The 24th Mile: An Indian Doctor's Heroism in War-Torn Burma

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DR JEHANGIR ANKLESARIA has come up in life the hard way.

Graduating from medical college in Bombay in 1914, he acquires money and smarts by working as a ship's doctor during World War I and then launches a career in Rangoon. Life is good until December 1941, when the Burmese city is bombed by the Japanese, and everything changes overnight.

Seconds after Jehangir's wife and daughter board a ship for India, an enemy aircraft screams down, raking the wharf with death. Duty-bound, he decides to stay back and join the war effort, working tirelessly to quell a cholera epidemic. Under relentless attack, the army falls back towards the Indian border, where Jehangir suffers an ambush, losing all he has to rogues at gunpoint. Now he is just one of the many crawling their way up and down the 5,000-foot-high, jungle-clad mountains of Assam, his body ravaged by malaria, dysentery, blood-sucking leeches and starvation.

In The 24th Mile, Tehmton S. Mistry, part of the next generation of Jehangir's larger family, evocatively recreates the story of his grit and heroism in his death-defying journey to safety.

Born and raised in Mumbai, Tehmton S. Mistry met his wife at St. Xavier's College. Her uncle, Dr Jehangir Anklesaria, the protagonist of this book, was integral to their early years.

The couple moved to St. Louis in the United States for post- graduate medical studies in the early 1970s, where Tehmton started his practice as an obstetrician and gynecologist. He is now retired and enjoys writing among other hobbies.

Inspired by a towering personality and his own thirst for history, Tehmton conducted painstaking research to produce this debut book in which he describes the adventures and legacy of a gentleman who served his country, community and family. Jehangir's life story meshes neatly with our contemporary emphasis on public health, epidemiology and acute need for leaders with character and conviction.

THE 24TH MILE IS a well-crafted book that grippingly describes the carnages devastation and misery that took place when the Japanese invaded Burma, the defeat of the British Armed Forces and the ultimate capitulation of the country to the Japanese in World War II.

It revolves around a remarkable human being: Dr Jehangir Anklesaria. Dr Jehangir, a port health officer in Rangoon, lost all his possessions following the Japanese capture of that city. Although he managed to send his wife and daughter back to Bombay, he remained in Rangoon with the retreating British Army and the thousands of refugees fleeing the Japanese holocaust and trekking towards India. During this retreat, Dr Jehangir showed exemplary courage, a single-minded devotion to duty and, above all, an endearing humanity towards one and all, particularly the sick, the suffering and the dying.

As was anticipated, the flood of refugees trekking vast distances through difficult terrain led to epidemics, notably cholera, which, besides being deadly, is extremely infectious. Dr Jehangir, who had trained at Cambridge in tropical medicine and public health, helped in the prevention of this disease and controlled it as best as possible, working in the most primitive and dangerous conditions. I imagine that this must have been a Herculean task, because of the scarcity of resources, difficulties in administration and problems in medical management. He managed to commandeer a large supply of cholera vaccine, ensuring the vaccination of one and all as the main preventive measure, and housing thousands of refugees in makeshift camps.

Devising numerous innovative ways to control and prevent the spread of the epidemic was a stupendous task brilliantly and successfully executed by this doctor, with the help of his trusted group of workers. If the cholera outbreak amongst the thousands of refugees who accompanied the retreating British forces had not been controlled, it could well have spread to army personnel. decimating the British armed forces, which would not have lived to fight another day.

Dr Jehangir travelled a great distance from Rangoon towards the Assamese border in his trusted Austin car. The latter was commandeered at the point of a gun by some rogue soldiers after many days. He had to complete the remaining journey on foot.

This book derives its title from Dr Jehangir's trek through 24 miles of thick tropical jungle across mountains and valleys in furious monsoon conditions, battling hunger, fatigue and daily bouts of fever with rigours closely resembling malaria. He was seriously ill, managing to stay upright on a daily dose of quinine. To have ultimately conquered the 24th mile showed his indomitable will, determination, courage and character, as also his love and devotion towards his wife and daughter. It was this love that kept him going and helped him overcome the grave hardships on this trek.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages