 | |
| Author | William R. Peers and Dean Brelis |
|---|---|
| Subject | Burma Guerilla Warfare OSS Detachment 101 World War II |
| Publisher | Little, Brown & Co. |
Publication date | 1963 |
| Pages | 246 |
Behind the Burma Road is a 1963 book by William R. Peers and Dean Brelis that describes the American guerrilla warfare operations, including those of OSS Detachment 101, during the Burma Campaign in the China Burma India Theater during World War II.
The book aims in part to be a primer for guerilla fighters. It lists Detachment 101's [Note 1] accomplishments as far as they were known at the time in terms of the effects of its attacks on and harassment of the Japanese during World War II.
In their own terms, their score included "5,428 known enemy dead and an estimated 10,000 others either killed or seriously wounded. Seventy-five Japanese were captured, 51 bridges destroyed, 9 trains derailed, 232 downed United States air corps personnel rescued, and 342 other allied personnel flown out; 3000 tons of enemy supplies were destroyed and 700 tons captured." [2] [3] The successes of Detachment 101 made possible the entry of Joseph Stilwell's Chinese forces, Orde Wingate's Raiders, Merrill's Marauders, and the other moves against the Japanese Imperial interior lines. [4]
The book is the result of a collaboration between a commanding officer and one of his men. Colonel Peers, who would later rise to the rank of lieutenant general, was commander of 101 from December 1943 to July 1945, and before that, its operations and training officer. Brelis, who later became a novelist and foreign correspondent with Time magazine, [5] was at the time a field agent, first as a sergeant and then as a lieutenant, during 1944 and 1945. Although the story of 101's guerilla operations is seen in this book through the eyes of the commanding officer, the actual text is the result of collaboration between the two men, who hoped it embodied not only the difficult command problems of a complex guerilla operation, but the experiences and accomplishments of the men in the field as well. [6]
The Central Intelligence Agency has included Behind the Burma Road in its list of the most broadly informative books on intelligence operations and processes available in English. [7]
The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the intelligence agency of the United States during World War II. The OSS was formed as an agency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines for all branches of the United States Armed Forces. Other OSS functions included the use of propaganda, subversion, and post-war planning.
The Burma campaign was a series of battles fought in the British colony of Burma. It was part of the South-East Asian theatre of World War II and primarily involved forces of the Allies; the British Empire and the Republic of China, with support from the United States. They faced against the invading forces of Imperial Japan, who were supported by the Thai Phayap Army, as well as two collaborationist independence movements and armies, the first being the Burma Independence Army, which spearheaded the initial attacks against the country. Puppet states were established in the conquered areas and territories were annexed, while the international Allied force in British India launched several failed offensives. During the later 1944 offensive into India and subsequent Allied recapture of Burma the Indian National Army, led by revolutionary Subhas C. Bose and his "Free India", were also fighting together with Japan. British Empire forces peaked at around 1,000,000 land and air forces, and were drawn primarily from British India, with British Army forces, 100,000 East and West African colonial troops, and smaller numbers of land and air forces from several other Dominions and Colonies.
China Burma India Theater (CBI) was the United States military designation during World War II for the China and Southeast Asian or India–Burma (IBT) theaters. Operational command of Allied forces in the CBI was officially the responsibility of the Supreme Commanders for South East Asia or China. However, US forces in practice were usually overseen by General Joseph Stilwell, the Deputy Allied Commander in China; the term "CBI" was significant in logistical, material and personnel matters; it was and is commonly used within the US for these theaters.
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Roger Hilsman Jr. was an American soldier, government official, political scientist, and author. He saw action in the China-Burma-India Theater of World War II, first with Merrill's Marauders, getting wounded in combat, and then as a guerilla leader for the Office of Strategic Services. He later became an aide and adviser to President John F. Kennedy, and briefly to President Lyndon B. Johnson, in the U.S. State Department while he served as Director of the Bureau of Intelligence and Research in 1961 to 1963 and Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs in 1963 to 1964.
Carl Frederick Eifler was a U.S. Army officer best known for having commanded Detachment 101, which served behind the enemy lines in Japanese-occupied Burma during World War II. He helped stand up 13 army reserve detachments outside major universities to preserve the expertise and knowledge of the returning GIs.
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The Strategic Services Unit was an intelligence agency of the United States government that existed in the immediate post–World War II period. It was created from the Secret Intelligence and Counter-Espionage branches of the wartime Office of Strategic Services.
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