| Looking back at SINGAPORE 1945-1946 |
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| ALL ABOUT ME |
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| I became a member of the British Armed Forces on 21st. October 1943, aged 18 years, when I was conscripted and sent to Maryhill Barracks in Glasgow for twelve weeks initial Army training. |
| Following further Survey and Royal Engineers training at Ruabon in Wales, I was posted to the Royal Engineers (Survey) Regiment and then embarked on the troopship "Andes". |
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| Our troopship sailed in convoy and zigzagged much of the way to avoid enemy submarines. We were not told which war area we were bound for but were issued with khaki drill clothing which seemed to indicate the Western Desert. However, when we continued to sail on through the Suez Canal and were then issued with green clothing we began to realise that we must be "Burma bound"! This was my berthing card. We either slept on our mess tabletops, hammocks slung across the dining area, or as the climate got warmer, on a groundsheet on the deck. At about five o'clock in the morning the seamen hosed down the decks. There was a scramble to get up! |
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| India.............. |
| We eventually arrived at Bombay then travelled by train to Kalyan transit camp. |
| From the transit camp we were gradually dispersed to various units. I was posted to a Survey of India training establishment at Dehra Dun. |
| Eventually, a posting came through for five of us to go to Advanced H.Q.14th. Army Burma. The trouble was, nobody knew exactly where the H.Q. was! We travelled by bus, train and plane and after two weeks eventually arrived at Alon, just before the fall of Mandalay. We were collected by truck and driven to the Air Photo Interpretation Section attached to the Advanced H.Q. 14th. Army at Monywa. |
| As our troops advanced rapidly towards Rangoon we followed closely behind providing aerial photographs and vital information of Japanese troop movements. At Meiktila we actually had a celebration for V.E.Day! See |
| Our troops reached Rangoon after much hard fighting. We were eventually dispatched to a recuperation camp in Secunderabad India. The town of Hyderabad is nearby. A"Fable" was circulating amongst the troops that the Nizam of Hyderabad, a very rich man, had requested that British troops should salute him when he drove past. The British Authorities could not agree to this so allegedly the Nizam stated that he would give any soldier who did salute him, a bag of gold! We all spent a lot of time looking around the town without any financial success! See Memorabilia |
| While we were in Secunderabad the Japanese surrender was announced. Of course it was wonderful news and for us in particular meant that at least we would be going to Singapore under more favourable conditions. We went by boat from Madras and when we arrived in Singapore we were mustered on the racecourse until suitable billets could be found. Much was chaotic and it was so strange to see long columns of dejected Japanese soldiers being marched through the town by just two or three British or Indian soldiers. |
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| An Indian temple at Dehra Dun, United Provinces. |
| Burma...................... |
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| A sketch of a War damaged pagoda and "Chinthe", the Burmese word for "lion" and reputedly the name that Major-General Orde Wingate mis-heard as "Chindit" and thereafter entered military history. |
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| Click on (almost!) any photograph to enlarge, then to see the picture at full size, hover your mouse over the lower right corner and click the resize button. |
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| All original photographs are copyright |