Book Description
Between December 1941 and May 1942, the British Empire suffered a series of humiliating defeats in the Far East. Three years later the Japanese were defeated by British and Commonwealth forces at Kohima and Imphal and in the battles for Burma. This transformation in the fortunes was in large part due to the development of jungle warfare doctrine and the resulting improvements in training, tactics and equipment. This book examines British Army conventional forces that fought in the Far East, showing how the dissemination of doctrine improved training, and helped 14th Army's infantry divisions secure victory.
Customer Reviews:
A Bit of a Disappointment...........2005-10-11
When I picked up this volume on the British Army in the Far East in 1941-45 and saw that Alan Jeffreys, a curator at the Imperial War Museum, had written it, I expected a first-class product. Alas, I was a bit disappointed by this volume due to the sparse coverage of the first two years of the war in Asia and the inadequate amount of detail on unit tables of organization and equipment (TOE). While the writing style and information that is presented are decent enough, it seems that the author only wanted to primarily focus on the last year of the war, i.e, the phase that the Commonwealth troops were winning. While one certainly does not expect an encyclopedic coverage in an Osprey title, this volume does not appear to present the type and amount of detail found in other Battle Orders titles (indeed, this seems more like an effort for the campaign series). Even the author's conclusion that the British adoption of a jungle warfare doctrine was a major element in reversing the Commonwealth's fortunes in South Asia seems to ignore the fact that US air and sea operations had virtually isolated the Japanese forces in the Burma-India theater from receiving further reinforcements after mid-1944.
The introductory section of this volume follows the series format, with a brief discussion of the combat mission of British forces in the Far East, which notes that the defense of the naval base at Singapore was the main operational focus. The section on training is lengthy, including noting that the British had one unit in Malaya - the 2nd Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders -that was fairly well trained in jungle warfare tactics. Unfortunately, the author's overly brief coverage of the Malayan campaign presents only a few tactical snippets of that unit's activities, making it difficult to assess what value this unit had. The section on division organization provides a short history of each British, Australian and Indian division in theater, but only a few of the line and block charts go below division level and none go below brigade level. Unlike other Osprey Battle Order volumes, there are almost no charts listing personnel or equipment holdings, except for one chart that shows artillery holdings across the four different types of Commonwealth divisions. Armored units - beyond a simple table listing numbers of tanks in theater in 1944 - are virtually absent from these pages. Given that Indian and Australian units often had non-standard TOEs, the author should have made greater effort to clarify unit structures - as is expected in this series.
The volume includes eleven 2-D maps: Japanese strategic plans in the Far East; Training sites in Southeast Asia; dispositions of Commonwealth forces in Malaya, December 1941; the Battle of Slim River; Commonwealth dispositions on Singapore; 1st Arakan campaign; the capture of Mandalay; the Japanese offensive at Imphal-Kohima; opening moves at Kohima; the British counterattack at Kohima; the British counteroffensive in June 1944. Unfortunately, the author does not provide anything like a theater order of battle for Commonwealth forces at any particular date, so trying to determine "the big picture" is futile with this volume. The author does provide a 2-page bibliography and a campaign chronology.
I was really stunned that this volume has virtually no mention of the 11,000 Commonwealth troops (6 battalions) lost at Hong Kong in December 1941 and no mention of the Commonwealth OB in Burma in December 1941. Nor is there any significant mention of British troops who fought in the Dutch East Indies (where I believe several thousand were captured) or China. Even the author's skimpy coverage of the forces available to Percival in Malaya is difficult to follow (must read division thumb-nail sketches). The First Arakan offensive in 1943 is also covered very briefly and the Chindits are almost ignored. It is clear that this author wanted to skirt quickly past this string of disasters and get to Imphal-Kohima, where he can recount the jocks of 2nd British Infantry Division giving the Japanese Army a sound thrashing. The author concludes his campaign narrative with General Slim's boast that his forces had given the Japanese "the biggest defeat in their whole history." Given the catastrophic defeats suffered across the board by the Japanese after mid-1942, it seems rather a tad absurd to single out the defeat of only three of their divisions as "their greatest defeat ever."
