Remembering today two men who took part in Wingate's experimental Chindit mission in 1943. Rifleman Ganga Ram Rai, part of the decoy Southern section on operation Longcloth, whose column marched the furthest east during that year. The young Gurkha survived all the Burmese jungle could throw at him that year, only to perish during the Maungdaw action of the Arakan offensive in 1944. Private Edgar Burger of column 5 on operation Longcloth, a man who would join up with a small group of desperate men in late April 1943 and head towards China in a bid to outrun the persuing Japanese. He sadly failed in his quest and died on this day in Block 6 of Rangoon Jail, one of the many Wingate men to lose their fight for life as a POW.
You can read about Pte. Burger and his dispersal group on the same website, second story on this page: Family 2
