Listeners will see our Apple Podcasts feed on their apps have now updated properly - apologies to those people affected, but you can now enjoy our discussion with Walter Reid.

Did Gandhi’s Quit India movement hamper the Allied war effort against Japan? In our latest episode, Walter Reid explores the high-stakes friction between the British Raj and Indian nationalists as the threat of invasion loomed in 1942. Essential listening! #Gandhi #WWII #HistoryPodcast

Today's #MapMonday takes me back to writing Thunder Run - the hand drawn map of Oyin found in the Probyn's Horse war diary. Oyin is a village on the way to Meiktila from the Irrawaddy bridgehead, its significance lies in the sudden increased intensity of Japanese tank hunting parties...

Some listeners on @ApplePodcasts maybe having some trouble with our new episode today - we are working on it. The episode is on as normal on @Spotify and other apps.

Our new episode is live! Historian Walter Reid joins us for a deep dive into the 1942 Quit India movement. How did the global war collide with the domestic struggle for freedom? Listen now to The Forgotten War Podcast on all major platforms today!! #History #WWII #IndependenceDayIndia

The hardback of Thunder Run: Meiktila 1945 is 20% off the RRP on Amazon right now 👇

Tomorrow, we jump into a pivotal moment in global history. Join Jack and Rob as they welcome acclaimed historian Walter Reid to discuss India’s complex road to independence during WWII. Was British policy a failure or a necessity? Find out tomorrow!! #WWII #History #TheForgottenWarPod

For many Indian soldiers, the choice between the INA and remaining a POW was, in Gautam's words, an "impossible dilemma". Breaking a military oath was a code-shattering decision akin to breaking marriage vows. Listen to the latest episode today. #MilitaryEthics #WW2History #Podcast

History is often written by the elite, but Gautam Hazarika used 20,000 interrogation reports to hear the actual voices of the sepoys and sergeants. Discover their personal accounts of the Burma campaign in our new episode. These stories are there to be told. #History #WWII

It's #ThingThursday (it's a thing!), & is a little bit special. My great-grandfather Jasper Botten's Soldier's Small Book, his Pay Book, & a little pocket history of the 1st Royal Sussex Regt that he had clearly got from someone else. He spent the FWW on garrison duty, which maybe saved his life.

Beyond the INA, 14,000 Indian POWs went to Papua New Guinea as slave labour. Half didn’t survive the horrific conditions & Allied bombings. We honour these forgotten men & their suffering in our latest episode. In pic Jemadar Chint Singh identifying war criminals in Nov 1945 (from awm.gov.au)

Fascinating pod. This book tells the story of Allied personnel in Japanese captivity. Grim about sums it up. #histbookchat

Imagine escaping Singapore & walking 3,000 miles to India. Lieutenant Markandan 'Mark' Pillai refused to be a prisoner, island-hopping & trekking through the monsoon to reach safety in India by August 1942. An incredible feat of endurance that we discuss in detail on the latest show. #EscapeStory

I mentioned the last stand of the 7/10 Baluch earlier this week, and they really show that the retreat in 1942 was not just a meek rolling over by the fighting troops. Here is an extract from the war diary on 12 Feb 1942 at about 2am: 'These [Japanese] attacks came in waves. Each wave containing...

Did you know the Indian National Army began 18 months before Subhas Chandra Bose arrived? Captain Mohan Singh (pic 1) led the first INA, attempting to unite 40,000 volunteers under a single Indian identity. Hear the full story of this early movement in our latest episode. #IndianNationalArmy #WWII

Kalewa would of course be the later site of the 1400 yard (and at that time the longest) bailey bridge - nicknamed 'Grub Bridge', where the liberation of Burma really got started.

Today's #MapMonday is the Burma Army's final evacuation route - the ferry between Shwegyin & Kalewa on the Chindwin, a 6 mile meandering course where the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company steamers & requisition boats used by Force Viper helped bring the remnants of Alex & Slim's army to safety in May 1942.

I missed this due to a family emergency, but what a brilliant interview - thank you Gautam. A fascinating look at Indian POWs and the birth of the INA 👇

Out now! Gautam Hazarika joins us to discuss his new book on the 62,000 Indian soldiers captured in 1942. We explore the birth of the INA and the brutal reality of captivity across the Far East. Listen today for this truly gripping story #ForgottenWar #MilitaryHistory #WW2Podcast

Learning a lot I didn't know because of this podcast.

Tomorrow, we delve into the complex, hidden history of 62,000 Indian POWs from WWII. Join Rob & special guest Gautam Hazarika as he explores the "impossible dilemma" of loyalty after the fall of Singapore. It is a truly deep story of survival, sacrifice, & forgotten struggle #FEPOW #WWII #History

Though the Japanese didn't invade India in 1942, V Force ensured the frontier was never truly blind. By providing eyes & ears for the military & dominating no-man’s land, they laid the groundwork for eventual Allied victory. Hear the full analysis in S3 E6 of the pod today #History #Burma #VForce ..

