Spy on the Roof of the World: Espionage and Survival in the Himalayas

by Sydney Wignall

In 1955, Sydney Wignall organized the Welsh Himalayan expedition to climb Tibet's highest mountain, Gurla Mandhata. But Wignall and two of his companions were more than just mountaineers; before setting out, Wignall had been recruited by a covert faction within Indian intelligence to report on Chinese military operations in newly invaded Tibet. Wignall and his band of unlikely spies were soon captured and imprisoned by the Red Army, thus beginning an ordeal that would draw on their last reserves of physical and emotional strength. Subjected to rat-infested, subfreezing cells and months of torturous interrogation, Wignall and his colleagues refused to allow their spirits to be broken. Ultimately, international pressure convinced the Chinese to release the three spies. But instead of being flown safely home, they were ordered to return via the Seti Gorge in the middle of winter, a deadly Himalayan pass considered suicidal even in summer. Their bodies wracked with frostbite and dysentery, their final trek to freedom is an amazing testament to their will to survive. (6 X 9, 304 pages, b&w photos, maps)

Genres: Nonfiction, China, Travel

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[Raghu Nathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fascinating account of a regular Welsh mountaineer doing a bit of espionage in the high altitudes of the Tibetan Himalayas for the Indian army during the days of mounting tension between India and China after China's 'annexation' of Tibet. I have read much on the subject of the Indo-China war of 1962 and the events which led to the war in the 1950's. There is the analysis of Neville Maxwell in his book 'India's China War' which is cited by Indian communists as evidence of the Indian bourgeoise's adventurism and colonised mentality. There are other accounts which see it as the usual perfidy of the Chinese communists and the naivete of Nehru's world view. This book is set in such a background.
Sidney Wignall is asked by the top brass of the Indian Army to incorporate some intelligence gathering on the Xinjiang-Tibet highway during his mountaineering expedition. The Indian army asks him for this favor as they feel that the Indian political leadership is all bogged down in idealistic notions of 'India-China friendship' and not taking a grip on the real politik of the post-colonial era in Asia. It shows the oddity of the times when the Indian army has to use its personal rapport with a British mountaineer to gather intelligence of such national importance.
As Wignall travels in Tibet, he and his Indian/Nepali companions are eventually arrested by the Chinese on charges of espionage and given the third degree. The rest of the book is about their daring escape from their rat-infested prison and making it across the hitherto unscaled high mountains to India safely.
Wignall is not a great writer but the book is a fine account of the adventure. His dislike of totalitarianism is obvious from the book but what surprised me was the high esteem he had for the Indian army as a professional force. Normally, one doesn't hear such praise from the British for India's institutions. There is a very amusing incident in the book where Wignall, under strong pressure from the Chinese interrogators to confess to his 'crimes', 'admits' to being part of an espionage mission to put a transmitter on top of Everest to spy on China! This was a total lie but it puts the worm of doubt in the heads of the Chinese authorities. This results in an expensive Chinese military expedition to the top of Everest in the ensuing years. Wignall speculates that it must have been to remove the 'transmitter he put there!'. On the other hand, it is somewhat worrying that dictatorships can be so easily manipulated by their fears and they would go to such lengths to combat it.
This is a good read for all those interested in adventure and China and Tibet. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

[Rohit Vashist · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Our illustrious Prime Minister Nehru , who is so busy on the world stage telling the rest of mankind how to live, has too little time to attend to the security of his own country"

