77 Brigade - 2nd Chindit Campaign - Orde Wingate.

Discussion in 'Burma & India' started by Father Peter Clegg, Nov 9, 2015.

  1. Father Peter Clegg

    Father Peter Clegg Padre Peter D. Clegg

    My father was Harry Clegg and he was part of 77 Brigade under Mike Calvert.
    He is pictured in Tony Redding's Book 'War in the Wilderness' making a 'cup of char'.
    White City was etched on his mind where he recalled fierce Japanese fighting (night after night!), where the stench of death hung in the humid air.
    He admired 'Mad Mike' and said that he was a brilliant (if not risky) soldier of the first order.
    He died on the 5th March 1996 as I was planning to go back to India with him.

    I am his Son. Reverend Father (Padre) Peter D. Clegg. Recently retired Chaplain to H.M Corps of Royal Marines.
     
  2. High Wood

    High Wood Well-Known Member

    Peter,

    I am very pleased that you have managed to start a thread about your father's service with 77 Brigade. I have just checked my copy of Mike Calvert's Fighting Mad but sadly he neglected to index it.

    Simon.
     
  3. Father Peter Clegg

    Father Peter Clegg Padre Peter D. Clegg

    Simon,
    I hope it attracts some comments.
    I was sad that 'the powers that be' would not overturn the charge against Mike Calvert, and that he died vigorously maintaining his innocence, even in the light of the retracted statements of the four 'young' men, who, at the time, testified against him.

    Peter
     
  4. Charley Fortnum

    Charley Fortnum Dreaming of Red Eagles

    Calvert's Prisoners of Hope covers 77 Brigade's activities in depth.
    There is also some information in this marathon recording:
    http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80009725

    The way he was forced out of the army on dubious charges was an utterly shameful episode.
     
  5. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    Peter,

    We have discussed White City on the forum many times. If you use the search function at the top right hand corner of the page, it will bring up the relevant threads.

    Welcome aboard.

    Steve
     
  6. High Wood

    High Wood Well-Known Member

    C F.

    I have both books and was hoping to find specific references to Harry Clegg, even just a passing mention.

    Simon.
     
  7. veronicad

    veronicad Well-Known Member

    High time MAD MIKE was given another airing. Given a post after ww11 to Germany. In charge of housing! This alone has a very nasty smell. He had enemies galore. Too clever,to smart, for the armchair Brigade.His men where loyal to him.And he to them. Utter disgrace that he remained innocent and it remained unproven. Strange, that there was NO blemish with regard to his character whatsoever, from the men he so proudly led, and they so proudly followed.
     
  8. High Wood

    High Wood Well-Known Member

    Peter,

    I have found an article in the Autumn 2000 issue of the Dekho! Journal about another Padre who served with the Chindits. His name was Rev Donald Mackay and he was the Chaplain for the 1st battalion, Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), who formed Chindit columns 26 and 90 and, who were attached to 111th Indian Infantry Brigade.
     
  9. Charpoy Chindit

    Charpoy Chindit Junior Member

    Apart from ordering the execution of British soldiers during the retreat from Burma, that is!
     
  10. High Wood

    High Wood Well-Known Member

    Was that ever proved? I thought that he said that he didn't kill them but the fact that others thought that he did served the same purpose regarding discipline.
     
  11. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    I think I've seen a couple of witness statements suggesting he ordered the execution of some suspected 5th Columnists in April 1942, one of whom was the wife of a serving British Infantry soldier.
     
  12. Charley Fortnum

    Charley Fortnum Dreaming of Red Eagles

    Good Lord, that's the kind of decision you don't really want to be forced into making.

    For some reason, this all reminds me of a seething review of Bernard Fergusson's beyond the Chindwin:
    http://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R1S6QFNTAL6RUD/ref=cm_cr_dp_title?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B000YI7EZM&channel=detail-glance&nodeID=266239&store=books
     
  13. High Wood

    High Wood Well-Known Member

    The incident that I was referring to involved half a dozen sentries scarpering with a lorry during the trek out of Burma in 1942. Fighting Mad. Page 76.
     
  14. High Wood

    High Wood Well-Known Member

    What a great John Master's novel this would make; the summary execution of a British officer's wife in 1942 providing the motive to court martial a decorated war hero on falsified charges in peacetime. Damn, I've given the plot away now.
     
  15. zahonado

    zahonado Well-Known Member

    I hadn't heard this story, HW Where is it documented? My father was always an admirer of MC.
     
  16. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    I think the soldier was a private in rank and his wife Burmese.
     
  17. High Wood

    High Wood Well-Known Member

    I seem to remember something about this. Could he have been a Pte in the KOYLI as they were stationed in Burma for several years before the outbreak of WW2?
     
  18. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    Yes, spot on Simon. I would post the documents on here, but I feel they are of a sensitive nature and that would be unfair to the families involved.
     
  19. Hebridean Chindit

    Hebridean Chindit Lost in review... Patron

    I'd second that view...

    Welcome Padre...
     
  20. Charpoy Chindit

    Charpoy Chindit Junior Member

    It wasn't the wife, but the soldier himself - according to the man who shot him. The incident is mentioned in Fergal Keane's book on Kohima 'Road of Bones'.
     

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