Peckham to Burma Part 2

Going through the Suez Canal was an experience, by now we had lost our convoy, and we had to wait for other ships, so three or four boats went through one behind the other. Here the Gullie Gullie men had boarded the boat and regaled us with their tricks. One side of the Canal was desert and the other side green. An Arab on the desert side entertained everyone by his antics with his foot long penis. The ship had a lean to one side, as he was being cheered on by all the servicemen and women.
On board, were lots of soldiers going to join the 12th army in Burma, and these same soldiers had in 1942 been on a ship that had been sunk in the Red Sea, for when we got to this area wreaths were scattered over the sea. Christmas 1944 was spent on board, and it was about this time that the news from the war front in France was all about the German break through on the American front, some wearing American uniforms. It was referred to as the Battle of the Bulge, the Falaise Gap. All was regained once the bad weather cleared and the Air Force could renew the battle.
We arrived at Bombay on the 14th January 1945, we docked quite close to the archway known as the gateway to India, a band was there to welcome us all. After disembarking we were loaded on to lorries and taken to a camp called Worli not far from a beach called Jehu, at Worli we were housed in a great big hut or hall, about a hundred or more, all we had each was a Charpoy "Indian for a bed " with a mosquito net fastened above. We had been told in our lectures all about Malaria [we had to take a daily tablet called Mepacrine which after a while tuned us slightly yellow] and we were all aware on how we had to avoid being bitten, we did this by getting into the bed and tucking the mosquito net in and then undressing and leaving all the clothes on top of the bed under the net, shoes as well, our kitbags were the exception they were locked and left alongside the bed. Tales were told of boots and shoes that were left out side the bed were missing in the morning, either stolen by the Indians or airmen who had lost theirs. We stayed in Worli for about two weeks, the routine was route marches in the morning and lectures, it was on these route marches that I first saw the swastika painted on the side of Indian ambulances, apparently it was a good luck symbol. The afternoon was generally free, this free time was spent mostly at Beach Candy a swimming complex for white people only. What an unusual country this India was, and still is. Cows roaming freely and causing congestion in the streets. The Cow is a sacred animal. My first impressions of the red stains which were on the footpaths on the roads and on the walls of buildings is that a terrible accident had occurred, but no, it is all spat there by the Indians chewing betal nut and then spitting out the juice, their mouth and teeth all stained red. Beggars were every where, and very young boys with their cry of buckshee sahib, nay mama, nay papa, you like my sister? The answer to this was, --- off you b---- b------.We soon learned what to say in Hindu also. The smells and the aromas of India have to be experienced to be appreciated or hated, I loved it. Always the smell of burning leaves and cow dung, which is gathered as soon as the cow drops it, and then it is plastered on the walls of the dwellings to dry and thence to be used as a fuel, to cook their food.
On about the first of February a whole group of us were taken to Mahalaxmi railway station to start our trip to our new posting. The railway station was home to swarms of homeless Indians, as was any building that was open all day and night. I was now with another group of chaps. In the services, one has to get used to making friends and then the next posting you move to another location have to make another group of friends. The trains in India in 1945 were never on time, and after many false starts we were off. The destination was a place called Jumchar, an airstrip in the jungle of what was then called Bengal, this was a four or five day train trip, across India from Bombay on the west coast to the west coast of Burma. We were all in high spirits, but soon settled down to find that we were in carriages for four people with a corridor, so we could roam the train. It was a sitting compartment with a luggage rack on both sides, the lights were not working nor was the ceiling fan, the whole carriage was like this and it was very hot and humid. Seeing we were a group of tradesmen it wasn't long before we found an electrician, and after expert advise from all of us he soon fixed the problem. The sleeping arrangements we worked out, by sleeping in the luggage racks one night then taking in turns to sleep on the seats the next. We also took turns sitting on the steps of the entrance doors at either and of the carriage, every time the train stopped we would fill the recess of the top step with stones taken from the track, these we would throw at any thing that took our fancy, the train never reached a high speed. At this time of the British Raj, there was a very strong anti British movement. [I wonder why] Signs painted on many places stated "British go home". In fact lots of Indian soldiers who had been captured in the retreat from Burma in 42 were now in the Japanese army. But on the whole the Indian was a very loyal good soldier and hundreds of thousands of them gave their lives fighting for the Empire in many different war zones, in the first world war and in W.W.2. Also in Burma at this time were huge numbers of African soldiers.
After four or five days and nights on the train we arrived at a place called Faripur in Bengal. Here we were taken on a dilapidated ferry that took a day to ply down the Brahmanputra river to Chandpur where we disembarked only to find that we had another train trip that took us to Chittagong. Here we stayed two nights before a truck took us to Coxs Bazaar, This would be our nearest thing to a town. From Coxs then to by days to get used to the Charpoir. The basha I was in, was half way up a hill with jungle all around. The lighting was from a pressure lamp. That first night I lay in bed and looked out the opening that took the place of the window, and saw two green eyes looking at me, they never moved. Next morning I found it was a discarded tin can reflecting light from the next hut, most of our food came in tin cans, some of my favourites were Baked Beans, Machonachy’s stew, corned beef and tinned tomatoes, we lived on this plus plenty of bread and ghee, Indian butter. The cook house was down the hill on flat land that had been cleared of the jungle, this was another bamboo basha only a lot bigger than the ones we slept in. Outside was a concrete area and in the middle was a standpipe with a tap on it, the only source of water for the camp. One day someone killed a Cobra snake and wrapped it around the tap. I don't think any one drank for a whole day as it was said the partner of the snake comes back for revenge. Dead or not, no one wanted to touch it Luckily it was gone after the first night, some animal most likely ate it. We had all been issued with the Le-Enfield rifles as there were still pockets of Japs around the area.
We never saw any and after a few weeks the only hunting that went on was looking for Monkeys. Groups would go out in the area around the camp shooting whatever moved in the trees. I am most pleased now that when I took part in it we did not see any Monkeys or anything else that moved.
I was now in 7135 Servicing echelon, which was part of 135 Squadron. The aircraft using the strip were Spitfires and Thunderbolts, and they used to take off two at a time. Both types of aircraft were escorting the Liberator bombers that were bombing the Jap positions in Rangoon. Sometimes the Thunderbolts were used as a fighter bomber and quite often they were dropping Napalm bombs. The Napalm was carried in wing tanks that held between 90 to 130 gallons of the explosive material. The tanks were dropped from a height of 100 feet.
If any lower that this they could be caught in the explosion. I well remember one aircraft coming back to the strip with one napalm bomb still under one wing, the air pressure was not allowing it to drop, so the pilot had to fly over the strip, so that observers below could see why the tank had not left the wing, He was then directed to go slower and release it over the sea, it then dropped off OK.
The work I did was mostly painting the R.A.F.Roundel's on the fuselage of the ex U.S. planes. I was in A Flight and our flight Sergeant was known as 'The Storm'
The camp was a fair walk to the airstrip. On this walk I could take a short cut through where these people lived. I never felt threatened but one felt there was a lot of hidden eyes watching as one only saw children, they were Moslem's and the women would have been confined inside the shanty, and the men did not show themselves.
The runway which was grass, was part of paddy fields, which belonged to the farmers in the area, the paddy fields had been carved out of the jungle by these people, I suppose they would have been compensated some what. I don't think that thought crossed my mind then though. This area is now called Bangledesh.
We had a Hindu bearer who looked after each basha, he would fill the earthen container with water for drinking and washing, sweep the basha and keep it clean make our beds, run errands for us, and if we were all in the basha he would keep the Punka fan moving, by lying down and attaching the rope to his foot, then he could move his leg up and down and that would keep it going back and forth. He was paid a half a Rupee a week from each one in the basha, a Rupee then was worth one and sixpence, we also used to bring him food back from the cookhouse, mostly bread and jam, this could be most hazardous as the Kite birds would be waiting for us and would swoop down and take it off the plate if it was uncovered. These birds were always flying around cook houses in India and Burma. The Kite is bigger than a full size crow. Giving food to bearers was only done with Indian bearers, as the Moslem's would not eat our food, or if we had cast a shadow over any of their food they would not eat it.
