Share

cover art for 4. First Victory: The Battle of the Admin Box

The Forgotten War Podcast: Burma Campaign WW2

4. First Victory: The Battle of the Admin Box

Season 1, Ep. 4

This week Jack and Rob finally have some good news! The first major victory by Fourteenth Army against the Japanese in Burma - the Second Arakan offensive and most famously the Battle of the Admin Box, in February 1944. The Japanese intended to distract Slim by attacking Arakan just before the invasion of India, but fell upon newly retrained troops determined to fight it out rather than retreat.

More episodes

View all episodes

  • 11. 11. Thunder Runs! Meiktila & Mandalay

    01:11:14||Season 1, Ep. 11
    This week Jack and Rob discuss two crucial battles, Meiktila and Mandalay, from the perspective of two generals: Thomas 'Pete' Rees, and David 'Punch' Cowan. Aggressive commanders, they were the right men for the right jobs, in an epic campaign that destroyed the Japanese Burma Area Army. A tale of drama, deception, endurance, and heroism - do not miss it!
  • 10. 10. Third Time Lucky: Arakan 1944-45

    44:53||Season 1, Ep. 10
    This week Jack and Rob look at the third attempt to breakthrough in Arakan. Picking up from just after the Admin Box, they look at the 81st West African Division's epic campaign in the Kaladan Valley, as well as Akyab and Ramree Islands and the brutal fight over Hill 170.
  • 9. 9. Flying Tigers to Dakotas: Air Power and the Burma Campaign

    01:06:32||Season 1, Ep. 9
    This week Jack and Rob discuss one of the most important aspects of the Burma Campaign: the air war. Success was built on air power, Slim's strategy from the end of 1943 to the of the war relied on aerial resupply in an air supremacy environment. The Hump, Admin Box, Kohima, Imphal, and the thunder run to Meiktila in 1945 all relied this all important supply line.
  • 8. 8. Rumbles in the Jungles: Special Operations in Burma

    53:57||Season 1, Ep. 8
    In Episode 8 Rumbles in the Jungles: Special Operations in Burma, Rob and Jack take a look at the Chindit Operation Thursday and SOE's Force 136 Operation Character. The former is one of the most famous events in the history of the war in Burma, and the other is one of the most forgotten of all.
  • 7. 7. Game of Thrones(ish) in the CBI

    41:52||Season 1, Ep. 7
    Rob and Jack continue their overview of the Burma Campaign by turning to the Northern Combat Area Command - the NCAC - in particular 'Vinegar Joe' Stilwell's efforts to navigate the power politics of the CBI theatre between the USA, China and Britain.
  • 6. 6. The Battles of Kohima

    43:09||Season 1, Ep. 6
    Kohima: one of the big names in Second World War history. In this episode Rob and Jack look at the epic siege and the tooth and nail battle for Kohima that followed, part of the overview of the campaign that his Series 1. Including whether it was really a battle worth fighting for Sato and his men.
  • 5. 5. Invasion! The Battle of Imphal

    46:23||Season 1, Ep. 5
    This week Jack and Rob continue their overview of the Burma Campaign by looking at the Battle of Imphal - a huge battle where Slim's Fourteenth Army delivered a hammer blow to the Japanese 15th Army in its invasion of India.
  • 3. 3. Sandwich Year: 1943

    53:18||Season 1, Ep. 3
    In this episode Rob and Jack discuss the sandwich year of 1943 - stuck between the defeat in 1942 and victory in 1944. Nevertheless, it was an important year, seeing the disastrous first Arakan campaign, Fourteenth Army eventually created, and Operation Longcloth.