Second World War

FIBIS resources

• "Indian Army Prisoners of War in the Second World War" by Hedley Sutton FIBIS Journal, No 12 (Autumn 2004). For details of how to access this article online, see FIBIS Journals.

An alphabetical listing by surname of nearly 900 Indian Army personnel who became prisoners of war between 1941 and 1945 is available at the British Library. Most were held by the Japanese, with some held by the Italians.The vast majority are Europeans, but a handful of Indians are recorded; plus a few Indian Medical Service nursing sisters

Also see

• POW Camps in India-Second World War

British Library holdings

The History of the Second World War is a 75 volume official history published by HMSO 1949-1976, consisting of 28 volumes in the Civil Series, 21 volumes in the Medical Series and 26 volumes in the Military Series . Details are set out in this Wikipedia page and the link Hyperwar: British Official Histories.

A subcategory of the Military Series is the 5 volume series War Against Japan

• War Against Japan, Volume 1: The Loss of Singapore, Kirby, S. Woodburn et al. London: HMSO, 1957. Reprint by Naval and Military Press
• War Against Japan, Volume 2: India's Most Dangerous Hour, Kirby, S. Woodburn et al. London: HMSO, 1958. Reprint
• War Against Japan, Volume 3: The Decisive Battles, Kirby, S. Woodburn et al. London: HMSO, 1961. Reprint
• War Against Japan, Volume 4: The Reconquest of Burma, Kirby, S. Woodburn et al. London: HMSO, 1965. Reprint
• War Against Japan, Volume 5: The Surrender of Japan, Kirby, S. Woodburn et al. London: HMSO, 1969. Reprint

Part of the Medical Series is the publication The Army Medical Services, Campaigns, Volume 5: Burma, Crew, Francis A. E. London: HMSO, 1966

External links

North Africa

• The Tiger Kills. The story of the Indian Divisions in the North African campaign' by Lieut.-Colonel-W. G. Hingston and Lieut.-Colonel G. R. Stevens. Available at the British Library Also available as a reprint by Military Library Research Service Ltd (Jun 2004)

China-Burma-India (CBI)

• Also see Burma-Military
• Map of Battle Areas of Burma in 1942-1945 probertencyclopaedia.com
• Carl Weidenburner’s China - Burma – India: Remembering the Forgotten Theater of World War II. A 'portal' type site with a large number of links.
• Gary Goldblatt’s CBI Order of Battle: Lineages and History
• Burma Star Association
• Japanese conquest of Burma, December 1941-May 1942 historyofwar.org
• WW2 Talk Forum has a category "Theatres of War: India and Burma"
• Battle of Kohima Wikipedia; [Buckingham] Palace honours Battle of Kohima veterans Includes some newsreel footage. 9 November 2012 www.bbc.co.uk
• Second World War: 60th Anniversary: Battle of Kohima (24 page pdf) www.army.mod.uk
• The Telegraph Obituary of Major-General Derek Horsford (1917-2007). He was promoted to command the 4th Battalion 1st Gurkha Rifles in 1944 at Kohima in the Burma campaign.
• "Sikhs in Burma Campaign" and "About Viscount Slim" (scroll down) from mattoid.com
• Photographs taken in India 1943-44 by Major E Brookman flickr.com. He is stated to be a RAPC [Royal Army Pay Corps] officer
• The Indian Air Force in the Second World War bharat-rakshak.com
  • In the Skies of Calcutta : A tribute to Maurice Pring by Joydeep Sircar . Details the bombing of Calcutta in December 1942
• This India List post mentions Japanese air raids during World War 2, at Lillooah, a EIR colony near Calcutta and Calcutta.
• Policing Wartime Calcutta [WW2] by Peter R. Moore oldmartiniansassociation.co.uk
• Memories of Madras - The Summer of 1942 The Hindu 3 January 2012
• The Mumblings of Edward Sparkes Contents page Flt Lt Edward D S N Sparkes was in the RAF and arrived in India in the latter part of 1943 in the chapter Ashore in Bombay. He subsequently joined X Squadron Royal Indian Air Force and served in Burma until he was invalided back to England in 1945
• Joseph Robert Milner describes his time in India and Burma performing primarily clerical duties c 1945 to 1947. He was drafted for India page 19 of this document. His time in India and Burma is described in this document ronbaileyscarvings.com
• 152(Hyderabad) F Squadron 1939-1967 Served in India from 19th December 1943 as part of Calcutta’s defence and later moved to the front. Disbanded at R.A.F. Risalpur in 1947
• "Browsing Through a Treasure House: The Literature of the Burma Campaign" by Gordon Graham. From the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London 2011 pdf, html version Abstract

Borneo

• The Telegraph Obituary of Philip Crosland (1918-2012). In October 1938 he joined The Statesman in Calcutta. He became a member of the Calcutta Light Horse. During World War 2 he accompanied the 2nd Battalion 15th Punjab Regiment to Sarawak and other parts of Borneo from May 1941. He became a Japanese POW April 1942-September 1945.

Hong Kong

• Obituary of Colonel Tony Hewitt www.telegraph.co.uk 17 Aug 2004 descibes the escape of three men in 1942 from a Japanese P.O.W. camp, following the fall of Hong Kong in December 1941, for which Anthony George Hewitt, and Captain Robert Douglas Scriven of the Indian Medical Service were awarded the Military Cross
• Hong Kong War Diary : Hong Kong Defenders ,December 1941-August 1945 Includes Indian Army Units and Indian Medical Service
• The Battle of Hong Kong 1941: A note on the literature and the effectiveness of the defence by Lawrence W C Lai, University of Hong Kong , Discussion paper series, July 2000 html version, original pdf

Miscellaneous

• Axis and Allied Propaganda to Indian Troops by Herbert A Friedman (psywarrior.com)

Historical books online

• India in World War II. Details of the Official History of the Indian Armed Forces In the Second World War by the Combined Inter-Services Historical Section (India & Pakistan), published in the 1950s and 1960s. From "HyperWar: World War II on the World Wide Web". Many of these publications are available at the British Library. The online publications are
  • The Royal Indian Navy 1939-1945 by Instructor Lieutenant D.J.E. Collins, B.A.L.T. Indian Navy. 1964
  • The Retreat from Burma, 1941-42 by Bisheshwar Prasad 1954
  • The Reconquest of Burma Volume I: June 1942-June 1944 by S.N. Prasad, K.D.Bhargava, P.N. Khera, 1958
  • The Reconquest of Burma Volume II: June 1944-August 1945 by P.N. Khera, S.N. Prasad, 1959
  • East African Campaign, 1940-41 by Bisheshwar Prasad 1963
• Defeat into Victory by Sir William Slim, 1956, about the Burma Campaign, is available to read online on the Digital Library of India website. Contents, computer page 9