0:00:02 > 0:00:05Joe Simpson is on a personal journey
0:00:05 > 0:00:09deep into the heart of modern Burma - Myanmar.
0:00:09 > 0:00:12Joe, an internationally-renowned mountaineer, made the headlines
0:00:12 > 0:00:17when he almost died high in the Andes when his rope was cut,
0:00:17 > 0:00:21a story recounted in the iconic bestseller Touching The Void.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24Now, 30 years on, he's in Burma.
0:00:24 > 0:00:26So, my father was here.
0:00:26 > 0:00:30He was armed, he was behind enemy lines.
0:00:30 > 0:00:32I'm trying to just go and see
0:00:32 > 0:00:36where he fought as a young man and get some sense of it.
0:00:36 > 0:00:41Accompanying Joe is ex-British Army officer and expedition leader
0:00:41 > 0:00:45Ed Stafford, the first man to walk the length of the Amazon.
0:00:46 > 0:00:49Together they are on the trail of an Allied special force
0:00:49 > 0:00:51called the Chindits.
0:00:51 > 0:00:54These guerrilla troops were dropped deep behind enemy lines
0:00:54 > 0:01:00into the jungles of Burma in 1944 to attack the Imperial Japanese Army.
0:01:02 > 0:01:05And the Joe's father was one of them.
0:01:05 > 0:01:07I've always been immensely proud of my father.
0:01:09 > 0:01:12I found it difficult to tell him. I just never did.
0:01:12 > 0:01:13So that's what I regret.
0:01:15 > 0:01:16For more than 30 years
0:01:16 > 0:01:19Joe has dreamed of following in his dad's footsteps,
0:01:19 > 0:01:22to try and see what his now deceased father,
0:01:22 > 0:01:27Lieutenant Ian Simpson, experienced fighting here in World War II.
0:01:27 > 0:01:30I can't even begin to think what it would have been like
0:01:30 > 0:01:32to try and do this in a monsoon.
0:01:32 > 0:01:37Absolutely unimaginably awful.
0:01:37 > 0:01:41Both son and father confronted extreme events in their 20s -
0:01:41 > 0:01:44Joe facing death in the mountains,
0:01:44 > 0:01:47his father surviving battle in the guts of the enemy.
0:01:47 > 0:01:50I wouldn't dream of comparing a wartime experience
0:01:50 > 0:01:52with fooling around on a mountain.
0:01:52 > 0:01:55Da didn't choose that, he was in a world war,
0:01:55 > 0:01:59and he and all these other men were doing their duty.
0:01:59 > 0:02:02But Joe and Ed's modern-day journey...
0:02:02 > 0:02:03Whoa, whoa.
0:02:06 > 0:02:08SHOUTING
0:02:08 > 0:02:10Get out of the way!
0:02:10 > 0:02:12..has its own dangers...
0:02:13 > 0:02:15Whoa-ho-ho.
0:02:16 > 0:02:19..when they too get caught up in a conflict -
0:02:19 > 0:02:22a modern-day echo of Joe's father's time in Burma.
0:02:23 > 0:02:25We seem to have walked into a war.
0:02:25 > 0:02:27We have walked into a war.
0:02:27 > 0:02:30Yeah, I suppose we better walk out of it.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33I can't have waited all this time to come here and to finally think
0:02:33 > 0:02:36it's just about to happen and we've got all the permissions,
0:02:36 > 0:02:38and then to find...
0:02:38 > 0:02:41we get the door slammed in our face.
0:02:41 > 0:02:43That's not good news.
0:02:45 > 0:02:46It's not good news at all.
0:03:00 > 0:03:02Joe and Ed have arrived at Inwa,
0:03:02 > 0:03:06a small village on the banks Myanmar's mighty Irrawaddy River.
0:03:07 > 0:03:10- Hello. Mingalaba. - Mingalaba!- Mingalaba!
0:03:11 > 0:03:15Ah-ha-ha. Check you out, with your language skills!
0:03:18 > 0:03:21It's the start of a five-week trek
0:03:21 > 0:03:23following Joe's father four months
0:03:23 > 0:03:27in a forgotten army in a largely forgotten war.
0:03:41 > 0:03:43Joe and Ed's plan is to camp
0:03:43 > 0:03:46and carry everything they need to survive in the jungle.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51The local market's their last chance to stock up.
0:03:53 > 0:03:57You can buy an iPhone 5 but you can't buy a machete.
0:03:57 > 0:04:00- Excuse me. Dharr shi la? - Dharr shi la, shi la.
0:04:00 > 0:04:02Yeah?
0:04:02 > 0:04:03- Yeah, yeah, yes.- Yes!
0:04:05 > 0:04:07Ah, Here we go.
0:04:07 > 0:04:09Bigger, better, bigger.
0:04:13 > 0:04:14Yeah, yeah, yeah.
0:04:17 > 0:04:19That looks dangerous.
0:04:20 > 0:04:21Oh!
0:04:21 > 0:04:23Yeah.
0:04:23 > 0:04:27Mate, I reckon these are as good as we're going to get, don't you?
0:04:27 > 0:04:30That one feels better. It's more like a dagger.
0:04:30 > 0:04:31Feeling Japanese.
0:04:31 > 0:04:35- You look like you're going into battle.- Doesn't it?!
0:04:35 > 0:04:38It's somewhat ridiculous, but it'll do the job.
0:04:38 > 0:04:41They're not too heavy, as well. I quite like that.
0:04:49 > 0:04:52Retracing Ian Simpson's route will take Joe and Ed
0:04:52 > 0:04:55through Shan and Kachin states in north-east Myanmar -
0:04:55 > 0:04:57South East Asia.
0:04:59 > 0:05:03The plan is to follow Joe's father's 500km route
0:05:03 > 0:05:05as a Chindit in Morris Force.
0:05:05 > 0:05:07Starting near the Irrawaddy River and heading east
0:05:07 > 0:05:09into the foothills of the Himalayas,
0:05:09 > 0:05:13before turning north and ending near the city of Myitkyina.
0:05:16 > 0:05:19It will take Joe and Ed through parts of Myanmar
0:05:19 > 0:05:23that are closed to tourists and are flashpoints for local rebel groups.
0:05:25 > 0:05:27OK, it's day one, we're walking.
0:05:27 > 0:05:30We're having a little bit of a ging gang goolie at the moment
0:05:30 > 0:05:33just in terms of getting everybody ready and getting prepared
0:05:33 > 0:05:36to put our packs on and literally walk out of this village.
0:05:38 > 0:05:41I need to make sure that everyone's got enough water
0:05:41 > 0:05:44so that they're hydrated throughout the day.
0:05:44 > 0:05:46I want to make sure everyone is all right.
0:05:46 > 0:05:47Especially Joe.
0:05:50 > 0:05:54Joe and Ed have come to Myanmar at a crucial period
0:05:54 > 0:05:55in its modern history.
0:05:55 > 0:05:57We're just about to set off
0:05:57 > 0:06:00and there's about 100 motorbikes coming down the street.
0:06:00 > 0:06:02Hello.
0:06:04 > 0:06:06- It's an election parade.- NLD.
0:06:06 > 0:06:07What does NLD stand for?
0:06:07 > 0:06:09National...?
0:06:11 > 0:06:13- OFF-SCREEN:- National League for Democracy.
0:06:13 > 0:06:15National League for Democracy.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20The NLD is the party of world-famous political activist
0:06:20 > 0:06:24and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi.
0:06:26 > 0:06:28Aung Suu's supposed to win by a landslide.
0:06:28 > 0:06:30- Really?- Yeah.
