Fire in the Night: Wingate of Burma, Ethiopia, and Zion

by John Bierman, Colin Smith

Winston Churchill thought he was a military genius; others considered him greatly overrated; a few even thought him mad. Almost sixty years after his death at age forty-four in an airplane crash, Orde Wingate remains perhaps the most controversial of all World War II commanders.

Born into a fundamentalist Christian sect and raised in the Cromwellian tradition of Sword and Bible, Wingate was an odd mixture of religious mystic and idealist, combining an unshakable belief in an Old Testament God with an insatiable interest in music, literature, history, philosophy, and the politics of his day.

But his overriding and enduring passion was for Zionism, a cause that--although he had no Jewish blood--he embraced when posted to British-ruled Palestine in 1936. There he raised the Special Night Squads, an irregular force that decimated Arab rebel bands and taught a future generation of Israeli generals how to fight.

In 1941, Wingate led another guerrilla-style force, this time into Italian-occupied Ethiopia, where he was instrumental in restoring Emperor Haile Selassie to his throne. But the campaign that was to bring him world fame was conducted behind enemy lines in Burma, where his Chindits shattered the myth of Japanese invincibility in jungle fighting, giving Allied morale a much-needed boost at a crucial point in World War II.

Throughout his career, Wingate's unconventionality and disdain for the superiors he dismissed as "military apes" marked him as a difficult if not impossible subordinate. He was that, but also, as this vigorous new study reveals, an inspiring leader.

Genres: History, Biography, Military Fiction, World War II, Africa, War, Nonfiction

448 pages, Hardcover

First published December 28, 1999

About the author

John David Bierman, journalist and author.

John Bierman was one of the last of a generation of buccaneering reporters and writers who pursued successful careers across the media. Newspaper reporter, editor, radio correspondent, television "fireman", documentary maker and, finally, acclaimed historian, Bierman excelled at each, in a working life that reached back to the days of plate cameras and reporters in trilbies.

His big stories as a BBC TV reporter included a 13-minute, mainly ad-libbed, report from Bloody Sunday in Derry in 1972 (which won a Cannes TV Festival award), the Indo-Pakistan war of 1971 and the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974. His final incarnation as a historian was pursued in the Mediterranean calm of a Cypriot farmhouse - he liked to describe himself as a "palm-tree man". The military historian Sir John Keegan wrote of Alamein: War Without Hate (2002), which Bierman co-authored with fellow journalist Colin Smith: "Few historians write as fluently as they do; few journalists achieve their standards of accuracy and inclusiveness."

Bierman was born within the sound of Bow Bells in London. His father, an antiques dealer, beat a hasty exit, and his mother, who ran a dress shop, paid attention to her son only when in funds. Largely raised by his grandparents, and evacuated from London during the second world war, he had, therefore, a peripatetic childhood that ideally prepared him for life as a globetrotting reporter. His love of the English language was acquired young. Despite attending 16 schools, he had a sound basic education, and could recite long passages of poetry.

In 1960, Bierman was headhunted by the Aga Khan to found and edit The Nation, in Nairobi. Those four years were among his happiest professionally. A colleague recalls: "John was a great editor - driving, dynamic, young, assured, foul-mouthed, contemptuous of settlers, frightened of nobody, a marvellous design man and an elegant writer." He next moved to the Caribbean as a managing editor.

He returned to England in the mid-1960s just as the BBC was recruiting experienced print journalists to stiffen its staff of largely university graduates - "all rather posh men", according to Mike Sullivan, another of the hard-bitten tribe who joined when Bierman did.

Bierman's breakthrough book was Righteous Gentile: The Story of Raoul Wallenberg (1981), which brought to international attention the then largely neglected story of the Swedish diplomat who rescued Hungarian Jews from the Nazis. Bierman's words are inscribed on Wallenberg's statue in central London: "The 20th century spawned two of history's vilest tyrannies. Raoul Wallenberg outwitted the first but was swallowed up by the second. His triumph over Nazi genocide reminds us that the courageous and committed individual can prevail against even the cruellest state machine. The fate of the six million Jews he was unable to rescue reminds us of the evil to which racist ideas can drive whole nations. Finally, his imprisonment reminds us not only of Soviet brutality but also of the ignorance and indifference which led the free world to abandon him. We must never forget these lessons."

