Until a few weeks before the fall of Rangoon, the British had not dreamt the Japanese would invade Burma. So in early 1942, British soldiers trained for desert warfare fought a Japanese Army trained and equipped for the jungle. Those who survived this fierce fighting faced malaria, air attack, and lack of food and water, on the long walk out through the Valley of Death. Ragged groups of soldiers and civilians were forced to trek out of Burma through some of the most inhospitable terrain in the world. They hacked their way through jungle, forded rivers, and climbed steep mountainsides to escape. Many did not survive the journey. Among these incredible stories was that of Bill Williams, who led refugees out on a herd of elephants. Other civilians who had enjoyed an idyllic colonial lifestyle were ill-equipped for the journey. Setting off with the family silver and their pets, they soon had to abandon all but the essentials in order to survive. Thousands died, but many more crossed the border into India and safety.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By SSS
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
As one whose father made the terrible journey out of Burma I commend it to all readers.
I knew some of the story but Ms Goodall has filled in many of the gaps and the book is written from the human aspect rather than that of the Military.
It is very well written and the research involved must have been exhausting. Truly a forgotten part of WW2 the multiple stories recorded here, and the historical scene-setting to go with them, give a dimension not seen before in this part of our history.
Always harrowing and at times horrific the conditions faced by the many thousands of refugees can only be imagined. The incompetence and idiocy of the official administration (with a few wonderful exceptions) is almost unbelievable - a fact which led, probably, to many needless deaths. At the end of this book you may well agree with my sentiment: God Save the Tea Planters.
This book should be required reading for all politicians.
I knew some of the story but Ms Goodall has filled in many of the gaps and the book is written from the human aspect rather than that of the Military.
It is very well written and the research involved must have been exhausting. Truly a forgotten part of WW2 the multiple stories recorded here, and the historical scene-setting to go with them, give a dimension not seen before in this part of our history.
Always harrowing and at times horrific the conditions faced by the many thousands of refugees can only be imagined. The incompetence and idiocy of the official administration (with a few wonderful exceptions) is almost unbelievable - a fact which led, probably, to many needless deaths. At the end of this book you may well agree with my sentiment: God Save the Tea Planters.
This book should be required reading for all politicians.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By Nick
Format:Hardcover
In 1942 half a million people left their homes to walk hundreds of miles to safety in India as the British Army in Burma crumbled before the Japanese onslaught. They suffered appalling hardship along the route, and tens of thousands of them perished, although the exact number will never be known. Among them were 50,000 British civilians - the only time in recent history that British people have experienced what it is to be a refugee. It is astonishing that this story has been forgotten.
As an amateur historian whose grandfather was one of the unfortunates of the Burma Trek I have done a fair amount of research on the subject, and this is the book I have been waiting for. There is simply nothing else published that tells this incredible story from the viewpoint of the refugees themselves, as most focus on the military retreat and subsequent recapture of Burma.
Felicity Goodall has done a tremendous job in pulling together the many strands to weave a compelling account of the Exodus from Burma. She paints a lovely picture of life in the "Golden Land" of pre-War Burma using the accounts of people we follow in the pages to come. Burma's crisis starts with the bombing of Rangoon on Christmas Day 1941, and we follow the refugees as they flee west and north to avoid the invaders. The lucky ones get out by boat and plane, but once these routes are blocked the remainder have no choice but to brave the 300 mile route through the uncharted jungles of the Burma-India border on foot. As the monsoon starts the northernmost route through the Hukawng Valley lives up to its reputation as the Jungle of Death.
The book is a pleasure to read - well-structured and illustrated throughout with photos both old and recent. The author has clearly done an enormous amount of research in the archives to unearth some amazing unpublished accounts and reports from the time. She has also visited Burma to see the significant places for herself.
If you know nothing about the Burma Trek then this is the place to start. If you already know a fair bit then I guarantee you will learn things you didn't know. I was fascinated to find out the fate of the Chinese soldiers who fled west rather than back to China.
