Defeat Into Victory: Battling Japan in Burma and India, 1942-1945

It has become fashionable inside the business community to laud the efforts of certain military leaders and their emulation as a route towards supposed success. And so we have biographies on Patton and Schwartzkof purporting certain lessons that "business people" can learn from the greats --- though in the case above, the one a prima donna, and the latter achieving the military equivalant of a heavywieght prizefighter beating up a toddler, one wonders what we are learning. Slim will probably never figure in a business seminar, but he certainly should. He was a person schooled in utter defeat and the lessons it teaches people. These lessons expressed in Slim's downhome, honest self-effacing style are really things that one can imbibe -- and learn a great chunk of military history to boot. Slim was wary of theory over experience. Even in defeat he tried things first to see if they would work after making plans to implement then. During his retreat from Burma in 1942, he ran a test convoy up the roads with exactly the same wieght vehicles as he would withdraw in the future. This allowed him to see what would happen when he eventually had to retreat down the same road -- the importance of the dry run. For Wingate fans you will find no blind adulation. Slim rightly recognised from a aerial perpective the waste of inserting men 100s of mile behind Japanese lines, rightfully insisting that they be better used and less expensively equipped as a regular fighting division. In the end he was proved right. A lesson in efficiency planning --- getting the best bang for you buck. Slim kept a lean chain of command and did away with several levels inside his Army HQ, he refused to have a Chief-of-Staff as had recently been adopted by the British from the Americans. He was able to also cobble together chains of command that may have looked wierd on paper, but worked. His relationship with "Vinegar Joe" Stillwell the ascerbic American General who hated "limeys." Makes great reading. Slim alone in the entire British Command could handle him. Personal courage was also not found wanting. He was frequently near the front and made it his duty to make sure that he had strong intelligence of the Japanese and a personal respect for them as fighting "insects." Noticably disturbed by Japanese attrocities against prisoners and wounded, he continually uses words of respect when describing Japanese resistance which was fantatical, yet "magnificent." Others, such a Wingate would learn this later in hard lessons. Besides the fighting, Stillwell had to supply an Army spread over 800 miles of Jungle at the end of supply lines thousands of miles long, with virtually no roads, in some cases only jungle tracks operating as the lines of communication. He did this a large part with American help and British self-sufficiency. But is was Slim's decisions that allowed those best suited for the positions to get on with the business of supply. And where he could not purchase such equipment, they improvised, such as in rivercraft and jute parachutes. Most importantly he recognised that one can never insist on 100% perfection in battle (nor business),both are adaptive to the situation and one perpares as best as one can, but it is more important to plan for imperfection and dealing with situations, rather than to insist on everything going to plan. Slim knew that the Japanese in Arakan and Imphal would cut off the forward British/Indian Army elements. He made no plan to hold at all places. He realised however that if British troops could pull into tough defensive positions supplied by air that mobile forces striking from the rear would eventually exhaust the Japanese offensive as they outstretched their lines of communication. Slim has probably the ultimate recipe to maintain espirit de corps: it is well laid out and easy to understand. He identifies it as a common goal that everyone can buy into. He states that the material needs of troops for good morale are "last, important, but clearly last." He realised that fancy weapons, or fantastic incentive programmes can only supplement morale, the cannot built it. There is also the combat story between the covers and Slim's personal confrontation with his inner being, failure has a way of stripping away a man's defences and forcing him to look at what he really is... and Slim was obviously on the edge at least once. But then he pulls it together and soldiers on... one is enlightened by his honesty and the plain humanity of the man, a trait almost never found in the overt ego-feeding extravaganzas of business and military biographies stocking the shelves of bookstore "Business Sections". A great biography that entertains with majesty and adventure and teaches us something about the rigours of command and how good leaders lead, without the theory, without the ego -- just Bill Slim, simple teacher from Northern England who found himself a soldier and, through Defeat turned his forgotten Army and forgotten campaign into the western allies greatest Victory....but if the US could come close to producing leaders half as great.

