The Kohima Educational Trust is delighted to welcome our trustee Dr Robert Lyman MBE and our guest speaker Dr Nigel Warwick, an Australian academic and author who is also the Corps Historian of the RAF Regiment. In this webinar, Dr Warwick discusses the role of the RAF Regiment in Burma between 1942 and 1946.
Never before had a major land force ever depended so completely upon air power and effective air/land cooperation. Viscount Slim said that without the Air Force, XIVth Army could never have defeated the Japanese in Burma. The RAF commanders considered that air power might not have remained viable without its own force protection, provided mainly by the RAF Regiment.
A dedicated and specialist ground force for active defence of airfields, the Regiment played a vital part in the success of the Burma campaign. Formed in February 1942, as dispersed flights, they were drawn together during 1943 at the RAF Regiment Depot, Secunderabad, and established as field squadrons and anti-aircraft flights (later light AA squadrons): deploying to forward airfields in Bengal, the Arakan, Assam, and most importantly Imphal.
In March 1945, the Regiment participated in the masterstroke of the campaign; the thrust for, and capture of Meiktila. The new Corps earned acclaim in the defence of Meiktila airfield which is considered to be the most important battle it has ever fought to this day.
By the fall of Rangoon in May 1945, the Regiment numbered thirty-one squadrons, more than 3000 gunners. By September, it was deployed across South-East Asia, taking the surrender of Japanese forces and providing force protection against developing nationalist insurgencies.
That the Regiment was able to carry out its tasks so effectively despite outdated equipment, often with significant proportions of its units debilitated with tropical ailments, is a tribute to the diligence, tenacity and professionalism of its officers and airmen.
The recording 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 Nigel Warwick was born in New Zealand in 1960, and is an Australian academic who is also the Corps Historian of the RAF Regiment. He is the author of the book 'Constant Vigilance: RAF Regiment in the Burma Campaign' which is published by Pen & Sword. Nigel is also a Member of the Executive Council, Corps Memorial Garden, at the National Memorial Arboretum.
Sylvia May - CEO 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 Queens 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.
