The Marauders

by Charlton Ogburn Jr.

Legends seldom fit the facts comfortably. The military outfit called Merrill's Marauders - 3,000 American soldiers who ranged hundreds of miles through the Burmese rain forest fighting vastly superior Japanese forces - stands up admirably to the legend that surrounds it, as veteran Ogburn capably shows. The first American force to fight on the Asian mainland since the Boxer Rebellion, the warriors of Galahad - as the three battalions under General Frank Merrill were code-named - suffered terribly in their long campaign over what Winston Churchill called "the most forbidding fighting country imaginable."

Writes Ogburn, not only were they felled by bullets, but they also endured lack of food and supplies, a host of tropical diseases, and exhaustion - and, worse, poor treatment at the hands of commanders and strategists far from the fighting. Even so, they scored some important successes and took their toll on a seasoned enemy, which "had never before come up against another first-class outfit on even terms, and the experience must have left them sore and puzzled."

Ogburn's action-filled book merits a place alongside the dispatches of Ernie Pyle and Richard Tregaskis's Guadalcanal Diary as an important firsthand account of the war in Asia. - Gregory McNamee

Genres: History, Nonfiction, War, World War II, American History, Asia, Military Fiction

307 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1959

About the author

Charlton Ogburn, Jr. was an author and freelance professional writer. He was the author of over a dozen books and numerous magazine articles. The Marauders (1959), his first person account of the Burma Campaign in World War II, may be his best-known work; it was later made into the film Merrill's Marauders (1962). His account of his travels along the largely deserted north eastern shore in The Winter Beach is considered a classic of nature-writing.

Reviews

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am always in pursuit of original sources as the bedrock of history. I have seldom come across such an excellent account by someone who was actually there. Lt Ogburn marched into Burma down the Ledo Road and was evacuated shortly before the final objective of Myitkyina. What a tale he has to tell and extremely well-written:

A sense of history as he trains his men in an ancient country:

You stood with the same nostalgia for home, the same wonder over the strange sights you had seen, the same concern over the training and abilities of those for whom you were responsible, the same nagging awareness of your own shortcomings, the same anxiety about the unknown that lay ahead, the same haziness of comprehension of what went on beyond your regiment, the same tantalizing taste in your imagination of the rich pastry of luxury and indulgence that was to be had somewhere, the same weariness, the same reminiscent smile over someone’s wisecrack, the same love of your comrades with which you looked around from the head of your platoon in the army of Clive, of Nadir Shah, of Akbar and Baber, and before them of Asoka and Alexander.

I never ceased to give thanks that life, whatever else it might have in store for me, had brought me not as a mere traveler but as a soldier to that country which represents for us perhaps more than any other the splendor and squalor, the color and pageantry and cruelty of the past. Wherever we went in India we encountered hostility. The eyes that met ours were sullen with a consciousness of grievance and hurt. Even the vendors, the porters and the tonga drivers who cheated us and the beggars who harried us resented us-more than any, perhaps. But none of it bothered us. It did not make us feel out of place or ill at ease. It was not we but they who were the newcomers, the interlopers, the transients. We knew it and they knew it. We belonged to that which was older than any nation. We were the British, we were the Moguls, we were the Aryans, we were the Dravidians. We went back to the beginning of history. We were the beginning of history. We were the soldiery.

Merrill’s Marauders gets its name:

A reporter is with BG Merrill in a jeep “on the way to a river-crossing exercise when he ventured the view that the name "5307th Composite Unit (Provisional),” while of course an honorable one, lacked something from a news writer’s point of view. He said he proposed to call the outfit "Merrill’s Marauders” in his dispatches.

"What do you think of it?” he asked. .

“Unh”

And so it was as Merrill’s Marauders that we left Deogarh for Burma.

Merrill’s Marauders begins its 122 mile march down the Ledo road:

We had a 14-mile march that night. Coming on top of a two weeks’ softening-up period of total idleness and combined with our inexperience with the mules, which we had never before been out with and hardly knew how to handle, it was a killer. Like many others, I was having my first walk in my newly issued shoes, and by the time dawn had broken on the other side of Ledo, so had my feet.

