The author had a fine, inspiring story to relate. But by spreading his descriptive net so wide that he mentions every minute detail about the geographic twists and turns, his account becomes rather confusing. Admittedly, a map is an aid.
It's a different kettle of fish, though, when he documents the minutiae of highly inhospitable jungle territory and dangerous rivers to be crossed.
It's then that his offering becomes very much alive and has one full of admiration for the stoic bravery of not only rescuers, but also the people seeking to escape the country into which the Japanese foe had infiltrated.
Based on the diaries of Gyles Mackrell and other protagonists, Martin tells the story of Mackrell's outstanding feat. With the aid of 20 elephants and their mahouts, in the monsoon period of 1942 the former World War I fighter pilot and elephant expert sets out on his rescue mission, at the age of 53.
It is a party that has become ensnared in the untamed, dangerous rivers and territory of the Chaukan Pass, on the border of north Burma and Assam, to which the resolute Mackrell sets out with his troop of elephants.
The refugees he seeks to rescue and convey across the border into Assam are fever-weakened and starving. Only elephants will be capable of conveying the human cargo across treacherously flowing rivers.
Starvation, leeches, mosquitoes, sandflies, snakes, dysentery, hard-trek territory, near-impenetrable forest, enervating monsoon climate - the list of handicaps to be endured in the trek to safety for the more fortunate of those fleeing Burma will leave the reader aghast.
Severe editing would have rendered Flight by Elephant more palatable. But, as a tale of derring-do and courage, the book is a winner.
Clarke Isaacs is a former ODT chief of staff.
