Indian infantrymen of IV Corps advancing towards the vital road and rail junction of Meiktila, south of Mandalay in the Irrawaddy Valley, 1945

Photograph, World War Two, Far East, 1945.

This was the decisive battle in March 1945 which effectively ended Japanese hopes of maintaining their position in Central Burma.

From a collection of official photographs collected by Major General (later Lieutenant General) Sir Frank Walter Messervy.