_Code Name Galahad_ is a rich and compelling account of one of the Second World War’s most demanding and often overlooked campaigns. In the wake of the Japanese invasion of Burma in January 1942, Allied forces faced a strategic crisis: how to reopen a vital land route to China while confronting a determined enemy in some of the harshest terrain on earth. The answer came in the form of a bold experiment – the 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional), codenamed ‘Galahad’ – a force of 3,000 American volunteers trained for long-range jungle warfare.Under the leadership first of Lieutenant Colonel Charles N. Hunter and later Brigadier General Frank D. Merrill, and operating within Lieutenant General Joseph W. Stilwell’s China-Burma-India theatre, Galahad spearheaded a relentless charge through North Burma in February 1944\. Their advance culminated in the dramatic _coup de main_ capture of Myitkyina Airfield on 17 May and the siege of the strategically vital town, which fell to Sino-American forces on 3 August.Drawing on over 250 rare archival photographs and maps, and grounded in meticulous research, _Code Name Galahad_ brings together operational detail and human experience, capturing both the strategy and the sacrifice that defined the unit later immortalized as _Merrill’s Marauders_. Decimated by combat and disease and eventually disbanded in August 1944, Galahad’s story is one of endurance, innovation and extraordinary courage under extreme conditions.