I hope this book will help to make this unjustly forgotten story more widely known.
As an amateur historian whose grandfather was one of the unfortunates of the Burma Trek I have done a fair amount of research on the subject, and this is the book I have been waiting for. There is simply nothing else published that tells this incredible story from the viewpoint of the refugees themselves, as most focus on the military retreat and subsequent recapture of Burma.
Felicity Goodall has done a tremendous job in pulling together the many strands to weave a compelling account of the Exodus from Burma. She paints a lovely picture of life in the "Golden Land" of pre-War Burma using the accounts of people we follow in the pages to come. Burma's crisis starts with the bombing of Rangoon on Christmas Day 1941, and we follow the refugees as they flee west and north to avoid the invaders. The lucky ones get out by boat and plane, but once these routes are blocked the remainder have no choice but to brave the 300 mile route through the uncharted jungles of the Burma-India border on foot. As the monsoon starts the northernmost route through the Hukawng Valley lives up to its reputation as the Jungle of Death.
The book is a pleasure to read - well-structured and illustrated throughout with photos both old and recent. The author has clearly done an enormous amount of research in the archives to unearth some amazing unpublished accounts and reports from the time. She has also visited Burma to see the significant places for herself.
If you know nothing about the Burma Trek then this is the place to start. If you already know a fair bit then I guarantee you will learn things you didn't know. I was fascinated to find out the fate of the Chinese soldiers who fled west rather than back to China.
I hope this book will help to make this unjustly forgotten story more widely known.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By kittykat
Format:Hardcover
A good read, well researched with personal accounts and historical details.
This book would make a great WW2 film.
I lok forward to more work from this author.
This book would make a great WW2 film.
I lok forward to more work from this author.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
a brilliant piece of research
This is a really excellent book - I highly recommend it. The author has done what must have been much painstaking research - I sense out of compassion, even love, for her subject... Read more
Published 4 months ago by sarah
5.0 out of 5 stars
Forgotten History
This is a well written and well researched book recording one of the most remarkable episodes of WW2. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Anthony J. Pilcher
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Forgotten
Exodus Burma: The British Escape through the Jungles of Death 1942
Felicity Goodall has performed an excellent job in collating the available historical data and... Read more
Felicity Goodall has performed an excellent job in collating the available historical data and... Read more
Published 10 months ago by salar
5.0 out of 5 stars
A very worthwhile read
This book gives a humanistic account of the terrible trials faced by the refugees without crossing the line into the sentimental. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Holly C
4.0 out of 5 stars
Exodus Burma
Both my father-in-law and mother-in-law were in Burma at the start of the Jap invasion and my mother-in-law trekked out with the Bombay Burma Teak Co families led by Elephant Bill... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Usk
5.0 out of 5 stars
Humanistic and Fascinating
As one of a handful of foreign ex-pats who actually live in Myanmar, it was absolutely fascinating to read this book. Read more
Published 12 months ago by VRP
5.0 out of 5 stars
At last the book I have been waiting for
I would like to echo the 5 star reviewers of this book and would recommend it to all those who wish to understand this important but less well publicised part of the second world... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Eileen Dover
5.0 out of 5 stars
Remembering the Victims of an Awful Conflict
This is a remarkable account of the horrors that unfolded when the Japanese invaded Burma and swept all before them early in 1942. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Andrew Hicks
3.0 out of 5 stars
CONFUSING EXODUS
This book is interesting and absorbing in that it gives a strong feel for the chaos and hardships, indeed horror, endured by so many refugees escaping from war torn Burma after the... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Matt Stephens
5.0 out of 5 stars
Exodus Burma The British Escape through The Jungles of Death 1942
As the Second World war becomes modern history this book becomes a must read- both for those who still live and remember the war and for those who want to obtain an understanding... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Taciturn
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