One of Bierman's books - The Heart's Grown Brutal, a thriller set in Northern Ireland - was written under the pseudonym David_Brewster; he was still on the BBC staff and not supposed to moonlight. In all, he published eight books (two written with Smith), continuing to work after a kidney (donated by his son Jonathan) transplant in 2002. Despite a later heart bypass, arthritis and damaged nerves in his neck which made writing torture, he stayed at his keyboard. He told an interviewer: "Working, in the sense of writing books, I shall do until I drop because it is my life."

(source: The Guardian)

Reviews

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Genius" Winston Churchill in Parliament referring to Orde Wingate.

This well written book is about a British Army officer of the 1930's and 1940's. With a strict Christian childhood, he developed a strong love for Zion and sided with the Jews in Palestine to the annoyance of Arabs and the British military establishment. He was fluent in Arabic. His Hebrew was passable.
The military genius, referred to by Churchill, had to do with fighting behind enemy lines, and to not lesser extent his military night patrol. He was a master military tactician, and is celebrated by the military leaders in the young state that became Israel.

Wingate had his distractors, but they were mostly those he scorned. The man was militarily tactless, but created a vertical support system. He had great public acclaim (UK) due to his exploits in Burma against the Japanese.

If you like to read about WWII, or Ethiopia, or Burma, or Israel, or the British Army, you would like this book. It is a history book that could pass for a historical novel. I enjoyed the book........... Not fun reading, but reminded me of my dad who mentioned Wingate.

[Keith Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am in the middle of this fascinating read. Wingate was in the British aremy and played a crucial role in helping to prepare the initial Israeli army to fight and defend herself from Palestinian groups.

[Jill Stirling · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. I had read about Orde Wingate in my reading on the establishment of the modern state of Israel. This was quite a fair treatment of Wingate's life. A brave and uncomfortable figure in British military history. His aid and training of the Jewish settlers in the British Protectorate is legendary. I would have enjoyed more writing on this. Thankfully I have read Moshe Dayan's autobiography and other pioneer writings and learned a great deal there. I found the author's treatment of Wingate's Christian beliefs a bit disappointing. He obviously has no real understanding. The remark denigrating the intelligence of Wingate's mother, supposedly she was less intelligent because of her Christian beliefs, was very disappointing and uncalled for. As was the little jibe at the end about the establishment of the modern state of Israel being at the expense of people group. Surely the author know the situation to be more complex than that.
Wingate was obviously ahead of his time in his military thinking. He achieved a great deal in his short life. Although, apart from The Lord having a hand in the Allies ultimate victory in WW2, it would seem that the British establishment did a great deal to hamper efforts towards victory because of their laziness.

[Richard Kravitz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting book, fairly well written. But it was a bit too detailed for me and I lost some interest. Not enough of a story and I really got lost in the details of battles, raids, etc. Also, the book could have used better, more detailed maps of Orde's movements.

I was looking for more information of his time in Palestine. They did give some detail on this part of his career/life and spoke of his lifelong dedication to Zionism, but not as much as I'd hoped for.

[David Bolle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic history of one of the worlds greatest military leaders.

