大象传媒

LAC Stevens鈥檚 memories of the Far East 鈥� Part Two

Part two of an edited oral history interview with Mr. Robert Charles Stevens conducted by Jenny Ford on behalf of Bedford museum.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 know how they repaired the base because they moved us then up through India, we were in the north of India, outside of Karachi to start with, to go into Burma. We went up to go on the Burma front. Well, we flew from India to the Arakan that was actually were we went to. When we were in the Arakan we were following down behind the Army. Our planes were going in behind the Army to soften them up. When we had the Hurricanes I think they had guns. They used to go in and find the Japanese and shoot them up and try and make it easier for the Army to go further down. Palell and Imphal, we were around that area the first time we went in with Hurricanes. Our Hurricanes used to go in from there and then I don鈥檛 know how long we had Hurricanes and they decided that the American Thunderbolts had got a longer range and could also carry the bombs so we came back and we went to Bangalore. I think we had six weeks down there while the Pilots got used to the planes and we were re-equipped with these Thunderbolts and then we went back again.

I was an electrician and we were re-trained on the Thunderbolts. We worked on both Flights, working on all the planes when they needed it. If you sorted yourself out you鈥檇 sort yourself out to the different Flights. The Fitters and that all had their own Flights, they worked on their own ones but we worked, well we hadn鈥檛 got as much work on but we worked on all of them. I think we鈥檇 got six in our Unit, we鈥檇 got a Sergeant and a Corporal and then the rest of us were either LACs or Air Craftsmen, one or the other. The Thunderbolts were a lot heavier and of course they had got a different type of engine. They鈥檇 got a radial engine instead of a rotary engine. But anyway they were a lot different and hence the six weeks to get the Pilots used to flying them before they went back. They were only single seaters but it enabled them 鈥� the fire power was stronger on them than on the Hurricanes and they could put a 500 lb. bomb under the belly and use that as well. Once they鈥檇 retrained on the Thunderbolts of course we got further down into Burma so when we went back we were actually down in Burma itself.

We never had bases as I say we had hops we had that sort of thing, we hopped. We only had a base when we came out, I think the place was called Chalringi, the airbase near Calcutta. I expect the Army were laying the metal strips for the airfields, doing all that. We didn鈥檛 know - they used to open up a place big enough for the planes to get in.

Morale was high and we used to make the most of everything. ENSA used to come and entertain us. The Concert Party came round so we built our own stage, ENSA was coming round so we built our own stage. Also the planes used to fly out to get our food for our Christmas meal. Conditions weren鈥檛 too bad really. We had enough to eat, they had the rations and we鈥檇 got a lot of good cooks. We had very good cooks. We had a Sergeant, he was an Irishman and he was good cook. We had about a dozen cooks I think for the Squadron. I suppose we used to play cards and that sort of thing but actually if you were on 24 hour Stand-By or if you were working on a 24 鈥� you鈥檇 got one shift on and one shift off so really you were busy all the time. We couldn鈥檛 grumble but as I say when you are in those conditions you take things as they come and well you made the most of them.

We were never short of food and it was always well cooked. So, no, we couldn鈥檛 grumble about it all really. When you travelled (by truck) you would feed by the side of the road. The cooks would get out the billy cans and perhaps sometimes if they were travelling faster than we were they would get there and by the time we鈥檇 caught up with them it would all be ready for us. Normally we didn鈥檛 sleep on a journey - we always had cover anyway. You can鈥檛 just sleep out in the open because of all the snakes and all the insects and all that sort of thing. We normally had somewhere where we could get covered.

Although, I mean the RAF was entirely different especially when you are on active service, entirely to what the Army is. I mean you get to know your Officers and you do get to know your Sergeants and Flight Sergeants. There is a difference, there鈥檚 got to be, but it鈥檚 not the same as the Army and not the same as the Navy, they are very strict aren鈥檛 they? I think a lot of it, if you look at it, the Pilots 鈥� nearly all the Officers apart from 鈥� well they are all Pilots even the Squadron Leader and Flight Commanders, they are all Pilots and their life is in the hands of the men they are working with. And I think this makes a big different because you are all relying on each other.

