Greetings, and welcome to the World Affairs Board!
The World Affairs Board is the premier forum for the discussion of the pressing geopolitical issues of our time. Topics include military and defense developments, international terrorism, insurgency & COIN doctrine, international security and policing, weapons proliferation, and military technological development.
Our membership includes many from military, defense, academic, and government backgrounds with expert knowledge on a wide range of topics. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so why not register a World Affairs Board account and join our community today?
Well I would say that CBI is forgotten in the USA since the Yanks did'nt really fight there, approximatly a division worth of troops (sans an HQ to boot) a couple of groups of USAAF. But the British have not in my experience forgotten Burma.
The mideast, field army sized engagements, a short sharpe bitter conflict, which possibly won the war as it prevented the Germans from a free foothold there. Imagine if say Syria fell in their lap, in '41 they could have forced Turkey into the war on their side.
"Any relations in a social order will endure if there is infused into them some of that spirit of human sympathy, which qualifies life for immortality." ~ George William Russell
The CBI theatre nor the Southwest Pacific get as much press as Europe and the central Pacific campaigns, but I think the Aleutian Islands action has been neglected. The Aleutians have the worst flying weather, terrible seas, super crappy living conditions and questionable value (WWII time-wise). Yet, some of the bloodiest fighting went on there.
"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." - John Adams
Although I agree with you that it was a very important front, I don't think the home front has been neglected at all in the United States. There are countless documentary shows (History Channel, etc) about the home front during WW II. You can't read an American history book about the war without hearing about Rosie the Riveter and the other icons of the U.S. war industry, along with the rationing and other parts of civilian life that contributed to the war effort. I was very pleased to see the Osprey book on the home front that I picked up a few months ago. Fascinating reading...
I voted CBI, by the way. You just don't hear much about it in the U.S., except for some stories about the Flying Tigers and a few older movies. I doubt many young Americans knew anything about it when that recent movie, "The Great Raid," came out.
By the way, I don't mean to imply that this poll is only about what's most neglected by Americans, I'm just speaking from that perspective.
I never even heard of General Slim and the Burma campaign in school. It was something I had to figure out in my own recreational reading time. I think that almost every front was covered to at least some degree in class, heck even the Aleutian islands getting invaded was mentioned some in class, but not a lick of Burma. I think that goes to show you how neglected that front of the war is, which is unfortunate, considering what Slim did with the paltry supplies he was given, at least compared to Europe or the pacific.
CBI, though Chinese losses were horrendous. Unfortunately the Japanese managed to hold on just until the last few months of the war.
By neglected, do you mean the least studied? The most studied front is relative, depending on where you are. Most Americans seem to be blissfully ignorant of the Eastern Front, most of what is taught about the war is the Western Front and the Pacific Front. The Russians downplay Allied assistance (read a quote somewhere about being nothing but "canned ham" i.e. spam), and view the Western Front as having been relatively minor compared to the Eastern. Obviously the Chinese know a great deal about the war as it occurred in China, but the war in Europe probably seems to be pretty irrelevant and is talked about or studied very little in relative terms.
"Every man has his weakness. Mine was always just cigarettes."
easy, the Home Front: The engineers, the doctors, the clerks, the factories, the chief of staffs, the wives etc .. these are the silent heroes
Think about how many in US know pro-consul Mac-Arthur or Eisenhower, and how many know Marshall (excluding his SecState tenure)? how many know Nimitz, and how many know King? how many know Napoleon and how many know Bessiers?
Tweet
Comment