"This seems a lot of trouble to go to, just to get shot at,” said Meredith when, about eight o’clock in the morning, we pulled, into a grassy expanse in the woods that was to be our bivouac.

“This is the way I expected to feel on the last day of the campaign,” I said. "If that’s what it was, instead of the first, I could take it philosophically.”

What with the animals and equipment to care for, the eating to be done, and the bright sky overhead, there was not much sleep that day. But the worst thing was my feet, which were raw. What saved me was the alternate footgear we had been issued. Pontiffs of podoculture among us warned that the feet would break down if the calf-high, rubber-soled canvas jungle boots were worn habitually, but after the heavy leather Gls, they made you feel--in the established military parlance--as if you were walking barefoot over the bosoms of maidens. From then on, like about half the command, I wore nothing else.

Merrill’s Marauders come under their first shelling:

This was the first artillery the 5307th had encountered, and it drove home a point that was to be driven home with all of us that day and the next. There is nothing quite like artillery when the enemy has some and you have not. Except when our planes were overhead keeping the gunners in their foxholes, the enemy’s pieces had a free field with us. Having nothing with which to reach them, we had to sit and take it……

First time under fire:

….Now, pinned down in my slit trench by fear, as by a savage ape, I knew I could never think the same of myself again either. Nothing, I believe, can prepare you for the experience of being fired on-all the books, all the motion pictures, any amount of imagination. The realization there people mean to kill you strikes as if no such possibility had entered your head before. They mean to kill you! The well-intentioned, good deed-doing, vulnerable, sensitive, lovable you, the you who never thought of doing anybody any harm and had never desired other than for everybody in the world to be happy. They mean to kill you as if you were a Thanksgiving turkey or a mad dog. They mean to blow your entrails out. And they may well succeed. Why not? Insensate instruments of malice, they may well do it; and, looking like something in a butcher’s shop, you will be covered over with this musty-smelling, alien earth, the golden edifice of your future, sunlit tower upon sunlit tower reaching Skyward, leveled to this indifferent leafmold acrawl with ants. Your soul hammers against the unalterable walls of cause and effect: Not here, not now--the universe could not encompass such a monstrous and arbitrary cruelty!

I could pull quote after quote out of this book, almost every page was gripping and interesting. This one claims a spot on the permanent shelf.

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Marauders, also known as Merrill's Marauders, fought the Japanese in the jungles of Burma during World War II.

"The battalion went into position on the high ground just back from the river to prepare for the attack. Radio silence was to be preserved..." (page 165)

"After dark (Colonel) Osborne called his officers together and gave them their attack orders. ... At the first light of dawn the platoons were to move independently from the riverbank to the road, cutting the Japanese supply line and digging in against the inevitable violent counterattacks. 'Keep your men from firing as long as you can,' said Osborne. 'Whatever the do, they mustn't start shooting while it's still dark. If they get in a jam, it's to be knives or bayonets.' " (page 166)

"The 400 men who had crossed the river soundlessly headed into the forest, almost as quiet as ever, weapons at the ready." (page 171)

"In the (Japanese) bivouac area there were little fires agleam in the half-light. Some of the Japanese were tending these, some were pulling on their clothes, some were at the latrine when the firing sounded in the south. Before they had a chance to react, the line of Marauders broke out of the woods and fell upon them. There was pamdemonium and carnage as the Marauders swept through the camp. ... In a few moments the bivouac area was cleared and the attack was pushing on the the road." (page 171)

"...it was estimated that the number of Japanese killed in the fighting numbered 300, as against an incredibly low figure on the American side of 8 killed and 35 wounded. First Battalion had set an example of aggressiveness and skill..." (page 185)

[Ann Otto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ogburn's telling of the battalions in the jungles of Burma during World War 2 is a must-read for anyone studying the China-Burma-India theater during the war. This is validated by the number of times this work is quoted in other literature about the period. The goal of the Burma campaign was to ensure communication and transports between India and China during the war with Japan. Ogburn served with the Army from 1941 until 1945 and during that time was a member of Merrill's Marauders, the name the media gave to the U. S. Army 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional). If words such as Galahad, Mars Taskforce, Myitkyina, or Ledo and Burma Roads mean anything historically to you this book provides historical context and first-person accounts of most events, including the political and military intrigues among the allied stakeholders- American, British, Chinese, and Indian- and nationalist groups in China, Burma, and India which aided the Japanese.

