Americans may know Bataan, but are certainly not as familiar with the action on Burma (now Myanmar), nor with the Chindits.
While there is always some historical and tactical content in military memoirs/accounts, Daniel Berke takes an extraordinaril long time to get to the actual accounts and experiences of his grandfather. Also, and probably most significantly, Berke floods the account with repeated variations on “I wish I would have asked my grandfather” and “we don’t know, but he may have” or “he would have. . . .” The speculation becomes quite distracting.
There is a strange combination of Berke’s person family experience and the historical events surrounding the Chindits’ actions in Burma. It became the longest short book I remember encountering in a long time.
Thank you to Daniel Berke, Pen & Sword Press, and NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

To me, the Burma theatre of war is little known. In fact I even looked on YouTube for a visual on the history of the Chindits and saw footage of the conditions Orde Wingates men operated in.
Fearless men.....or so they appear. It is hard to image what Frank was feeling deep inside, as he gave nothing away in his almost sterile matter of fact memoir. Frank Berkovitch, was a quiet, reserved tailor and it is his story that is told by his grandson. From recruitment, training, action and capture.....all harrowing and everything bad you have ever heard about Japanese treatment of POW's.
Although limited by the short memoir from his grandfather, the author combines much research to give a more fleshed out look at the fullstory.
My grandfather was in WW1 and he never spoke of his action there. It was a sense of duty that made these young men enlist .....little did they realise their whole lives would be scarred in a deep way.....should they be lucky enough to return.
A riveting read, for male or female. Thank you for sharing such a precious family story Daniel.
Thanks to NetGalley, Pen & Sword publishers and Daniel Berke.

In 1942, Major General Orde Wingate was organizing long-range guerrilla units to work behind the Japanese line in Burma. In one unit there was a soldier, a man called Frank Berkovitch would quietly distinguish himself in many small ways. This book is his story.

The book is written by Daniel Berke, Frank Berkovitch’s grandson. The original idea sprang from a short document written by Private Berkovitch many years after the war, and as the author had not pursued the opportunity to speak with his grandfather about the war (Frank Berkovitch had seemed reluctant to share what were horrific memories), Mr. Berke was restricted by the few pages of the wartime autobiography. Mr. Berke was able to find other sources, however, and his trip to Burma also helped to flesh out the book.

The end product is a story that will fascinate you at times and haunt you at others. The story of the Chindits (the name of Windate’s fighting unit) is interesting all by itself, and the continuation of the aftermath of “Operation Loincloth” offered other view of the bravery of Frank Berkevitch and the men he served with during WWII. Five stars.

My thanks to NetGalley and Pen & Sword for a complimentary electronic copy of this book.

WWII books hardly ever fail to awe and inspire me and this falls in that category. This read takes us to the Burmese Jungle and subjects us to the same terror and hardships the soldiers endured. Both a heartbreaking and inspiring read, these book will show you the worst and very best of humanity.

Thank you Daniel Berke and Netgalley for the chance to consume this book.

A truly inspirational book about the hardships endured by a British soldier fighting in Burma in WW2. The hardships and cruelty he faced was extremely demoralizing, but he overcame to survive the interment and return home. A great read for the history buff.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.