BIHT Lecture: Friday 3 October 2025, 5:00pm-9:00pm
Valerie Haye, of the BIHT (British in India Historical Trust), has supplied the following details of a lecture on The Chindits being given on Friday 3 October by Robert Lyman MBE:
FRIDAY 3 OCTOBER 2025 5.00PM- 9.00PM
THE CHINDITS
Robert Lyman MBE
Army and Navy Club, 36-39 Pall Mall, London SW1Y 5JN
The Chindits were special operations units formed by Brigadier Orde Wingate as long range penetration forces against the Japanese in Burma. In 1943 some 3000 men entered Burma in an operation codenamed Longcloth, cutting the north–south railway and disrupting communications. A third were killed, taken prisoner or succumbed to disease but their exploits provided a tremendous boost to Allied morale. Operation Thursday in 1944 involved over 20,000 men, assigned to support General Stillwell’s advance in northern Burma by harassing the rear of the Japanese 18th Division and cutting communications. In ferocious fighting the Chindits repulsed attacks on their strongholds and under Stillwell launched attacks on Japanese positions, taking heavy casualties. By August fewer than 5 per cent were judged medically fit to continue and they were withdrawn.
The Chindits won a name for fighting at the outer limits of human endurance but what did they achieve strategically? Distinguished military historian Robert Lyman will evaluate their contribution to the defeat of the Japanese in Burma.
Dr Robert Lyman MBE is the author of A War of Empires: Japan, India, Burma and Britain 1941-45. Commissioned into the Light Infantry from Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, he left the army as a major.
His other books include Kohima 1944 and Slim: Master of War and he has accounts of Operations Longcloth and Thursday in the pipeline. His lecture for The British in India Historical Trust on A War of Empires can be found here.
The lecture will be preceded by drinks from 5.00pm in the Pall Mall Room, where drinks can be purchased from the pay bar. The lecture will take place in the Pall Mall Room at 6.00pm. For those who would like to stay, an optional two-course meal (main course, dessert and coffee) will follow at 7.30pm in the Drawing Room. Drinks can be purchased separately. Dress code: jacket and collared shirt, tie optional (men); dress or smart separates (women). Dietary requirements accommodated where notified. All welcome.
Tickets for the lecture cost £20 and for the lecture and meal £65. Tickets may be booked online, by card, cheque or bank transfer.
Valerie Haye, British in India Historical Trust
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