Readers attempting to digest the changes in the Commonwealth forces in the Far East between 1941-45 will find this volume of little help, since so little information is provided on the initial force structure. The author's labored dissection of the evolution of British jungle warfare doctrine, while perhaps illuminating for some readers, seemed tedious and with little point. The Commonwealth forces won at Kohima-Imphal because they had vastly superior firepower and were close to their base of supply, while the Japanese troops were virtually out of supply. Jungle warfare doctrine didn't help the Chindits much - essentially a waste of three infantry brigades - and Slim's victories in '44-45 were due more to combined arms tactics than any "jungle tactics." Indeed, it was the ability of Commonwealth (and US C-47s, which the author ignores) logistic troops and engineers to build roads through jungles and over mountains and cross wide rivers that contributed most to victory in Burma.
Book Description
The two supplement volumes presented round off the author's comprehensive coverage of this subject. Supplement volume 1 contains five chapters providing data covering formations in North Africa, the Mediterranean, North-West Europe, Burma/India and Special Forces. The units covered range from 7th Armoured Division in North Africa to Fiji's military forces.
Key sales points: Careful presentation combined with a host of hard-to-find information will ensure this will become a standard source for order-of-battle data about the British and Commonwealth armies, All organizations are analyzed down to platoon level ; listings include specific types of equipment and weaponry used, along with explanatory notes, Clearly laid-out and easy-to-use data
Book Description
The two supplements volumes presented round off the author's comprehensive coverage of this subject. Supplement volume 2 contains five chapters providing data covering formations in North Africa, the Mediterranean, Burma/India, on the Home Front, overseas garrisons and Special Forces. The units covered range from the South African 6th Armoured Division to the 1940-41 garrison of Iceland.
Key sales points: * Careful presentation combined with a host of hard-to-find information will ensure this will become a standard source for order-of-battle data about the British and Commonwealth armies. / * All organizations are analyzed down to platoon level ; listings include specific types of equipment and weaponry used, along with explanatory notes. / * Clearly laid-out and easy-to-use data
Book Description
The scope of Britain's wartime Middle East Command stretched far beyond the Libyan desert where the 8th Army's most famous battles were fought - from Gibraltar and Tunisia in the west, to Iraq and Persia in the east, and from Greece south to the Gulf of Aden. In 1940-43 this was the only arena where the British Army could take the ground war to the German Wehrmacht; it saw a succession of setbacks and triumphs, until spring 1945 found the 8th Army victorious in northern Italy. A summary of these campaigns is illustrated by photographs, and detailed colour plates of the wide range of uniforms worn in the varied conditions of this huge theatre of war.
Customer Reviews:
A great book with great illustrtations.......2005-06-07
The RSM has done his usual outstanding job showing Tommy Atkins with his various forms of equipment!
Terrific.......2004-07-26
I see Carter Rila has spammed his generic comments into this review as well. (Refers to review of volume 1)
The colour plates in this book seem a bit washed out, but that may be the nature of all these figures in khaki. That is the only real criticism of this volume.
What the book presents is a nice overview of the history of the British Army in Northwest Europe, both in 1939-40 and the French campaign, in the UK, and in Overlord and beyond on the continent. Additionally, a history of battle dress uniforms is sketched out and a brief survey of infantry equipment is given. Just enough for the average modeller to follow the directions on his 1:35 scale kit or 1/6 action figure, but beyond that obviously the reader will need to look elsewhere - such as Chappell's volume on British infantry equipment, or David Gordon's excellent books, or even Bouchery (though he does not specialize in equipment). Of course, the TOMMY and JUNGLE GREEN books would be a good bet for equipment also.
The sidebars are interesting; inclusion of 21 Army Group HQ is an interesting touch. Very nice detail sketch of the workings of the No. 4 Mk 1 (T) sniper rifle - one wishes these sketches were more prevalent in all the MAA titles.
Interesting tables on production figures, and a nice thumbnail sketch of the supporting corps and services and what they did.
Photos are, in the main, well above average and some look like they could have been taken yesterday the quality and clarity is so great. Others are not as good, but most are unique and not the "stock" photos that grace so many generic volumes on British soldiers.
Overall a good introduction to the subject, and reflects the current high state of the art of the MAA titles.
Comments above are for Volume 1; I see my review is crossposted to Volume 2. I also own Volume 2 and find it just as useful as Volume 1. Sidebar info includes diagram of battledress insignia placement, and good map of the Middle East. Sadly, still no chart of rank, responsibilities and appointments. This is sadly lacking in most British Army references - the differences between rank and appointment were very real, and a good source of info on the difference betwen a Squadron Quartermaster Sergeant, Quartermaster Senior Instructor, and Regimental Sergeant Major would be a nice touch.
