POINTER, JOURNAL OF THE SINGAPORE ARMED FORCES VOL.36 NO.2

Personality Profi le: Field Marshal William Joseph Slim

by NG YI MING

Viscount William Slim

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/ I. INTRODUCTION

Field Marshal William Joseph "Bill" Slim, 1st Viscount Slim, KG, GCB, GCMG, GCVO, GBE, DSO, MC, KstJ (6 August 1891 14 December 1970) was an outstanding British military offi cer who led the British Fourteenth Army during the reconquest of Burma during World War II. He was a good student and teacher with a sharp analytical mind, he was aware of situations on the fi eld, understood the importance of competent administration and effective staff work. He was also the 13th

Governor-general of Australia, chosen as he was a war hero who had fought with the Australians at Gallipoli and in the Middle East.

II. EARLY LIFE

Field Marshal Slim was born in 1891 at Bishopston, a village on the outskirts of Bristol. His family belonged to the lower-middle class, with his father working as an ironmonger, albeit an unsuccessful one.1

Field Marshall Slim worked as an elementary school teacher in a Birmingham slum district and then a junior clerk in a metal tubing fi rm.2 His humble origins and unconventional work experience relative to other offi cers of the same stature proved very useful in establishing rapport with the rank and fi le.3

III. WORLD WAR I AND INTER- WAR PERIOD (1919-1939)

Though he won a scholarship to attend a local grammar school, he was fi nancially and socially unable to pursue an offi cer's career. However, despite lacking a university education, he had been enlisted in the Offi cer Training Corps (OTC), and was given a temporary commission at the outbreak of World War I. He displayed qualities of a leader during periods of active service in Gallipoli and Mesopotamia with the Royal Warwicks.4 That experience led to his recognition as an offi cer of superior calibre, which translated into an opportunity for him to enrol into the Imperial Defence College course for the most promising offi cers.5

IV. WORLD WAR II

SUDAN

Slim commanded the 10th Indian Brigade, attempting to recapture the fort of Gallabat, and the nearby fortress of Metemma. The majority of Slim's tanks were destroyed, along with his air cover. Bombing in the fort by the Italians led to the Essex regiment to panic, leading to its desertion.6 As a result, an invasion of Metemma was aborted, even though it emerged later on that the Metemma garrison

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was about to surrender. He took full responsibility of the situation and resolved to be bolder and more aggressive in the future.

MIDDLE EAST

Slim assumed command of the 10th Indian Division in Iraq in May 1941, joining the staff of General Archibald Wavell in the Middle East Command. During the Syria-Lebanon campaign, he planned an assault from two fronts to capture Dier-ez-zor in east Syria. Though the campaign did not go according to plan. With vehicles running out of fuel in the middle of the desert, Slim remained level-headed and solved the issue by using fuel from vehicles on the line of communications. He captured Dier-ez-zor and the victory strengthened his self-confi dence.7 He gained additional command experience during the occupation of Persia that followed after the campaign.8

RETREAT FROM BURMA

As a result of lobbying from two of Slim's former colleagues, Major-general David Tennant Cowan and Major-general James Bruce Scott. Slim was assigned as the Commander of Burma Corps under Field Marshal Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis. It seemed, at that point of time, to be the end of his military career. This was because he had been appointed at a time when the Japanese military seemed unstoppable. With the whole of Southeast Asia, save northern Burma, under Axis control, Slim's men were defeated and demoralised. Making matters worse, they lacked an effective counter-measure for rapid cross-country movement by the Japanese. Field Marshall Alexander never

gave his corps commander clear orders, making Slim unsure whether to counter-attack, or just try to keep the Burma Corps intact as a force. FM Alexander's decision to draw units away from the main force to help the Chinese troops in east Burma exacerbated the situation as it was impossible for the remaining Burma Corps to survive a clash with Japanese troops. Slim kept calm and confi dent to prevent morale from dropping to dangerous levels, consequently preventing a disaster from occurring. However, with the fi eld situation deteriorating as a result of a series of failed offensives, Alexander ordered a retreat back to Assam, India on 25th of April.9

INDIA

Though quite a number of people believed that the Japanese were invincible, Slim rejected the idea of surrendering to the enemy and did everything that was possible to ensure the maximum number of troops reached Assam safely. Such were his achievements during this retreat that when he relinquished his command, he was given a rousing farewell by all the offi cers and foot soldiers. He was appointed commander of 15 Corps and was based in Barrackpore. He was in charge of policing Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, defending the southern sector of the Indo-Burmese border and the coast of Bengal.10 His greatest accomplishment during this time was to motivate and train his forces, which at that time, had loyalties that were suspect as the Japanese were seen as liberators rather as invaders.11 He did not receive much assistance, due to the lack of war material and for every battle casualty, there were 120

troops who succumbed to disease. He improved health and sanitation through a more complex diet, by commissioning farms to provide meat and vegetables to front-line soldiers and better medical centres. This aided the reduction of jungle diseases such as malaria.12

