-up on the Tiddim Road
28. The Chindwin
29. Thermopylae in the Naga Hills
30. The Spokes of the Wheel
31. Forty-Seven Days of Battle: Kohima
32. Seventy-Six Days of Siege: Imphal
33. Down the Hukawng Valley to Myitkyina
34. The Road of Bones

Part 4 – Redemption, 1945
Prologue – Lieutenant Colonel Hugh Pettigrew, 2/14 Punjab
35. What to Do About Burma?
36. A Change of Plan
37. Third Time Lucky in Arakan
38. Meiktila and Mandalay
39. Extract Digit!
40. The Empire Strikes Back

Appendix 1: The Indian and Gurkha Infantry Regiments of the Indian Army
Appendix 2: Indian Army Structure and Numbers – 9 September 1943
Appendix 3: Definitive Numbers for Indian Army in SEAC
Appendix 4: Estimates of Japanese Soldiers in Operation U-Go
Further Reading
Notes
Index