Winston Churchill and Viceroy Linlithgow (pic 2): were they architects of stability or stubborn obstacles to change? Walter Reid breaks down the leadership dynamics that shaped India's wartime experience and the eventual path to its independence. Tune in now. #Churchill #BritishRaj #Podcast
Listeners will see our Apple Podcasts feed on their apps have now updated properly - apologies to those people affected, but you can now enjoy our discussion with Walter Reid.
Did Gandhi’s Quit India movement hamper the Allied war effort against Japan? In our latest episode, Walter Reid explores the high-stakes friction between the British Raj and Indian nationalists as the threat of invasion loomed in 1942. Essential listening! #Gandhi #WWII #HistoryPodcast
Today's #MapMonday takes me back to writing Thunder Run - the hand drawn map of Oyin found in the Probyn's Horse war diary.
Oyin is a village on the way to Meiktila from the Irrawaddy bridgehead, its significance lies in the sudden increased intensity of Japanese tank hunting parties...
Some listeners on @ApplePodcasts maybe having some trouble with our new episode today - we are working on it. The episode is on as normal on @Spotify and other apps.
Our new episode is live! Historian Walter Reid joins us for a deep dive into the 1942 Quit India movement. How did the global war collide with the domestic struggle for freedom? Listen now to The Forgotten War Podcast on all major platforms today!! #History #WWII #IndependenceDayIndia
The hardback of Thunder Run: Meiktila 1945 is 20% off the RRP on Amazon right now 👇
Tomorrow, we jump into a pivotal moment in global history. Join Jack and Rob as they welcome acclaimed historian Walter Reid to discuss India’s complex road to independence during WWII. Was British policy a failure or a necessity? Find out tomorrow!! #WWII #History #TheForgottenWarPod
For many Indian soldiers, the choice between the INA and remaining a POW was, in Gautam's words, an "impossible dilemma". Breaking a military oath was a code-shattering decision akin to breaking marriage vows. Listen to the latest episode today. #MilitaryEthics #WW2History #Podcast
History is often written by the elite, but Gautam Hazarika used 20,000 interrogation reports to hear the actual voices of the sepoys and sergeants. Discover their personal accounts of the Burma campaign in our new episode. These stories are there to be told. #History #WWII
It's #ThingThursday (it's a thing!), & is a little bit special. My great-grandfather Jasper Botten's Soldier's Small Book, his Pay Book, & a little pocket history of the 1st Royal Sussex Regt that he had clearly got from someone else. He spent the FWW on garrison duty, which maybe saved his life.
Beyond the INA, 14,000 Indian POWs went to Papua New Guinea as slave labour. Half didn’t survive the horrific conditions & Allied bombings. We honour these forgotten men & their suffering in our latest episode. In pic Jemadar Chint Singh identifying war criminals in Nov 1945 (from awm.gov.au)
The Borneo Graveyard 1941-1945 John Tulloch. Opus Publications 2020
Fascinating pod. This book tells the story of Allied personnel in Japanese captivity. Grim about sums it up. #histbookchat
Imagine escaping Singapore & walking 3,000 miles to India. Lieutenant Markandan 'Mark' Pillai refused to be a prisoner, island-hopping & trekking through the monsoon to reach safety in India by August 1942. An incredible feat of endurance that we discuss in detail on the latest show. #EscapeStory
I mentioned the last stand of the 7/10 Baluch earlier this week, and they really show that the retreat in 1942 was not just a meek rolling over by the fighting troops. Here is an extract from the war diary on 12 Feb 1942 at about 2am:
'These [Japanese] attacks came in waves. Each wave containing...
Did you know the Indian National Army began 18 months before Subhas Chandra Bose arrived? Captain Mohan Singh (pic 1) led the first INA, attempting to unite 40,000 volunteers under a single Indian identity. Hear the full story of this early movement in our latest episode. #IndianNationalArmy #WWII
Kalewa would of course be the later site of the 1400 yard (and at that time the longest) bailey bridge - nicknamed 'Grub Bridge', where the liberation of Burma really got started.
Today's #MapMonday is the Burma Army's final evacuation route - the ferry between Shwegyin & Kalewa on the Chindwin, a 6 mile meandering course where the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company steamers & requisition boats used by Force Viper helped bring the remnants of Alex & Slim's army to safety in May 1942.
I missed this due to a family emergency, but what a brilliant interview - thank you Gautam. A fascinating look at Indian POWs and the birth of the INA 👇
Out now! Gautam Hazarika joins us to discuss his new book on the 62,000 Indian soldiers captured in 1942. We explore the birth of the INA and the brutal reality of captivity across the Far East. Listen today for this truly gripping story #ForgottenWar #MilitaryHistory #WW2Podcast
Great to hear Rob!
Learning a lot I didn't know because of this podcast.
Tomorrow, we delve into the complex, hidden history of 62,000 Indian POWs from WWII. Join Rob & special guest Gautam Hazarika as he explores the "impossible dilemma" of loyalty after the fall of Singapore. It is a truly deep story of survival, sacrifice, & forgotten struggle #FEPOW #WWII #History
… Pic from the excellent ekkhaale.org of V Force member Abdul Salaam's War Service Certificate.
Though the Japanese didn't invade India in 1942, V Force ensured the frontier was never truly blind. By providing eyes & ears for the military & dominating no-man’s land, they laid the groundwork for eventual Allied victory. Hear the full analysis in S3 E6 of the pod today #History #Burma #VForce ..
The concept of "stay-behind" parties was central to V Force operations. These brave individuals remained in areas occupied by the enemy to report on Japanese movements. It was a high-stakes game of cat and mouse in the thickest monsoon jungles of the East. #WW2
(pic from the excellent ekkhaale.org)
It's #ThingThursday - and today I have gone with an original picture I bought recently showing Lee tanks of 25 Dragoons moving up towards the 'Tortoise' position in the Razabil 'Fortress', on the Mayu Range at the end of January 1944 (pic 3 aerial photo of Tortoise)
In other news: I’ve managed to get my hands on the back catalog of the British Mule Society Journal which I’ll be helping to digitise. I came across a name I did not expect to see in the index, but it all makes sense somehow:
As they helped build roads for the evacuation and then militarising of Assam & Manipur, the Tea Planters also supported V Force. In our latest episode, we discuss how civilian residents & tea estates became integral to the V Force network, providing logistical support and local expertise in a crisis
V Force wasn't just regular soldiers. It relied on the bravery of local hill tribes—the Naga,Chin&Lushai people, or people like the anthropologist Ursula Graham Bower. Their knowledge of the geography of the Burma/India frontier was the ultimate weapon against invasion. #NagaHills #BurmaWar #VForce