I have now read 11 books on this campaign (some more than once). Here is my summary: The Burma campaign was the longest and most complex campaign of the whole of WW II, and it is very difficult to follow, especially since most books have poor maps which increases the difficulty. (Maps simply didn't exist for Burma; the Japs used captured British maps) Complete accounts: 1.Defeat into Victory by General Slim. This the best and authoritative account of the whole campaign. 2. Slim as Military Commander by Geoffrey Evans. Good account of campaign with some good maps; particularly of Southern Burma. 3. Burma, The longest war by Louis Allen; with good Japanese perspectives. Biographies: 4. Uncle Bill by Russell Miller (the authorised biography) 5. Slim the Standard Bearer by Ronald Lewin 6. Slim, Master of War by Robert Lyman Individual Battles: 7. Triumph at Imphal-Kohima by Raymond Callahan 8. Three books in the Osprey Campaign series a. Imphal, The Japanese invasion of India by Kemant Singh Katoch b. Kohima, The battle that saved India by Robert Lyman c. Meiktila 1945, The battle to liberate Burma by Edward M Young These are all great books and well worth reading, but a few comments: My favorite biography was Slim the Standard Bearer, by Ronald Lewin. Burma, the longest war (by Allen) gives unique perspectives on the Japanese Army, and contains the only full account of the Breakout (the Japs really suffered). There were, in fact (not counting the Chindit operations), 5 major battles followed by a rapid advance to Rangoon chasing the Japs all the way (the longest salient in WW II). But there was intense non-stop fighting between these battles harrying the retreating Japs so that they could not rest and establish themselves. The overriding take-aways are four: 1. Slim's logistical genius, which is really what defeated the Japs. 2. Slims humanity 3. The surprising (to me) courage and endurance of the Indian Army (as Slim put it, they won the war) 4. The affirmation that the Ghurkha's are probably the best and bravest infantry soldiers in the world. motto: "Better to die than look a coward" Battles: 1. First Arakan 1942 2. Second Arakan (Ngakyedauk) 1943 3. Imphal + Kohima 1944 4. Mandalay + Meiktila 1945 5. Advance to Rangoon (the longest salient in WWII) 6. The Breakout (Japs trying to get out of the Pegu Yomas hills to get to Rangoon during the monsoon) The Osprey campaign books: Kohima and Imphal are excellent accounts of those battles with wonderful maps that improve the reading of the other books (highly recommended). You won't really understand these battles without these books. The Osprey account of Meiktila is not so good, but at least the maps are good. My recommendation for first time readers is to start with "Triumph at Imphal-Kohima"; particularly chapters 2, which gives a good summary of the history of the Indian Army, and chapter 3 which gives a good summary of Slim. Then read Slim's masterpiece. I also recommend Allen's, the Longest War. Finally, it seems that none of the reviewers understood Slim's objective; it was NOT to regain territory, Burmese or Indian (for the Empire), but to annihilate the Japanese Army; he succeeded.

the best part of this book is the after thoughts section at the end. it's an interesting read of the campaign in burma but it gets kind of tedious with the chase of the japanese army . it was published in 1956 but apparently no one in the us army bothered to read it.

Field Marshal Slim's excellent memoire of the fighting against the Japanese in Burma and India during 1942-1945 is remarkable on at least two counts. First, the Allied armies were badly beaten and hustled unceremoniously out of Burma in 1942, yet reorganized in time to defend India and went on to liberate Burma in 1945. This feat was all the more remarkable for being fought over some of the most rugged jungle and mountain terrain in the world, under often horrendous weather conditions, at the distant end of the Allied supply lines. Second, Slim's account is exceptionally candid with respect to his leadership, to include mistakes made (his and others), to his opinions of his allies and opponents, and to the political wrangling that goes on in any coalition military effort. The China-Burma-India Theater of World War II did not include large numbers of American ground forces, and has therefore been left largely in the shadows of the fighting in Europe and the Pacific theater. However, the Allied forces inflicted a massive military defeat on the Japanese Army under extraordinarily difficult conditions; there is much to learn from the common sense, improvisational approach employed by Slim in planning and organizing his campaigns. Slim arrived in the theater as a brand new corps commander just at the start of the Japanese invasion. His efforts to cobble together a defense were repeatedly overturned by the relentless Japanese attack and by the scarcity of resources. Slim managed to extract his forces and in successive positions as corps and army commander, rebuilt them into the force that went back into Burma. Slim's account is comprehensive, even exhaustive, describing both the operational-level planning and administrative support and much of the tactical level fighting in the jungles. His high regard for his multi-national army, composed of British, Gurkha, Indian, Chinese, and American forces, and his care for their morale is evident throughout his account. "Defeat Into Victory" is a long read at over 550 pages; the casual reader may be overwhelmed by the length and level of detail. The student of military art without prior background in the China-Burma-India theater may have some challenge putting Slim's account into proper context. The limited selection of maps are a bit difficult to read but enable the reader to follow the course of the campaigns. This book is very highly recommended to the student of the military art looking for a very readable account of the Allied campaigns in Burma. Those who persist to the end will be rewarded by Slim's retrospective on the fighting in Burma and the surprisingly modern conclusions he draws from the experience.

Field Marshall Slim is not a familiar WWII military leader for most Americans. But Slim is likely the best general the war produced for the Allied cause. His autobiography is a must read for anyone who wants to study leadership at war. Slim was challenged more than most generals, with a varied force of different nationalities, featuring different religions (and different diets), languages, and vastly different cultural attitudes (not all sympathetic to a British leader). He was not the beneficiary of an ample and reliable logistic system as most were in other theaters, and was always devising unique and creative ways to solve the problems of shortages, such as using jute in lieu of silk for parachutes. His achievements in driving the Japanese out of Burma should be studied by any serious student of WWII. Slim's forces had to fight across several major rivers, struggle through mountains covered in forest and jungle, deal with malaria and a multitude of tropical diseases, scrounge boats (and build them!) for amphibious operations, rely on air power for a substantial contribution to supply, and conduct numerous behind the line operations to isolate enemy forces. He was a master of deceit, using his detailed intelligence operations and knowledge of the Japanese opposing him, to wrong foot them constantly. He was careful with his forces, avoiding frontal attacks so favored by the unprepared and foolish, trained his forces constantly for different operations, and was always in the front lines to provide personal contact with his troops. I would strongly recommend this book, and encourage the reader to supplement it with whatever videos they can find where Slim speaks of his lessons on leadership.

Field Marshall Slim was ordered from Iraq to Burma to take command of the front in the upcoming Burma debacle. Under Wavell first, and Auchinlek later, he retreated with the Commonwealth armies into India, and later on led the allied armies into victory against the Japanese forces. His writing is clear, concise, and he does not spare himself from criticism, Often after describing an order he gave, or wished he had given, he will go on to explain how his plan was a mistake, and how he should have done it instead. This is precious insight on the mind of the commander. In many first person war stories, we are told what happened, but not why, and when errors are committed, there is always a lot of blame sharing. Here it is different. Slim tells you what he did wrong, when, and why. This is refreshing. He shows great respect for his enemy, and describes the enemy's gallant attacks and heroic defenses with respect and appreciation for the heroism of the Japanese soldier. He does not fail to condemm the Japanese war crimes. He exhibits great wit in describing the different attitudes of the Indian, Sikh and Gurkha soldiers. In one instance, after a Japanese attack in Inphal, some Gurkhas had been ordered to bury the enemy bodies. One of these wasn't dead yet, so the Gurkha trooper gets ready to cut the enemy's head off with his Kukri knife; a British officer tells him "Don't kill him!", and the Gurkha answers "But sir, we can't bury him alive!" Episodes like this give a great sense of realism and "being there" to the whole story. The best book I've read to date on the Burma front.

As a history buff, I admit I was somewhat deficient in my studies of the Burma campaign (having only read Stilwell's diary which I enjoyed). Field Marshall Slim was as talented a writer as he was a field commander. The bitter rear-guard fight to extract his command in as good an order as was humanly possible while being harassed and strafed by the Japanese--who vastly outnumbered them--so that his army might live to fight another day, is a study of human endurance under extreme difficulty. General Slim was the type of fellow--rare amongst the self-absorbed commanders who many times use post-war recollections as an exercise in blame-shifting and as a vehicle to burnish reputations (I'm looking at you, Omar Bradley)--who lays bare the mistakes he made, admits them freely and takes full stock of the consequences of those mistakes. I'm only a few chapters in and still in the "Defeat" stage of this memoir. "Defeat Into Victory" is a page-turner and it won't take me long to devour it through the "Victory" phase.

This is a book as much about leadership in difficult times across multiple cultures, races and languages. Slim builds an effective army even as he is retreating following the defeat with the Japanese invasion of Burma. For hundreds of miles of falling back he assesses the leadership skills of his subordinates and troops. Finally in India he rebuilds the army of African, Indian, British, American, Chinese and other organizations into a confident, victorious army. While the stories of battle, strategies and tactics are well discussed, it’s the leadership skills that come across most clearly. Slim recognizes the strength and weaknesses of his subordinates and uses their strengths to win battles. He also recognizes his mistakes and corrects them in time. I would recommend this to anyone seeking to understand what leadership is really about.

Thus book was a masterpiece of the explanation and almost a,diary of the day to day struggle in Burma, from both sides in the conflict. The defeats and successes ofxthe campaign were gripping to read. One of the best by one of the best tactical officers of the war. A must read and although long, it could not be shortened because of the very complexity of the campaign.

This must be one of the great unsung feats in the history of warfare. While military history records are full of events from Europe, North Africa and even the Pacific campaign, the fighting in Burma was among the most desperate, resourceful and innovative.

Eu nao tinha ideia de quanto os ingleses apanharam na Asia, eu projetava a vitoria final sobre todo o calendario

The book quality is actually very good ,the page quality is also good. Quite a difficult book for those who are new to this type of literatures but you would love to read it.

A good read. Little written about this Battle arena, glad I bought it. Arrived in good shape as a 'secondhand' book. Would buy from this dealer again if situation arose.