{"title":"Books by Jack Bowsher","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9781916556904","title":"Forgotten Armour","description":"Forgotten Armour is a new appraisal of the role of tanks in India and Burma in the Second World War.  Often regarded primarily as an infantryman's war in dense jungle and through monsoon conditions, The book shows that this is far from the whole story.  Using original research from places such as the National Archives, eyewitness testimony, and official histories, as well as more recent academic studies.Beginning with the failure to fully mechanise the interwar Indian Army, and tracing the development of armoured training, logistics and tactics, Forgotten Armour tells the story of the Second World War in India and Burma from the cramped interior of tanks.   It will show that much of the effort of the war was built around getting armour to the front and keeping it there.  Once tanks arrived, and bunker busting methods were devised, armour proved decisive in their encounters against the Japanese, and saved countless Allied lives.  It is time to remember the forgotten army's forgotten armour.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":56308970979701,"sku":"9781916556904","price":11.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":57685840363893,"sku":"9781916556386","price":23.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781916556904.jpg?v=1792599047"},{"product_id":"thunder-run-meiktila-1945","title":"Thunder Run: Meiktila 1945","description":"Many histories of the Burma Campaign climax with the incredible battles of Imphal and Kohima in 1944. The reconquest of Burma that followed in 1945 is often, taken for granted: ‘it was just mopping up’. It reality it was the culmination of the journey that the British and Indian armies had gone through since December 1941. This was achieved without the lavish scale of materiel afforded in other theatres, in a location that posed varied and extreme geographical challenges. This campaign, especially around the Japanese supply hub at the town of Meiktila, should be the stuff of legend in our collective memory of the Second World War.  Had it been carried out by Monty, Patton, Rommel, or Zhukov, it would be as well-known as the battles of France, Alamein, the Bulge, Kursk, or Overlord.  Yet it is the most incredible battle that you’ve never heard of.  It was the culmination of all-arms manoeuvre warfare in the Second World War: tanks, motorised infantry, self-propelled artillery and air support charging across the dusty dry belt of central Burma, striking the Japanese Burma Area Army by surprise in unexpected places. Outnumbered and surrounded, 17th Indian Infantry Division and 255th Indian Tank Brigade annihilated their enemy in the battle that really finished the Japanese in Southeast Asia.This is Thunder Run: Meiktila 1945.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57492239516021,"sku":"9781917837866","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781917837866.jpg?v=1786529069"},{"product_id":"tanks-in-the-burma-campaign-1942-45","title":"Tanks in the Burma Campaign 1942–45","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA fully illustrated survey of tank warfare in the Burma campaign, and how the Allies developed tank-led all-arms warfare in the most unlikely theatre.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe role of Fourteenth Army’s tanks in Burma is one of the least-known aspects of the ‘Forgotten War’. From February 1942 to May 1945, as the British and Indian armies fought first in retreat and then on the offensive, armour was key to battling Japanese infantry, bunkers, and anti-tank guns.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJack Bowsher draws on years of research to assess how tank warfare developed in Burma, starting with the improvised heroics of 7th Armoured Brigade, who were diverted suddenly to its defence. Their first offensive use was in 1943 at First Arakan; although a disaster, this was the catalyst for transforming armour in the theatre. In 1944, equipped with more powerful medium tanks, armoured units were decisive in turning back the \u003ci\u003eU-Go\u003c\/i\u003e invasion of India: at Imphal and Kohima incredible efforts were made to get tanks into action in the mountains where they overwhelmed the Japanese. By 1945 tanks were spearheading Fourteenth Army’s offensive, most notable in the Battle of Meiktila, where all-arms columns, led by the 255th Indian Tank Brigade, struck the Japanese 80 miles behind the front line.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePacked with original illustrations of the tanks involved and archive combat photos, this is an essential guide to how tanks proved themselves in the difficult terrain of Burma.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57504996229493,"sku":"9781472876317","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781472876317.jpg?v=1786953916"},{"product_id":"fighting-retreat-burma-1942","title":"Fighting Retreat: Burma 1942","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAn enthralling new study of the brutal British retreat from Burma, the beginning of World War II in the Far East.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eUsing eyewitness accounts and based on meticulous research, World War II historian Jack Bowsher examines the pivotal Burma campaign of 1942. In the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japan invaded Burma in an effort to cut China off from American supplies, and chased the disoriented British and Indian forces out of the country: the longest fighting retreat by British forces in its entire history.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eFighting Retreat\u003c\/i\u003e is a story of human drama featuring narrow escapes, heroism, near-misses, mistakes, failures, victories, tactical flair, ingenuity, and tragedy. It follows the initial Japanese invasion, the disaster at the Sittang Bridge, the parallel battles up the Sittang and Irrawaddy valleys, the fighting in central Burma, and the final retreat into India. From commanders at the top down to the lowliest foot solider, this is a compelling account (of the outbreak of World War II in Burma.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57593920946549,"sku":"9781472875532","price":25.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}]}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-jack-bowsher.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}