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The Hundred Days Of Lt. MacHorton
PB
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1958
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77 people want to read
About the author
Ian MacHorton
5 books1 followerServed as an officer with the famous Chindits during World War II in the India-Burma Theater.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 10, 2014
Ian MacHorton's "Safer Than a Known Way: One Man's Epic Struggle Against Japanese and Jungle" was originally published in 1958 under the title "100 Days of Lt. MacHorton". This is one of the best inspirational books I have ever read. It chronicles the 1,200 mile trek of a 19 year old Chindit junior officer in a deep penetration operation (Operation Longcloth) behind the Japanese lines in the Burma WW2 1943-44 offensives. It is an amazing and soul lifting recount, well written, and graphic in its detail.
July 6, 2009
This eye witness account of the brutal commando fighting of the Burma campaign during the Second World War received much acclaim when originally published but since as been virtually forgotten. The value of this book lies in the author's impressions of a soldier in a pretty much forgotten front. I gained much from reading this matter of fact book that displays a different time (the author originally wrote the book in the 1950's and thus it is a good representation of how the British thought of World War Two directly after the war.)
August 2, 2015
I agree that this is an inspirational book about one man's determination to survive in the jungles of Burma. I have had this book on my shelves for over 30 years and just by chance pulled it out to finally read it. I should have done that long ago. It is a great story about one of the Chindit columns that went deep into Burma where the Japanese closed in on them. by all accounts, the author should have perished in the jungle which many of hsi comrades did, but he never gave up.
August 10, 2020
An amazing story.
January 17, 2018
This is one of my all-time-favourite books. It is the true story of a soldier very reluctantly abandoned by his team of fellow combatants, due to his severe injuries sustained in an ambush in wartime Burma. The author explains in detail beforehand how this arrangement was pre-planned should such an occasion arise - a pragmatic action in wartime, given the tactics employed in jungle combat.
The majority of the story details his ordeals, eluding enemy patrols, often near death, still seriously wounded obviously, starving and under-equipped, his discovery and rescue by locals, his recovery in their care - and then his resumed solitary efforts to return to his own forces. He is captured by a Japanese patrol and deteriorates badly in captivity, as do his fellow captives.
The narrative continues by relating how these prisoners manage to escape and attempt to exit the enemy territory to rejoin their own forces. The central character is eventually separated as their group is all but annihilated and makes his way, once again entirely on his own. Since this is a true story, the sufferings and deaths described are all the more sorrowful. After my experiences in the South African border war, these events were very tangible and accordingly, disturbing, which aroused depths of melancholy that caught me by surprise.
In any event, the story takes on an unexpected but entirely convincing aspect when our distraught victim finds a trail of boot prints and follows them through swamps and otherwise unnavigable terrain. A supernatural aspect is revealed when the man backtracks for some reason and discovers that the boot prints are disappearing, without any reason, once they have been followed. Only the boot prints in proximity to him remain visible and those stretching ahead. He comes to realise that God is miraculously leading him back to safety.
As a Christian, a conscripted ex-infantryman, a husband and a father who has experienced the tangible evidence of a living God, I resonated with agreement of such a miracle being completely credible. It was another confirmation that my experiences were not unique and like a bushman witnessing about city life to his aghast and incredulous audience back in the desert, it is irrelevant when mockers attempt to scorn such an unbelievable story into obscurity or silence. To the person who was there it cannot be erased. The author's undramatic, simple description of what happened is a cause for excitement and the certain knowledge that there is always hope, in the concerned attention of the living God. Regardless of the flat disbelief of those who have never been conscious of such attention, this epic testimony is a solid anchor for the believer.
A very well-told war story and an even better testimony appearing almost as a postscript as the surprise package at the end. This is one of the few books that I will not willingly part with.
The majority of the story details his ordeals, eluding enemy patrols, often near death, still seriously wounded obviously, starving and under-equipped, his discovery and rescue by locals, his recovery in their care - and then his resumed solitary efforts to return to his own forces. He is captured by a Japanese patrol and deteriorates badly in captivity, as do his fellow captives.
The narrative continues by relating how these prisoners manage to escape and attempt to exit the enemy territory to rejoin their own forces. The central character is eventually separated as their group is all but annihilated and makes his way, once again entirely on his own. Since this is a true story, the sufferings and deaths described are all the more sorrowful. After my experiences in the South African border war, these events were very tangible and accordingly, disturbing, which aroused depths of melancholy that caught me by surprise.
In any event, the story takes on an unexpected but entirely convincing aspect when our distraught victim finds a trail of boot prints and follows them through swamps and otherwise unnavigable terrain. A supernatural aspect is revealed when the man backtracks for some reason and discovers that the boot prints are disappearing, without any reason, once they have been followed. Only the boot prints in proximity to him remain visible and those stretching ahead. He comes to realise that God is miraculously leading him back to safety.
As a Christian, a conscripted ex-infantryman, a husband and a father who has experienced the tangible evidence of a living God, I resonated with agreement of such a miracle being completely credible. It was another confirmation that my experiences were not unique and like a bushman witnessing about city life to his aghast and incredulous audience back in the desert, it is irrelevant when mockers attempt to scorn such an unbelievable story into obscurity or silence. To the person who was there it cannot be erased. The author's undramatic, simple description of what happened is a cause for excitement and the certain knowledge that there is always hope, in the concerned attention of the living God. Regardless of the flat disbelief of those who have never been conscious of such attention, this epic testimony is a solid anchor for the believer.
A very well-told war story and an even better testimony appearing almost as a postscript as the surprise package at the end. This is one of the few books that I will not willingly part with.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 21, 2021
As a 15 year old this book was left behind by a short term lodger in our home, I did not pick it up to read it till about a year later, but the sheer grittiness of this true story and the determination by the young lieutenant to survive and get out of the Burmese jungle where he had been sent to attack the Japanese behind their own lines was very gripping.
The final scene for Ian Machorton, where he is supernaturally helped out of a terrible swamp and makes it out is one that never loses it's appeal, amazing story and amazing young man. I have re read it a few times over the years almost seem to never tire of it.
The final scene for Ian Machorton, where he is supernaturally helped out of a terrible swamp and makes it out is one that never loses it's appeal, amazing story and amazing young man. I have re read it a few times over the years almost seem to never tire of it.
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August 2, 2021In het Nederlands: door de hel van Birma
December 1, 2012
One of the most inspiring stories I've read.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews