As featured in

The Times 22/6/19

There was a time when it could have been said of the men of Bill Slim's 14th Army that "Fame Never Found Them." Happily, now, in this book by John Hudson, they receive due recognition. Written in the idiom of the time and reflecting its attitudes, it describes the fierce fighting at the siege of Imphal on the central Burma front, and the relentless savagery of the enemy under the command of the dreaded General Mutaguchi, whose name, says the author, who was there, still chills the spine.

This is, however, much more than an account of the combat. Hudson shares with us the complexities of his task as an 0fficer in handling troops of different castes, tongues and religions within one company, and he challenges as over-simplified some media portrayals of the "Green Hell". We learn of some innovative methods of warfare (it is fascinating to learn that certain types of booby-trap were in use in Burma 20 years before they would be adapted to deadly effect elsewhere by the Vietcong) and on a lighter note glimpse a little of that eccentricity in which the British sometimes excel, in the Brigadier who keeps a duck for a pet!

Following an expeditionary effort in Malaya gone wrong, the action switches to Java, scene of insurgency, assassinations and voodoo murders at the time of the movement for independence. Here Hudson and others faced a curious, unexpected dilemma, reflecting the awkward nature of reality: would they fight for survival, together with their former bitter enemies, the Japanese, or die with them?

This vivid account of events, augmented by well-chosen illustrations, is both a memoir from a fighting man and an important historical document.

Stephanie A. Jefford