The President

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... From the home of the codebreakers and the birthplace of modern computing, this is the Bletchley Park podcast.

Welcome to the July 2025 episode of the Bletchley Park podcast.

Blitzkrieg in Burma.

By late 1944, the tide had turned against the Japanese in Southeast Asia with the repulse of their attempted

invasion of India. However, the multinational Allied force in Burma still faced enormous challenges

if they were to retain the initiative and push the enemy out of the country. Every mile

travelled from their supply bases, across barely navigable expanses of jungle and mountain,

exposed Allied troops to greater difficulties and risk of starvation and destruction.

It was a struggle against the terrain and a race against time to liberate Burma before the arrival of the monsoon.

In this struggle, intelligence and deception

were essential weapons in the Allied Arsenal. In this It Happened Here episode,

Head of Audiences and programs, Vicky Pipe, is joined by research officer Dr Thomas Cheatham

to explore the 1945 battles for Burma

and the race to Rangoon which formed the climax of Britain's war against Japan.

This episode features veterans, Eric Rhodes, Roy Bookmaster and Dennis Underwood from our

oral history archive. Our thanks go to Owen Mugan and Dr Ben Thompson

for voicing our historical documents.

This is Bletchley Park. It happened here.

Every year from May until September, Burma lies under the monsoon.

For four months the rain and wind and mist sweep in from the Bay of Bengal,

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