Wingate's Raiders. By Charles J. Rolo. (Harrap. 8s. 6d.)
MR. Row has written an interesting description of the first raid of the Chindits into Burma, compiled mainly from first-hand reports of men who actually took part in the expedition. He places great emphasis on the preparatory training the men had to undergo ; according to one private, " the whole job was a piece of cake compared to the training." Probably the most important result of the raid was a demonstration that, ordinary British soldiers—they were not picked men but citizen-soldiers, mostly from the King's (Liverpool) Regi- ment—could be taught to beat the Japanese in jungle warfare and in infiltration tactics. The story of the raid and its hardships is vividly told, often in the words of the Chindits themselves. The dominant personality in the book as in the raid is that of General Wingate. Although it is too early to pass final judgement on the work of this brilliant soldier, Mr. Rolo's is a valuable interim report. He shows us Wingate, not as an isolated 'figure, but as belonging to a line, of British " sword and bible " generals which goes back through Nicholson and Gordon to Cromwell and his Ironsides. The book ends with his death, but enough is said of his second raid to show how successful his first had been.
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