The Dhobi wallah used to come to the camp to wash our clothes, this was done by dipping the item in water then bashing it on a flat rock or piece of cement, the clothing was very clean but the articles did not last long. The shirt collars and flaps to the pockets would be starched, the cost for this, was a few Anna's. Ten Anna's to one Rupee. The Anna was also broken down to ten Pice.
Another visitor to all camps in India was the Char Wallah. He was a mobile canteen, he had a hot water boiler kept hot with a fire underneath it, this he carried around by a strap over his shoulder and on the other side a container which held Wads, a type of bun. For the princely sum of two Anna's one got a cup of tea and a bun. Whilst in this war zone we were issued with a rum ration, also fifty Players cigarettes each week. The cigarettes came in a round tin, so one week I poured the rum into the tin to impregnate the fags with the rum then leave them in the sun to dry. It was not a nice sight, fifty ruined cigarettes.
Whilst at Jumchar one of our entertainments was to go into Coxs Bazaar to see a film, we would go in a fifteen hundredweight truck maybe ten of us hanging on for dear life in the back, and always with a couple of Welshmen who would start singing Land of my Fathers and Bread of Heaven. These chaps had been overseas for four years at this stage. The singing was as good as the pictures. The picture show was a screen hanging in a cleared area and you could sit in front or if you got there late you sat behind the screen.
On one trip into Cox's Bazaar I bought a big steel port to carry all my possessions in, instead of the kitbag. [This port,I brought to Australia and only disposed of it in the 60s]
Where ever one was in the services there was always a Duff Gen Merchant [Rumour Monger] and no sooner had we settled in than the gen was we were moving next week.
We did move, but not until around the beginning of April, to Akyab on the Arakan coast of Burma. Akyab had only just begun to function in March after the Japenese occupation. The Squadron was moved by a motor transport company. The first night we slept out under the stars bothered by mosquito's and all the thoughts of what else was around the area.
We all survived the night and after breakfast from a packet of K rations, [ K Rations were an American idea, for each meal, one had a K ration to suit, they contained jam, spam, tea bags, little meuslie bars, porridge oats that could be made from cold water, and always five Chesterfield cigarettes and some matches] We were on the move again along the coastal strip, the transportation was made up of trucks with around twenty chaps in the back of each
truck also other trucks that held all of our equipment, clothing and personal effects.
Nearing Akyab the trucks with the men on board had left the beach area and the trucks with all the gear were a hour or so behind in the middle of the beach area and were caught with the incoming tide. The trucks were abandoned by the drivers and recovered the next day, when they were rescued off the beach. All of our kitbags and steel boxes were soaked. They were returned to us a couple of days later. A chap named Bessie Wharton made a drawing of this trip, depicting all the dust and other troubles, and then the chaps sitting over their boxes with fishing lines. I have a photo of this poster he made.
From the Transports we had a short boat ride from Foul Point to Akyab, while at Foul Point I experienced the only air raid by the Japs, during the time I was there.
In Akyab we were living in tents, no bearer and no Dhobi Wallah, we had to do it all ourselves. In fact one chap in our tent did not wash his clothes or himself, it got to the stage where he stank so that we had to get him and forcibly wash him and his clothes, while they were on him. He washed after this episode.
Whilst at Akyab we found another form of entertainment, the area around the camp had many Chaungs as they were called, in fact they were tidal creeks, and we used to swim and play in these with big inner tubes, one day I picked the wrong tide to go down the creek, as the inner tube and I were swept down the creek towards the Bay of Bengal at a frightening speed, I thought I'd had it, but luckily I was able to catch hold of some overhanging branches and pull myself to the side and get ashore, where anxious mates were waiting after trying to follow me down the creek. Another relaxation for us, was to go to the Toc,H [Talbot Club House: a soldiers club founded in Flanders in 1915 and a symbol of democracy in the service] which was a canteen situated in the bombed and shelled ruins of the Imperial Bank of India, it was here also that a Chaplain came once a week with an old wind up gramophone and played records of classical music, to an audience of entertained starved men. truck.. This was our new home in the jungle. We were housed in bamboo basha's, six in each one. The bed was a Indian Charpoir, wooden frame, and thick rope crisscrossed, from side to side, this was then covered with a thick canvas cover, which we took with us whenever we moved camp. It takes a few

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