Morale was low after the 1942 retreat from Burma and the failure of the First Arakan campaign in 1943. The media turning points in that year were the morale-boosting reporting of the First Chindit incursion behind enemy lines and the appointment of the media-savvy Lord Louis Mountbatten as Supreme Commander South East Asia. Mountbatten was determined to challenge the talk of ‘Forgotten War’ and ‘Forgotten Army’ by all means available. This talk assesses the methods he used and the extent to which he succeeded.
The recording of the talk is now available to view below:
Speakers:
Dr Robert Lyman MBE - Military Historian, Author and Trustee of KET Born in New Zealand in January 1963 and educated in Australia, Robert Lyman was, for twenty years, an officer in the British Army. Educated at Scotch College, Melbourne he was commissioned into the Light Infantry from the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, in April 1982. In addition to a business career he is an author and military historian, publishing books in particular on the war in the Far East. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. Robert is married to Hannah, has two sons, and lives in Berkshire. For information about Robert's publications please visit his website: robertlyman.com
Dr Philip Woods taught at what is now the University of West London, Kingston University, London and New York University in London. He is now retired. He published Reporting the Retreat: War Correspondents in Burma,1942 (Hurst & Co) in 2017. His most recent book, Managing the Media in the India-Burma War 1941-1945: Challenging a ‘Forgotten War’, was published by Bloomsbury Academic in 2023 and has now appeared in paperback.
Sylvia May - Managing Trustee of The Kohima Educational Trust Sylvia May was born in New Jersey, USA in 1957. Her parents moved to England in 1963. Educated at High Wycombe School for Girls, she decided to pursue a career in the world of books. Sylvia worked for HarperCollins for 37 years, the last eleven of which she headed up their UK-based International Sales team. Sylvia May is the daughter of the late Gordon Graham, Founder and President of the Kohima Educational Trust. She is proud that her father has inspired many people to share his vision to commemorate those who fought and died in Kohima, and the wonderful Naga people who have done so much for the British in the past. She first visited India in 1994 with her husband Robert, and has returned on numerous occasions, staying in Kohima several times. In 2000, they followed the WWII route of the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders, her father’s regiment. The regiment’s first main engagement in this theatre of war was at Zubza shortly before the Battle of Kohima.
