Burma Boy

“It’s winter 1944 and the Second World War is entering its most crucial stage. A few months ago Ali Banana was apprenticed to a whip-wielding blacksmith in his rural hometown; now he’s behind enemy lines, trekking through the Burmese jungle, a private in Thunder Brigade. He is fourteen years old.” “Led by the scarred, charismatic Sergeant Damisa, the unit has been given orders to go behind enemy lines and wreak havoc. But the jungle is a treacherous place, riddled with Japanese snipers, ambush, infection and disease. As torrential rains turn the landscape into a mud-riven death trap, the losses mount up. Exhausted and far from home, the men of D-Section Thunder Brigade are besieged yet indomitable.” “Burma Boy is the first novel to depict the experiences of black African soldiers in the Second World War. This is a story of real-life battles, of the men who made the legend of the Chindits, the unconventional, quick strike division of the British Army in India.”–BOOK JACKET.