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FEBRUARY 1942

Sunday 22nd

We (my mother Daphne Johnson and I, Jose)finally left MAWLIAK by Loondwin this morning. It is a most uncomfortable way of travelling, but no doubt we shall live through it. The men pole the boats by putting the top of the pole in their shoulder muscles, and walking the length of the bamboo deck. We stopped at a place called TACON for the night, about half way to YUWA. It was a terrible place, as it was just the bank of the river and no flat space for doing anything.

Monday 23rd

We left TACON early in the morning; Last night was most uncomfortable as the boatmen insisted on sleeping on the boats as well. We went along all day stopping for our meal about 10:30am. We reached YUWA rather late about 5.15.pm. and the place we stopped at was a buffalo wallow, absolutely filthy, and being near the village we had a large audience watching us eat our evening meal!! The Phoongis (Buddhist monks) here presented Mrs. Wheeler with some fresh milk and a bunch of bananas.

Tuesday 24th

We left YUWA early. I feel we are really on the way now as we are going up the Yu. The day passed the same as usual, the scenery here is really worth looking at, lovely hills and trees. We camped at a place called NGAPUN just above a rapid. It was a bit dirty but considerably cleaner than YUWA and a good flat space to move about.

Wednesday 25th

I spent the day as usual sitting in the boat with Mummy and one or other of the American Padres, talking and reading. We camped the night at a place called KYAUKTINE. There was a marvellous creek, very secluded where we all proceeded to have a good wash!

Thursday 26th

The morning was spent as usual. There was great excitement caused in the afternoon by an aeroplane flying overhead, everyone wished they were in it. We are now approaching the part of the river which is full of rapids, we went over about six today and there are lots more of them tomorrow. SONCATHA is the name of the place where we camped, not a bad place, quite clean. We walked the last couple of miles along a jungle track.

Friday 27th

We made very slow progress today owing to numerous rapids; we spent most of the day getting in and out of the boats, as everyone has to get out for the boats to be pulled over the rapids. We spent the night at a ghastly place just above Maw; it was very dirty and muddy. The boatmen say they might get us to HLESEIK tomorrow if we are ready to start early. HLESEIK is where we get off the Loondwins and we are not due there until Sunday.

Saturday 28th

We were ready to leave this morning hours before we need as we were all woken up by mistake at 4. 30 Am.!! We made HLESEIK and when we got there we found a Forester to meet us, he had coolies and everything for our luggage, and took us up to the camp, which was practically finished. The sleeping quarters consist of bamboo huts divided into cubicles with four bunks in each. It seemed heaven to us, after the Loondwins.

MARCH 1942

Sunday 1st

As we arrived here a day early they were not ready for us at TAMU, so we spent the day here at HLESEIK most people spent the time washing and cleaning up in general. A BBTC extra assistant arrived in the morning to deal with the stores arriving for the evacuation camps, a Mr. Middleton by name. He had his wireless and we listened to the news and heard messages from people in Rangoon to their families in India.

Monday 2nd

We started out for TAMU. The luggage going all the way by bullock cart about eleven miles. We walked for four and a half miles to a place called PANTHA with the children in a couple of bullock carts with us, and there we got in an almost derelict bus, and proceeded along a most frightful road to TAMU. Charles Cook, who was in charge of the evacuation at TAMU, put us in the Court House, the filthiest hole imaginable. Other people in charge of the evacuation are Mr. Wright and Mr. Davies, both of the BBTC.

Tuesday 3rd

After a considerable amount of fuss on our part, Charles Cook finally said he would move us to the proper camp, a couple of miles outside TAMU, the camp was practically finished with the bunks in and everything, so why we were not put there on arrival is beyond me. It looks as if we shall be in TAMU for sometime as coolies are unobtainable at the moment, owing to the reduced rates of pay, and fright, a BBTC elephant gored a coolie yesterday. Fay and I found an attractive pool in the river that runs by the camp and had a lovely swim.

