Air War for Burma: The Allied Air Forces Fight Back in South-East Asia 1942-1945 (The Bloody Shambles Series, Vol. 3) [Hardcover]

Christopher Shores (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2005

In his monumental work Bloody Shambles, Volume Two, Christopher Shores described in detail the British retreat out of Burma, culminating at the end of May 1942. The monsoon then brought operations on land and in the air virtually to a halt for several months as the British and Indian forces prepared to re-take Burma. The Japanese however, had very different ideas. Air War for Burma picks up the story from the beginning of June 1942 and follows the hardfought campaigns through to the end of the war in August 1945. Here the activities of the RAF and USAAF during the desperate fighting of 1942-44, resulting ultimately in victories at Imphal and Kohima, are fully recounted. No less a forgotten air force than was the 14th 'Forgotten Army', the RAF particularly was denied the most modern and effective aircraft until late in the fighting, struggling to survive with obsolescent equipment against frequently superior Japanese machines. Described herein are the operations during the First and Second Arakan Campaigns; support for the Chindits in their long-range penetrations deep into enemy-held territory; the savage sieges of Imphal and Kohima; and the final victorious advance across the plains of Central Burma to Mandalay and Rangoon. Detailed also are the activities over the Indian Ocean and the East Indies of the Royal Navy's aircraft carriers and the aircrews of the Fleet Air Arm. Painstakingly researched from official sources, log books, letters and interviews, this is far and away the best reference work on the subject, and completes the set.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: Grub Street; 1st edition (June 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1904010954
• ISBN-13: 978-1904010951
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #964,573 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fitting Conclusion to a Definitive Air War Trilogy!, January 13, 2007

By 

Michael OConnor "Wordsmith" (Wausau, WI USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Air War for Burma: The Allied Air Forces Fight Back in South-East Asia 1942-1945 (The Bloody Shambles Series, Vol. 3) (Hardcover)

Christopher Shores' monumental history of the air war in Southeast Asia from 1942 to 1945 wraps up with this Grubb Street volume covering "the long road back" following the British defeat in Burma. Marked by impeccable research, this volume and the others in the BLOODY SHAMBLES set constitute the definitive story of that little-known air campaign.

Picking up immediately after the British retreat from Burma, Shores charts the Allies regrouping, resurgence and ultimate triumph over the Japanese. The Southeast Asia theater was considered a backwater by the Allied High Command, British Southeast Asia air units making do, for example, with Mohawks, Blenheims and Hurricanes for far too long. Eventually re-equipped with modern aircraft like Spits, Mosquitoes and Beaufighters, RAF units were joined by USAAF units flying P-51s, B-25s, B-24s, etc. in supporting Allied ops such as the Arakan campaigns, support of the Chindits and Merrill's Marauders and the push into Burma.

Shores crams a lot of information into 381 pages of text but AIR WAR FOR BURMA is eminently readable. (Appendices take up another 46 pages). The volume features over 220 photographs, many previously unpublished, along with area maps.

Though other books have dealt with this subject over the years, Shores' trilogy will stand the test of time as being the definitive account. His research into and use of official British, Japanese and American records along with personal reminiscences combine to produce a fresh, comprehensive and factual account of a geographically wide-ranging air campaign.

This is military aviation history at its finest.

*****

An aside: In reading AIR WAR FOR BURMA, it was eye-opening to read of the over-claiming that resulted from the air combats fought. By utilizing Allied records and surviving Japanese records, Shores was able to uncover and present the first accurate account of those long-ago combats.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Account of a Forgotten Theatre of WW II, June 2, 2008

By 

James D. Mitchell (Detroit, MI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Air War for Burma: The Allied Air Forces Fight Back in South-East Asia 1942-1945 (The Bloody Shambles Series, Vol. 3) (Hardcover)

What can be said about a account of a forgotten area of WW II. This book covers the Allied Air Operations from 1942 thru 1945 in a part of the
world that rarely gets any coverage in ANY World War II publication.
And it is a quite detailed account of the day to day operations of the men
and aircraft involved. The author excels in this with spades, as does his other publications. Well worth the price.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Air War For Burma, April 8, 2011

By 

S. Douglas - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Air War for Burma: The Allied Air Forces Fight Back in South-East Asia 1942-1945 (The Bloody Shambles Series, Vol. 3) (Hardcover)

I enjoyed Bloody Shambles Volume 1 and Volume 2. It was just as well this book was not labeled Volume 3, because it is nothing like the first two books, as it lacks all the variety of interviews and stories included in the first two volumes, which made them great. All-in-all a big disappointment.