The concept of "stay-behind" parties was central to V Force operations. These brave individuals remained in areas occupied by the enemy to report on Japanese movements. It was a high-stakes game of cat and mouse in the thickest monsoon jungles of the East. #WW2 (pic from the excellent ekkhaale.org)

It's #ThingThursday - and today I have gone with an original picture I bought recently showing Lee tanks of 25 Dragoons moving up towards the 'Tortoise' position in the Razabil 'Fortress', on the Mayu Range at the end of January 1944 (pic 3 aerial photo of Tortoise)

In other news: I’ve managed to get my hands on the back catalog of the British Mule Society Journal which I’ll be helping to digitise. I came across a name I did not expect to see in the index, but it all makes sense somehow:

As they helped build roads for the evacuation and then militarising of Assam & Manipur, the Tea Planters also supported V Force. In our latest episode, we discuss how civilian residents & tea estates became integral to the V Force network, providing logistical support and local expertise in a crisis

V Force wasn't just regular soldiers. It relied on the bravery of local hill tribes—the Naga,Chin&Lushai people, or people like the anthropologist Ursula Graham Bower. Their knowledge of the geography of the Burma/India frontier was the ultimate weapon against invasion. #NagaHills #BurmaWar #VForce

For the first time ever Jack and Rob will be onstage together at Despatches Magazine Live. Doors open at 2:30pm on Sunday 26 April, with the FWP team giving their headline talk Thunder & Lightning: Burma 1945 at 5:15pm. Get your £25 tickets here👇 DispatchesLiveTalks.eventbrite.com

Great to see the phrase Thunder Run is sticking for the advance and capture of Meiktila, most recently here - the @Imperial War Museum have used it in their recent video on the Burma Campaign.

In 1942 the defence of Northeast India was described as "naked." Wavell had to act fast to fill the massive gaps. S3 E6 details how V Force was created as a screen to watch the borders & provide vital intelligence from the deep jungle. Listen now. #History #Military #VForce (pic from ekkhaale.org)

The bond between soldiers and their horses & mules was not just sentimentality...

The FWP’s entry for #MapMonday can only be the Sittang Bridge at Mokpalin- #OTD 23 Feb 1942 in the early hours, Maj. Gen. Jackie Smyth VC blew it up with up to 2/3s of his Division on the wrong side. It was one of the decisive of the retreat campaign. You can hear Jack & Rob’s take on it in S2 E2.

Today's #MapMonday is from the 7/10 Baluch (17 Indian Division) 1942 war diary and their positions on the night on 11/12 February - they had only been raised in 1940 and many of the troops were incredibly young, they were understrength, what experienced personnel they had originally been assigned...

Today’s episode is a fascinating look at the defences of Northwestern India developed in 1942, especially V Force.

Out now! S3 E6 explores the formation of V Force. As the Japanese loomed over India in 1942, a unique group of scouts & stay-behind parties became the empire's eyes & ears in the jungle. Hear this incredible story of the Burma campaign today. Tune in now! #WW2History #VForce Pic from buff.ly/Uuz6nHJ

Tomorrow on The Forgotten War Podcast, we are in the desperate days of the summer of 1942. Discover how General Wavell scrambled to defend India’s frontiers against the Japanese advance. A story of shadows, and survival. Join Jack and Rob for S3 E6 at dawn. #WWII #HistoryPodcast #VForce

My feelings on the names of the AVG squadrons in Burma 1942 🫡 #ww2 #burma #tiger #history #author

Listeners will know Mad Mike Calvert, this week we follow his less well-known audacious raid at Henzada with Force Viper. Facing a sudden ambush, Calvert’s commandos & Force Viper Royal Marines fought back to the boats in a classic display of pirate spirit. Hear the full story today! #Chindits #WW2

Why was the Eastern Fleet's survival so critical? This week, Jack & Rob discuss the "fleet in being" strategy. By avoiding a decisive battle, Somerville ensured the Allies kept a crucial presence in the Indian Ocean (Leonard Birchall, Hiryu, HMS Formidable + Albacore, in pics) #Strategy #WWII #Navy

Can we make #ThingThursday a thing? Anyway, this is my Microphone Hand No.3. A common handset used across the British & Indian Armies, including in tanks as a back up, or by the wireless op if the tank was stationary and the engine off. The Infantry box on the back of tanks sometimes had one too.

April 1942: Admiral Nagumo’s fleet strikes the Indian Ocean. The loss of HMS Dorsetshire and Cornwall (sinking in pic) signalled a dark era for British naval power. We break down the vital "shadow boxing" that kept the rest of Adm Sir James Somerville’s Eastern Fleet alive #NavalWar #WW2 #HistoryPod

Addu Atoll: the secret base known as "Port T." We explore the Maldives' role as a hidden sanctuary for the Royal Navy. Life there was no holiday, with intense heat, malaria, and tin rations, but it became a vital link in the Far East #PortT #Maldives #WW2

Me, I’ve heard of them! Ally af.

Ever heard of Force Viper? This week, we recount the journey of 102 Royal Marine volunteers, plus a few additions. A brilliant bunch of pirates, they braved the Irrawaddy in small paddle steamers and motorboats. Truly a story of incredible grit & survival #ForceViper #Marines #WWII

... or Sittang Rivers was sound. The problem there was, essentially, retreating that far north would look bad politically, and put Rangoon under the strain of more concentrated bombing... 4/4

... apart from the roads, covered in thick jungle, with very few radios that barely worked. Whilst their CO Maj-Gen Jackie Smyth VC got an awful lot wrong in this campaign (to put it lightly), his concern that his division was spread out too thin, & his desire to concentrate behind the Bilin ... 3/4

...arriving piecemeal to these locations understrength, poorly equipped, 'milked' of most of their experienced men, and with rushed and curtailed training. The distance between Papun in the north of this area, and Moulmein in the south, is about 140 miles and ... 2/4

How about some #MapMonday? This map is from my favourite 17 Indian Division's HQ War Diary showing just how spread out they were in January 1942 just as the Japanese invaded. These brigades had been thrown together after two of the original brigades had been sent to Malaya and Singapore... 1/4

New quality ear food.

Really interesting pod today - Force Viper were a classic bunch of brilliantly piratical Royal Marines, and a great example of the fighting spirit amongst the men in the 1942 retreat campaign. Indian Ocean raid was a real chess game too. Catch our take on it all on your podcast app today!