Synopsis/Details
Synopsis:
The true-life account of the heroic wartime exploits and tragic story of highly decorated English soldier, Brigadier Michael Calvert and his strong association with the SAS's beginnings.
The degree to which Mike Calvert led dangerous attacks in person earned him the moniker "Mad Mike." This tough, Cambridge educated, brilliant; his superior officers hated hard fighting WW2 Brigadier. Mike fought barehanded with his savage commando raids, turning the war against Japan in Burma, displaying qualities of courage, leadership, and tactical intelligence, destined to carry him to the top.
It was unfortunate for the Japanese Army that Brigadier Mike Calvert was a fighter. 182 lbs of trouble. A man with a vision and guts who had to be at the sharp end giving and carrying out his orders alongside his men. The more dangerous the scrap, the more daring he became. Always uppermost in his mind was his men's safety. Calvert was first in, last out.
This fearless, physically tough, heavy drinking, hard fighting idealist, the acknowledged expert on guerrilla warfare, is recommended for the V.C. Astonishingly, it is squashed at a senior level. After the war, he is appointed commanding officer of the SAS for three years.
But festering in some of his ex-superior officers' minds is another battle Mike never saw coming and one he was ill-prepared. Why in 1952 is this daring expert on guerrilla warfare set up and court-martialled on trumped-up charges? After he is charged with indecently assaulting three German youths. He was dismissed from the Army without pension or any other benefits. Later the charges were withdrawn. But the Judge Advocate general disallowed this on procedural grounds.
With his friends turning away from him, he falls into obscurity, ending his days as an alcoholic dependent on Social Security and spending ten years in Australia.
Mike recovered, wrote several books, and lectured on guerrilla warfare.
Montgomery said of him, "He's the only officer who gave me a straight answer."
The most decorated soldier in the British Army, Mike sold his medals for 18,000 pounds sterling and drank most of it away in 12 months.
He died in an East-end London hospital aged 84, in 1998.
Calls to newspapers and media for Mike to be pardoned following the admission by three of his accusers that all had been done for a joke, failed.
Note:
Ron worked on this painstaking project for 14 years, irked by who had the power and hatred to set him up. Recently I wrote to The Burma Star Association mentioning who I thought was responsible-without naming anyone. A reply came back from a former Chindit naming the very man I'd concluded who did. That name is Lord Mountbatten, but I have no proof, save a link, who was responsible for his assassination and why.
