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Some afternoons we would play football, and always before darkness there was the parade for the cream and merpercrin tablets meant to ward off malaria.

Then one day we were told we were going up into the hills as the Japanese were around. We walked through thick jungle, always heading upward, until we neared the top. The Japanese had gone! It was very hard going and Lt. Davis asked me if I would go and help Captain Young who was a short distance away. ‘Of course,’ I said, and I gave him a hand until we all flopped down once more. There were no more sightings of the Japanese for the time being.

After being back at camp for a few days we then moved up into the hills to head off the Japanese who were pushing forward for the attack on India. We had now crossed into Burma. We made camp as best we could. We had been walking for some time and all were exhausted.

The next day, Lt. Davis was told he was to take a patrol across the river Chindwin which was 8oo yards from one bank to the other. It was to be a reccy Patrol, to leave maps on trees, making the Japanese think we were going to invade at that point. Lt. Davies had to have 4 persons on this patrol, which were himself, a Burmese interpreter and 2 ordinary ranks. He asked for volunteers but, shamefully, he could only get 1 out of a platoon of 30. I said, ‘I will go with you.’ At first he would not hear of it because I was a married man, but as he could not find anyone else willing, he agreed I would go with him.

It was 2.a.m. when we set off. The going was difficult as we had to go over the top of the hill and make our way through the dense jungle to the water’s edge. Once there, we met our Burmese interpreter who would accompany us, two other Burmese, and a dug-out canoe. It was extremely dark still, and the canoe was very long and narrow with just enough width for us to sit down. With six of us in the canoe we were rowed across and put down on the beach. To my amazement, the two Burmese got back in the canoe and rowed back to the beach from where we had started. We were now on our own. A few yards from the beach the jungle began, so thick that it seemed impenetrable. We struggled through this for about half an hour with the jungle seeming to get even thicker, when we came across a track that we then followed. As we walked, I could hear someone walking in the opposite direction. I stopped to listen and whoever it was stopped as well. At that moment I could swear someone winked at me through the thick jungle. Could it have been a Japanese reccy patrol like us? To this day I do not know.

We had walked for a few more miles when we came upon a large clearing, in the centre of which was a big hut. In the centre of this hut was a wide opening, and in this opening stood a Buddha. It was in all colours, red, yellow, blue. It is a sight I shall never forget. At the time we did not know if anyone, Japanese or Burmese, occupied the hut. We crept towards it, luckily finding it was empty. We heaved a sigh of relief at this as we were only a reccy patrol and were only to fire if fired upon. We moved further on again and then Lt. Davis said that he and the interpreter would go on a few more miles but John and I were to stay put and not to move. We lay down and waited. They were gone at least two hours. When they returned, I felt such relief as we did not know if they had met anyone.

Lt. Davis said they had gone on six or seven miles, met no-one, and left the maps on the trees as planned. A half-hour rest for them both and then we started to make our way back to the beach. It was mid morning by the time we arrived. It was necessary to start waving to get the attention of the two Burmese and get them to come back and pick us up. While we waited for the canoe to arrive, we found some bamboo poles and knocked coconuts down, cracking them open enough to drink the milk. Once the canoe arrived and we were back on the opposite side of the river, I heaved a sigh of relief. We still had a good trek back to the battalion but eventually we reached it, exhausted. Once there, we discovered we had to move back as the Japanese had crossed the Chindwin river in force a few miles down. We did not stay in this position very long as we were now going into action.

To read part 9 go to: A7357917

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