Colour plates also seem a bit washed out, but poses are terrific and details are top notch.
Very Useful Overview.......2001-12-23
This work is a splendid example of the new emphasis of the publisher on producing comprehensive works in a handy cheap format compared with the earlier broad brush treatments which covered too much in too little detail.
The new emphasis is on sets covering various national armed forces in as much detail as is available, consistent with the current purpose of the works in the series, which have evolved from an original emphasis on serving the military miniature maker market into works intended to enlighten the general reader in enough detail to satisfy the merely curious and to point the way to further reading.
Most of us, including myself, have little need for, or the patience to read, voluminous studies, often in foreign languages, covering many eras and nations. My main interest is in the US forces, their allies and their enemies in the twentieth century.
That said, these works should be purchased as presented, in sets within the series. Since they are produced as a set, the volumes cover only relevent parts of the general history and the clothing and individual equipment is covered as it appears in each period. The French Army, US Army, British Army, and Italian Army series all have three volumes, covering the major theatres and time periods of the war. The German set has five.
This should be read along with the volumes on Battle Dress and British Infantry Equipments in this series.
If you want an introduction to the fascinating variety of clothing and equipment of the forces covered, this set is for you.
Quite Useful Study of An Important Force.......2001-12-23
This work is a splendid example of the new emphasis of the publisher on producing comprehensive works in a handy cheap format compared with the earlier broad brush treatments which covered too much in too little detail.
The new emphasis is on sets covering various national armed forces in as much detail as is available, consistent with the current purpose of the works in the series, which have evolved from an original emphasis on serving the military miniature maker market into works intended to enlighten the general reader in enough detail to satisfy the merely curious and to point the way to further reading.
Most of us, including myself, have little need for, or the patience to read, voluminous studies, often in foreign languages, covering many eras and nations. My main interest is in the US forces, their allies and their enemies in the twentieth century.
That said, these works should be purchased as presented, in sets within the series. Since they are produced as a set, the volumes cover only relevent parts of the general history and the clothing and individual equipment is covered as it appears in each period. The French Army, US Army, British Army, and Italian Army series all have three volumes, covering the major theatres and time periods of the war. The German set has five.
The British Army set should be read in conjunction with Mike Chappell's work on British Infantry equipment and the volume on Battle Dress.
If you want an introduction to the fascinating variety of clothing and equipment of the forces covered, this set is for you.
Highly Useful and Detailed Study.......2001-12-23
This work is a splendid example of the new emphasis of the publisher on producing comprehensive works in a handy cheap format compared with the earlier broad brush treatments which covered too much in too little detail.
The new emphasis is on sets covering various national armed forces in as much detail as is available, consistent with the current purpose of the works in the series, which have evolved from an original emphasis on serving the military miniature maker market into works intended to enlighten the general reader in enough detail to satisfy the merely curious and to point the way to further reading.
Most of us, including myself, have little need for, or the patience to read, voluminous studies, often in foreign languages, covering many eras and nations. My main interest is in the US forces, their allies and their enemies in the twentieth century.
That said, these works should be purchased as presented, in sets within the series. Since they are produced as a set, the volumes cover only relevent parts of the general history and the clothing and individual equipment is covered as it appears in each period. The French Army, US Army, British Army, and Italian Army series all have three volumes, covering the major theatres and time periods of the war. The German set has five.
The German Army set should be read in conjunction with many other individual volumes covering their allies and opponents and the other German fighting forces such as the Waffen SS, and the Parachute units, which were part of the German Air Force, the Luftwaffe.
If you want an introduction to the fascinating variety of clothing and equipment of the forces covered, this set is for you.
Book Description
Photos of original uniforms worn by live models present a dynamic recreation of the army at the outbreak of WWII, through to the liberation of North West Europe in 1944-45. Brayley and Ingram have assembled a wide range of rare surviving items - some never before published - including infantry, tank crews, airborne troops, gunners, engineers and medical personnel, set in extraordinarily realistic settings. Superb!
Customer Reviews:
Highly Useful Identification Guide.......2001-11-16
The work consists mostly of large format photographs of reenactors wearing original clothing and kit of the period. (Overall size of about 8 by 10 inches.) It goes much beyond anything else I have seen except the two volume set by Jean Bouchery (c.f.) and includes not just the ordinary battle dress worn by Tommy Atkins and his officers but the specialized kit of parachutists, mountain troops (cold weather gear), motorcyclists, and other unusual garb.
