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Jungle Soldier: The true story of Freddy Spencer Chapman by [Brian Moynahan]

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Brian Moynahan

Jungle Soldier: The true story of Freddy Spencer Chapman Kindle Edition

by Brian Moynahan (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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Arctic explorer, survival expert and naturalist Freddy Spencer Chapman was trapped behind enemy lines when the Japanese overran Malaya in 1942. His response was to begin a commando campaign of such lethal effectiveness that the Japanese deployed an entire regiment against him, hunting for him as they did for no other. He was wounded, and racked by tropical disease. His companions were killed, or captured and then beheaded. Cut off from friendly forces, his only shelter the deep jungle, Chapman held out for three years and five months. Jungle Soldier recounts the thrilling and unforgettable adventures of the north country orphan who survived against all odds to become a legend of guerrilla warfare.

Print length

353 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Quercus
Publication date

16 May 2013
File size

3395 KB
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Product description

Review

'Crisp, compelling biography… Moynahan has done a terrific job of turning Chapman's life into an elegant narrative. The adventures and achievements are so remarkable that his factual biography reads at times like a Victorian novel, where the central character suffers disaster after disaster … perhaps this book will help win final recognition for a truly extraordinary man' --Sunday Times

'This story of endurance in the fetid heat of the Malayan jungle is surely one of the most awe-inspiring of the whole war … a courageous and utterly English hero, a man whose extraordinary bravery and tenacity were an inspiration to all who observed him. Only now, with the publication of this biography, will Freddy Spencer Chapman win the recognition his memory deserves' --Daily Mail

'Captures the amazing wartime exploits of Freddy Spencer Chapman' Daily Express. 'An extraordinary life ... For over three years in the Second World War, he blew up trains, bridges and enemy soldiers in the jungles of Malaya all the while studying birdlife and collecting seeds to send back to Kew Gardens ... Quite why Chapman hasn't found Lawrence of Arabia's fame is anyone's guess.' Guardian. 'Brian Moynahan's gripping book gives a fascinating insight into Chapman's upbringing' Daily Telegraph. 'Fantastic new book ... a truly amazing story' Weekly News. --Reviews. --This text refers to the hardcover edition.

From the Inside Flap

Freddy Spencer Chapman - Arctic explorer, Himalayan climber and naturalist turned master of irregular warfare - was posted as `missing believed killed' after the Japanese overran Malaya and Singapore in 1942. Two years later, two SOE officers were landed in Malaya by submarine. To their astonishment, they discovered that he was still alive, and the most hunted man in Japanese-occupied Asia.
Brought up as an orphan in Lakeland vicarages, lover of the English countryside, he became `fascinated by danger' during solitary rambles across the fells. Thirty years later, the `most unwashed and independent' little boy with pockets full of birds' eggs and caterpillars had metamorphosed into one of the British army's deadliest guerrillas. He set out from Kuala Lumpur in January 1942 - in style, in a scarlet Ford V8, with the dickey seat crammed with explosives - on a mission to sabotage Japanese supply lines. He and two associates blew up 8 trains, destroyed 40 vehicles, and killed more than 500 enemy soldiers during one 14-day period. The Japanese deployed a regiment to search for what they believed was a squad of 200 Australian commandos.
The fall of Singapore to the Japanese in February 1942 left Chapman stranded and in terrible danger. Under these most desperate of circumstances, the man who Field Marshal Wavell thought of as `the jungle Lawrence' showed his bloody-minded talent for survival. Chapman held out for 1,226 days behind enemy lines, cut off from supplies, shelter or contact with British forces. Relentlessly hunted by the Japanese army - and once captured by them for a few hours - he was afflicted by typhus, scabies, pneumonia, blackwater fever, cerebral malaria, dengue fever and ulcers before finally getting out on a submarine to Ceylon in May 1945.
Drawing on extensive field research, and in particular on Chapman's detailed diary of his jungle ordeal, Brian Moynahan recreates thrillingly and unforgettably the life and adventures of a very English hero. He links him to the great explorer-naturalists of the past - even half-dead, Spencer Chapman still collected seeds for Kew and made field notes on birds - and shows how this proud British tradition gave him strength. Part biography, part tale of endurance, part special-forces narrative, Jungle Soldier will appeal to anyone who enjoys true stories of combat, courage and resourcefulness in adversity. --This text refers to the hardcover edition.

From the Back Cover

The amazing true story of how Freddy Spencer Chapman fought and survived one thousand days behind Japanese lines in Malaya in World War II to become a legend of guerrilla warfare. --This text refers to the hardcover edition.

About the Author

Brian Moynahan was an award-winning foreign correspondent and European editor with the Sunday Times. His many books include The Faith: A History of Christianity, The Russian Century, Comrades, The Claws of the Bear, Rasputin. Forgotten Soldiers, his first book for Quercus, was published in 2007. --This text refers to the hardcover edition.

