The biggest boost to morale was the burly man who came to talk to the assembled battalion…it was unforgettable. Slim was like that: the only man I've ever seen who had a force that came out of him...British soldiers don't love their commanders much less worship them; Fourteenth Army trusted Slim and thought of him as one of themselves, and perhaps his real secret was that the feeling was mutual....I see him clear, with that robber-baron face under that Gurkha hat, and his carbine slung, looking like a rather scruffy private with a general's tabs, which of course is what he was.
- George MacDonald Fraser, author of the Flashman novels
Field Marshal William Slim is best known for commanding Fourteenth Army in Burma during the Second World War (1939-45). He inherited a disastrous situation which, with pragmatic skill and quiet charisma, he turned to ultimate victory. He was one of the unsung heroes of the Second World War whose leadership was responsible for defeating the invincibility of the Japanese in the Far East.
The British Fourteenth Army was a multi-national force comprising units from Commonwealth countries during World War II. As well as British Army units, many of its units were from the Indian Army and there were also significant contributions from West and East African divisions within the British Army.
It was often referred to as the "Forgotten Army" because its operations in the Burma Campaign were overlooked by the contemporary press, and remained more obscure than those of the corresponding formations in Europe for long after the war. For most of the Army's existence, it was commanded by the then Lieutenant-General William Slim.
Slim emphasised the need for jungle warfare training and the use of more aggressive tactics, including the formation of defensive 'boxes' by surrounded units that were supplied by air. He understood logistics and made some of the most rapid advances of the war – forgotten by many.
But perhaps his greatest contribution was that of talking to soldiers and restoring their morale. He was able to assemble a mix of British, Australian, Indian and African troops, and make them work together. His equipment was outdated and pretty sparse. And with all of that, they performed brilliantly under his command. Field Marshal Sir Claude Auchinleck said of Slim in 1946, “One of Slim’s chief characteristics was his quite outstanding determination and inability to admit defeat or the possibility of it: also his exceptional ability to gain and retain the confidence of those under him and with him, without any resort to panache. Success did not inflate him or misfortune depress him.”
He was a fine manager of men and able to get them to do his bidding. In return, Slim's men saw him as one of them. He was above all a soldiers’ soldier. This is not surprising as he rose from the ranks all the way to field marshal and came from a provincial lower middle class background. He trusted his subordinates. He had to manage relations with military idiots and Anglophobes such as the American General Stillwell but when he came to write his memoirs, you find not an unkind word about them.
Mountbatten considered him the finest general world war two produced - even above more charismatic Allied generals like MacArthur, Bradley, Patton, Montgomery, O’Connor, or Alexander.