0:06:30 > 0:06:32For 15 years she was held under house arrest
0:06:32 > 0:06:34by the ruling military dictatorship
0:06:34 > 0:06:37until her release in 2010.
0:06:37 > 0:06:39Does that mean there is the potential
0:06:39 > 0:06:42for things to kick off somewhat if they don't win?
0:06:42 > 0:06:43Yeah, I think so.
0:06:44 > 0:06:47Best thing we can do is get up in those hills.
0:06:47 > 0:06:51I was going to say. That might actually have some effect, yeah?
0:06:51 > 0:06:53Hmm. OK, let's go.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58The elections are a watershed in Burmese history.
0:06:58 > 0:07:01Like World War II, the impact could be profound.
0:07:03 > 0:07:05Back in the spring of 1944
0:07:05 > 0:07:07Lieutenant Ian Simpson and the Chindits
0:07:07 > 0:07:10were deployed into Burma in an Allied mission to attack
0:07:10 > 0:07:13the Japanese from behind their own lines
0:07:13 > 0:07:16and slow their advance towards India - the jewel in the crown.
0:07:19 > 0:07:22Joe's father left a load of maps and they all had numbers on them
0:07:22 > 0:07:25which indicate exactly where he stayed.
0:07:25 > 0:07:28So we've got the lats and longs of those programmed into the GPS,
0:07:28 > 0:07:31so we know that we can stay in exactly the same place.
0:07:40 > 0:07:42What we're trying to find is number one,
0:07:42 > 0:07:45which is where he landed, which is Chowringhee airstrip.
0:07:45 > 0:07:47If there's any paths I want to use them
0:07:47 > 0:07:50to try and get as close to the airfield as possible.
0:07:58 > 0:08:00Ian Simpson was part of one of the largest
0:08:00 > 0:08:03airborne operations of World War II.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11The only records of Joe's father's wartime mission -
0:08:11 > 0:08:13his diaries and maps -
0:08:13 > 0:08:16are now in the Imperial War Museum.
0:08:18 > 0:08:21They're the key to Joe's journey.
0:08:21 > 0:08:24Right. So here are Colonel Simpson's papers.
0:08:24 > 0:08:26Collections like this are fantastic
0:08:26 > 0:08:28for giving you an idea of exactly what it was like
0:08:28 > 0:08:30to live through these events.
0:08:30 > 0:08:32I remember him writing all these notes
0:08:32 > 0:08:33and annotating the maps and stuff.
0:08:35 > 0:08:40Ian Simpson wrote his diary in secret, against Army regulations.
0:08:40 > 0:08:44If discovered, he could have been punished.
0:08:44 > 0:08:46"We had intended crossing the main road quietly,
0:08:46 > 0:08:49"but the encounter with the Japs made this difficult.
0:08:49 > 0:08:50"Have airstrikes on traffic on the road."
0:08:50 > 0:08:53So that was the 27th, so that was here.
0:08:53 > 0:08:56The more I read of these things the more I started to think,
0:08:56 > 0:08:57you know, I had not really appreciated
0:08:57 > 0:08:59quite what my father was doing.
0:09:02 > 0:09:04"Left about 9:30.
0:09:04 > 0:09:06"Terrible search for water."
0:09:06 > 0:09:11Then he says, "Russell's recce was caught by zeros,"
0:09:11 > 0:09:13as in Japanese fighters,
0:09:13 > 0:09:14"and mules ran away."
0:09:18 > 0:09:20He wasn't a very demonstrative man in a sense.
0:09:20 > 0:09:23You know, I sometimes look at friends and the relationship
0:09:23 > 0:09:27they have with their fathers, and I'm quite jealous, in a away.
0:09:27 > 0:09:30There's a sort of friendship,
0:09:30 > 0:09:32and a...
0:09:32 > 0:09:38a communication that simply really didn't really exist with us.
0:09:38 > 0:09:41I've always been immensely proud of my father.
0:09:43 > 0:09:45I found it difficult to tell him. In fact, I didn't -
0:09:45 > 0:09:47just like he didn't tell me.
0:09:47 > 0:09:49So, there we go.
0:09:52 > 0:09:55Joe's father died in 2010.
0:09:56 > 0:09:58The handwritten journal is now the only connection
0:09:58 > 0:10:01with his wartime experiences.
0:10:01 > 0:10:05We have a diary that lists day-to-day activities,
0:10:05 > 0:10:07and we've got the map.
0:10:07 > 0:10:10So without these things all we'd be doing is wandering blindly around
0:10:10 > 0:10:12bits of Burma thinking,
0:10:12 > 0:10:14"Well, I think he was somewhere round here."
0:10:16 > 0:10:19Joe and Ed have been on the road for half a day,
0:10:19 > 0:10:22trekking through the 35 degree heat and humidity.
0:10:24 > 0:10:26Hello.
0:10:26 > 0:10:28At the moment, I am boiling.
0:10:35 > 0:10:37So far so good.
0:10:37 > 0:10:40- So far so hot.- We've made good progress this morning.
0:10:40 > 0:10:42This chicken was positively obese.
0:10:44 > 0:10:46I don't think chickens have that much fat, mate.
0:10:46 > 0:10:49This one would have needed a mobility scooter.
0:10:51 > 0:10:54Mate, you can't say that.
0:11:11 > 0:11:13Are we getting close?
0:11:13 > 0:11:15Right, I think we should stop.
0:11:15 > 0:11:17I have to say, I think we should stop.
0:11:17 > 0:11:19The airstrip, according to the GPS,
0:11:19 > 0:11:22is 1.1km in this direction.
0:11:22 > 0:11:25So the road is no longer taking us closer towards it,
0:11:25 > 0:11:27so at some point we're going to have to break off
0:11:27 > 0:11:30and go through these fields.
0:11:30 > 0:11:32What we're hoping to find is a path.
0:11:34 > 0:11:37Joe and Ed know the exact location of Chowringhee airstrip,
0:11:37 > 0:11:41but finding the right trail to get there is proving trickier.
0:11:49 > 0:11:51Is there a track there?
0:11:51 > 0:11:52Of sorts.
0:11:54 > 0:11:55Hold on.
0:11:59 > 0:12:03I think we're better off trying to find a path that's used by humans...
0:12:03 > 0:12:06- Yeah.- ..going in the right direction.
0:12:06 > 0:12:09I think we need to go back to the road and head back
0:12:09 > 0:12:12along the way we came and just keep looking on the left-hand side.
0:12:18 > 0:12:21They trek on, but Joe's feet are now starting to play up.
0:12:26 > 0:12:28I seem to be developing a blister
0:12:28 > 0:12:31in a place I've never developed a blister in my life,
0:12:31 > 0:12:32which is between my two toes.
0:12:32 > 0:12:35It's nothing, but we're stopping it now, apparently.
0:12:35 > 0:12:37I'm just double-backing -
0:12:37 > 0:12:40making a home-made plaster out of duct tape, basically.
0:12:40 > 0:12:42If you make sure that that bit, mate, is...
0:12:42 > 0:12:44- Is on the soft bit. - ..is on the bit that's...
0:12:46 > 0:12:50Cos you'll just be crippled if that turns into a proper blister.
0:12:50 > 0:12:52- Wonderful stuff. - Do you want me to do it?
0:12:52 > 0:12:54I just want to catch any sort of blisters -
0:12:54 > 0:12:56I want to catch them early,
0:12:56 > 0:12:58because if they develop into bigger blisters,
0:12:58 > 0:13:00then clearly, he needs his feet, he won't be able to walk.
0:13:00 > 0:13:04It's not a big drama, but we need to keep on top of things like that
0:13:04 > 0:13:06because we've got a long way to go.
