The Marauders were a World War II American special force which operated in Burma, in South-East Asia. The Marauders was a regiment-sized unit organized as a long range penetration force which fought in the Burma Campaign. Their highly trained men penetrated deep behind enemy lines and attacked the Japanese forces from within, carrying out acts of sabotage. The Marauders were created by the Operations Division of the War Department in September 1943. The new unit official name was 5307th Composite Unit, which was put under the command of Brigadier General Frank Merrill. Hence, American war correspondents dubbed the unit Merrill’s Marauders. The 5307th Composite Unit’s code name was "Galahad."
The Marauders were usually outnumbered by Japanese troops from the 18th division, but always inflicted many more casualties than they suffered. The Marauders were led by Kachin scouts and used mobility and surprise, harassing the supply and communication lines, and assaulting Japanese rear areas. Near Walawbum, a town believed to be lightly held by General Stilwell’s NCAC staff, the 3rd Battalion fought magnificently, killing some 400-500 enemy soldiers. The Japanese were continually surprised by the heavy, accurate volume of fire they received when attacking Marauder positions. Its combat-experienced officers had carefully integrated light mortar and machine gun fires, and virtually every man was armed with a self-loading or automatic weapon in which he had trained to a high level of marksmanship. In March 1944, they severed Japanese supply lines in the Hukawng Valley.
In their final mission, the Marauders suffered 272 killed, 955 wounded, and 980 evacuated for illness and disease; some men later died from cerebral malaria, amoebic dysentery, and/or scrub typhus. Somewhat ironically, Marauders evacuated from the front lines were given jungle hammocks with protective sandfly netting and rain covers in which to sleep, equipment which might have prevented various diseases and illnesses had they been issued earlier in the campaign. The casualties included General Merrill himself, who had suffered a second-heart attack before going down with malaria. He was replaced by his second-in-command, Colonel Charles N. Hunter, who later prepared a scathing report on General Stilwell’s medical evacuation policies, eventually prompting an Army Inspector General investigation and congressional hearings. By the time the town of Myitkyina was taken, only about 200 surviving members of the original Marauders were present. A week after Myitkyina fell, on August 10, 1944, the Marauders were disbanded. Of the 2,750 to enter Burma, 130 combat-effective officers and men survived the vicious war in the jungle, and only 2 had never been hospitalized with wounds or major illness.
[...] The Burma Campaign was a World War II military campaign carried out by the Allied forces (British, Indian, Chinese, and American troops) against the Japanese Imperial Army in Burma, South-East Asia. The monsoon season, the jungle-covered rugged terrain, and tropical disease were a hindrance for the military operations as the heavy rains of the region turned everything into mud and trucks and tanks got literally bogged down in muddy, winding roads. Nevertheless the Allied had two elite forces which they used to surmount all these obstacles: the Chindits and the Marauders. [...]