One of the most renowned units of WWII was one of the shortest-lived. Merrill's Marauders were the first US Army unit to fight in the CBI (China-Burma-India) theater and were not given their famous name until after the unit had disbanded.

There was a need for a specialized group of men whose abilities to work behind enemy lines for long periods of time was needed. These men had to be at the peak of physical condition as well as being well trained and emotionally capable. Called the 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional), this group of approximately 3000 men were divided into three battalions and sent to India. Requested by Stilwell to help his Chinese Army push the Japanese out of Northern Burma, the 5307th, along with their equipment, mules and horses was sent deep behind enemy lines to prevent the Japanese from retreating as Stilwell's army advanced.

Considered by most historians to be some of the most difficult terrain over which to fight, the 5307th often had to hack their way through jungle so dense that advancing a mile or two in a day was considered the norm. In the course of three months, the unit marched over 700 miles as they denied retreat and attacked Japanese positions. All of the supplies had to be air dropped and frequently weather and the nearness of Japanese soldiers caused that drop to be missed. This denied the soldiers not only ammunition, but also rations. The staple for these men were K rations, designed as emergency rations and not containing enough calories to keep men healthy over long periods of time. All of the Marauders lost weight during their combat tour as a result and often, men went hungry during missed drops.

However, the unit did their job in helping to clear Northern Burma of Japanese. Casualties were frightful with diseases taking their toll of the nearly 90% casualty rate of the Marauder battalions.  Some were so heavily decimated that there were fewer than a dozen men considered fit for duty at the end of the campaign. At the end of their service, the unit was disbanded with no ceremony and no medal award, something that made many of the men who survived bitter in their attitudes towards the Army. Yet these men persevered and succeeded in a mission that few would have survived. The term Merrill's Maruders was given to the unit after it was already in the field by a US reporter. The men in the unit had never heard the name until after it was disbanded and they returned to the US. Named after their leader, General Merrill, the men accepted it as their own and have been known as such ever since.

In this book on Merrill's Marauders, author Edward Young covers a brief chronology that led up to the formation of the unit, followed by a section on recruitment and organization. We then get to look at how their training went in the US and India before seeing how the units were composed. Then it is on to life within the unit. The unit's motivation and morale is next as well as how they were equipped. We then get to see how they operated while on campaign and then what happened when the unit was disbanded.  All of this is superbly illustrated by Adam Hook and an excellent collection of period photographs.

This is definitely one of Osprey's better titles and one that I can most highly recommend to you.

December 2009

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