This country is at war with Germany.

We shall go on to the end.

I remember the sheets of flame which came up and almost blinded us from our guns.

In early 1945, after the decisive battles of Kohima and Imphal, the Allied forces in Burma prepared to press their advantage. The Arakhan region, with its hostile jungles, mangrove swamps, monsoon rains and muddy terrain terrain stood between them and a chance to cut off the

Japanese 28th Army. Among the challenges were difficult supply lines, sickness in the ranks

and the sheer brutality of the environment. Into this crucible stepped Britain's third

commando brigade, largely untested in that kind of terrain, designed for raiding and amphibious work,

alongside Indian and West African divisions under 15th Corps, all working towards what will become

one of the lesser-known turning points in the Burma campaign.

To help me explore how the campaign unfolded,

and especially what the commandos endured and achieved in the Arakhan,

I'm joined by Lucy Betridge-Dyson, military historian and author, her book Jungle Commandos, The Battle of the Arakhan, Burma, 1945,

draws on previously unpublished first-hand accounts to bring to life the story of the men who volunteered to fight in unforgiving

conditions. So Lucy, we're going to be looking at the commando units fighting in the

Arakan in 1945. Now, in that single sentence, there's quite a lot to uncover.

But firstly, we almost certainly need to set the scene

because it's a forgotten part of the war in a place where people probably can't put a pin in the map.

So this is the third offensive in the Arakhan.

So where is the Arakan?

And why is it so important?

It's on the western coast of Burma.

It borders India in the north and the Bay of Bengal along its coastlines.

...