The Chindits: Behind Enemy Lines in Burma

Brigadier Orde Wingate's Chindits — officially the Long Range Penetration Groups — were formed to operate deep behind Japanese lines in Burma. In March 1943, 3,000 men crossed the Chindwin River and operated for three months behind Japanese lines, destroying railways and supply dumps. They suffered 1,300 casualties (many from disease and starvation) and were initially dismissed as a failure. But Wingate convinced Churchill the mission was a propaganda success and it was enlarged in 1944. One remarkable Chindit action: a force of 200 men under Mike Calvert built an entire airfield in the jungle, with equipment flown in by glider.