Tales of Burma

Published in 1981, this book collects 15 short stories from 9 authors, all about their time in British controlled Burma. They range from those working there, to those who were in the military there during World War II when the Japanese were in control.
Compiled by Alister McCrae, who was also a contributor, the stories are all from his friends, and the majority of these men are Scottish. They are generally great stories, with insight into the native people & culture, written to capture the action and excitement these young men had in what was a British Colony.
The stories include one about a riverboat captain's wife, who accompanied her husband in his work moving freight up and down the Irrawaddy River; and expedition through an uncharted route to Assam; an explanation about rice milling on a massive scale by the Steel Brothers Company, and the role of the mill managers and paddy buyers; a mahseer fishing story; unravelling the mystery of some missing money belonging to the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company; the transportation of a pig and the complexity of this; a foresters ghost tale about an oozie (mahout) killed by his elephant, whose employer doesn't provide his discharge letter on time; and other stories from old Burma hands. The later half of the book moves us into WWII, where the British are beaten out of Burma by the Japanese - stories include ‘ Nuances of Loyalty' which tells of the line trodden by the British in controlling the natives, but needing their assistance; two stories of an epic and challenging journeys to evade the Japanese; a story about the death of a Z-force soldier (a small secret military group of soldiers who returned to Japanese occupied areas to monitor the Japanese movements and report in preparation for an attack to retake Burma), and a story about another investigative journey into Burma in preparation for the attack which eventually returned Burma to British control.

When it comes to rating, 3-4 of these stories were 5 stars, 4-5 were 4 stars, and the rest 3 stars.

4 stars for me.