The journey will take him on a hazardous trek through a remote corner of Myanmar (Burma) that’s been off-limits for decades, to retrace his father’s steps in a little-known area of World War II history. Twenty-one-year-old Ian Simpson was one of 1,350 ‘Chindits’ – special forces who were dropped into the jungle to fight a gruelling campaign behind Japanese lines, struggling against the rugged terrain, heat exhaustion, and the ravages of disease.
Using his father’s secret diary – written in code, and now in the Imperial War Museum – Joe will recreate some of the conditions faced by the soldiers, whose numbers dropped from 1,350 to just 25 in four months. Following the route taken by his father’s brigade as closely as possible, Joe, accompanied by survival expert Ed Stafford, will relive the story of reduced rations, malaria and ferocious jungle fighting, all while pursuing his highly personal quest to get to know the father he considered a hero, but with whom he had a distant relationship.
Channel: BBC2
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