Victory over Japan Day

[daftandbarmy]

Let's not forget 436 Squadron flying in support of 14th Army.

George MacDonald Fraser, author of the Flashman series, served in the Border Regiment in 14th Army in the last year of the war and I highly recommend his memoir of that time, Quartered Safe out Here. His semi-fictional MacAuslan stories of his post war service after being commissioned in the Gordon Highlanders doing garrison duty in North Africa are, in sharp contrast, hilarious.

"No one underestimated Jap: he might be a subhuman creature who tortured and starved prisoners of war to death, raped women captives, and used civilians for bayonet practice, but there was no braver soldier in the whole history of war, and if he fought to a finish..."

- GM Fraser

 

[MacNav63]

Also just read Skies of Thunder, primarily about he USAAF and the Hump but also the reopening of the Burma Road and, to an extent, the air supply of ground forces in the theater. Felt like it needed a bit more editing but still a good insight into the challenges of operating in that part of the world and flying Dakotas over the Himalayas.

 

[Rifleman62]

My wife's Uncle was a Nav with 436 Sqn in Burma. Later Sqn Lead Nav.

 

[OldSolduer]

"No one underestimated Jap: he might be a subhuman creature who tortured and starved prisoners of war to death, raped women captives, and used civilians for bayonet practice, but there was no braver soldier in the whole history of war, and if he fought to a finish..."

- GM Fraser

The Japanese are like everyone else except more so.

Dan Carlin Hardcore History episodes about the Japanese in the Pacific