Martin Sambrook

Lions in the Jungle Martin Sambrook

'A deeply researched and much needed revisionist history that restores the reputation of Wingate and the Chindits and acknowledges, for the first time, the hugely significant contribution they made to Allied victory in Burma.' Saul David

In March 1944 Orde Wingate and his Special Force, 'The Chindits', launched Operation Thursday, an audacious glider borne attack putting 20,000 men deep behind Japanese lines in occupied Burma. At the time it was the largest airborne invasion of WWII which saw Wingate and his force lauded as national heroes.

The Japanese had the highest respect for the Chindits and General Mutaguchi, who led their army in northern Burma, accepted he had met his match in Wingate and his jungle fighters.

Despite this, the British military establishment resented the maverick and forceful character of Wingate. They castigated him as a difficult and unbalanced military leader who squandered men and resources, contributing little to the eventual British victory in Burma.

Wingate had the personal backing of Churchill, Roosevelt and the US JCS for his mission. Drawing upon contemporary British and American archive documents, this book argues that the Chindits have been unfairly judged by the British military and many modern histories of the Burma campaign.

Martin Sambrook has worked for many years as a consultant in international media and advertising for many blue chip companies. A History and Politics graduate of the LSE, he also holds an MBA from Warwick and an MA (Research) in Military History from Buckingham. Wingate & the Chindits is his first book and draws upon his MA research project. He lives in Hertfordshire with Anita and their two sons.