WWII: The Naga Queen and how the East was won.
 

Much has been written in these pages since I joined about World War Two, and the contribution to victory made by the various Allied nations.

We all know about how Hitler was caught in a pincer movement between the British Empire in North Africa, and the Soviets at Stalingrad. The desperate island by island fighting that brought the USA victory against the Japanese in the Pacific Ocean, before developing nuclear weapons finally ended the job.

Not much is written about the sideshows and tiny wars of attrition that sucked up the enemies resources and kept them from turning things around on the main fronts.

The battle of "the heart of the line", the French Resistance campaign against the railways of central France that slowed the Wehrmachts supply lines to the western front.

The suppression of Afrikaan rebels in southern Africa that kept them from entering the war in Europe on Hitlers side as they fought to protect their homes instead.

Then there is the guerrilla war fought in Burma by the Empire. The British Empire were definitely the under performers in the main Asian theatre. However guerrilla tactics held the Japanese up in Burma, and stopped them taking over the huge resources in Indian and Britains Eastern empire beyond it.

Today I have been reading about Ursula Graham Bower who led a 150 strong force of insurgents from the Naga Valley district of Assam to fight Japanese occupiers in Burma. This Rodean educated debutante was a hero about as unlikely as they come. She had worked as an anthropologist in the district before the war, and returned shortly after war broke out. She was recruited by the British Army at a time when they were developing special forces tactics in Africa, just as Japan and the USA entered the war.

I'd be interested to read about other side shows that influenced the result in WWII, or how the war was played out in forgotten corners of the planet that we don't often hear about.

Very interesting, I never knew about that.

Ultimately the British lost when the Afrikaans dominated National Party took control after the war and introduced Apartheid. That more or less guaranteed their dominance for several decades.

while north Africa got all the headlines there was a nasty little war in east Africa between the British and Italians. some of the best Italian showings of the war in what otherwise was not a stellar military record.

Yes, according my old man, the Italian navy couldn’t hit a barn door at twenty paces.

In his book Nine Rivers From Jordan, Dublin born former BBC correspondant Denis Johnston pays tribute to Ireland by complimenting its commitment to neutrality whilst simultaneously fighting on both sides!

True enough, thousands of Irishmen served in the British forces during the war. The IRA German connection was real, but was almost comical in its ineptitude. The crowning achievement was smuggling the IRA $500.00 in a tooth paste tube. Both German agents sent to Ireland were scooped up in short order.

Even more farcical is the time the Luftwaffe bombed Dublin. Supposedly they mistook the lights of the city for Belfast!

A bit like accidently shooting Will Smith at a Klan meeting really, isn't it?

Every one knows about the U boat war in the north Atlantic. But Germany armed and disguised merchant ships with guns and two catapult launched Heinkels. They were dispatched to the Indian ocean and raised quite a bit of hell early in the war. The surface raiders were eventually sunk by the Royal navy but they did some serious damage before they went down.

My old man was torpedoed twice in the North Atlantic. Effectively what we have is Germany using military force to prevent the movement of goods across the Atlantic. Curious as to why the USA didn't enter the war sooner on the strength of this alone!

Because the Isolationists ruled and legislation favored staying out of the war. Had FDR tried to force America to intervene with troops in Europe in 1939 or 1940, he most likely would have been impeached. FDR was risking his neck even if the press had got wind of how he and Churchill were discussing ways for America to get directly involved on the side of Britain.
By 1941, the mood had changed a lot. Every dog on the street knew that America was going to be affected by the war, especially with Japanese ambitions being well reported in the press.
I think if the Japanese hadn't struck Pearl when they did, America probably wouldn't have sent troops to North Africa when they did, and the resulting breathing space would have given the Germans a decisive victory there. The rest is anyones guess.

This extract might clarify some related stuff:

".....There were hundreds of British agents in this country and their goal was to get the U.S. into the war. One of their ways to do it was to cast doubt on the isolationist movement. So they were tapping phones and they were inserting articles into American newspapers about the isolationists and they were spying on isolationists in Congress and elsewhere. Roosevelt allowed this to happen. Again, we were supposedly a neutral country then, and this was all quite illegal."

So the suggestion that the US waited to see who was winning before getting involved is incorrect?