Chindits

The Chindits (Officially in 1942 77th Indian Infantry Brigade and in 1943 Indian 3rd Infantry Division) were a British jungle Special Forces unit that served in Burma from 1943 until 1945 as part of the Fourteenth Army during the Burma Campaign in World War II. They were formed into long range penetration groups trained to operate from bases deep behind Japanese lines.

The End

The Chindits had suffered heavy casualties: 1396 killed and 2434 wounded. Over half had to be hospitalised with a special diet afterwards. The rest began training for the next operation but Special Force was disbanded in February 1945.

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Military historians disagree on the Chindits' military significance. Many think that the casualties they caused were relatively light. Others, like Sir Robert Thompson, have asserted that the idea was a sound one, they were just badly handled and used in operations for which they were not properly equipped or trained; in static defence, for example. A third view is that despite the relatively insignificant losses that the Chindits were able to inflict, their propaganda value, at a time when the 14th Army was on the defensive, was a good fillip to the people of India and Britain. It has been hard to reach a consensus on this issue due to the partisan nature of the discussions surrounding Wingate himself.

Related Topics:
Robert Thompson - Propaganda

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