Product Description

Brought up in a rural vicarage surrounded by fells, falcons and ferrets, Freddy Spencer Chapman acquired a deep love of nature and became 'fascinated by danger' during childhood. Thirty years later, as an SOE-trained guerrilla soldier of exceptional ability and courage, the orphan boy would prove to be one of the British army's deadliest agents. In 1941 Chapman was dispatched to Singapore to train British guerrillas for the coming war with Japan. Setting out from Kuala Lumpur on 7 January 1942 on a mission to sabotage Japanese supply lines, he became a veritable one-man army. The Japanese deployed 2,000 men to search for what they believed was a squad of 200 Australian guerrillas. Following Japan's invasion of Malaya and the fall of Singapore in February 1942, Chapman found himself stranded. Under these most desperate of circumstances, the man dubbed the 'the jungle Lawrence' by Field Marshal Wavell showed his bloody-minded talent for survival. Relentlessly hunted by the Japanese army, he was afflicted by typhus, scabies, pneumonia, blackwater fever, cerebral malaria, dengue fever and ulcers before finally being rescued and evacuated to Ceylon on 13 May 1945. Chapman returned to Malaya by parachute in August to take the Japanese surrender at Penang. Jungle Soldier is a unique and remarkable account of superhuman bravery and resourcefulness in adversity.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #306 in Books
• Published on: 2009-10-15
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 352 pages

Review
'Crisp, compelling biography… Moynahan has done a terrific job of turning Chapman's life into an elegant narrative. The adventures and achievements are so remarkable that his factual biography reads at times like a Victorian novel, where the central character suffers disaster after disaster … perhaps this book will help win final recognition for a truly extraordinary man' --Sunday Times

'This story of endurance in the fetid heat of the Malayan jungle is surely one of the most awe-inspiring of the whole war … a courageous and utterly English hero, a man whose extraordinary bravery and tenacity were an inspiration to all who observed him. Only now, with the publication of this biography, will Freddy Spencer Chapman win the recognition his memory deserves' --Daily Mail

'Captures the amazing wartime exploits of Freddy Spencer Chapman' Daily Express. 'An extraordinary life ... For over three years in the Second World War, he blew up trains, bridges and enemy soldiers in the jungles of Malaya all the while studying birdlife and collecting seeds to send back to Kew Gardens ... Quite why Chapman hasn't found Lawrence of Arabia's fame is anyone's guess.' Guardian. 'Brian Moynahan's gripping book gives a fascinating insight into Chapman's upbringing' Daily Telegraph. 'Fantastic new book ... a truly amazing story' Weekly News. --Reviews.

From the Inside Flap
Freddy Spencer Chapman - Arctic explorer, Himalayan climber and naturalist turned master of irregular warfare - was posted as `missing believed killed' after the Japanese overran Malaya and Singapore in 1942. Two years later, two SOE officers were landed in Malaya by submarine. To their astonishment, they discovered that he was still alive, and the most hunted man in Japanese-occupied Asia.
Brought up as an orphan in Lakeland vicarages, lover of the English countryside, he became `fascinated by danger' during solitary rambles across the fells. Thirty years later, the `most unwashed and independent' little boy with pockets full of birds' eggs and caterpillars had metamorphosed into one of the British army's deadliest guerrillas. He set out from Kuala Lumpur in January 1942 - in style, in a scarlet Ford V8, with the dickey seat crammed with explosives - on a mission to sabotage Japanese supply lines. He and two associates blew up 8 trains, destroyed 40 vehicles, and killed more than 500 enemy soldiers during one 14-day period. The Japanese deployed a regiment to search for what they believed was a squad of 200 Australian commandos.
The fall of Singapore to the Japanese in February 1942 left Chapman stranded and in terrible danger. Under these most desperate of circumstances, the man who Field Marshal Wavell thought of as `the jungle Lawrence' showed his bloody-minded talent for survival. Chapman held out for 1,226 days behind enemy lines, cut off from supplies, shelter or contact with British forces. Relentlessly hunted by the Japanese army - and once captured by them for a few hours - he was afflicted by typhus, scabies, pneumonia, blackwater fever, cerebral malaria, dengue fever and ulcers before finally getting out on a submarine to Ceylon in May 1945.
Drawing on extensive field research, and in particular on Chapman's detailed diary of his jungle ordeal, Brian Moynahan recreates thrillingly and unforgettably the life and adventures of a very English hero. He links him to the great explorer-naturalists of the past - even half-dead, Spencer Chapman still collected seeds for Kew and made field notes on birds - and shows how this proud British tradition gave him strength. Part biography, part tale of endurance, part special-forces narrative, Jungle Soldier will appeal to anyone who enjoys true stories of combat, courage and resourcefulness in adversity.

From the Back Cover
The amazing true story of how Freddy Spencer Chapman fought and survived one thousand days behind Japanese lines in Malaya in World War II to become a legend of guerrilla warfare.