Review

'Captures the amazing wartime exploits of Freddy Spencer Chapman' Daily Express. ― Daily Express

'Brian Moynahan's gripping book gives a fascinating insight into Chapman's upbringing' Daily Telegraph. ― Daily Telegraph

'Fantastic new book … a truly amazing story' Weekly News. ― Weekly News

'This story of endurance in the fetid heat of the Malayan jungle is surely one of the most awe-inspiring of the whole war - a courageous and utterly English hero, a man whose extraordinary bravery and tenacity were an inspiration to all who observed him. Only now, with the publication of this biography, will Freddy Spencer Chapman win the recognition his memory deserves' Daily Mail. ― Daily Mail

'An extraordinary life ... For over three years in the Second World War, he blew up trains, bridges and enemy soldiers in the jungles of Malaya all the while studying birdlife and collecting seeds to send back to Kew Gardens ... Quite why Chapman hasn't found Lawrence of Arabia's fame is anyone's guess.' Guardian. ― Guardian

'Crisp, compelling biography… Moynahan has done a terrific job of turning Chapman's life into an elegant narrative. The adventures and achievements are so remarkable that his factual biography reads at times like a Victorian novel, where the central character suffers disaster after disaster … perhaps this book will help win final recognition for a truly extraordinary man' Sunday Times. ― Sunday Times --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Book Description

The thrilling true story of a forgotten British hero of World War II. --This text refers to the paperback edition.

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B009S8HA80
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Quercus; UK ed. edition (16 May 2013)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 3395 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 353 pages

Best Sellers Rank: 179,692 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- 5 in History of Malaysia
- 47 in Military History of Guerrilla Forces
- 71 in Japanese Historical Biographies

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433 ratings

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SEA WARRIOR

WARNING: THIS BOOK MIGHT TRIGGER A MID-LIFE CRISIS

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 3 April 2021

Verified Purchase

Yes, it really might. Freddy Spencer Chapman was one of those Brits who seemed to have crammed an awful lot into his life before an untimely, tragic end. Explore Greenland? Tick. Be the first to conquer a Himalayan peak, without much equipment? Tick. Pack an awful lot of sabotage into two weeks of mayhem behind Japanese lines? Tick. And Beat the jungle's best efforts to kill him. Tick - just. There are many who would enjoy this book - but SAS wanabees, anthropologists, and doctors with an interest in tropical medicine will find it especially rewarding. Did it pass my Beach Read Test? Yes - and I know which beach I'll choose when I re-read the book. And I'll cast an occasional glance to seaward, as I do, imagining what it must have been like to see that periscope emerge.

2 people found this helpful

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billp

Brilliant beyond words!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 25 February 2021

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An absorbing, unglamourised or hero-worshipping account of a truly remarkable character. My schoolboy hero when we were given Chapman’s autobiographical book ‘The Jungle is Neutral’ as a course work subject when I was around 12 years of age. That one ought to be purchased and read before opening this magnificent account.

Chapman’s writings only tell a fraction of his extraordinary like and is so self-effacing it is almost bland when one understands just what he was up to.

Jaw dropping facts and stories of this brave man’s experiences told in sympathetic and highly revealing way with none of the gung-ho affectations that often crop up in biographies of notable people (and in many cases autobiographies, think Lawrence and Churchill!).

I had to buy this on Kindle as I lent my hardback to somebody a few years back and can’t remember to whom!

Factual, detailed and entertaining stuff!

One person found this helpful

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Richard Byrne

An interesting sidelight on remarkable exploits in Malaya behind Japanese lines

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 8 June 2017

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This is a sympathetic and pretty well researched biography, concentrating on the "jungle soldier" aspects of Chapman's life, but not neglecting the exploration. I've read several of Chapman's own book that cover all this period, and the biography was still of considerable interest - with a lot of sideways comment from others who were in Malaya at the time of his amazing exploits. Unlike Chapman, I noticed that Moynahan's knowledge of wildlife is poor - quite a few of the birds he describes Chapman as recording are imaginary! Chapman himself was accurate.

2 people found this helpful

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Drags on and nowhere near as exciting as the blurb would have you believe

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 19 November 2020

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Interesting topic and a fascinating guy but the tale is definitely not a fast paced adventure. For the majority of the time he was either ill in camp, training others in camp or moving between camp. While this is worthy work and incredible endurance, it provides fairly little of interest for the reader and as a result the story often descends into little more than a narrative of his diary entries. This means endless descriptions of what he ate at various meals. Overall, not bad but it was a struggle to finish it for me

Helpful

Wendy

Fortitude and courage in extreme circumstances

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 14 January 2018

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This book had a great amount of detail about the natural habitat and landscape where this very brave soldier fought and survived. His early childhood learning life skills, later exploration and mountaineering to survival in the jungle and his eventual death after the war is fascinating. Slightly long winded at times and not having good eye sight I found I could not see the maps but I would recommend it to anyone interested in this period of history

2 people found this helpful

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Les Howard

so-so

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 2 August 2018

Verified Purchase

The first six chapters are accounts of pre-war expeditions - so if you are looking purely for a WW2 adventure you might want to skip them. I also found the narrative to be over-descriptive which took away from the story line. As for a rollicking behind the lines adventure - not much happens. Apparently Freddy trained guerrillas to fight the Japanese but this is only alluded to. Freddy Chapman does deserve praise for surviving in the jungle for three years but to be awarded 2 DSOs? I think hype won over reality here.

3 people found this helpful

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leginnosdod

Baffled

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 July 2019

Verified Purchase

First third of the book was wasted on me ,it was his early life ,shooting and eating polar bears I think.
The second third of the book was wasted on me ,I think he was either ill or hiding from Japanese or bird watching .
The last part of the book was just wasted .
To me i should have learnt speed reading ,save skipping pages , don't think I missed a lot though.
This is my own opinion .

One person found this helpful

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kat

A marvellous read.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 1 November 2017

Verified Purchase

A wonderful book about a truly remarkable hero. Surely its time his story was put to the screen? I feel the least we can do is to remember him & what better way than his story should be on the schools book shelves & read as part of world war 2 studies.

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