大象传媒

I came out of the Navy. (I had missed the draft for D-Day because my name being White, was accidentally missed off the bottom of the list.) They sent us to Ireland to train for the Army. We did our 12 weeks training near the mountains of Morn, Ballykinley. I volunteered for the King鈥檚 Own Scottish Borderes.

Lord Mt Batten had just taken over South East Asia Command.
He had said,
"This is the last push boys. We'll get this finished as quick as we can,
so you can get home!"

We did a guard of honour for Lord Wavel, then for Lord Mt Batten. He took over as Viceroy of India.

We went right up to the reinforcement camp to go back into Burma.
We were in Ranchi. All the 14th Army men came out. They were so brown, I thought crikey! they no longer looked like they were British.

We saw the men were all queuing-up outside the brothel , Sergeant Majors, officers etc.
A boy said to me,
"I bet you daren't shout POLICE!"
And I did!
They were all running out, tripping over their belts and all that!

They had all been there for years, eight years. When the regular soldiers started it was 4 years on, and five on reserve. When the war started they had to stop there. One of them said to me,
"My daughter is eight years old now and I've never seen her."

Lord Mt Batten addressed us and said that there was to be the biggest army we had ever seen.
We were in Rawlapindi. There was the biggest army I have ever seen, all ready to invade Japan. The propellers were going on the aeroplanes. All the paratroopers were ready to get on when a dispatch rider came up and said,
"It's all over! Wait you will hear the cheering"

We could hear cheering coming over all the hills. The next minute the flags went up. Union Jack, then German with Japanese underneath.
They had dropped the atom bomb.
That finished it.

I was glad really, people say they shouldn鈥檛 have dropped it but it was either them or us. I am glad as it saved a million of our boys.

India wanted their independence so we stayed in barracks at Peshawar until 1947 and they got it. I was there 3 years.
We used to pay the Indians 1 rupee a week that's 1/ 4d old money.
They shaved you on a morning about 5/6 o' clock, you didn鈥檛 wake up. They used to do your boots and lay your kit out. They got 1/ 4d, and some food. They were very upset when we left as they lost their jobs.

The commanding officer sent for 3 of us who had been in the navy before he said,
"you will be pleased to know that you are going home."
All the band played 'Will you no' come back again!'
I thought, no chance!

We enjoyed it there. They brought in girls in for us.
Lovely girls, Anglo Indian, Chinese, Burmese.
We used to dance with them but they took them straight back. There was no going out with them or any thing like that, But they were lovely girls. I was only 20 /21. And we missed all that.

I played cricket, soccer any thing to be excused duties.
It was so hot 130o in the shade. But it was a dry heat unless the monsoon had started, and then it would be humid.
We played football. If you won the first round you played it in the afternoon, then again if you won at night too. Then we went dancing so we must have been fit!
It was a different heat, dry heat is all right.

Coming back on the boat there were lots of English people
We were caught by the police in the out of bounds area, with some girls. 3 of us were made to scrub the decks. He didn鈥檛 realise we had been out there years!

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