Many of the plates are done in the fashion of the French magazine Militaria which is a highly useful source as well.
Not only is ithis work an identification source; it also has some developmental history and organigrammes of front line tactical units.
Splendid uniform reference.......2000-10-30
A great book for uniform buffs, lots of colour pictures. Plenty of equipment shown, although text is generally (as per the books title)related to uniforms. Captions are concise but to have expanded on them would have undoubtedly reduced the number of photographs in the book and as they say a picture is worth a thousand words. THE WW11 Brit uniform book.
A Solid Resource for Introduction Into British Militaria.......1999-12-09
I have literally memorized this book as I have poured over the pictures contained within attempting to gain a grasp of what items were used doing the period. The extent of detail in the pictures is astounding. My only negative critiques are that some rare items are only given a single photo (officer's valise and wire cutters/web pouch) and that the captions do not go into enough detail and background of many items. (I.E., the officer's valise, info on binoculars, and different manufacturers of clothing and web gear.) While I will DEFINATELY purchase their future volume on North Africa and SE Asia, I hope they go into more detail of non-uniform items. This book is a great gift idea and should be on the shelf of any WWII British militaria collector/historian's library.
Excellent plus!.......1999-07-03
A great tool for any collector of British Army WW II military uniforms and equipment. I would be lost without it.
excellent.......1999-03-25
Tremendous photographs and informative text, undoubtedly the best reference yet knocks spots of anything else on the market. Unfortunatly it is limited to Europe although this does not detract from an otherwise very good book for collectors and re-enactors. What next lads?
Customer Reviews:
Wonderful series but a strange error?.......2006-04-16
I'm a big fan of these H&C books which manage to cram an enormous amount of useful information between the covers. This one's particularly good for tables of organisation and equipment of the British forces in 1944-45 as well as vehicle markings.
There's one curious (major) apparent error in this book which also appears in the title on Canadian forces in the same series. The book seems to state on page 126 that the predominant colour of British-made vehicles in 1944-45 was Bronze Green. Every other source I've come across (even those mentioned in this book's bibliography - British Military Markings - Hodges and Taylor, British Tank Markings and Names - BT White) states that the colour was SHADE NO.15 OLIVE DRAB. This was similar to U.S. olive drab but slightly greener and was adopted so lend-lease vehicles wouldn't need repainting. Bronze Green was used in the post-war period and possibly in the last month or two of the conflict (vehicles in the VE parade had a shiny coat of bronze green) but not in the Normandy, Holland & Belgium campaigns.
Better than the Canadian volume.......2004-07-26
An excellent 2 volume set; some typos as pointed out in other reviews, and the numbers on the vehicle marking charts are missing in some cases. Still, so much information between two covers as to make this one an essential part of any library, with the obvious cautions attached as caveats.
Much reseach went into this, and many good period photos along with contemporary reconstructions. Models look a little too French (because they are) but that is a minor quibble. Worth the price and a great reference for formation organization, vehicle markings, and uniform insignia. Used in conjunction with other sources specializing on matters of insignia (Brian L. Davis or MAA 187) and uniforms (TOMMY) you can't go wrong.
5 stars for Volume 1; 3-and-a-half stars for Volume 2.......2003-06-07
Bouchery's two volume set on the Late War British Army is very useful for wargamers, historians and reenactors.
Volume 1 is especially good, with its mind-boggling number of full colour photographs of artefacts from world war 2. Ever want to know what a British Soldier's cigarette lighter looked like in 1944? - well, you can find that here. Want to know what the cap-badge of the 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division looked like? You can find a full-colour photograph in here.
Volume 2 is a little disappointing. I wasd expecting modern photographs of surviving British tanks, but the book is instead full of black-and-white photgraphs. Layout is much more haphazard and unprofessional than the previous book, with much of the space wasted. This is unlike the previous volume, which was incredibly compressed and filled with information on every page. Given these flaws, it is still useful, especially the section on British armoured formation markings, which is information that is devilishly hard to get hold of. Also the unit formation guides are quite good, if you can get past the excessive colouring-in.
Bear in mind that these volumes are hastily translated from the French, and contain many errors. Their layout generally is not very professional.
