British Field Marshal Bill Slim was an outstanding General and, arguably, Britain’s finest army commander of the Second World War.

Commanding the British 14th Army, he defeated the Japanese at the Battle of Imphal and Kohima before leading that army in the re-conquest of Burma. The Battle of Imphal and Kohima is today considered by the National Army Museum in London as being Britain’s finest land victory in history.

What makes Slim even more extraordinary is that he never came from the traditional officer class of the British army during the early 20th century. Having been brought up in poverty in Birmingham, he joined the army at the outbreak of the First World War gaining a temporary commission. In this story we tell, not just of his great battles but also of his rise to the top of the army.