0:13:10 > 0:13:14As an ex-mountaineer, Joe's used to injuries, small and large.
0:13:17 > 0:13:19In 1985 Joe was left for dead
0:13:19 > 0:13:22after a horrific climbing accident high in the Andes,
0:13:22 > 0:13:26when he and fellow climber Simon Yates were caught in the storm -
0:13:26 > 0:13:29a story that became the international bestseller
0:13:29 > 0:13:30Touching The Void.
0:13:35 > 0:13:38On the descent I broke my right leg very badly.
0:13:40 > 0:13:44And Simon lowered me off an ice cliff that he couldn't see.
0:13:44 > 0:13:47He was hoping I was a few feet off the ground, and cut the rope...
0:13:51 > 0:13:54..and unfortunately I fell down a crevasse.
0:13:54 > 0:13:56Joe survived the fall
0:13:56 > 0:13:58and spent the next three and a half days
0:13:58 > 0:14:00crawling back to their base camp.
0:14:00 > 0:14:01He was close to death.
0:14:08 > 0:14:10It was only when I got back to England
0:14:10 > 0:14:15that the psychological trauma really hit me.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19One night, I must've been screaming my head off,
0:14:19 > 0:14:24because the next minute I found my father in my bedroom,
0:14:24 > 0:14:27which is unheard of, you know, coming to comfort me.
0:14:27 > 0:14:29Normally it would be your mother.
0:14:31 > 0:14:33He just tapped me on the shoulder and he said,
0:14:33 > 0:14:35"It's all right. I've seen this."
0:14:35 > 0:14:37And I know what he was referring to.
0:14:39 > 0:14:42What perhaps we'd call post-traumatic stress today,
0:14:42 > 0:14:45and he just said, "Don't worry about it."
0:14:45 > 0:14:47And that was it.
0:14:47 > 0:14:50But I made damn sure it didn't happen in front of my father again.
0:14:51 > 0:14:53Joe continued climbing until his many injuries
0:14:53 > 0:14:56forced him to retire in 2009.
0:14:58 > 0:15:01They often say when you have a huge experience like that
0:15:01 > 0:15:05early in your life the rest of your life is a shadow of what you were.
0:15:07 > 0:15:09I do often think of dying.
0:15:09 > 0:15:12I mean, I was 25 and Da was 24 -
0:15:12 > 0:15:16but I wouldn't dream of comparing a wartime experience
0:15:16 > 0:15:18with fooling around on a mountain.
0:15:18 > 0:15:20You know, in Peru, nobody died in Peru.
0:15:20 > 0:15:22You know, no-one was shooting at us.
0:15:22 > 0:15:24You know, any risk, we chose.
0:15:24 > 0:15:28Da didn't choose that, he was in a world war,
0:15:28 > 0:15:31and he and all these other men were doing their duty.
0:15:33 > 0:15:36Ian Simpson remained in the Army after the war,
0:15:36 > 0:15:39and Joe was sent to boarding school when he was eight
0:15:39 > 0:15:42because his father was posted all over the world.
0:15:43 > 0:15:47Now, only a handful of Chindits are still alive.
0:15:48 > 0:15:51It didn't rain, it tipped down.
0:15:51 > 0:15:53We were in mud,
0:15:53 > 0:15:56the conditions and food were inadequate,
0:15:56 > 0:16:01and we fought and we marched, and we fought and we marched.
0:16:01 > 0:16:05They just stuck us in there proudly, and we came out prouder.
0:16:05 > 0:16:08I've got children and I've got a wife,
0:16:08 > 0:16:12- but being a Chindit is the most important thing in my life.- Yeah.
0:16:14 > 0:16:16It was a deadly mission,
0:16:16 > 0:16:19and there was a good chance of not making it out alive.
0:16:20 > 0:16:24I think in about four or five months, between disease and killed
0:16:24 > 0:16:28- and wounded, we lost 800 men from the battalion.- Right.
0:16:28 > 0:16:29Just like that.
0:16:29 > 0:16:32I was one of 80 men that walked out of my battalion.
0:16:32 > 0:16:37There was one British soldier being carried on a stretcher.
0:16:39 > 0:16:43He'd lost his arm and shoulder, fearful wound.
0:16:43 > 0:16:47I knelt at the head of this stretcher,
0:16:47 > 0:16:50his head was just in front of me,
0:16:50 > 0:16:52and I spoke to him.
0:16:52 > 0:16:57He could speak, told me where he came from and that sort of thing.
0:16:57 > 0:16:59And then I shot him in the head, like that.
0:17:01 > 0:17:07What I was terrified of was what the Japanese would do to him
0:17:07 > 0:17:08if they came.
0:17:08 > 0:17:10He was going to die anyway.
0:17:25 > 0:17:29- It's perfect. This is exactly the right direction.- Hey.
0:17:29 > 0:17:32In the late afternoon of their first day
0:17:32 > 0:17:35of following in the Chindits' footsteps,
0:17:35 > 0:17:37finally Joe and Ed are back on track.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40- Mingalaba.- Mingalaba.
0:17:40 > 0:17:43- Mingalaba.- Mingalaba.
0:17:43 > 0:17:45- 300 metres away now.- 300 metres?
0:17:45 > 0:17:47- 1,000 feet.- This path is a godsend.
0:17:58 > 0:18:00- We are here.- We're here.
0:18:03 > 0:18:04HE PANTS
0:18:06 > 0:18:07Speechless.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12Joe and Ed have finally arrived at Chowringhee -
0:18:12 > 0:18:13the rough, home-made airstrip
0:18:13 > 0:18:17where Lieutenant Ian Simpson first stepped onto Burmese soil.
0:18:19 > 0:18:22I don't think it's fanciful to think that that cleared ground
0:18:22 > 0:18:23might well have been cleared by them.
0:18:23 > 0:18:25But I'm not sure it really matters, to be honest.
0:18:25 > 0:18:27I mean, they landed here.
0:18:27 > 0:18:29And...
0:18:30 > 0:18:32I always thought it was an incredible thing to do.
0:18:36 > 0:18:40Ian Simpson's diary records landing in darkness.
0:18:41 > 0:18:44"Thursday, 9th of March, 1944.
0:18:44 > 0:18:49"Left about 20:25 to arrive Chowringhee at 21:45.
0:18:49 > 0:18:51"Quite a pleasant spot,
0:18:51 > 0:18:53"and had good feed on Yank rations,
0:18:53 > 0:18:56"followed by sleep till 7:30.
0:18:56 > 0:19:00"Everyone was hunky-dory, and no upsets occurred."
0:19:00 > 0:19:01That's a pretty casual reference
0:19:01 > 0:19:03to an extremely dangerous glider landing
0:19:03 > 0:19:06that he's just done in the middle of the night.
0:19:06 > 0:19:0928 Chindits were injured and 30 died
0:19:09 > 0:19:11in the first few hours of operations.
0:19:13 > 0:19:16Despite the deaths, the landings achieved their goal,
0:19:16 > 0:19:21and over 20,000 highly-trained troops, 3,000 mules
0:19:21 > 0:19:23and tonnes of supplies were now
0:19:23 > 0:19:26deep behind Japanese lines.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29They'd have literally flown in from the sky over there,
0:19:29 > 0:19:32landed about 100 metres in front of me, and...
0:19:32 > 0:19:36- And on down there.- ..gone right through us and beyond, yeah.
0:19:36 > 0:19:39It was something that I always wondered - the bravery of it.
0:19:39 > 0:19:42Just getting into a glider in pitch-black,
0:19:42 > 0:19:46being released in darkness, landing in darkness.
0:19:46 > 0:19:47Staggering.
