This is a surprisingly honest and even-handed narrative of events in the China-Burma-India theater in 1943 and early 1944, covering British, Indian, Chinese, and American troops. They all lived in what appears to have been a swamp of mud and mountains. Much of the terrain was impassable to vehicles so mules were put to use.
Frank Merrill's American and Chinese soldiers were told they would trek into the jungle and skirmish with the Japanese for three months. By the end of Merrill's six-month campaign in the jungle, his forces were depleted by about 80 percent because of amoebic dysentery, typhus, malaria, combat fatigue, and exhaustion. They were spent as a fighting force. The mules were no better off, nor were the Japanese.
If there is a less-than-admirable figure in this unholy mess it's General Vinegar Joe Stillwell, who is deservedly not as well known as many of his contemporaries. He initiated all sorts of petty arguments back in India. He attributed whatever victories Merrill's troops had achieved to the Chinese who were fighting alongside them, ignoring the contributions of the British and Indian "Chindits". One of the Chindit's British officers remarked, "Stillwell having taken (some Japanese stronghold), we now proceed to take umbrage." Stillwell despised Lord Mountbatten who was in overall charge, and looked down on the British General, Ord Wingate, who commanded the Chindits.
As for Merrill's small force, whenever they achieved an objective, Stillwell sent them on another mission without rest. When casualties and illness depleted the Marauders, Stillwell refused to withdraw them but only filled their thinning ranks with walking wounded from the hospitals.
Some of the calumny heaped on Stillwell may represent a British perspective, but it's hard to imagine that the perspective is seriously distorted. In any case, the documentary is very nicely written, giving us a picture of the whole theater before taking us along on Merrill's onerous trip into the boondocks.
A fictionalized version can be found in Sam Fuller's feature film, "Merrill's Marauders." It's unexpectedly true to the historical facts and captures the exhaustion of the men and their mules. A more loose-limbed rendition, still moving, is Errol Flynn's "Objective Burma."
Frank Merrill's American and Chinese soldiers were told they would trek into the jungle and skirmish with the Japanese for three months. By the end of Merrill's six-month campaign in the jungle, his forces were depleted by about 80 percent because of amoebic dysentery, typhus, malaria, combat fatigue, and exhaustion. They were spent as a fighting force. The mules were no better off, nor were the Japanese.
If there is a less-than-admirable figure in this unholy mess it's General Vinegar Joe Stillwell, who is deservedly not as well known as many of his contemporaries. He initiated all sorts of petty arguments back in India. He attributed whatever victories Merrill's troops had achieved to the Chinese who were fighting alongside them, ignoring the contributions of the British and Indian "Chindits". One of the Chindit's British officers remarked, "Stillwell having taken (some Japanese stronghold), we now proceed to take umbrage." Stillwell despised Lord Mountbatten who was in overall charge, and looked down on the British General, Ord Wingate, who commanded the Chindits.
As for Merrill's small force, whenever they achieved an objective, Stillwell sent them on another mission without rest. When casualties and illness depleted the Marauders, Stillwell refused to withdraw them but only filled their thinning ranks with walking wounded from the hospitals.
Some of the calumny heaped on Stillwell may represent a British perspective, but it's hard to imagine that the perspective is seriously distorted. In any case, the documentary is very nicely written, giving us a picture of the whole theater before taking us along on Merrill's onerous trip into the boondocks.
A fictionalized version can be found in Sam Fuller's feature film, "Merrill's Marauders." It's unexpectedly true to the historical facts and captures the exhaustion of the men and their mules. A more loose-limbed rendition, still moving, is Errol Flynn's "Objective Burma."
