July 2024 

In early 1942 one of the most disastrous defeats of the war saw British forces pushed out of Burma, now known as Myanmar. Two years later, the multi-national Fourteenth Army, the ‘Forgotten Army’, had learned to fight and beat the Japanese, inflicting their largest defeat of the war at Imphal and Kohima, and was poised to begin the reconquest of Burma.

This turnaround had much to do with bitter experience gained in close combat, and superb logistics, but an important element was detailed intelligence, which allowed the Allies to seize control of the skies and control the battle below. 

In this ‘It Happened Here’ episode, Research Officer Dr Thomas Cheetham leads us through the transformations at Bletchley Park, at signals intelligence centres in South-East Asia, and on the front lines, which turned defeat into victory.

This episode features the following from our Oral History archive:

Pat Johnston

Stephen Freer

Edward Simpson

Mary Every

Eric Rhodes

Image: © The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force (Public Domain)

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