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The Jungle Is Neutral

The Epic True Story of One Man’s War Behind Enemy Lines

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The Jungle Is Neutral

By: F. Spencer Chapman
Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
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About this listen

When Singapore fell to the Japanese in December 1941, Captain Freddie Spencer Chapman chose to take the fight to the enemy.

Trekking deep behind enemy lines into the jungle, this veteran explorer turned special forces operative unleashed a one-man commando campaign of such destructive power and lethal ferocity that the Japanese deployed a Regiment of four thousand men in a desperate effort to hunt him down.

For three-and-a-half years he was cut off from Allied support. Fighting alongside Malayan guerrillas, he endured terrible injury, starvation, a host of gruesome tropical diseases and even cannibalism.

While many of his companions were killed, captured and beheaded by the Japanese, he held out, fighting on until the war's end when he eventually made contact with British forces on a home-made radio to arrange for his escape by submarine.

The Jungle is Neutral is Spencer Chapman's riveting account of unimaginable hardship and unbreakable will in the face of a ruthless enemy. As a tale of endurance and survival it is unsurpassed. As a war story, it is without rival.

©2021 Frederick Spencer Chapman (P)2022 W. F. Howes Ltd Military War

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A classic on jungle warfare. It’s a gripping tale of a clandestine war being lead without any support from the usual military supply lines.
F Spencer Chapman was one of that generation that seemed to take any hardship that came their way with little fuss or bother. There’s no doubt that his time in the jungle took a tremendous toll on his mind and body.
A must-read book for anyone interested in jungle warfare.

A classic in relation to jungle warfare.

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So Mr Chapman was already 30 something when world war 2 began, he was an adventurer in his heart and soul and had been on freezing cold expeditions near and far already by the wars start, bud his normal work life was in the educational system and what a mind he had.. The level of detail he remembers and goes into in the book might bore some people to tears but I was amazed by it.. Of his years behind the Japanese lines he misses nothing.. The awful torturous start, as their western bodies struggle with the hard life of the jungle.. The courageous attacks on enemy vehicles when outnumbered 3 to 1 by armed Japanese, relying on speed, aggression and surprise to carry the attack.. The friends and companions who went into the jungle to never be seen again and the months of Chinese communist guerilla force distrust.. The book also brought home to me how important it was to have TA soldiers and national servicemen in our forces during total war, as professional full time soldiers such as myself, who rely on years of training and experience to do their operations and rarely deviate from that.. But these men who were more civilian than soldier and more free thinkers were invaluable, I think its no surprise that forces like Mr Chapmans, the elite and special forces of world war two were either created by these civilian soldiers and the units that were thought of by professional officers ended up being manned by the civilian soldier and developed by those men.. Obviously, having less experienced, less professional in these units has pit falls, that Mr Chapman is very honest about and includes in his book.. Times when their camps are raided by enemy forces and Chapman and his men end up leaving the camp in a hurry with no kit, no webbing and no weapons.. Things like that would never happen to long serving soldiers as we are taught to never have our weapons more than arms length whether asleep, washing or on the toilet, we go everywhere wearing our webbing and abandoning our weapons because they are heavy is sacrilege.. But like I say, Mr Chapman doesn't hide from these mistakes and it makes for an all round brilliant book by a brilliant mind of probably one of the last great adventurers to have drawn breath in the last 100 years.

What a mind!!

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Not my first reading, that was in 1980 at the behest of my training sergeant in the Royal Marines. I scoured bookshops in Exeter until I found an extra large print version. Written by a Cambridge University graduate, the language occasionally had me reaching for dictionary, Chapman tells of his story behind enemy lines in Malaya. Pure survival is at the core of his story, others simply " gave up" but the former Alpine expedition leader did not. Over 3 years, he learns 2 languages, Malay and Mandarin.
I simply am in awe of a man like this, self assured, intelligent and a constant " everything will be ok" kind of guy. He admits he must have hell to be around.

A lesson in survival

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I really enjoyed listening to this account of life behind Japanese lines in the jungle during WW2. Very insightful and full of surprising detail. Would definitely recommend 👍😃

An epic account

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Very well narrated by Leighton Pugh, and well written. An adventure war story. More adventure and survival than war (the majority of engagements are early on) but with danger ever present and continuous excitement as well as interesting. Major (later colonel) Chapman (an adventurer-explorer type who could speak uncommon languages and had written books on his previous expeditions) stayed behind Japanese lines after the Brits pulled out and used his skills to carry out sabotage before linking up with the Chinese communist guerrillas who he taught some of his skills, tried to form diplomatic ties with and lived with often as a near prisoner; they were seemingly more interested in spreading pseudo communism and killing informants and collaborators than fighting the Japanese directly.

Adventure and sabotage

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Excellent ! well told and very detailed , this man’s stamina was unbelievable to do what he did and an unbelievable mindset to overcome so many set backs and keep going .

This is a fantastic story !

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This is a superb story. It has been brought to life even more with excellent narration.

A timeless classic

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