In January 1944, during the Second Arakan Offensive, the Japanese took the British by surprise by launching a counter-offensive. The decisive battle was fought around Sinzweya, near the eastern end of Ngakyedauk Pass, where the 7th Indian Division had its main administration area. It was subsequently known as the Battle of the Admin Box. This, however, was just a diversion, as the Japanese's main objective was Imphal, India. Slim's tactics were to draw the Japanese into battle on the plains of Imphal, where the lines of communications for the Japanese would be overstretched and the defensive troops would have an advantage over armour and artillery. Despite this, Slim had a lapse of judgement by giving the order to form up too late. The Japanese offensive began on 4th of March rather than the expected date on the 15th.13 Luckily, divisions that were cut off as a result of the early Japanese offensive, namely 17th Indian Division and 20th Indian Division managed to fi ght their way through to meet up with the rest of the force. Slim's troops had pressed on towards central Burma during the monsoon season winning the approval of Admiral of the Fleet Lord Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma. By mid-December 1944, bridgeheads over the Chindwin had been secured and a Bailey bridge had been constructed at Kalewa.

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At this point, the Japanese army in Burma suffered massive casualties while retreating and consequently its forces were demoralised. Although Slim lost 75 Dakota Airplanes in December 1944 while the Japanese fanatically defended Rangoon, they were still no match for the Fourteenth Army.14

V. PERSONALITY

Slim was free of aristocratic bearing and behaviour, given his humble origins, and won the trust of many individuals from different nations. He was also able to communicate in a simple language that the rank and fi le could easily understand, thus bonding with his men on a personal level. This accounted for him creating an espirit de corps at the Army level.15

These traits, in addition to being a fi ne staff offi cer who knew what he was doing in the fi eld, made him become one of the great British generals in World War II.16

VI. AFTER THE WAR

Slim was appointed Commandant of the Imperial Defence College in 1946. On 11 May 1948, Slim stepped down as Commandant and refused to serve in India or Pakistan, citing that he was not the most suitable man to maintain British links with both countries.17 He instead accepted the post as Deputy Chairman of British Railways.18 He treated the British workers the same as what he did during the Burma Campaign, thus creating rapport between the company and unions representing the workers. This had led to the appreciation of his efforts by British Prime Minister Clement Attlee, who subsequently

lobbied hard to reactivate Slim's commission in order to make him Chief of Imperial General Staff.19 He relinquished this position on 1 November 1952 to take on the post of Governor-general of Australia. He was chosen as he was a man of suffi cient stature who could effectively be portrayed as a symbol of the royal presence in Australia.20 There were no issues that warranted his political intervention; his duties were mostly ceremonial for the duration of his appointment. At the end of his appointment, he was given the title Viscount Slim of Yarralumla in the Capital Territory of Australia and of Bishopston in the City and County of Bristol.21 He was also appointed Constable and Governor of Windsor Castle on 18 June 1964. He died in London on 14 December 1970, aged 69.

VII. CONCLUSION

Slim was said to be the fi nest British general that World War II produced. He succeeded in overcoming great diffi culties during the Burma Campaign that would have overwhelmed anyone else without his skills. His personnel management skills had also earned him praise both as a civilian and a soldier as he put them to great use when he commanded the Fourteenth Army in Burma and when he was engaging the workers in British Railways. This paved the way for him to become Chief of the Imperial General Staff. His focus on logistics and administration that contributed to the smooth running of the campaign and his lack of any aristocratic bearing and attitudes had cemented his position as a real war hero.

ENDNOTES1. Ronald Lewin, Slim: The

Standardbearer: A Biography of Field-Marshal The Viscount Slim KG, GCB, GCMG, GCVO, GBE, DSO, MC (Leo Cooper, London, 1976), p2

2. Ibid., pp8-9

3. Brian Bond. Slim and Fourteenth Army in Burma, in British and Japanese Leadership in the Far Eastern War 1941-1945, eds. Brian Bond and Kyoichi Tachikawa, (London, Frank Cass, 2004), p40

4. Ibid., p40

5. Ibid., p41

6. Ibid., p41

7. Ibid., p41

8. Ibid., p42

9. Ibid., p42

10. Ronald Lewin, Slim: The Standardbearer: A Biography of Field-Marshal The Viscount Slim KG, GCB, GCMG, GCVO, GBE, DSO, MC (Leo Cooper, London, 1976), pp111-112

11. Frank N. Magill, Great Lives from History: British and Commonwealth Series V5 (Salem, Pasadena, 1987), p2328

12. Ibid., p2328

13. Brian Bond. Slim and Fourteenth Army in Burma, in British and Japanese Leadership in the Far Eastern War 1941-1945, eds. Brian Bond and Kyoichi Tachikawa, (London, Frank Cass, 2004), pp46-47

14. Ibid., p50-51

15. Ibid., p51

16. Ibid., p38

17. Ronald Lewin, Slim: The Standardbearer: A Biography of Field-Marshal The Viscount Slim KG, GCB, GCMG, GCVO, GBE, DSO, MC (Leo Cooper, London, 1976), p260

18. Ibid., p261

19. Ibid., p263

20. Ibid., p282

21. Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, The London Gazette, 15 July 1960, p4925

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