0:19:47 > 0:19:51And it's must have been a tense night, that.
0:19:51 > 0:19:53It must have been a really tense night.
0:19:53 > 0:19:54Just balls-out.
0:19:58 > 0:19:59Mingalaba.
0:19:59 > 0:20:01Mingalaba.
0:20:07 > 0:20:11Joe and Ed are staying the night in a nearby Buddhist monastery.
0:20:18 > 0:20:20We were going to find a place to camp,
0:20:20 > 0:20:23but given that we've got hammocks, and it's very developed land,
0:20:23 > 0:20:27there's a very good chance we wouldn't find any trees.
0:20:27 > 0:20:29And so the abbot's kindly let us
0:20:29 > 0:20:31stay in here, which is perfect.
0:20:33 > 0:20:36There are those that still remember the Chindits arriving.
0:20:36 > 0:20:3978-year-old U La Aung was a young boy.
0:20:48 > 0:20:50Do the village ever remember
0:20:50 > 0:20:52hearing the planes coming in?
0:21:17 > 0:21:20I'm now following where my father travelled,
0:21:20 > 0:21:23and we want to try and cross the Shweli.
0:21:54 > 0:21:57Today was just classic, you know?
0:21:57 > 0:21:59MUSIC PLAYS FROM PHONE
0:21:59 > 0:22:00Mingalaba.
0:22:02 > 0:22:05Going past with a mobile phone, playing pop music.
0:22:08 > 0:22:09The true way to enlightenment(!)
0:22:12 > 0:22:14Yeah, it's been a bittersweet sort of day, really.
0:22:14 > 0:22:16I mean, the sweet...
0:22:17 > 0:22:19..God, what a beautiful country.
0:22:20 > 0:22:22And the people.
0:22:22 > 0:22:24Oh, God, every time we went past families
0:22:24 > 0:22:26working on the river bank, everyone smiles.
0:22:26 > 0:22:27Everyone smiles.
0:22:34 > 0:22:36This is Joe coming back,
0:22:36 > 0:22:39reconnecting to his father, who's dead.
0:22:41 > 0:22:43And that's no small thing.
0:22:43 > 0:22:46And he's been dreaming about it for years, and it's actually happening.
0:22:46 > 0:22:48And I think it's hit him today.
0:22:48 > 0:22:50I could tell.
0:22:50 > 0:22:53He wouldn't tell me - we're not close enough yet, absolutely.
0:22:53 > 0:22:55But I don't think all Sheffield
0:22:55 > 0:22:57climbers are hard as nails.
0:22:57 > 0:23:00I think underneath that bristly surface...
0:23:01 > 0:23:04..lies a soft underbelly.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07And I reckon this will affect Joe quite a bit, actually.
0:23:20 > 0:23:22COCKEREL CROWS
0:23:22 > 0:23:24Today, Joe and Ed are pushing further east
0:23:24 > 0:23:27into more forested, hilly country.
0:23:30 > 0:23:32They've a ten-hour slog ahead of them.
0:23:34 > 0:23:35We have quite a big day.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38We've got to get down to the banks of the Shweli,
0:23:38 > 0:23:40and try and make a raft and cross it.
0:23:42 > 0:23:44I can hardly swim.
0:23:45 > 0:23:48Ed says he's not a very good swimmer.
0:23:48 > 0:23:51Which I find a bit weird, because he's crossed the Amazon
0:23:51 > 0:23:53God knows how many times.
0:23:53 > 0:23:55I'm a really bad swimmer.
0:23:55 > 0:23:56So...
0:23:57 > 0:24:00just make the raft bombproof, Ed, you know?
0:24:00 > 0:24:02That's what...
0:24:02 > 0:24:03That's what's in order, isn't it?
0:24:07 > 0:24:10Joe and Ed face a 15km trek along a trail
0:24:10 > 0:24:14that bypasses a number of Ian Simpson's wartime camps.
0:24:21 > 0:24:24The Chindits of Morris Force were heading east
0:24:24 > 0:24:26to attack the main Japanese supply route,
0:24:26 > 0:24:28in the northeast of Myanmar.
0:24:29 > 0:24:33But when it rained, the jungle trails turned into a quagmires,
0:24:33 > 0:24:35and progress could be woefully slow.
0:24:40 > 0:24:41It's dry today,
0:24:41 > 0:24:44but Joe's gold climbing injuries are slowing him down.
0:24:46 > 0:24:48HE GROANS AND PANTS
0:24:50 > 0:24:51Now, where's Ed gone?
0:24:53 > 0:24:56I don't think I've ever sweated so much in my life.
0:24:57 > 0:25:00Within half an hour of setting off,
0:25:00 > 0:25:02Your shirt's completely soaked.
0:25:02 > 0:25:04It's like you've just dumped it in a bath.
0:25:06 > 0:25:08The knee to be holding up, anyway.
0:25:11 > 0:25:12A bit.
0:25:12 > 0:25:15I caught myself getting a little bit frustrated
0:25:15 > 0:25:17at the pace of things.
0:25:17 > 0:25:20And I could feel the slight tension building up
0:25:20 > 0:25:23in my head about the pace that
0:25:23 > 0:25:24Joe was walking.
0:25:24 > 0:25:26And then I just had to...
0:25:26 > 0:25:28smile at myself, and go,
0:25:28 > 0:25:30"Look, at the end of the day,
0:25:30 > 0:25:32"his pace is his pace.
0:25:32 > 0:25:34"This is his journey, and I'm facilitating it."
0:25:35 > 0:25:37I'm very heavily reliant on Ed.
0:25:38 > 0:25:39Which is...
0:25:39 > 0:25:41HE PANTS
0:25:42 > 0:25:43..a good and a bad thing, really.
0:25:43 > 0:25:46It's a bad thing in the sense that I'm always used to...
0:25:47 > 0:25:51..being in charge, and being in front myself.
0:25:51 > 0:25:52And it feels quite strange...
0:25:56 > 0:25:59..being a little chubby bloke at the back.
0:25:59 > 0:26:01My job is to help him experience
0:26:01 > 0:26:03what his father experienced.
0:26:03 > 0:26:06It's not to get frustrated, angry or short with him.
0:26:06 > 0:26:07And so...
0:26:07 > 0:26:09HE PANTS
0:26:09 > 0:26:11..sort of let it go. It's gone.
0:26:13 > 0:26:16What I've got here is something I could never have got,
0:26:16 > 0:26:18it doesn't matter how many books I read about Morris Force
0:26:18 > 0:26:21or the Chindit wars.
0:26:21 > 0:26:22HE SIGHS
0:26:22 > 0:26:27Books tell you something, experience lends you something -
0:26:27 > 0:26:28an indelible memory.
0:26:35 > 0:26:38The Shweli River rises as a small stream in China,
0:26:38 > 0:26:40but by the time it reaches here,
0:26:40 > 0:26:42it's over half a kilometre wide.
0:26:43 > 0:26:45Oh! Mate, it's quite big.
0:26:45 > 0:26:48- God, it's huge.- That's bigger than I thought it was going to be.
0:26:52 > 0:26:55When Joe's father crossed the river, it was pre-monsoon,
0:26:55 > 0:26:57so it was relatively low.
0:26:57 > 0:27:01But Joe and Ed are here post-monsoon, and it's full.
0:27:02 > 0:27:04I'm looking forward to this.
0:27:04 > 0:27:07I think it'll be a bit of an adventure.
0:27:07 > 0:27:09Especially with a strong swimmer like you on board(!)
0:27:09 > 0:27:11I'm sure it will be fine.
0:27:16 > 0:27:17Joe and Ed are building a raft
0:27:17 > 0:27:21so they can cross the river close to where Joe's father did.
0:27:26 > 0:27:28What a place to fight a war.
0:27:30 > 0:27:32'Just horrendous, really, thinking about it.'
0:27:37 > 0:27:39I just want to have a sense of what my father did.
0:27:41 > 0:27:44'Not all the Chindits, and not everybody
0:27:44 > 0:27:47'in all the campaigns and all the battles, but just what...
0:27:47 > 0:27:48'he must have done.
0:27:50 > 0:27:52'Very impressed with the old man.'
0:27:53 > 0:27:55Then again, I always was.
0:27:58 > 0:27:59Out in the open,
0:27:59 > 0:28:03the Chindits were vulnerable to attack from the Japanese,
0:28:03 > 0:28:06who were known to use a small road on the other side of the river.
0:28:08 > 0:28:11And like Ed, many Chindits couldn't swim.
0:28:14 > 0:28:17I like the inherent strength of their stuff, don't you?
0:28:18 > 0:28:21That must have been one you made, mate.
0:28:21 > 0:28:24Crossing the river is not as easy as we thought.
0:28:24 > 0:28:26HE EXHALES
0:28:29 > 0:28:31Their antics have attracted an audience.
0:28:34 > 0:28:36- JOE:- Mingalaba. - ALL:- Mingalaba.
0:28:37 > 0:28:39- Can we have some help? - Can you come and help?
0:28:39 > 0:28:41Yeah?
0:28:43 > 0:28:45Che zu ba, che zu ba.
0:28:55 > 0:28:57This is all right.
0:28:57 > 0:28:58I'm going to... I'm going to go...
0:28:58 > 0:29:00this side.
0:29:00 > 0:29:02If I just keep pushing on this side...
0:29:02 > 0:29:03Whoa!
0:29:03 > 0:29:05Don't do that. Don't do that.
0:29:05 > 0:29:07That wasn't good.
0:29:07 > 0:29:08I've just lost the pole.
0:29:10 > 0:29:11- Got it.- Got it?- Got it, got it.
0:29:13 > 0:29:15I'm not going to do that again.
0:29:15 > 0:29:16You nearly capsized us.
0:29:19 > 0:29:20Crikey.
0:29:20 > 0:29:21Stafford, calm down.
0:29:26 > 0:29:28Mate, paddle it.
0:29:28 > 0:29:30- See if it works.- You reckon?- Yeah.
0:29:30 > 0:29:32Honestly, this is a kayak.
0:29:34 > 0:29:36Yeah, yeah, yeah.
0:29:36 > 0:29:38- Don't you think?- You're right.
0:29:38 > 0:29:40I'm just over the moon that this is floating.
0:29:40 > 0:29:43I think the adrenaline is going quite fast, as well.
0:29:43 > 0:29:44That's when laughing so much.
0:29:46 > 0:29:49Rivers were a constant obstacle for Chindits' progress.
0:29:49 > 0:29:51And in the monsoons, there were fatalities
0:29:51 > 0:29:54as soldiers were swept away by the floodwaters.
0:29:59 > 0:30:02With over 400 men in Ian Simpson's column,
0:30:02 > 0:30:04it took nearly a whole day to cross this river.
0:30:05 > 0:30:07Let's just get to shore.
0:30:09 > 0:30:11With only two of them, it's taken
0:30:11 > 0:30:13Joe and Ed just over an hour.
0:30:15 > 0:30:16Can't go any further than that.
0:30:22 > 0:30:24Well done, mate.
0:30:24 > 0:30:26Job done, give us a hug, that was cool.
0:30:26 > 0:30:28Well done. Mingalaba.
0:30:28 > 0:30:30- JOE:- I'm going to be stiff as a board tomorrow.
0:30:30 > 0:30:33- That was cool, mate. We did it. - It was, it was, it was.
0:30:35 > 0:30:36- Mingalaba. - WOMAN:- Mingalaba.
0:30:57 > 0:30:59After crossing the Shweli yesterday,
0:30:59 > 0:31:01Joe and Ed are now heading
0:31:01 > 0:31:03for Joe's father's tenth camp.
0:31:03 > 0:31:06It's 20km deeper into the jungle.
0:31:09 > 0:31:12It's 6am, and, like the Chindits before them,
0:31:12 > 0:31:14they're setting off early
0:31:14 > 0:31:16to try and avoid the heat of the day.
0:31:22 > 0:31:25Ian Simpson's diary mentions early starts -
0:31:25 > 0:31:27and, as an officer, rank brought privilege.
0:31:29 > 0:31:31"Sunday, 19th of March.
0:31:31 > 0:31:35"Fine morning, woken about 5:15.
0:31:35 > 0:31:36"Tea, biscuits and fruit in bed,
0:31:36 > 0:31:39"to leave for supply drop at 0600 hours.
0:31:39 > 0:31:43"Halt from 12 till two at a quite good place with hot coffee."
0:31:47 > 0:31:49We've taken his notes, we've taken his maps.
0:31:50 > 0:31:54We've matched them up with satellite maps.
0:31:55 > 0:31:57And we've got as accurate a plan as you can.
0:31:57 > 0:31:59It's not going to be perfect,
0:31:59 > 0:32:02because these trails will obviously change over the years.
0:32:02 > 0:32:03HE PANTS
0:32:04 > 0:32:06So...
0:32:06 > 0:32:07You know...
0:32:07 > 0:32:08I couldn't really...
0:32:10 > 0:32:13..get any nearer to walking in my father's footsteps.
0:32:17 > 0:32:20It's an immersive experience, isn't it? I mean...
0:32:20 > 0:32:22I could just...
0:32:22 > 0:32:25come to Burma as a tourist,
0:32:25 > 0:32:29and fanny around on a riverboat looking stupid,
0:32:29 > 0:32:31and drinking beer.
0:32:31 > 0:32:33But it would hardly give me a sense of where Da went.
0:32:46 > 0:32:49The Chindits of Morris Force marched east for four weeks,
0:32:49 > 0:32:51passing through many peaceful villages
0:32:51 > 0:32:53before they began to attack the Japanese.
0:33:00 > 0:33:02This is the type of trail that Joe's father would have
0:33:02 > 0:33:06followed in order to get through the forest that fast as possible.
0:33:06 > 0:33:08It might be a hunter's trail, it might be a logger's trail,
0:33:08 > 0:33:10but it's... It's certainly not a road. And...
0:33:12 > 0:33:13Here comes a car!
0:33:13 > 0:33:15THEY LAUGH
0:33:17 > 0:33:20- "It's certainly not a road." - JOE IMITATES ENGINES
0:33:22 > 0:33:24Brilliant.
0:33:25 > 0:33:28The timing couldn't be more perfect, could it?
0:33:31 > 0:33:33"It's not a road. It's really not a road."
0:33:37 > 0:33:39Joe and Ed are following small trails
0:33:39 > 0:33:42made by farmers and bamboo harvesters.
0:33:57 > 0:34:00I can see 400 men in slouch hats
0:34:00 > 0:34:01coming down that track.
0:34:06 > 0:34:09I'm looking forward to getting to the camp tonight.
0:34:10 > 0:34:12Nice and early.
0:34:12 > 0:34:16Following the GPS has been successful all morning,
0:34:16 > 0:34:19but now Joe's father's route has disappeared
0:34:19 > 0:34:20into a maze of dead ends.
0:34:21 > 0:34:24It's thick, thick, thick.
0:34:24 > 0:34:26Can we get the side there?
0:34:26 > 0:34:27Is there an obvious route in?
0:34:27 > 0:34:29No.
0:34:29 > 0:34:30I don't think so.
0:34:31 > 0:34:34Just looks as dense when you get over there as does up there.
0:34:34 > 0:34:36Yeah, it does, doesn't it?
0:34:38 > 0:34:40Do you think going through that vegetation
0:34:40 > 0:34:42is nicer than going through this vegetation?
0:34:42 > 0:34:44It is, isn't it? If we go around that side...
0:34:44 > 0:34:46- It's more open, that.- Yeah, exactly. - It's less...
0:34:46 > 0:34:48- Exactly.- Yeah.
0:34:50 > 0:34:54We've come down there, and round and back.
0:34:54 > 0:34:56How far are we out now?
0:34:56 > 0:34:58Four.
0:34:58 > 0:35:004k through this stuff's going to take forever, isn't it?
0:35:00 > 0:35:03It's just a case of re-picking up the route.
0:35:03 > 0:35:05How about we go back to the track
0:35:05 > 0:35:08and let's cut across a different way?
0:35:08 > 0:35:11- We want to go around that way, not that way, basically.- Yeah.
0:35:11 > 0:35:13Cos this is bamboo, this is gnarly.
0:35:17 > 0:35:19All right?
0:35:20 > 0:35:23Trying to follow Ian Simpson's 70-year-old route
0:35:23 > 0:35:27is taking them deeper and deeper into trouble.
0:35:28 > 0:35:30HE GROANS
0:35:31 > 0:35:34And they're dragging the film crew with them.
0:35:38 > 0:35:39It was all going so well.
0:35:47 > 0:35:50They're only 4km from Camp 10.
0:35:50 > 0:35:54On a clear trail that would normally take 50 minutes,
0:35:54 > 0:35:57but in the last hour they've only gone 500 metres.
0:35:59 > 0:36:04This is...close to what your father would have experienced.
0:36:04 > 0:36:07Give me the mountains any day.
0:36:07 > 0:36:08Any day.
0:36:08 > 0:36:12We're following a track that was made 71 years ago.
0:36:13 > 0:36:16And even with the best in the world
0:36:16 > 0:36:18and the satellite, maps and...
0:36:19 > 0:36:21..using GPS
0:36:21 > 0:36:24is quite obvious that the forest has decided that some of its tracks
0:36:24 > 0:36:28are not for using any more and we've found ourselves off track.
0:36:33 > 0:36:36If we lose Ed now we're screwed.
0:36:43 > 0:36:45None of it looks great, to be honest.
0:36:45 > 0:36:48- And 10 is in what direction?- East.
0:36:48 > 0:36:52- North? East.- East.
0:36:52 > 0:36:54OK, this way.
0:36:57 > 0:37:00By late afternoon, Joe, Ed and the film crew
0:37:00 > 0:37:05are still 3km from Camp 10, and now they have run out of water.
0:37:05 > 0:37:09The bottom of this valley, there's a dried up riverbed
0:37:09 > 0:37:11with standing water in it, which isn't ideal,
0:37:11 > 0:37:15but at least standing water means we'll be able to drink.
0:37:15 > 0:37:18Water out here is often disease ridden,
0:37:18 > 0:37:22full of typhoid, diphtheria, and hepatitis.
0:37:24 > 0:37:28Marching in stifling heat and humidity,
0:37:28 > 0:37:30Joe, Ed and the Chindits before them
0:37:30 > 0:37:32needed up to five litres of water a day
0:37:32 > 0:37:35and had to make do with what they could find.
0:37:37 > 0:37:40But contaminated water like this
0:37:40 > 0:37:42accounted for huge numbers of casualties.
0:37:42 > 0:37:44I've got water here.
0:37:46 > 0:37:49With little chance of medical evacuation,
0:37:49 > 0:37:52men unable to keep up were often left behind.
0:37:52 > 0:37:56And on more than one occasion seriously ill men were shot
0:37:56 > 0:37:59rather than being left for the Japanese.
0:38:04 > 0:38:08Joe, Ed and the crew have no choice but to use this dirty water,
0:38:08 > 0:38:11sterilising it with chlorine tablets.
0:38:15 > 0:38:16It's 15:55.
0:38:16 > 0:38:20It's dark in two hours. We were suppose to camp at three.
0:38:20 > 0:38:23I've got a hammock and Ed's got a hammock,
0:38:23 > 0:38:26so we're all right, and that makes a very happy.
0:38:29 > 0:38:31You two, on the other hand...
0:38:31 > 0:38:33OK, let's get a move on.
0:38:33 > 0:38:36- Let's do it.- You go ahead, Ed. - OK, mate.
0:38:44 > 0:38:49Joe, Ed and the crew have no hope of reaching Camp 10 before dark.
0:38:49 > 0:38:51They'll have to overnight in the jungle.
0:38:56 > 0:39:00We have about 35 minutes till last light.
0:39:00 > 0:39:03It isn't just me and Joe here, we've got you filming
0:39:03 > 0:39:05and we've got the sound man as well.
0:39:05 > 0:39:07We've only got two hammocks, which is Joe and I,
0:39:07 > 0:39:10who are meant to be camping out here, you two weren't.
0:39:10 > 0:39:12Therefore we're going to have to double up in the hammocks,
0:39:12 > 0:39:14put two men under each basher.
0:39:14 > 0:39:17I'm going to have to sleep without a mosquito net tonight,
0:39:17 > 0:39:20but we've got enough food for everyone -
0:39:20 > 0:39:22but we really need to set a camp up before last light.
0:39:27 > 0:39:30A bit of a cock-up in the jungle. It's not ideal, but it's OK.
0:39:30 > 0:39:32It's not...no time to panic.
0:39:45 > 0:39:49- How you doing, Joe?- Nearly there.
0:39:52 > 0:39:55Watch out! Tree's coming down! Get out of the way!
0:40:01 > 0:40:03Whoo!
0:40:05 > 0:40:08Bloody hell.
0:40:08 > 0:40:11That's got to be the most disastrous hammock.
0:40:11 > 0:40:13I reckon you might need to choose a new tree
0:40:13 > 0:40:15to tie your hammock to, mate.
0:40:15 > 0:40:17LAUGHTER
0:40:17 > 0:40:19It's actually resting...
0:40:19 > 0:40:22Joe's tree just fell down.
0:40:22 > 0:40:24It's actually just missed my hammock.
0:40:25 > 0:40:28- That's a big tree.- It is a big tree.
0:40:29 > 0:40:30I'm not that fat.
0:40:30 > 0:40:32LAUGHTER
0:40:34 > 0:40:36That could have killed someone.
0:40:42 > 0:40:44There's certain aspects of this we've underestimated,
0:40:44 > 0:40:46it's more serious than we thought.
0:40:46 > 0:40:50And the only way we could find that out is by doing what we did today.
0:40:50 > 0:40:53But that just means it will take a little longer, I think.
0:40:58 > 0:41:01Ten years ago, it would have really riled me to be trailing behind you.
0:41:01 > 0:41:02Right.
0:41:02 > 0:41:05And I don't really give a toss any more.
0:41:06 > 0:41:10Bobbling along in your wake, it doesn't really bother me at all.
0:41:11 > 0:41:13I learned a bit about myself, actually.
0:41:13 > 0:41:15Learned a bit about my da.
0:41:17 > 0:41:19Not that much, but...
0:41:19 > 0:41:21starting to realise what sort of man he was.
0:41:21 > 0:41:24I just appreciate more than I did before.
0:41:24 > 0:41:28Where I just sort of blindly admired before
0:41:28 > 0:41:32I now actually really understand he was a very tough man.
0:41:34 > 0:41:36Very strong man.
0:41:57 > 0:42:00Joe slept really well for about the first five hours
0:42:00 > 0:42:02and then has been awake for the last two.