The Japanese only came up so far and that鈥檚 when it all turned around and then they started driving them back again. We were hopping in Burma from 1942 and (Mandalay fell on 20th March 1945) they went right through to Rangoon, that was the one we had to get to, to really free Burma I think. (Rangoon fell 2nd May 1945).

Then I left the Squadron and went back to the base ready to come home so it must have been May 1945 I should imagine. When it fell, when the last one, Rangoon fell, that was the end of our work as far as I can remember. And then of course the Army would take over - there would be no need for us down there so we would come back to Calcutta or wherever it was.

Well, as I say we had to come out a couple of times. We came out for the six weeks and if you鈥檇 been in there for so long you came out and you went to a hill station in India for a rest period, traveling by truck.

We just had a good rest and as I say we went to the Calcutta Races on day. And you鈥檒l see it鈥檚 not always hot there because I鈥檝e my Blue uniform on in that picture. Yes, we had a nice day out at the races, three of us.

I had four years abroad altogether. The RAF kept to what the tradition was supposed to be 鈥� three years for a married man, four years for a single man. They were very good they kept to it.
We did travel out - when I came home, we did travel out on a DC3 Otherwise when we went as a Unit we travelled by road. I can remember coming out and sitting on the floor of this DC3 and we landed in Calcutta. We didn鈥檛 actually go to Rangoon as I say we were hopping. Our planes got through to Rangoon and the Army got through to Rangoon but we, as individuals, were operating where the planes started from so we didn鈥檛 get through to Rangoon. I came back by sea but I can鈥檛 remember the name of the ship. We sailed from Bombay. In that situation all the troops - you all sort of gelled together, even if you鈥檝e only just met. It鈥檚 surprising 鈥� they used to call it 鈥榚sprit de corps鈥� and that鈥檚 there no matter who you are with 鈥� it sort of drops in and I mean it was if you鈥檇 known anybody for 鈥� you were all in the same boat, weren鈥檛 you?

I think I must have landed at Southampton but I鈥檓 not sure. And I can鈥檛 honestly remember what station I went to, not now. Then as I say wherever I was they were looking for tradesmen that had worked on radial engines. Because they wanted Tempsford Aerodrome cleared and they鈥檇 sent the Canadian ground crew home from Tempsford and they drafted us in to get all the planes that were able to fly, fit to fly, so they could fly them off and they cleared all the aeroplanes from Tempsford Aerodrome. I think they were Liberators that the Canadians had. We were there until we鈥檇 cleared it. Then they posted me to Honington, the one in Suffolk. I worked it so that I had a job so that I could get every weekend off to come back to see the girlfriend who later became the wife and I used to cycle 70 miles each way. If anybody鈥檇 told me before then that you could fall asleep on a bicycle I wouldn鈥檛 have believed them. But one night I was going back, somewhere near Newmarket I think it was and I suddenly I hit kerb and it woke me up!

At Honington I worked in a battery charging room. And then there was a local fellow that liked to have time off in the week 鈥� so we used to work it that he had the time off in the week and I had 48 hours off every weekend. I鈥檇 met her at a dance. A gentleman had an injury working on the land and he was so thankful for the treatment that he got in Bedford Hospital that he ran dances to raise money for the nurses. And I always said, that it was 鈥楨ve tempting Adam鈥� because my father-in-law always had to do the auctioneering for the raffle and that sort of thing and she was handing out the stuff so I always said it was 鈥楨ve tempting Adam鈥�. This was when I was stationed at Tempsford, Bedfordshire. I was stationed at Honington until I was demobbed in 1946.

I think the VE and VJ Day celebrations were more a civilian thing than anything. And of course a lot of the celebrations for VJ wouldn鈥檛 have happened until after the men got back, those that did get back. So perhaps early on it wasn鈥檛 such a big thing because on VJ Day people had still got their men out there. I think it has most probably built up as time went on. I think it was a good thing and I definitely think when you saw the result of what happened out there to our Prisoners of War that the right thing was done by dropping the bombs. I know you lost a lot of civilians and that sort of thing but it was an evil to bring about goodness, as far as I鈥檓 concerned.

To sum up I should think my wartime experiences made a difference to my life. I don鈥檛 know but I mean you look at it - you took everything in your stride and you made the most of it and you were all in the same boat so you all got on well together.鈥�

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