Orde Wingate was the eccentric British General who pioneered airborne and air-landing operations in Burma.
This makes him the proto-founder of the IDF. As such he is a hero in Israel.
The Times of Israel has a profile of the man where he is a national hero.
Americans know Longcloth through the 4307th (Provisional) Regimental Combat Team- Merrill's Marauders.
We've written a ton about the war in Burma. Britain's GOC commanding 14 Army in Burma, General William Slim, was the best general Britain produced during the war. He also loathed Wingate whom he felt diverted too many resources to his pet idea.
Wingate was a wierdo alright. He liked raw onions, carried an alarm clock around his neck, was a member of a small Pentecostal church and had a messianic belief in his causes, especially Zionism.
He shows up a lot in A March through Hell.
5307th (Provisional) Regimental Combat Team
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