0:42:02 > 0:42:05I couldn't sleep for the first five hours
0:42:05 > 0:42:07and then fell asleep about two hours ago.
0:42:10 > 0:42:13The Chindits too had few comforts.
0:42:13 > 0:42:16Often sleeping on the forest floor under a blanket
0:42:16 > 0:42:19with just a fly sheet or rough jungle shelter to keep the rain off,
0:42:19 > 0:42:22and they did that for over 17 weeks.
0:42:24 > 0:42:27Their daily routine would have been relatively simple.
0:42:27 > 0:42:30But it's quite clear that when they had a march day they went for it,
0:42:30 > 0:42:35I mean, they were having 12 hour days, day after day in this area.
0:42:38 > 0:42:41"Thursday, 23rd of March.
0:42:41 > 0:42:43"We moved off at 06:00.
0:42:43 > 0:42:47"It started raining and rained until after harbouring at 17:20.
0:42:47 > 0:42:51"Tempers very short and not getting along very well until we dossed down
0:42:51 > 0:42:53"right and left of the track.
0:42:53 > 0:42:56"We built big fires and I cooked a chicken for all the grade officers,
0:42:56 > 0:42:57"14 of them."
0:42:59 > 0:43:01It was rare for the Chindits to get fresh food.
0:43:01 > 0:43:05Most of the time they lived off lightweight American field rations
0:43:05 > 0:43:08that were only made to be used for up to two weeks,
0:43:08 > 0:43:10not for four months.
0:43:12 > 0:43:14OK, it's reconstituted egg powder.
0:43:16 > 0:43:20Half of Britain is existing on this stuff in the 1940s, isn't it?
0:43:22 > 0:43:25The American rations had a woefully inadequate calorie count,
0:43:25 > 0:43:30and as the weeks mounted up the Chindits went malnourished...
0:43:30 > 0:43:32unlike Ed.
0:43:32 > 0:43:34That is really good.
0:43:34 > 0:43:36I'm not joking. That is amazing.
0:43:36 > 0:43:39Light and fluffy as well.
0:43:39 > 0:43:42On average, each Chindit lost 3st.
0:43:46 > 0:43:49The plan this morning is to hack through the forest
0:43:49 > 0:43:51to another river 900 metres north.
0:43:52 > 0:43:56From there it should only be a couple of kilometres to Camp 10.
0:44:00 > 0:44:03In thick, claustrophobic jungle like this,
0:44:03 > 0:44:06the Chindits risked bumping into Japanese patrols.
0:44:10 > 0:44:15When it happened, the fighting was brutal and often hand-to-hand.
0:44:44 > 0:44:47Ha! The river is beautiful.
0:44:47 > 0:44:50Come here. Look at that.
0:44:52 > 0:44:54Look at this.
0:44:55 > 0:44:57That is a gorgeous river.
0:44:59 > 0:45:03It's a relief to wash away two days of jungle sweat and grime.
0:45:03 > 0:45:05Let's get in there.
0:45:11 > 0:45:15Mate, this is how we travel to the next camp.
0:45:31 > 0:45:37Finally, 24 hours behind schedule, Joe and Ed arrived at Camp 10.
0:45:37 > 0:45:40We're here. It's good.
0:45:44 > 0:45:48It's good to have actually got to a place where he stopped.
0:45:48 > 0:45:51I think it's quite moving, actually.
0:45:51 > 0:45:53There are some local people here.
0:45:54 > 0:45:58Looks like somebody else has chosen 10 as a campsite as well.
0:45:59 > 0:46:03It's quite amazing that a camp that was probably constructed in 1944
0:46:03 > 0:46:06- is still been occupied.- Yeah.
0:46:06 > 0:46:09And to think, 71 years ago he was just hunkering down.
0:46:09 > 0:46:12It's something else really, isn't it? That he was here.
0:46:15 > 0:46:18For two days the Chindits stopped in this tiny clearing
0:46:18 > 0:46:19for a resupply drop.
0:46:19 > 0:46:23Joe's father was responsible for coordinating it.
0:46:23 > 0:46:24It's not like their ghosts,
0:46:24 > 0:46:27but I can imagine this place teeming with soldiers.
0:46:27 > 0:46:31My father up there in the shade on the radio,
0:46:31 > 0:46:34encrypting messages, sending them off.
0:46:34 > 0:46:36He would have been a busy young officer.
0:46:36 > 0:46:39It's quite a strange feeling, actually.
0:46:39 > 0:46:45Sort of wish he was still alive so...I could go back and...
0:46:45 > 0:46:49tell him where I'd been and show him photographs.
0:46:49 > 0:46:53I bet if I gave him a photograph of this place he'd recognise it.
0:46:53 > 0:46:56Tell him where we went and where we got lost,
0:46:56 > 0:46:59he'd call me a, "blithering idiot."
0:46:59 > 0:47:01But, anyway, that's not going to happen.
0:47:09 > 0:47:13Whilst at this camp, Ian Simpson also took the opportunity
0:47:13 > 0:47:16to supplement his meagre rations by fishing.
0:47:25 > 0:47:31Da frequently refers to clear water and, "nice pools," is what he says.
0:47:31 > 0:47:34Now, they may have finished with line, but...
0:47:34 > 0:47:37they commonly fished with plastic explosives.
0:47:37 > 0:47:40So what they'd do is they'd find a good pool
0:47:40 > 0:47:43that they thought would hold a head of fish...
0:47:43 > 0:47:46bomb it, get the fish, bring them back, feed the men.
0:47:46 > 0:47:48It wasn't sport.
0:47:48 > 0:47:50And clearly if he was doing what I'm doing right now
0:47:50 > 0:47:52he'd have been very hungry.
0:47:59 > 0:48:01LAUGHTER
0:48:02 > 0:48:05At least you got one.
0:48:05 > 0:48:09- If you got ten of those, that would be reasonable.- Yeah.
0:48:09 > 0:48:12But they look like they're going to taste good
0:48:12 > 0:48:14when they're grown up.
0:48:14 > 0:48:16Mate, I think that's promising.
0:48:16 > 0:48:20That's good a good 2oz. That's food.
0:48:21 > 0:48:24It looks good, mate, do you want to eat that?
0:48:24 > 0:48:28- No, I give it to you.- No, no, no. - It's my present. You have it.
0:48:28 > 0:48:31Mate, I'm not going to eat all of it. We've got to at least share it.
0:48:31 > 0:48:34No, you're carrying double the load of me, you need to eat that fish.
0:48:34 > 0:48:36- Do you like fish?- No.
0:48:36 > 0:48:39So it's not actually as gallant an offer as you're making it out?
0:48:39 > 0:48:41LAUGHTER
0:48:41 > 0:48:44It's really good. Got nice big chunks of white meat.
0:48:49 > 0:48:53- Bony?- Want a bit more?- Go on, then, see what it tastes like.
0:49:04 > 0:49:08Joe and Ed have travelled over 70km, getting more and more of an insight
0:49:08 > 0:49:11into his father's wartime experience.
0:49:11 > 0:49:16Forgetting all the disease and the attacks by the enemy...
0:49:16 > 0:49:20this would have been just really hard grind.
0:49:24 > 0:49:27And I can't even begin to think what it would have been like
0:49:27 > 0:49:30to try and do this in the monsoon.
0:49:30 > 0:49:33Absolutely unimaginably awful.
0:49:33 > 0:49:36And that's what they did.
0:49:36 > 0:49:38Very impressed.
0:49:40 > 0:49:42Despite all the challenges
0:49:42 > 0:49:45that Joe's father and the Chindits had already faced,
0:49:45 > 0:49:48the real hardship of battle was yet to come.
0:49:48 > 0:49:51That's where Joe and Ed are headed next.
0:49:52 > 0:49:55Erm, OK, my toenail is about to come off.
0:49:55 > 0:49:57Got my little surgical...
0:49:58 > 0:50:01It's going to peel off, open door style.
0:50:01 > 0:50:04My tendency is to yank it off, but then I'm quite brutal.
0:50:04 > 0:50:06Can it peel?
0:50:10 > 0:50:12I don't think you're taking this very serious.
0:50:12 > 0:50:15I am. A wee bit of blood and whatever, you'll be all right.
0:50:15 > 0:50:17Stick a bit of Germolene in there.
0:50:20 > 0:50:24It's got river shit and all sorts of jungle crap in it.
0:50:27 > 0:50:28It's coming.
0:50:28 > 0:50:30Do it again. 360 again.
0:50:30 > 0:50:33And a hard yank. That's you.
0:50:35 > 0:50:37- Do you want that?- No, I don't.
0:50:37 > 0:50:39It's starting to fall apart.
0:51:09 > 0:51:12This truck is going the direction that we're going
0:51:12 > 0:51:15and they've offered us a lift, so it seems to be a bit of a no brainer.
0:51:21 > 0:51:23And what a relief.
0:51:24 > 0:51:27I've only had about 300 calories today.
0:51:27 > 0:51:31And my legs were feeling like water on the last slog up that hill.
0:51:39 > 0:51:41Watch your head!
0:51:55 > 0:51:57The free ride ends in a small village
0:51:57 > 0:52:00where Joe and Ed hope to find a bed for the night.
0:52:08 > 0:52:09We can sleep here.
0:52:09 > 0:52:12We can sleep here. That's amazing. Yes, he said.
0:52:16 > 0:52:17Yeah. OK.
0:52:19 > 0:52:2270 years ago, the Chindits would almost certainly have been
0:52:22 > 0:52:26the first western faces in remote villages like this.
0:52:35 > 0:52:38I'm quite grateful, actually. I'm exhausted today.
0:52:38 > 0:52:42So if we can just get our head down in this house and that will be fine.
0:52:44 > 0:52:47A long day, another long day, really long day.
0:52:50 > 0:52:54Just as the Chindits often bartered for or bought local food,
0:52:54 > 0:52:58so Joe and Ed are buying some meat from a passing butcher.
0:52:58 > 0:53:01Selling meat. Can we buy?
0:53:03 > 0:53:04Shall we buy that?
0:53:04 > 0:53:06How the hell are we going to cook it?
0:53:06 > 0:53:09- These guys will cook it.- OK.
0:53:09 > 0:53:11- Yeah?- Go with that.
0:53:11 > 0:53:13How much?
0:53:13 > 0:53:15- Six?- Yes.
0:53:23 > 0:53:28- We've managed to find a place to sleep and meat to buy...- And steak.
0:53:29 > 0:53:31And steak.
0:53:32 > 0:53:35And all we've said is "che zu be" and "mingalaba".
0:53:37 > 0:53:40CHILD TALKS IN BURMESE
0:53:52 > 0:53:55Just some bread. It's good, is it?
0:53:55 > 0:53:58We really have landed on our feet tonight.
0:53:58 > 0:54:01I mean, just that drive was good enough, wasn't it?
0:54:01 > 0:54:03- Mm-hm.- I mean, that was brilliant.
0:54:03 > 0:54:07Transport, food and accommodation, somewhere to sleep.
0:54:12 > 0:54:16Just had supper with Joe. I think personally I've seen him...
0:54:17 > 0:54:21..connect to his father in a way that I don't think he thought
0:54:21 > 0:54:23he was going to while he was out here.
0:54:25 > 0:54:30For all our communication failings, he was a great dad.
0:54:30 > 0:54:34It was an honour to have him as my father, actually.
0:54:34 > 0:54:36Very proud of him.
0:54:38 > 0:54:41He could envisage his father being in certain places
0:54:41 > 0:54:44and he went through what it must have been like for his father,
0:54:44 > 0:54:47so that's a big thing. That's a big thing.
0:54:49 > 0:54:51Actually being here, it's...
0:54:53 > 0:54:54..made quite a difference.
0:54:56 > 0:54:59But it's all bittersweet thing, really.
0:55:00 > 0:55:02I wish I done it when Da was still alive.
0:55:26 > 0:55:31With just five weeks to retrace Ian Simpson's four months in Myanmar,
0:55:31 > 0:55:33Joe and Ed have decided to jump ahead
0:55:33 > 0:55:37to the small town of Sikaw in Kachin state, travelling by bus.
0:55:39 > 0:55:43But with the first elections for 25 years due in two days' time,
0:55:43 > 0:55:47tensions between political factions are hotting up.
0:55:48 > 0:55:52Joe and Ed get diverted to the village of Mansi where Jimmy,
0:55:52 > 0:55:55a member of the support crew, has some bad news.
0:55:57 > 0:56:02- Is the fighting happening now? - Yes, in some areas.
0:56:02 > 0:56:04- There is fighting happening now? - Yeah.
0:56:09 > 0:56:12It seems like we've walked into the wrong place at the wrong time,
0:56:12 > 0:56:14doesn't it?
0:56:14 > 0:56:18Local rebel forces in both Kachin and Shan states
0:56:18 > 0:56:21have been fighting for independence for decades.
0:56:21 > 0:56:23And with the election looming,
0:56:23 > 0:56:27the fighting has flared up in several nearby hotspots.
0:56:30 > 0:56:33Don't know what to say, really.
0:56:33 > 0:56:35I never expected to be able to do all of it.
0:56:35 > 0:56:37I understood that there would be compromises.
0:56:37 > 0:56:40It seems to be a disaster at the moment,
0:56:40 > 0:56:44and let's see what 24 hours shows us.
0:56:44 > 0:56:46We've been told that at this stage of our route
0:56:46 > 0:56:47we can't go any further.
0:56:47 > 0:56:51We've actually been told we need to get out of here right now.
0:56:51 > 0:56:53It's gutting, absolutely gutting.
0:57:02 > 0:57:05Joe and Ed have no choice but to follow military orders...
0:57:07 > 0:57:11..and escape to the nearest safe town, a place called Bhamo.
0:57:15 > 0:57:17HE SIGHS
0:57:18 > 0:57:24I'm just so frustrated. I'm so angry. I'm so disappointed.
0:57:24 > 0:57:26I'm just...
0:57:31 > 0:57:34Joe and Ed set off to follow a 70-year-old war,
0:57:34 > 0:57:37but they are becoming embroiled in a new one.
0:57:39 > 0:57:43For now, Joe's dream is on hold.
0:57:43 > 0:57:46I can't have waited all this time to come here
0:57:46 > 0:57:48and to finally think it's just about to happen
0:57:48 > 0:57:51and we've got all the permissions and then to find...
0:57:52 > 0:57:54..we get the door slammed in our face.
0:57:57 > 0:57:58But it's not good news.
0:58:00 > 0:58:01It's not good news at all.
0:58:05 > 0:58:07In the next episode...
0:58:07 > 0:58:11This place is literally littered in land mines.
0:58:11 > 0:58:13We seem to have walked into a war, so...
0:58:13 > 0:58:16- We have walked into a war. - We certainly better walk out of it.
0:58:16 > 0:58:19The modern day conflict really hits home.
0:58:19 > 0:58:22Slightly ominously, we've just been called in to a meeting.
0:58:22 > 0:58:25It would appear that the situation is deteriorating quite rapidly,
0:58:25 > 0:58:27so we may have to move out of here.