Osprey Campaign 136 : Meiktila 1945 : The Battle to Liberate Burma

In the spring of 1944, the Japanese 15th Army was shattered at Imphal and Kohima, allowing General William Slim, commander of 14th Army, to liberate Burma overland from India - a task considered impossible by the British chiefs of staff. With a massive deception plan and overcoming immense logistical problems, Slim coordinated a precisely timed attack along a 200-mile front, the longest opposed river crossing of the entire war, and an armoured dash behind enemy lines that seized Meiktila, cutting Japanese supply lines. Mandalay fell and at the end of March 1945, with the battle lost, the Japanese withdrew south to Rangoon. Slim gave them no chance and Allied troops raced south to beat the Japanese, and the monsoon, to Rangoon. The Japanese army in Burma was finished. Text by Edward Young with illustrations by Howard Gerrard.

Contents

• Origins of the Campaign
• Chronology
• Opposing Commanders
• Opposing Armies
• Opposing Plans
• The Advance to the Irrawaddy
• The Attack on Meiktila
• The Defence of Meiktila
• Aftermath
• The Battlefield Today
• Bibliography
• Index