[David Conner · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Dad served in the CBI theatre during WWII so I was especially interested in learning as much about what he went through as possible. Even though he wasn’t a Marauder he still was part of the overall battle. This book was excellently written in describing the background and viewpoint of the senior officers perspective as well as the people on the ground. Apart from less than a handful of movies made by Hollywood about the CBI theatre, that part of the war was largely overlooked. This book is a must read for any serious student of WWII

[M Moses · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yet another area of conflict in World War II that one hardly ever hears about: Burma. Written from the point of view of an American soldier who endured what Merrill's Marauders went through in the jungles against the Japanese army, it starts off quite slow but is worth the wait to read about all of the action!
I highly recommend this book to all history of WWII buffs!

[Lucy Colback · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not just a book about battles—although it is that, too. It's a beautifully written and thought-provoking account of the reality of coming face to face with people whose objective is to kill you as much as it is yours to kill them, and how this affects your perspective on everything from combat to life itself.

[Vincent O'Neil · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The secret of happiness is freedom, and the secret of freedom is a brave heart." -- Pericles

I just re-read the book The Marauders, and can't recommend it highly enough. It's the story of a lone American infantry regiment in Burma in WWII, the famous Merrill's Marauders.

Although much of it is told from the author's viewpoint (he was a communications officer in a regiment where radio contact with airplanes dropping supplies was a life-or-death issue) he took the time to comb the archives and contact the survivors and gave this a very well-rounded feel.

In addition to his description of the incredible hardships the Marauders faced (jungle terrain, high mountains, monsoon rains, gnawing hunger, an uncaring higher command, and frequent contact with the enemy) he includes gems like that quotation from Pericles. This book is a primer on leadership and a commentary on sacrifice, all rolled up with some dark humor and marvelous writing.

It's not easy to find, but your library may have it.

[John Riedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

while the pacing strikes me as at-times dry and even somewhat disjointed, I enjoy it for the great job it does at not only at an authentic and human portrayal of war but revealing good reasons for why Galahad was created, who created and orchastrated it, and what broke Galahad. However; DO SOME HISTORY HOMEWORK BEFORE SERIOUSLY READING. I'm sure it's an old message,but you WILL NOT fully appreciated this without understanding the times it happend in and who americans, japanese, british, indian, burmese, chinese etc. people and their governments were and interacted with eachother.
But really, I must do more research and read this multiiple times from now.

[Al Lock · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book that I read that went into depth about the 5307th Composite Unit. And it stuck with me. The achievements of this unit were and still are, amazing. There have been more complete books since, but this one was written when the memories were still vivid.

[Tom Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The US Army Ranger School is based on the campaign of Merrill's Marauders as an extended role play.

It so happens my roommate during Infantry Officers Basic Course 1-70 was Samuel V. Wilson II. the son of Lt. Gen. Samuel V. Wilson, Merrill's Recon platoon leader. He was married and I didn't see much of him until the Florida phase of Ranger School, when he was recycled from the previous class for an injury.

Our Ranger Class 7-70 was selected to reactivate the 75th Ranger Regiment at our graduation and Gen. Wilson was the reviewing officer. I was an administrative platoon leader, my only claim to fame in an otherwise plain vanilla military career. Gen. Wilson may have been there, but I don't even remember getting my Tab safety-pinned on my fatigues. I was walking around mostly by habit and the graduation was just aother formation before trucking home to Harmony Church, then home for a long winter's nap.