[Martin Koenigsberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Orde Wingate is a controversial figure in Military History. He is famous for Creating the Chindit Concept in the Burma Theatre, for leading a tertiary Guerrilla style Campaign within the larger Liberation of Ethiopia, and for his creation of the Special Night Squads that the Israeli Defense Forces consider their inception. This book is an attempt by two experienced journalists to unravel the mysteries and triumphs of Wingate's life, Colin Smith and John Bierman trying to use their local knowledge of the locales of these actions to tell a nuanced tale. I ended up wishing they had spent a little more time with a few Military people, either WWII vets or Modern sources, for they have ended up being too lenient on the subject, tending to over state his achievements and soft soap the legitimate criticisms of both the man and his ideas. Wingate did have good ideas- and did have a knack for small action tactics and paramilitary warfare. In the end his dream of large formations acting on the enemy's rear areas and lines of communication has fallen out of vogue, replaced by smaller tighter units of special forces- and his preference for fighting for the locals- has been supplanted by the idea that one trains the locals to carry out the bulk of the fighting.

The book explains the Imperial structure in which Wingate advanced, even as he was not a traditional officer at all. He was a religious zealot, of a sort of muscular Christianity not usually seen in the Officer Corps. His penchant for manic research binges and casual nudity also stood out from the regular Commissioned Brit. In 1930s Palestine, in the midst of the Arab Revolt, where most British officers were sympathetic to the Mufti's men- Wingate turned to the Jewish Kibbutzim- and formed mixed British/Palestinian Jewish units that returned Control to the Empire. This success led to his being labelled a "Guerilla War" expert- and the opportunities to work with Hailie Selassie as a third- and inexpensive- force to work on the flanks of the occupying Italians- while two traditional Military forces drove in from North and South. In an empire starved of successes- and faced with a whole new enemy in the middle of the war- Wingate then was tasked with applying his concepts to fighting the Japanese in Burma- immediately after the Raj had been expelled. The story of the First Chindit Expedition is compelling- but the authors lose the plot a little when the idea is turned into the second Expedition- and two Regular Divisions are broken into columns. They never can come to explain how willingly surrendering the firepower advantage an Allied Division enjoyed over a similar Japanese formation was a risk- and how of the 3000 men of the first Expedition-800 were dead- and only 600 were ever fit for Military Operations again. This was not really a success to be emulated- it was an experiment to learn from.

There are a lot of adult themes in this book and some very graphic casualty descriptions , so this is a book best read by the Junior reader over about 13/14 years of age. For the Gamer/Modeler/Military Enthusiast, this book is a mixed bag. There are not really enough maps and/or diagrams to aid with Scenario development, but you do get insight into three discreet conflicts- and Wingate's thoughts and solutions for them. This is more a book to understand the personalities involved- and the inner motivations of some Pre-War and WWII characters. There are a few Diorama ideas in the book that may appeal to modelers. If you like to add RPG elements to your WWII/SWW, then this book will certainly aid you in that endeavor . If you are looking for sound military concepts and analysis- you will need to find another resource. I enjoyed the book and think it is well worthwhile, but want to get more professional views on this military maverick- who seems to be a favorite of amateurs- and not of military professionals. A good book , but not a definitive work.

[Bob Mobley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fire in the Night is a superb, well-written, and insightful biography of one of the more interesting and bizarre characters of the Second World War. He had an amazing rise to prominence, comparable to that of Lawrence of Arabia during the First World War. Admired and hated, both with good cause, Wingate has remained controversial over the years. Born into an army family that was puritanically religious, Wingate followed the normal course of going to public school, and then into the army. As an intellectual and eccentric young man, steeped in the fundamentalists' Old Testament beliefs, he overtly showed contempt to the mores and behaviors of the closely knit society to which he belonged. Rude, sloppy in dress, and interested in Marxism, he was a very contrary young officer. In the mid-1930's, he made his mark in Palestine, as an intelligence officer. Trained in Arabic, he did not follow the path of his distance cousin, T.E. Lawrence, as so many other Englishmen had, embracing the Arab cause. Rather, learning Hebrew, he became a convert to Zionism. It was during his time in Palestine that Wingate developed his experience and passion for what became the fore-runner of Special Forces. Transferred to India, as the Japanese overran Burma, and supported by one of his mentors, General Archibald Wavell, Wingate created a long range, behind-the-lines raiding force that became known to the world as the Chindits. Wingate believed that the key to success in war time, was leadership and extensive physical conditioning. He felt these two elements combined could take an average group and turn them into a world class fighting force. He pioneered training exercises that were to become the standards of excellence for both the SAS, as well as the Rangers and Green Berets, well known to all of us today. This is a very interesting, provocative and thoughtful look inside a complex individual. It is a superb case study in effective leadership, and what it means to inspire and create in those around you, a strong sense of self-confidence that there is nothing that cannot be accomplished, working together as a team. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in leadership, and a fascinating study of part of the Second World War that is little recognized or discussed. The authors, John Bierman and Collin Smith, have created an absorbing, enlightening, and very entertaining biography on one of history's truly unique individuals. Wingate is seen as the Father of what was to become the Israeli Defense Forces, and his name is revered in contemporary Jewish history.

