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Title: Defeat Into Victory by William Slim, David Hogan, W. Viscount ISBN: 0-8154-1022-0 Publisher: Cooper Square Press Pub. Date: March, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $22.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.87 (15 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A companion book to QUARTERED SAFE OUT HERE
Comment: Awhile ago, I read QUARTERED SAFE OUT HERE, the wartime memoir by George MacDonald Fraser detailing his experiences as an infantryman with the 17th Division of the 14th Indian Army as the latter pursued the retreating Japanese through Burma during the closing months of WWII. He had nothing but high praise for the army commander, Field-Marshal William Slim. This prompted me to purchase and read Slim's own account of the time and place, DEFEAT INTO VICTORY. The two books are a perfect pair for anyone interested in the India-Burma Theater of the war - perspectives from both the top and bottom of the British Army's command structure.
Slim's memoirs, first published in 1956 while he was serving as Governor General of Australia, begin with his assignment to command the 1st Burma Corps during it's desperate fighting retreat from Burma into India in 1942 after the Japanese captured Rangoon. Then later, as chief of the 14th Indian Army, he oversees the regrouping and rebuilding of the force that finally decimates the Japanese invaders at Imphal in northern India, and subsequently chases the fleeing enemy back south through Burma.
One of Slim's most notable characteristics is his evident lack of an overbearing ego. Several times in his book, he makes reference to his mistakes, errors in planning or judgement, and his deficiencies as a military commander. (Imagine that other famous British Field-Marshal of the war, the prima donna Montgomery, admitting such!) Much to his credit, Slim apparently learned hard lessons as he went along, and emerged as the better man and general for it. This, combined with his great concern for his men's morale, health, training and supply, justifies the high regard in which he was held by "rankers" such as Fraser. Churchill was wrong when he remarked, "I cannot believe that a man with a name like Slim can be much good."
The author's history of the Burma war is comprehensive - perhaps excessively so for the casual reader such as myself. His narrative includes the movement of troops as far down as battalion level, which is way more than I needed to know. Because of this, I might have awarded 4 stars instead of 5 had I been less mindful of the contribution Slim's memoir makes to the history of an almost forgotten theater of the global conflict. A keener student of the Burma campaigns is certain to appreciate these details more than I did.
Finally, there is the Field-Marshal's dry British wit, which shows all too infrequently. For example, when discussing his opposite number in the Japanese Army, Lieutenant General Kawabe, Slim writes:
"I did, however, manage to get a photograph alleged to be that of Kawabe. It showed what might have been a typical western caricature of a Japanese; the bullet head, the thick glasses, and prominent teeth were all there... When I needed cheering I looked at it and assured myself that, whichever of us was the cleverer general, even I was, at any rate, the better looking."
Rating: 4
Summary: Very good and honest appraisal of General Slim's Burma war.
Comment: British General William Slim commanded English/Indian forces
during most of the "forgotten" war in Burma from 1942 to 1945.
Slim is now regarded as the finest English general of the Second
World War (yes, better than "Monty"). In this book, written
some time after the war ended, Slim tells the reader about the
early mistakes which lead to the near total defeat
of the English army in Burma in 1942. -----
Slim's efforts to rebuild his army and then take the offensive against
the Japanese comprise the majority of the book and it makes for a
very interesting story. Considering that the terrain over which most
of the fighting occured was even worse than Vietnam, I learned a great deal.
Contrasting his experiances in Burma with the U.S. war in Vietnam is a good thought
experiment. ----
Of most interest to military historians and people interested in the Second World
War. As to personal matters the book is almost completely devoid of details. Slim
was very much the English Gentleman and all the interesting personal details of his
life you will have to find elsewhere. ----
P.S. It contains an interesting side note about the father of the Burmese
Nobel Peace Prize winner: Aung San Suu Kyi. Her father fought against the British
in conjunction with the Japanese but later turned against the Japanese when he
discovered that they were just going to be new imperial masters, even worse than
the English.
---- Colin Glassey
Rating: 5
Summary: A great book by a great general. Simple as that.
Comment: Field Marshal Viscount Slim was one of Britain's greatest generals. He must surely rank as the best British Army Commander of World War 2 and would be in with a shot that the title of Best Allied Army Commander. His memoirs should therefore be essential reading. It is a significant bonus the Slim's memoirs are among the finest memoirs ever written by a soldier.
Slim's achievements were impressive. He took a beaten and demoralised army (a true multi-ethnic Imperial army) and within two years turned it into a force that could take on the very best army units the Japanese could put in the field and beat them at their own game. He did this in some of the most difficult terrain on the planet, while languishing towards the bottom of the list of priorities when it came to handing out any kind of logistical support. He was also, by all acccounts, a genuinely nice person. He is also obscurely famous for being interviewed getting off a plane during the 1960s when Parliament was in the process of decriminalising homosexuality in Britain, when journalists were looking for views on what was then a very contentious issue. His response? "Good idea, very fair. I certainly don't mind it being legal. Just so long as it isn't compulsory."
His memoirs do not disappoint. He covers the planning and execution of the Burma campaign in exhausting detail and provides valuable insight into what went on at 14th Army HQ. He provides interesting glimpses of the other big names in the area too - Wingate, Stillwell, Mountbatten but never descends into gossip. He is invariably generous in his praise and tactful and constructive in his criticism. The book is refreshingly free of self-justification and rewriting of history, not something that could be said of the memoirs of some other generals.
Slim (probably understandably) harboured a great animus against the Japanese and this comes through in the book. He is... decidedly uncomplimentary. However, this can be contrasted with his generous and unpatronising praise of the various colonial troops under his command and his extreme irritation at the casual racism to which they were subjected by some newcomers.
Defeat into Victory is valuable on a great number of levels. Anyone interested in World War 2 in general or the Burma campaign in specific should, of course, read it. It should also be required reading for anyone who expects to command men in uniform, at whatever level. The book is full of priceless, gemlike insights into military leadership and motivation. Forget "Infantry Attacks", if there's one book to carry in your pack across deserts, over mountains and through rice paddies, this is it. Quite aside from the human aspects and frontline command, it is also valuable for drawing attention to the unglamourous but essential area of logistics (without which the British victory would have been impossible). It's also a wonderful memoir in its own right.
Look, just read it. Buy it, read it, treasure it. Seriously.
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Title: Phoenix: Burma: The Longest War 1941-1945 by Louis Allen ISBN: 1842122606 Publisher: Cassell Pub. Date: 01 August, 2000 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: The Burma Road : The Epic Story of the China-Burma-India Theater in World War II by Donovan Webster ISBN: 0374117403 Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux Pub. Date: 13 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: Seven Pillars of Wisdom : A Triumph by T.E. Lawrence ISBN: 0385418957 Publisher: Anchor Pub. Date: 01 June, 1991 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: The Generalship of Alexander the Great by J. F. C. Fuller ISBN: 0306803712 Publisher: DaCapo Press Pub. Date: September, 1989 List Price(USD): $19.00 |
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Title: Slim: The Standardbearer: A Biography of Field-Marshal the Viscount Slim (Wordsworth Military Library) by Ronald Lewin ISBN: 184022214X Publisher: Wordsworth Editions Ltd Pub. Date: September, 1999 List Price(USD): $9.99 |
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