Wednesday 4th

There is no further news of coolies this morning. Mrs. Foucar washed nearly everybody’s hair, and we spent the rest of the morning cleaning up what clothes we could. Fay and I had another swim in the river and on our return to the camp, were thrilled to learn that coolies had been found and that we were due to leave in the morning. It will be marvellous to start off, as an enormous party of non-Europeans had arrived this morning and had filled up the camp.

Thursday 5th

The whole camp was up and ready to start at dawn, the other party coming with us, the coolies were late in turning up! We finally got started about 11:00.a.m. We left the other party behind as they had insufficient stores. We were only allowed one coolie each, and they refused to carry a bedding roll and a suitcase, so we had to repack frantically all the clothes from our suitcases into our bedding rolls, making our beds up on our clothes , as we had to discard our thin mattresses. The first mile was on the flat, but we began to climb rapidly after that, it was very hot owing to our late start. We got into camp about 2.30 p.m. it was very much unfinished, only a roof and outside walls, we all had to sleep in long lines on the floor. Jim Davies arrived about 4.30 p.m. to inoculate all the coolies against Cholera, we have already lost one. The water is contaminated and we have to be very careful with it.

Friday 6th

We got up early, and had a certain amount of trouble with the coolies, after their injections last evening. We marched seven and half miles, climbing for about five and the remainder going down to the camp. It was very steep and we arrived at the camp pretty exhausted. The camp itself was very nice, and was finished to all intents and purposes; LOICHAW was the name of the place. We had our meal and rested all the afternoon. After tea Fay and I had a bathe in the small stream that runs below the camp. The Indian camp which is further downstream, through which we had to pass to get to ours was burnt down owing to the Cholera outbreak.

Saturday 7th

We were rather late getting started this morning, the coolies were ready before us, and we were still eating our porridge!! It was a very steep climb again today and we were all very stiff after yesterday’s efforts. We got into camp about 11.00 a.m. The camp consists of half a roof and nothing else! We are all established in one long line under the half that is finished. We had our meal and the flies swarmed around us, this is the only place we have been troubled with them. The afternoon passed in the usual manner i.e. resting and washing. We had just got our bedding and nets ready for the night when there was a most terrific storm and most of us got drenched.

Sunday 8th

We got up early but had a disturbed night, the coolies were coughing and spitting all over the place. And some of our coolies seem to have run away which is annoying, but we seem to be able to manage without them. I have got some nasty blisters, which are painful. The march today was pretty stiff but we have nearly finished with it now. We arrived at TENGNAUPAL Camp about 12:15p.m. There are two Assam tea planters who are in charge of the camp, so things are in a slightly better condition. There is an acute shortage of water, and we are rationed to a pint or so each. We are over 6,000 ft. up here and it is pretty cold. Our highest point was about 7,000 ft.

Monday 9th

We were up early before 5 a.m. and marched for ten miles until we were about three miles from PALEL. The march was fairly easy as it was mostly down hill and of course we are getting into training. When we arrived at the bottom of the hill we were taken to a small camp where there were more tea planters, they gave us a cup of tea and put us in buses for IMPHAL (Mr Blanchard, one of the padres had walked ahead of us into IMPHAL and got the buses.) We arrived at IMPHAL in the early afternoon after a terrible bus ride, the road was awful. The camp is quite nice and we were given dinner and it was good, we had proper plates, cutlery and glasses for the first time for days and also BREAD.

Tuesday 10th

We got up about 6:30a.m. and packed all our kit ready to put on the buses, they were very late turning up. We had three buses between the party. The buses are really converted lorries and had no seats and we have to sit on our luggage. We have to go 133 miles like this but we do not mind anything now that we are nearly at the end of our travels. Those in our bus are Mrs. Foucar, Fay, Mary, Jenny, John, Mrs. Ricketts, Jill, and Don John, and Mummy and I. We stopped at a place called MAO for lunch. The bus doesn’t seem to have any springs and it certainly shakes your liver up! We passed a party of British Tommies on the road and we waved madly at them!!

