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Field Marshal William Joseph Slim, 1st Viscount Slim, KG, GCB, GCMG, GCVO, GBE, DSO, MC, PC (6 August 1891 – 14 December 1970), usually known as Bill Slim, [1] was a British military commander and the 13th Governor-General of Australia.
Field Marshal William Slim led the Fourteenth Army in Burma during the Second World War. Despite inheriting a disastrous situation, he restored his men's morale and led them to victory against the Japanese.
William Slim, 1st Viscount Slim of Yarralumla and Bishopston was a British field marshal and chief of the Imperial General Staff who turned back an attempted Japanese invasion of India and defeated the Japanese armies in Burma (Myanmar) during World War II.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Apr 20, 2015 · William ‘Bill’ Slim was a highly respected army commander. ‘Bill’ Slim found fame during the Burma campaign and especially the very important defeats of the Japanese Army at Kohima and Imphal in 1944. Slim was born on August 6 th 1891 near Bristol.
- A Scholarship in Service
- Africa and The Middle East
- Burma in Peril
- A Fighting Retreat
- Transforming The Burma Corps
- Pushing Back The Japanese
- Understanding Discipline
- Winning with Tactics and Logistics
- A Forgotten Victory
- Uncle Bill – The Best General of The War?
A tradesman’s son from the Black Country, Slim went to King Edward’s School in Birmingham, England, on a scholarship. There he developed an ambition for a military command which his poor upbringing excluded him from achieving. He became a teacher and then a clerk before entering the army at the start of the First World War. As a second lieutenant a...
At the start of the war, Slim was sent to Africa, commanding Indian Army forces against the Italians. There he made mistakes but learned from them. He was again injured in action. On recovering, he joined British forces in the Middle East. When another officer fell ill, he went from staff officer to divisional commander. He was mentioned in dispatc...
Meanwhile, the Japanese had invaded Burma. British and Indian troops in the region were being pushed back toward India. Britain’s possessions in Asia were under threat. Old friends of Slim’s approached General Sir Harold Alexander, the man in charge of the region. They had seen Slim’s skills as a commander during his days in India. On their suggest...
The Japanese had entered Burma in December 1941. Their troops were skilled, motivated, and fast moving. Through encirclements and deep penetrating attacks, they drove deep through the Burmese jungle. Thinly spread and out-numbered, the British forces were driven back. In just three months, the Japanese came within striking distance of India. Slim’s...
The Buma Corps, which would become the core of the “forgotten” Fourteenth Army, was a demoralized mess. It was a mix of British conscripts, Burmese auxiliaries, and Indians whose country was discussing independence from Britain. Levels of experience, skill, and training were variable at best. Morale was terrible. Slim turned it all around. Visiting...
The tide turned. As Slim’s army became more organized and motivated, it stopped retreating and started fighting back. Soon the Japanese were in retreat. Throughout the war, Slim continued the approach he had begun with. He visited individual units, speaking about their situation and showing that he understood their needs. Motivated by a great leade...
Slim’s greatest quality was that he understood the difference between discipline and punishment. If fear of punishment motivated men, their discipline would fall apart as soon as they were out of sight of commanders. Disciplined troops would fight with courage no matter what. That discipline came from pride and valuing the men around them.
Slim also developed new tactics for his army. They countered Japanese infiltration with their own encircling maneuvers. Japanese troops were drawn into costly attacks on well-defended boxes of Allied-held territory. The Fourteenth Army became fast-moving and aggressive, abandoning motor vehicles for transport that suited the terrain. He also paid c...
In March 1945, the Fourteenth Army took Mandalay and the Japanese stronghold of Meiktila. The Japanese were in full retreat, pushed back by a well-organised campaign by Burmese irregulars and the steady advance of Slim’s army. Finally, the Japanese fell back to Rangoon. Slim led an attack by land while others attacked by air and sea. Rangoon fell. ...
Slim was a remarkable man. He had taken a starving, fearful army and turned it into a potent fighting force. His troops loved him, referring to him as “Uncle Bill.” The public may not have paid attention, but contemporary commanders and historians noticed his incredible achievements. Dr. Duncan Anderson, Head of War Studies at the Royal Military Ac...
Slim was, first and foremost, a born leader of soldiers. It would be inconceivable to think of Monty as ‘Uncle Bernard’, but it was to ‘Uncle Bill’ that soldiers in Burma, from the dark days of 1942 and 1943, through to the great victories over the Japanese in 1944 and 1945, put their confidence and trust.
General William ‘Bill’ Slim was an army general who presided over the re-capturing of Burma in 1945. In 1952 he became Governor-General of Australia where he was famous as a war hero. Born on 6 August 1891, William Slim joined the Officer Training Corps in 1912.