Given all that, these are still valuable books, on a subject that is rarely dealt with. Most such books talk about the German army, never the late-war British.
Maybe not to read, but definitely to look at.......2002-01-10
Volume 2 of Bouchery's very broad and deep look at the British Army in Europe from the Normandy invasion to the surrender of the Nazis has a typo on every page, and the translation is embarassingly bad. Still, its worth the [PRICE] I laid out for it, because, of its 144 pages, almost every one has a very cool photo, diagram, or chart of some British small arm, vehicle, gun, insignia, organization, or unit, and most have more than one such illustration. If you want to know what regiments were in some particular UK division in 1944 or '45, and want to see detailed photos of the weapons and vehicles those regiments were equipped with and know how many were issued to them, this book is for you.
Highly detailed and well illustrated. Excellent!.......1998-10-18
I have for some time noticed that a large number of specialist World War Two books are published in France and only in French. I have even purchased some of these and spent hours translating them page by page. It is therefore good to see that this book has been published in English.
From the opening chapter, on headgear, onwards the level of detail is superb. Each page is filled with colour photographs of equipment and detailed diagrams. By way of example four pages are devoted to the different colours of field service cap for almost every regiment in the British Army. Badges, medals, uniforms, food, webbing, even underwear are all illustrated and detailed. A chapter is devoted to Airborne uniform and equipment.
Very occasionally the translation from French can be seen in the text but the detail and otherwise excellent production quality allow the reader to ignore these small foibles.
The book covers all aspects of British army dress, individual equipment and insignia for the period from D-day to the end of the war. It stops short of including the order of battle and detailed organisation of the Army but the author assures us that these will be the subject of Volume Two in a series that I hope continues.
I recommend this book to anyone with an interest in the British Army of this period.
Average customer rating:
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Against Odds: Reflections on the Experiences of the British Army, 1914-45
Dominick Graham
Manufacturer: Palgrave Macmillan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0312215916 |
Book Description
Dominick Graham compares the performance of the British Army in the two world wars. He identifies as a source of failure in the First World War Sir Douglas Haig's inability to adopt appropriate operations for his chosen strategy, or suitable tactics for the operations. Montgomery usually avoided that mistake in the Second World War. Graham draws upon his own experience of combat to help the reader make a connection between the orders given to corps and their effect on small units.
Average customer rating:
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Battleaxe Divison: From Africa to Italy With the 78th Division 1942-45 (British Army at War)
Ken Ford
Manufacturer: Sutton Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 075093199X |
Book Description
In 1942, 78th Division was raised specifically for the North African invasion. From the time that the Division landed at Algiers there were to be few easy days, and the campaigning through Tunisia, Sicily and Italy was a tale of bitterly fought actions in a harsh terrain against a skilful enemy. In its first year of action alone, 78th Division suffered 10,000 casualties. Longstop Hill, Centuripe, Termoli, Cassino, the Gustav Line, the Argenta Gap; there was always one more river to cross, another defended mountain line to breach. Ken Ford brings out how quickly the Division developed its fighting power and shows how success resulted from an all-arms effort by infantry, amour, artillery, transport, and especially engineers. Yet it is the resilience and sacrifice of now vanished County infantry regiments that rightly form the core of the book. Using first hand accounts of men who actually fought with the 78th Division, and fully illustrated with photographs and maps, this is a fitting tribute to the soldiers of the Battleaxe Division.
Book Description
Following on from the author's previous volume British and Commonwealth Armies 1939-43, this title offers a complete guide to the organization and order-of-battle of British and Commonwealth armies for the years 1944 to 1945. The five chapters cover all main theaters of war - NW Europe incl. the Home Front; the Mediterranean; the Pacific and Far East; the Middle East and Africa; Special Forces (all theaters of war).
T.o.E.'s (Tables of Organization and Equipment) are given for all main and many minor types of formations in each theater - from 7th Armored Division in NW Europe 1944-45, to Indian airborne and infantry formations in the Far East, British SAS and SBS units in Europe and the Med., and British infantry formations in NW Europe. It even includes notes on the formations and organization planned for British forces participating in the 1946 invasions of Japan and Malaya.
Customer Reviews:
Not worth buy.......2007-03-30
Maybe author wrote in one book rather than four books on this subject. Information on Indian army is inadequate. It is better to give summary in term of manpower and equipment for each division for conclusion.
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