The Forgotten War Podcast: Burma Campaign WW2
The definitive podcast about the Burma Campaign of World War Two. Join historians and authors Dr Robert Lyman MBE & Jack Bowsher as they take you through dripping monsoon and jungles, across parched plains, and over rivers and mountains sharing the incredible and often brutal story of the war against Japan in Southeast Asia.
In Series One (Spring 2025) Rob and Jack did a general broad brush narrative of the campaign.
Series Two began in June 2025 and includes interviews with historians, relatives of veterans, and plenty of narratives by Jack and Rob, all about the retreat in 1942.
Later series will be much of the same, covering anything and everything related to the Burma Campaign - or the China-Burma-India Theatre as it is known in the USA.
Sponsored by The Burma Star Memorial Fund, Sampan Travel, The Kohima Educational Trust, and Guidl.
You can follow the pod on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter (X), the handle for all is @forgottenwarpod
You can also email Rob and Jack at [email protected]
By the hosts:
Robert Lyman - Slim Master of War (2003), Japan's Last Bid for Victory (2016), A War of Empires (2021), Victory to Defeat (with General Lord Dannatt, 2023), Korea War Without End (with General Lord Dannatt, 2025), and many more.
Jack Bowsher - Forgotten Armour: Tank Warfare in Burma (2024), Thunder Run: Meiktila 1945 (2025)
Produced and Edited by Robbie Maguire
*Note from the hosts: In some episodes there may be the use of language that is outdated in the modern world. This is only ever said in the show as quotations by individuals who lived at the time when those phrases were in common usage across the world.*
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
- Update frequency
- every 6 days
- Average duration
- 51 minutes
- Episodes
- 33
- Years Active
- 2024 - 2025
8. Rumbles in the Jungles: Special Operations in Burma
In Episode 8 Rumbles in the Jungles: Special Operations in Burma, Rob and Jack take a look at the Chindit Operation Thursday and SOE's Force 136 Operation Character. The former is one of the most fam…
00:53:57 |
Mon 24 Mar 2025
7. Game of Thrones(ish) in the CBI
Rob and Jack continue their overview of the Burma Campaign by turning to the Northern Combat Area Command - the NCAC - in particular 'Vinegar Joe' Stilwell's efforts to navigate the power politics of…
00:41:52 |
Mon 17 Mar 2025
6. The Battles of Kohima
Kohima: one of the big names in Second World War history. In this episode Rob and Jack look at the epic siege and the tooth and nail battle for Kohima that followed, part of the overview of the campa…
00:43:09 |
Mon 10 Mar 2025
5. Invasion! The Battle of Imphal
This week Jack and Rob continue their overview of the Burma Campaign by looking at the Battle of Imphal - a huge battle where Slim's Fourteenth Army delivered a hammer blow to the Japanese 15th Army …
00:46:23 |
Mon 03 Mar 2025
4. First Victory: The Battle of the Admin Box
This week Jack and Rob finally have some good news! The first major victory by Fourteenth Army against the Japanese in Burma - the Second Arakan offensive and most famously the Battle of the Admin Bo…
00:41:05 |
Mon 24 Feb 2025
3. Sandwich Year: 1943
In this episode Rob and Jack discuss the sandwich year of 1943 - stuck between the defeat in 1942 and victory in 1944. Nevertheless, it was an important year, seeing the disastrous first Arakan campa…
00:53:18 |
Mon 17 Feb 2025
2. A Close Run Thing: the retreat from Burma 1942
This week Jack and Rob dive into the longest retreat in the history of the British and Indian Army, from the initial Japanese invasion, the role of Chinese troops, and the reasons for defeat. But com…
01:04:09 |
Mon 10 Feb 2025
1. Introducing The Forgotten War Pod: Burma Campaign WW2
In the first episode of The Forgotten War Pod, Jack and Rob give listeners a quick overview of the Second World War in South East Asia, the reasons for war and the Japanese invasion of Burma, and som…
00:53:00 |
Mon 03 Feb 2025
Teaser 5: Kohima: Touch and Go
In the final teaser before the first series of The Forgotten War Podcast, Jack describes the defence of Kohima.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
00:03:39 |
Mon 27 Jan 2025
Teaser 4: unbelievable leadership problems at Imphal
In this teaser, Rob describes the downright crazy leadership situation in the Japanese 15th Army before the Battle of Imphal in 1944.
For more teasers and updates before our own invasion of the airwav…
00:03:36 |
Tue 14 Jan 2025
Teaser 3: the bombing of Rangoon
Another teaser for the Forgotten War Pod - this time Rob describes the initial Japanese invasion of Burma, and the impact it had on the city of Rangoon.
For more teasers and updates before our own inv…
00:03:52 |
Tue 31 Dec 2024
Teaser 2: Japanese tactics in 1942
In another teaser for Series 1 of the Forgotten War Pod, Jack discusses Japanese tactics during the retreat in 1942.
For more teasers and updates before the balloon goes up in February make sure you…
00:03:32 |
Tue 31 Dec 2024
Teaser 1: The Kohima Epitaph
Jack and Rob discuss the origins of the Kohima Epitaph, its uses and misuses since, and other major contributions the Burma Campaign has had in the way Britain remembers the Second World War.
Hosted …
00:11:47 |
Tue 31 Dec 2024
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