Fourteenth Army ( United Kingdom ) The British Fourteenth Army was a multinational force comprising units from Commonwealth countries during World War II . Many of its units were from the Indian Army as well as British units 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 Lieutenant General William Slim . History . Creation . The army was formed in 1943 in eastern India . With the creation of South East Asia Command in late 1943 , the Eastern Army which formerly controlled operations against the Japanese Army in Burma and also had large rear - area responsibilities , was split into two . Eastern Command ( reporting to GHQ India ) took over the rear areas of Bihar , Odisha and most of Bengal . Fourteenth Army , part of the British 11th Army Group , became responsible for operations against the Japanese . The Army ' s commander was Lieutenant General William Slim . Its principal subordinate formations were IV Corps in Assam and XV Corps in Arakan . During the early part of 1944 , the Army also had loose operational control over the American and Chinese Northern Combat Area Command , and the Chindits operating behind enemy lines under Major General Orde Wingate . Defending India . In early 1944 , the Allies began tentative advances into Burma . The Japanese responded with all - out offensives , intending to destroy the Allies in their base areas . The first Japanese move was a subsidiary attack in Arakan where XV Corps was advancing slowly south . After initial Allied setbacks , in which an Indian divisional HQ was overrun , the surrounded units defeated the Japanese at the Battle of the Admin Box . A vital factor was the resupply of cut - off units by aircraft . The main Japanese offensive was launched on the central front in Assam . While a division advanced to Kohima to isolate IV Corps , the main body attempted to surround and destroy IV Corps at Imphal . Since the Japanese attack in Arakan had already failed , battle hardened units were flown from Arakan to aid the besieged forces in Assam . Also , XXXIII Corps was moved from southern India , where they had been training for amphibious operations , to relieve the garrison at Kohima and then push on to relieve Imphal . The result of the battles was a crushing Japanese defeat . The Japanese suffered 85 , 000 casualties , mainly from sickness and disease after their supplies ran out . The Allies had been continually supplied from the air , in the largest operation of its type to that date . Retaking Burma . In 1945 , amphibious operations to recapture Burma had to be cancelled once again because of shortage of resources . Instead , Fourteenth Army was to mount the main offensive . The Army was now subordinated to the headquarters of Allied Land Forces , South East Asia ( ALFSEA ) , and consisted of IV Corps and XXXIII Corps . Since the Army ' s supply lines by land were long and precarious , air supply was once again to be vital . The Japanese attempted to forestall the Allied attacks by withdrawing behind the Irrawaddy River . Fourteenth Army was nevertheless able to change its axis of advance . IV Corps , spearheaded by armoured and motorised units , crossed the river downstream of the main Japanese forces and seized the vital logistic and communications centre of Meiktila . As the Japanese attempted to recapture Meiktila , XXXIII Corps captured Mandalay , the former capital which was of major significance to the majority Burman population . The result of the Battles of Meiktila and Mandalay , known as the Battle of Central Burma , was the destruction of most of the Japanese units in Burma , which allowed the subsequent pursuit . Fourteenth Army now advanced south . While XXXIII Corps advanced down the Irrawaddy River , IV Corps made the main effort along the Sittang River , covering in a month . It was vital to capture Rangoon , the capital and principal port of Burma , to allow the Army to be supplied during the monsoon . In the event , IV Corps was held up north of Rangoon by sacrificial Japanese rearguards , but its advance caused the Japanese to abandon Rangoon , which was occupied after an unopposed amphibious landing ( codenamed Operation Dracula ) on 2 May . The Fourteenth Army was supported by the Women ' s Auxiliary Service ( Burma ) who provided a canteen service for the troops of Burma Command and moved down through the country with the Army . End of the War . Shortly after the fall of Rangoon , the Army headquarters was relieved of responsibility for operations in Burma . A new Twelfth Army headquarters was formed from XXXIII Corps HQ and took over IV Corps . Fourteenth Army HQ now moved to Ceylon to plan operations to recapture Malaya and Singapore . It controlled XV Corps and the newly raised Indian XXXIV Corps . General Slim was promoted to command Allied Land Forces South East Asia . Lieutenant General Miles Dempsey was appointed to command Fourteenth Army . A seaborne landing on the west coast of Malaya , codenamed Operation Zipper , was being prepared but was forestalled by the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Japanese surrender . " Zipper " was nevertheless mounted unopposed as the quickest method of introducing troops to Malaya to enforce the surrender of the Japanese there and repatriate Allied prisoners of war . Fourteenth Army was renamed Malaya Command on 1 November 1945 . Commonwealth Army . The Fourteenth Army , like the Eighth Army , was made up from units that came from all corners of the Commonwealth . In 1945 not only was the Fourteenth Army the largest army in the Commonwealth , it was the largest single army in the world with about half a million men under command . Men of the 81st and 82nd West African and 11th East African Divisions served with great distinction . There were many units and formations from the British Army but the majority of the army was built around the British Indian Army , which was stated to be the largest all - volunteer army in history with 2 , 500 , 000 men . Order of battle . The Fourteenth Army was the Second World War ' s largest Commonwealth Army , with nearly a million men by late 1944 . At different periods of the Second World War it was composed of four corps : A total of thirteen divisions served with the Army : Some smaller fighting formations also served : Also serving with the 14th Army were a range of army , corps and divisional units not organic to the combat divisions . Notes and memorials . The War Cemetery in Kohima has the famous inscription " When You Go Home , Tell Them Of Us And Say , For Your Tomorrow , We Gave Our Today " — The Kohima Epitaph is attributed to John Maxwell Edmonds ( 1875 – 1958 ) , and is thought to have been inspired by the epitaph of Simonides written by Simonides to honour the Spartans who fell at the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC .