In the mountains and jungles of occupied Burma during World War II,
British special forces launched a series of secret operations, assisted
by parts of the Burmese population. The men of the SOE, trained in
sabotage and guerrilla warfare, worked in the jungle, deep behind enemy
lines, to frustrate the puppet Burmese government of Ba Maw and continue
the fight against Hirohito's Japan in a theatre starved of resources.
Here, Richard Duckett uses newly declassified documents from the
National Archives to reveal for the first time the extent of British
special forces' involvement - from the 1941 operations until beyond
Burma's independence from the British Empire in 1948. Duckett argues
convincingly that `Operation Character' and `Operation Billet' - large
SOE missions launched in support of General Slim's XIV Army offensive to
liberate Burma - rank among the most militarily significant of the SOE's
secret missions. Featuring a wealth of photographs and accompanying
material never before published, including direct testimony recorded by
veterans of the campaign and maps from the SOE files, The SOE in Burma
tells a compelling story of courage and struggle in during World War II