大象传媒

My uncle Eric was a reservist in the South Staffordshire Regiment recalled to the forces 25th August 1939. Was on board the Orcades travelling fron Greenock along the river Clyde en -route to Palestine when on 3rd September 1939 World War II was declared with Germany. We then continued travelling to the Middle East disembarking at Haifa and camping near to Tiberius. Later I spent six months as a signals orderly in Jerusalem before becoming bored with little activity so transferred back to the Western Desert where I experienced plenty of bombing from the Italians who joined the war with Germany in June 1940. On the 7th December 1941 we were relaxing in the canal zone when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour. We were then sent to India enroute to helping Rangoon but were too late to save it from being invaded by the Japanese. After being employed on internal security for some months we spent six months on Jungle training in the state of Gwalior as part of a three brigade force whose intention was to retake Burma. I wasin the 23rd British Infantry Brigade together with the 12th & 14th Brigades under Wingate - known as the Chindits. We operated under such hard hostile conditions - no vehicles or roads, just mile after mile of jungle tracks -carrying packs weighing 60lbs or more on our backs covering several hundreds of miles. Our food was supplied every five days by air. One wonders how the human body could stand the strain. Of course there no alternatives. Mostley small forces were engaged in ambush and counter ambush . After six months or so I was withdrawn having served over five years abroad. I boarded a boat ton the Bramaputra to a railhead and back to Brigade H.Q.in southern India Bangalore arriving back in England October 1944. After one months home leave - during which I was married on November 11th - I returned to Ross-on-wye and was then on three draughs for Europe untill February before being transferred to the first airbourne glider division in Yorkshire for two months training before leaving for Mildenhall Suffolk, ready to drop on Keel Germany. At 3.00am on the 8th May 1945 we received the news of the war having come to an end - what ahugh relief for all concerned. We were then taken to the airport to board a Stirling bomber for transportation to Norway where I spent six months helping to disarm the German soldiers before returning to England and back to civvy street.

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