Lecture | The Reconquest Of Burma,1945

Thursday 18th September
6.30pm-8.00pm

Dr Robert Lyman will describe (briefly!) the eleven battles/offensives of 1945 that were part of the overall continuum of operations that successfully recovered Burma for the Allies in 1945.  The 1945 campaign to reconquer Burma was a multi-faceted set of operations which proved a spectacular success for the Allies, in stark contrast to the fears of failure rampant in Delhi only a year before. It set the seal on the triumph of the 14th Army which had destroyed the Japanese 15 Army in Assam and Manipur in 1944 and which now defeated the Japanese in Burma before the A-bombs were dropped in August 1945.  The campaign boasted a smorgasbord of dramatic battles and operations ranging from massive river crossings, Corps-strength armoured operations, the crucial battle for Mandalay, long range penetration operations by 81 West African Division in Arakan, very significant guerrilla operations by SOE and the capture of Rangoon and the destruction of the Japanese Burma Area Army by an army that was 87% Indian and African.

Born in New Zealand in 1963 Dr Robert Lyman was educated at Scotch College, Melbourne and the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. He spent twenty years as an officer in the British Army. He has been a trustee for many years of the Kohima Educational Trust, which provides educational support to young learners in Nagaland. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and lectures as far afield as York and Taipei, and is a regular contributor to TV documentaries and current affairs programmes.

6.30pm Drinks Reception (Drink included in ticket price), 7.00pm Lecture Commences

£11 non members | £9 Friends

Become a Friends Member here

Why not Stay for a post lecture supper in the Castle Bistro (See Menu)

2 courses £25

3 courses £30