Burma '44: The Battle That Turned Britain's War in the East

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'A thrilling blow-by-blow account' The Times In February 1944, a rag-tag collection of clerks, drivers, doctors, muleteers, and other base troops, stiffened by a few dogged Yorkshiremen and a handful of tank crews managed to hold out against some of the finest infantry in the Japanese Army, and then defeat them in what was one of the most astonishing battles of the Second World War. What became know as The Defence of the Admin Box, fought amongst the paddy fields and jungle of Northern Arakan over a fifteen-day period, turned the battle for Burma. Not only was it the first decisive victory for British troops against the Japanese, more significantly, it demonstrated how the Japanese could be defeated. The lessons learned in this tiny and otherwise insignificant corner of the Far East, set up the campaign in Burma that would follow, as General Slim’s Fourteenth Army finally turned defeat into victory. Burma '44 is a tale of incredible drama. As gripping as the story of Rorke's drift, as momentous as the battle for the Ardennes, the Admin Box was a triumph of human grit and heroism and remains one of the most significant yet undervalued conflicts of World War Two. About the Book Contents Title Page Dedication Maps List of Maps Introduction Cast List Prologue: Surrounded Part I: The Arakan 1 New Command 2 The Four Challenges 3 Flyboys 4 The Supermen 5 Jungle Patrol 6 To the Front 7 Famine and Revolt 8 The Arakan 9 The Woodpeckers’ Victory 10 Beckoning Glory 11 Air Battles Over the Arakan 12 Tortoise Part II: The Battle of the Admin Box 13 The First Day: Morning 14 The First Day: Afternoon 15 The Second Day: the Pass Is Cut 16 The Attack on the MDS 17 The Third Day: Ammunition Hill 18 Blood Nullah 19 Attack in the Night 20 The Fifth Day 21 Artillery Hill 22 Attrition 23 Exhaustion 24 The End of the Siege Postscript Picture Section Order of Battle Admin Box Timeline References Sources Glossary Acknowledgements Picture Acknowledgements Index About the Author Also by James Holland Copyright