The Forgotten War exhibition highlights the political, military and the personal aspects of the Second World War in the Far East, the Pacific and in particular, Burma between 1941 and 1945.

The war was fought with gruelling intensity between the Allies and the Japanese on land, at sea and in the air over vast distances, and in extremes of climate and geography. Nearly thirty different nationalities fought on the Allied side, including Britons, Americans, Chinese, Indians, Australians, Africans, New Zealanders and Canadians, as well as troops from the Netherlands, and the countries invaded by the Japanese such as the Phillipines and Burma.

With public attention and resources focused on the war in Europe, many British servicemen regarded the conflict in the Far East as The Forgotten War. This exhibition tells their story and those of their comrades in arms, and shows what these men achieved in an unforgivingly harsh environment where 120 men were evacuated with sickness for every man that was wounded or killed in action. The difficult climate, jungles, mosquitoes, disease and the Japanese combined to make this one of the worst conflicts ever experienced. Of the 26,000 men that died in Burma, 20,000 have no known graves.

The Forgotten War consists of artefacts from the War, photographs and realistic tableaux, including a jungle scene, that visitors can walk through. Life-size figures and dramatic sound effects complement audio-visual presentations showing archive footage of the War in the Far East. The exhibition offers a multi-dimensional experience to create a better understanding both of the events and the extreme conditions of the conflict.

The exhibition is a joint project between the Burma Star Association (BSA) and the Imperial War Museum and has special emphasis on the Burma campaign in which members of the BSA fought. The Burma Star Association, with 17,000 members, takes its name from the medal awarded to British and Commonwealth service personnel who fought in the Far East theatre during the Second World War. The BSA, and in particular the Herts, Cambs and Essex Borders Branch have been fund-raising for many years to help finance the exhibition.