[Bill Harper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book, covers this entire life. Orde Wingate was a very eccentric wartime leader. He taught the early Jewish settlers how to fight back with his Special Night Squads taking the war to the Arabs, who had been attacking them. The British didn't like what he was doing but turned a blind eye. He met and worked with just about every future Jewish leaders and IDF Commanders. Wingate then took his ability to Ethiopia, where he created the Ethiopian force known as Gideon Force, which helped defeat the Italians in Ethiopia and put Hailie Selassie back in power. Wingate always thought that the British would betray the Jews and the Ethiopians by taking control in Ethiopia and forcing the Jews out of Palestine. After this he was sent to Burma and India, where he created the Chindits as a Long Range Penetration Group (Brigade size). They went back into Burma where they blew up Bridges, railroad tracks, attacked bases and ambushed patrols. Depending on who you believe it was either very successful or a waste of resources. The Japanese claimed it changed their strategy and helped stop their expansion north towards China and their attack on Imphal and Kohima. After meeting Churchill he was appointed to create a larger force of close to 26,000 men (8 Brigades). He did create and send the force back into Burma, but in the middle of the operation, he was killed in an airplane crash. Surprisingly he is buried in Arlington National Cemetery, because of some strange protocol in the agreements with the Allies in regard to burials. I personally believe he was a genius, but had no personal skills, which meant he rarely had much support from his immediate commanders but his relations with leaders such as Churchill and Mountbatten he was listened too. He ideas were used in Malaysia (by the British) and Vietnam (by the Americans) because of Sir Robert Thompson who had served with Wingate. Good book to read if interested in irregular warfare in WW2.

[Dave Parrott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked the book but found myself more interested in the historical narrative that went along with Wingate’s life, and the outcomes of his work vs wanting to learn and understand more about him. Maybe the two are inseparable. His involvement with the British Mandate in Palestine was quite interesting and provided good background in years that followed WWI up to the time of WWII. The details on Allies efforts in Ethiopia and Burma were also enjoyable.
I will say that Wingate was a transformational military leader whose unconventional tactics in WWII and in Palestine, are now what I’d call conventional in today’s military doctrine. The eccentrics are typically the trail blazers.

[Michael Philliber · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting historical read on Orde Wingate and his valuable perceptions about a form of combat that have become important for special force units. His oddities and insight comes through the tale in very clear ways. If you like historical works, especially military history, you’ll love this one just like I did.

[Red Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whether you agree with Wingate or not, you have to admire his willingness to buck tradition and rank and do what was necessary to win.

Even prior to WWII Wingate was advocating for the need to protect the Jews, and predicting that they would win and establish a homeland anyway, so he urged GB to get on the winning side.

In Ethiopia when Wingate was running operations against the Italians, he was in pursuit and told to return to base, so he did, but on the route of the enemy.

Wingate's "Chindits" in Burma were named after a Burmese half-lion and half-dragon creature.

Several nice tales of heroism and coolness in the book - RAF Bomber Command leader Guy Gibson was shot down after a bombing run over Holland, and he radioed his men, "Nice work chaps, now beat it home."

[Avis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent