大象传媒

This story is submitted by a volunteer on behalf of Radio Bristol Action Desk at City of Bristol College for Gordon Carrington

I am Chairman of the Bristol branch of The Burma Star Association.

On VE day on 8th May 1945 I was in hospital in Dacca after being wounded in Meiktila, Burma. I was recovering well, after nearly losing my arm due to an infected flesh wound.

Penicillin injections four times a day (one given in the right buttock, next one in right upper arm, then left upper arm and finally left buttock on a daily,rotating basis ) was the reason the arm was saved.

I was an officer in the Gurkha's and we heard the official announcement by radio that there had been an armistice in Europe.
It was good news but as it didn't affect us in Burma. We thought "That makes no difference to us here because we know the Japanese will fight to the death. To surrender was completely unacceptable to them ".
(Which was why they treated their prisoners so badly - DEATH was the only honorable option. Japanese soldiers would kill themselves with a grenade strapped to their bodies to avoid capture)

The good news (for Europe) didn't affect our situation at all.
We were called the 'The Forgotten Army ' and wondered when the war would end for us.
At that time we had no knowledge of the atomic bomb and the plans to drop it on Hiroshima.

Being so far away in Burma meant that once you were there - you were more or less for the duration. It was usually a stint of at least five years service before you could get home. The only way to get out sooner was if you were wounded.
Men returned home to children of 4 and 5 years old and older, in some cases, whom they had never met.

Our story ended in August 1945 on VJ Day.

Even now - there are many aspects of the campaigns and battles in Burma which are not known about and very soon these detailed, personal experiences will be lost for ever.

The current membership of the Burma Star Association in Bristol is 28 - many of whom are ailing or disabled - we lost another member of our group last week.

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