Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Everything about the Burma campaign was extreme. From the terrain and the climate to the bitterness of the fighting and of course the dramatic reversals of fortune for both the Japanese and the Allies, the Burma campaign would witness catastrophic defeats and spectacular successes. This video examines what went wrong in 1942, how the Allies turned the tide, and why Burma is known as the Forgotten War.
VISIT IWM LONDON
Get up close with our objects: iwm.org.uk/visits/iwm-london
TIMECODES
0:00 Defeat to victory
01:09 Why Burma was so important
02:23 Japanese Invasion of Burma
5:39 British Failures
7:03 General Slim's Reforms
9:30 The Stalingrad of the East
13:28 Britain Strikes Back
15:20 The Forgotten War?
FILM CLIPS
Explore and licence the film clips used in this video: film.iwmcollections.org.uk/collections/_V9VpLPaO
THUMBNAIL IMAGE CREDITS
Rising sun flag, by Tokyo Watcher. CC-BY-SA 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en
The Union Flag, by ReeSaunders. CC-BY 2.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA
https://x.com/I_W_M
instagram.com/imperialwarmuseums
facebook.com/iwm.london
tiktok.com/@imperialwarmuseums
Everything about the Burma campaign was extreme. From the terrain and the climate to the bitterness of the fighting and of course the dramatic reversals of fortune for both the Japanese and the Allies, the Burma campaign would witness catastrophic defeats and spectacular successes. This video examines what went wrong in 1942, how the Allies turned the tide, and why Burma is known as the Forgotten War.
VISIT IWM LONDON
Get up close with our objects: iwm.org.uk/visits/iwm-london
TIMECODES
0:00 Defeat to victory
01:09 Why Burma was so important
02:23 Japanese Invasion of Burma
5:39 British Failures
7:03 General Slim's Reforms
9:30 The Stalingrad of the East
13:28 Britain Strikes Back
15:20 The Forgotten War?
FILM CLIPS
Explore and licence the film clips used in this video: film.iwmcollections.org.uk/collections/_V9VpLPaO
THUMBNAIL IMAGE CREDITS
Rising sun flag, by Tokyo Watcher. CC-BY-SA 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en
The Union Flag, by ReeSaunders. CC-BY 2.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA
https://x.com/I_W_M
instagram.com/imperialwarmuseums
facebook.com/iwm.london
tiktok.com/@imperialwarmuseums
