Jungle of Snakes by James R. Arnold

Author:James R. Arnold
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Published: 2000-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

Boucher’s conventional formulation received favorable local press coverage—“Boucher Promises More Toughness” was a typical headline—but it was not a practical solution to the insurgency. It worked only as long as the guerrillas stood and fought, which was not long at all. Thereafter, security forces conducted large-scale, multibattalion sweeps through the jungle that proved futile. The guerrillas’ bases were invisible from the air and almost impossible to find by ground search. A British patrol entering the overgrown jungle fringe could easily consume four hours to trek one mile. Soldiers passed within five yards of a concealed guerrilla without seeing him. Likewise, searchers could be within fifty yards of a 100-man guerrilla camp and never know that they were so close to their elusive objective. As early as the fall of 1948 an operational analysis suggested that elaborate sweeps were of dubious value. Later analysis would show that it took about 1,000 man-hours of patrolling to eliminate one guerrilla.

Undeterred, conventionally minded officers persisted. In spite of their code names evoking historic heroism, Operations Ramillies, Blenheim, Spitfire, and the like failed. It was more the pity because at the war’s start the British held a priceless opportunity to defeat rapidly an insurgency unexpectedly deprived of its most able military commander.

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