Claim OwnershipThe Forgotten War Podcast: Burma Campaign WW2
Subscribed: 59Played: 1,790
Subscribe
© The Forgotten War Podcast
Description
The definitive podcast about the Burma Campaign of World War Two. Join historians and authors Dr Robert Lyman MBE & Jack Bowsher as they take you through dripping monsoon and jungles, across parched plains, and over rivers and mountains sharing the incredible and often brutal story of the war against Japan in Southeast Asia.
In Series One (Spring 2025) Rob and Jack did a general broad brush narrative of the campaign.
Series Two began in June 2025 and includes interviews with historians, relatives of veterans, and plenty of narratives by Jack and Rob, all about the retreat in 1942.
Later series will be much of the same, covering anything and everything related to the Burma Campaign - or the China-Burma-India Theatre as it is known in the USA.
Sponsored by The Burma Star Memorial Fund, Sampan Travel, The Kohima Educational Trust, and Guidl.
You can follow the pod on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter (X), the handle for all is @forgottenwarpod
You can also email Rob and Jack at forgottenwarpod@gmail.com
By the hosts:
Robert Lyman - Slim Master of War (2003), Japan's Last Bid for Victory (2016), A War of Empires (2021), Victory to Defeat (with General Lord Dannatt, 2023), Korea War Without End (with General Lord Dannatt, 2025), and many more.
Jack Bowsher - Forgotten Armour: Tank Warfare in Burma (2024), Thunder Run: Meiktila 1945 (2025)
Produced and Edited by Robbie Maguire
*Note from the hosts: In some episodes there may be the use of language that is outdated in the modern world. This is only ever said in the show as quotations by individuals who lived at the time when those phrases were in common usage across the world.*
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
53 Episodes
Reverse
Join Jack and Rob as they tackle one of the most famous stories of the Burma Campaign - Operation Longcloth, the first Chindit expedition. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this week Rob and Jack discuss the story of the very remote Naga village of Pangsha in the Second World War. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This week Jack and Rob welcome KS 'Sree' Nair to the pod to discuss the Indian Air Force - its origins and early work in the Second World War. We will of course have him back in later series to discuss the IAF up to 1945, including its change to the Royal Indian Air Force in 1945. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This week Rob and Jack are joined by Charlotte Carty, historian and granddaughter of Lt. Col. William Felix “Bruno” Brown who raised and commanded the 1st Battalion of the Assam Regiment. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This week Jack and Rob are joined by Walter Reid to discuss India and Indian Independence - a controversial topic that is thoroughly misunderstood. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Joining Rob this week is Gautum Hazarika, discussing the research behind his book The Forgotten Indian Prisoners of World War II. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This week Jack and Rob look at the defences of the Indo-Burmese border, in particular the stay-behind, watch and ward, guerrillas V Force. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Landlubbers Jack and Rob are taking off their dusty jungle boots and removing their monsoon capes to take a look at the Royal Navy in the 1942 Burma Campaign - from the Royal Marine Force Viper raiding up the Irrawaddy, to Admiral Sir James Somerville's Eastern Fleet's shadow boxing with Admiral Nagumo's 2nd and 5th Carrier Divisions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Amateurs talk tactics, professionals talk logistics: in this episode Jack and Rob talk about preparing Assam and Manipur for war - including the incredible effort by the Assam Tea Association. Their vital work not only made it easier to defend an invasion, but would also be needed if Japan were to be pushed out of Burma in the future. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This week Jack and Rob go through the extraordinary and harrowing tale of John 'Tim' Finnerty, a subaltern in the 1st Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers and one action at the Battle of Yenangyaung, April 1942. This episode was recorded at the same time as our last episode 'Last Ditchers' but Jack and Rob waffled on too long, and so the FWP team split it into two parts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this episode, Jack and Rob explore the annotated diary of Bernard Kane, a last ditcher out of Rangoon demolishing telecoms equipment. His story is really quite extraordinary.This was recorded with another story but Jack and Rob got so into it, that the FWP team decided to split it into a two parter - hear thedramatic story of Major John Finnerty, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, next week. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This week Jack and Rob are going back to 1942 to cover the air war, having missed it out last series. You may detect that Jack is rather taken by the Flying Tigers ... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
We are back! Jack and Rob get right into the detail of the pre-war Indian Army, mostly because they realised they should have done it much earlier! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Hear Jack and guest-host Lucy Betteridge-Dyson at IWM Podcast Live Festival doing Burma 1945 in 45 minutes!This was recorded in less than ideal recording conditions, but Robbie has done heroic work to get it as listenable as possible. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This week Jack and Rob sit down with Levison Wood and Alex Bescoby about their brilliant new documentary: The Last Burma Star. Catch it on release day Sun 9 November at 9pm on Sky History, or on catch up afterwards. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This week Jack and Rob answer your questions that have built up over the last 20 weeks! At the end Jack and Rob also give a quick run down of the future of the pod. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This week Rob and Jack welcome the fascinating David Tanner - author of Burma 1942: Memories of a Retreat, the Diary of Ralph Tanner, KOYLI. David co-wrote the book with his father who was with 2 KOYLI in the retreat in 1942, but also worked in Japan in the 1970s and 80s, where his father visited. This is a fascinating chat reflecting on the retreat from Burma. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Rob hit gold when he was recently gifted an unpublished memoir/diary by Eric Lambert, who, among other things, played a fascinating role in helping get the Chinese 5 Army out of the Hukawng Valley - the Valley of Death. This week Rob and Jack discuss his chapter on this topic, and the retreat of Chinese 5 Army. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This week Jack and Rob discuss the human cost of the retreat in 1942 with the wonderful Felicity Goodall, author of Exodus Burma! The British Escape Through the Jungles of Death. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
1This week Rob and Jack welcome Hannah Watson, author of The Jungle War, to discuss the retreat from Burma and the challenges of presenting the subject in a book aimed at children and adults alike! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Comments
Download from Google Play
Download from App Store
United States