We arrived at DIMAPORE about 7:00p.m., saw the Inspector of Police and afterwards were given tea, with mountains of bread and jam! We had dinner in the refreshment room on the station, the officers who were using it as a mess waited until we had finished. Two extra coaches were put on the overnight train and somehow or other we all got in, relieved beyond words, to have reached civilisation again.

Wednesday 11th

We spent the day on the ferry on the BRAHMAPUTRA River and then another overnight train.

Thursday 12th

We arrived in CALCUTTA.

The Party consisted of`:

Mr. Fletcher A.B.M. Padre.
Mr. Blanchard A.B.M. Padre

Mrs. Wheeler Wounded in the air raids in Rangoon.

Mrs. Foucar.
Fay Foucar

Mary Mustill.
Jennifer Mustill. Aged 7
John Mustill Aged 3

Mrs. Crawford
Nan Crawford Aged 4.
Pat Crawford Aged 18 months

Mrs. Young An American
Layle Young Aged 6.
Phillip Young Aged 4
Baby Young Aged 6 weeks

Mrs. Johnson
Jose Johnson
Burramia

Miss Stewart Joined party at TAMU

Mr. Roach Joined party at TAMU
Mrs. Roach Joined party at TAMU

Mrs. Ricketts Joined party at TAMU
Jill Ricketts Joined party at TAMU
Don John Ricketts Joined party at TAMU

Two boys with Miss Stewart who left us at Imphal to go to school.

POST SCRIPT

Before we left Mawlaik we had discussions with the two American Padres who were to act as our leaders, and they undertook to cook the rice (a large sack was loaded in one of the boats) and boil the drinking water for the whole party once a day.

It was up to us to provide any additional food ourselves and to allow for an estimated fourteen day journey. We split up into small groups in our case, Mary and the two children, Mum and I. We decided that a tin of meat or fish, plus the rice would feed us for one meal, i.e. once opened a tin could not be kept. So the drill was that when we camped for the night, Burramia proved him self adept at getting a fire going and would assist the Padres in cooking the rice and dishing it out to everyone. They also dealt with the filling of everyone’s water bottle which had to last all day. They insisted that everyone fixed up some sort of mosquito net at night and in the mornings we usually drank tea with powdered milk and perhaps watery porridge, ugh! It was entirely due to the care taken by the Padres in these matters that we all remained fit throughout the journey.

As to ablutions, the facilities were nil! Hence we took the opportunity to swim/wash in a river whenever it offered! Calls of nature were just a case of visiting the jungle and pretty uncomfortable it was! We did have toilet paper with us I am glad to say!!? I think that at a couple of the more or less finished camps Latrines had been dug but nowhere else! I have NEVER been tempted to go on a camping holiday since.

When reading this story it should be born in mind that the Burma-India border is a very remote region and many of the place names I have given are nothing more than locations on the map. The only places where there were any modest habitations were either wooden or bamboo were Tamu and Palel until of course we reached Imphal.

It is perhaps worth noting that on the journey to the railhead at DIMAPORE we passed through KOHIMA later to be the scene of the most important battle with the Japanese and which stopped their intended advance into India. It was a beautiful spot when we saw it - hard to imagine the devastation and horror that was to come.

Although our journey was not exactly comfortable, we were much better off than those who came later, or found themselves up in the North of the country and hoping to fly out from Myitkyina. There were simply not enough planes and in any event the airfield was soon under attack by the Japanese and the refugees ended up walking through the notorious Hukawng Valley, the rains had broken by this time and the area was a sea of mud, very few had adequate food supplies or clothing and many thousands died of disease.

Whilst we were waiting in the camp at Tamu those in charge made arrangements for small bamboo chairs on poles to carry the children and a larger one for Mrs. Wheeler who could not walk.

The coolies were mostly Naga tribesmen, we could not speak their language and they could not speak ours, but we got on fine with those that remained with us. They were keen to salvage our empty food tins possibly to make tools or weapons and we got used to being a ‘spectacle’ when we ate our meal! Jennifer had one toy with her - a baby doll which shut its eyes when laid down, it was an object of great fascination to the Nagas! Jenny still has this rather battered doll!

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