War in the Wilderness is the most comprehensive account ever published of the human aspects of the Chindit war in Burma. The word 'Chindit' will always have a special resonance in military circles. Every Chindit endured what is widely regarded as the toughest sustained Allied combat experience of the Second World War. The Chindit expeditions behind Japanese lines in occupied Burma 1943-1944 transformed the morale of British forces after the crushing defeats of 1942. The Chindits provided the springboard for the Allies' later offensives. The two expeditions extended the boundaries of human endurance. The Chindits suffered slow starvation and exposure to dysentery, malaria, typhus and a catalogue of other diseases. They endured the intense mental strain of living and fighting under the jungle canopy, with the ever-present threat of ambush or simply 'bumping' the enemy. Every Chindit carried his kit and weapons (equivalent to two heavy suitcases) in the tropical heat and humidity. A disabling wound or sickness frequently meant a lonely death. Those who could no longer march were often left behind with virtually no hope of survival. Some severely wounded were shot or given a lethal dose of morphia to ensure they would not be captured alive by the Japanese. Fifty veterans of the Chindit expeditions kindly gave interviews for this book. Many remarked on the self-reliance that sprang from living and fighting as a Chindit. Whatever happened to them after their experiences in Burma, they knew that nothing else would ever be as bad. There are first-hand accounts of the bitter and costly battles and the final, wasteful weeks, when men were forced to continue fighting long after their health and strength had collapsed. War in the Wilderness continues the story as the survivors returned to civilian life. They remained Chindits for the rest of their days, members of a brotherhood forged in extreme adversity.
All royalties from sales of this book are donated to Friends of the Chindits. War in the Wilderness offers the disturbing and harrowing first-hand accounts of no less than 50 veterans of Major-General Orde Wingate's two bitterly-fought campaigns in North Burma in 1943-44. Chindit service in the Burmese jungle was widely acknowledged as the most demanding ground combat role given to any Allied troops in the Second World War, yet the men who made up Special Force were ordinary soliders, trained in an extraordinary regime to accomplish and survive the impossible. Landed by Glider or Dakota on rough and remote jungle airstrips, hundreds of miles behind Japanese lines, the men lived on emergency rations for months, battling the monsoon conditions, across some of the wildest country on Earth, with half their bodyweight on their backs. The Burma campaign left thousands dead and virtually all survivors were hospitalised. But those who did return remained Chindits for the rest of their lives. Their suffering and achievements were recognised by their place of honour, at the head of the annual Cenotaph parade for many years after the war. In this book Tony Redding has gathered together the memories of those men, who came from every walk of life to fight alongside one another in the most punishing infantry campaign of the conflict.