This line basically sums up the attitude of our great PM and his defense minister when their chinese communist friends were planning to invade India. No, the war on India in 1962 was not sudden. While Nehru was busy chanting "Hindu Cheenee Bhai Bhai"; the chinese were consolidating their hold on Tibet , building roads there in order to bring their army and artillery on our borders. It is really shameful that the Indian Army had to send a Britisher as a spy to Tibet as Nehru would not allow any Indian to go. He was just madly in love with his commy friends.
Well my introduction to the book may look like a right wing rant about Nehru but don't dismiss this book even if you are a leftist or a fan of communism. The book is really a testimony to undying human grit, determination and never say die spirit. Although it is labelled as a spy book but it can easily pass of as a book on mountaineering. The degree of detail in which the mountaineering expedition over the Himalayas into Tibet has been described is simply amazing. It makes you feel that you are with the author and you can feel the adrenaline rushing through your body as the writer tells about the urai lekh pass or the crossing of seti gorge. The fact that this is a true story simply adds to the glamour of story telling. The three mountaineers or India's spies were really humorous and funny characters who did not lose their cool and funny bone in the midst of chinese torture . The book paints the Chinese as really villains and heartless creatures. The scene in which a Chinese seargent gouges out the eyes of a live sheep to eat it raw had me hating them from every bone of my body. In contrast the Tibetans are shown as docile and really good human beings. The author's experience of capture and questioning by the Chinese may have a lot to do with this depiction but I sort of agree with it(although I haven't met a Chinese in my life but I don't like them). One thing which stands out in the book is the clarity of the Chinese mind and the long game they play. It is really amazing to know that the portions of India which they claim in 2021 were the same ones they were claiming in 1955.
All in all, the book is a really great rendition of gritty human character and high altitude mountain climbing brings out the best of it. The spying part is just coincidence , if the Chinese were not such pigs, this might have just been a book on mountain climbing and a pretty good one at that.

[Alistair Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magnificent book well written and true my remarkable story. Captured by the Chinese for straying into Tibet, this is a tale of espionage and counter espionage. Not only did he not give any secrets away , he didn’t know any , he managed to gather information about Chinese forces in Tibet and give them false information. If you want to know why the Chinese were hellbent on scaling Everest this was the man responsible.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

For the likes of me, a little known, geo-political impasse crammed with intrigue and derring-do that harks back the days of 'The Great Game'.

A thoroughly enjoyable read.

[The Frahorus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sydney assieme all'amico John partono per il Tibet dove vogliono scalare il Gurla Mandata, alto ben 7728 metri. Durante questo avventuroso viaggio accetta di far da spia al governo indiano per appurare che i cinesi stiano effettivamente provando ad invadere il Tibet e ad occuparne una parte per una futura invasione dell'India. Siamo nel 1955. Ed è tutto vero. Ma i nostri eroi vengono arrestati e imprigionati dall'esercito cinese, e vengono interrogati dal terribile PLA (l'esercito di liberazione della Repubblica popolare cinese).
La maestria di Sydney sta nel narrarci la sua vera avventura sul Tibet, prima come libero scalatore alpinista, poi come innocente prigioniero dei cinesi. Una rara e importante testimonianza di quelle orribili cose che hanno fatto i cinesi, una fra tutte l'aver distrutto i tibetani e la loro cultura, l'aver scacciato il Dalai Lama, e addirittura, come scrive l'autore nel finale, aver anche tentato di assassinarlo perché "pretende" l'indipendenza del Tibet. Se leggerete questo diario di viaggio, non avrete più in tanta simpatia non solo il comunismo, ma anche i cinesi. Ed è tutto vero. Pur di nascondere la verità, infatti, il PLA era sicuro che i due alpinisti liberati sarebbero morti nella strada del ritorno, pensate che li liberarono in pieno inverno ed effettivamente si solo salvati più di una volta per miracolo. Ma come si dice, la verità alla fine è venuta a galla.

[Frans Leemker · Rating 3 out of 5]

(I read the Dutch version of this book.)

Waar gebeurd verhaal over een man die een van de toppen van de Himalaya wil beklimmen en door Chinezen gevangen wordt genomen, omdat hij illegaal Tibet betreedt. Tibet werd/wordt als een provincie van China beschouwd.
Behalve de gevangenschap zelf verhaalt het vooral ook de problemen waar ze mee te maken krijgen tijdens de beklimming.
De tegenwerking door de Chinezen, de achtergronden van het conflict tussen China en Tibet en de rol waarin India hier speelt.
Het boek leest vlot, als een avonturenroman.

[Gary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recommended for anyone interested in Great Game stuff, adventure stories, mountaineering or the mindset and tactics of the Chinese PLA in the mid-fifties.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book. Very interesting

[Sly · Rating 5 out of 5]

captivating account of illegal imprisonment, and the fate of Tibet under Chinese rule.