大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by Bill Ross of the 鈥楢ction Desk 鈥� Sheffield鈥� Team on behalf of Howard Woodcock and has been added to the site with his permission. Mr. Woodcock fully understands the site's terms and conditions.
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This is a transcript made from an audio recording of a 大象传媒 radio interview between Howard Woodcock and Jack Shaw.
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Continued from Part Two:

A8851773

JS: Did word get back to your family that you were wounded?

HW: Well, it did of course, and that worried me. On the way back down the hill, because we had to do a quick withdrawal 鈥� I managed to walk down for fifteen hundred feet, I might say, it was the only way to get out of the battle. My biggest worry was, first of all, my mother, and the second worry was, were there any Japs still around? And we were expecting to have to fight our way out. But I was worried about my mother because I knew she鈥檇 get a telegram and I knew how she鈥檇 take it. She wouldn鈥檛 know how badly I鈥檇 been wounded, and of course, I was quite right. She got a telegram three weeks before she got any note from me, and it shook her so much, that she couldn't believe I wasn鈥檛 killed. If you can imagine the effect of telegrams to people who鈥檇 lost their husbands or their family; absolutely horrendous. But she feared the worst, and she lost her hair. She had to wear a wig, and it was twenty five years before her hair grew sufficiently for her to do without the wig. Every time I was with my mother 鈥� she was a very attractive, handsome, growing older lady, but, I always felt guilty and that lived with me all the time. It shook her, but this was happening all over the country.

JS: So, you鈥檇 fought hand to hand, you鈥檇 seen some of your colleagues die, you鈥檇 seen some of your colleagues wounded and so on, and then it was all over and you came back home, how do you adjust after an experience like that?

HW: Well, it鈥檚 not very easy. I came back to Sheffield and I had a big family welcome, a wonderful welcome, but I couldn鈥檛 settle, and with hindsight, it took me a long time to settle. Years and years, but certainly for the first four or five years, it affected my nerves. I think for all of us, it hadn鈥檛 shown in battle that our nerves were going, but that鈥檚 the old story. By not letting it out, and keeping it all inside, you eventually have a day of reckoning, and, it got me down. I got a bad attack of shingles when I got home, and I couldn鈥檛 settle and I found it difficult being with the family. I no longer seemed part of the family and it was a difficult time.

JS: I suppose you came home and people were whittling about life at home.

HW: Oh people were grumbling about the food ration, the butter and the meat, and how many ounces of this they鈥檇 had, and how many ounces of that, and when you relate it to a chap who鈥檚 been 鈥� I went twelve and a half weeks without a bath, and living like rats we were, and getting reasonably 鈥� I ate so much corned beef, it鈥檚 untrue. I couldn鈥檛 tune in.

JS: I can understand that. Have you been back to Kohima?

HW: Well, I鈥檝e been back twice, I went back in 91 with some colleagues from the Second Division, to the opening of the cathedral, and there were also some Japanese there who鈥檇 been fighting against us.

JS: What do you feel about the Japanese now?

HW: Well, you retain this feeling of hate for how they behaved during the war, and the cruelty and the way they treated the prisoners. I鈥檝e seen them shooting our stretcher bearers down, and they didn鈥檛 fight according to the rules of war. But I鈥檝e met one or two, and I think when you鈥檙e face to face with them, you鈥檙e old soldiers and you鈥檙e prepared to talk, and it鈥檚 like all over the world, when in face to face contact with somebody, you look for the good and don鈥檛 think about the bad. I鈥檝e got one particular good Japanese friend who lives in London, who tried to speed up relations between Britain and Japan on a personal sense, and he holds an honorary O.B.E. for that. He鈥檚 a great character, and he understands our problem.

JS: And when Remembrance Day comes round, do all these thoughts you have of your colleagues come flooding into your mind?

HW: They do. During the silence, I repeat in my mind the names of my all personal friends who died. It鈥檚 hardly long enough. I鈥檝e visited all the graves. The last grave I visited was perhaps the most important one for me, and that was last November when I went to Burma, with Rita, my wife and two friends. We went to the cemetery at Taukyan near Rangoon, and where there are seven and a half thousand buried and where there are colonnades with the names of twenty six thousand who have no known grave. In Burma, it was very difficult for the Graves Commission to find the dead, and the twenty six thousand are remembered on tablets. One of those buried there was my battery Commander at Kohima, and afterwards down through Burma. After I鈥檇 been wounded and I got better, I went back to the regiment. I hitch hiked back and did four month鈥檚 fighting after four months in hospital. Wilfred Foster was my Battery Commander and I was one of his two captains. He was like an elder brother to me and I loved the guy. We used to go to church together, he was a very religious man, we used to go to church together in the days before we were actually in action. He always carried The Bible in a small pack, he was a regular soldier of twenty nine. I mean, he seemed like my uncle and I was only twenty two and a half. His grave鈥檚 in Rangoon and I knew where it was. Rita and our two friends held back as I went to the grave. I stood in front of Wilfred鈥檚 grave, and that was a very moving experience. You know, I鈥檓 fairly stoic in front of the graves, but this one, it shook me. By the grave was a magnolia tree and unknown to me at the time, our friend, Pat Colbear, found a leaf off a magnolia bush right by Wilfred鈥檚 grave, and as we were sailing up the Irrawaddy - it was my birthday a few days later - and she鈥檇 taken the leaf, pressed it, and there it is. The listeners can鈥檛 see it but you can.

JS: I can indeed.

HW: That鈥檚 a magnolia leaf from just by Wilfred鈥檚 grave and it鈥檚 here with me today. Now that鈥檚 the last grave, I鈥檝e now seen all the graves of all our regiment who died. That鈥檚 what I think about today, but I think about all the thousands. I think about those on Kohima Ridge because the graves there, you鈥檝e got brigadiers, colonels, everybody down to privates. You鈥檝e got doctors, you鈥檝e got stretcher bearers, you鈥檝e got padres, and the point is, death showed no favours either in the first war or the second war. They鈥檙e lying there and I believe in visiting war graves鈥︹�︹��.

JS: I鈥檓 going to stop you there because I know you鈥檝e got to be off.

HW: Yes I have.

JS: You鈥檝e got to be off, you鈥檙e going to lead the Veterans鈥� Parade and you could talk a long time. Thank you very much indeed for what you鈥檝e said to us. Doris from Eastwood in Nottingham says that she鈥檚 a regular listener to Radio Sheffield and has rung to say how much she鈥檚 enjoyed the programme and she鈥檚 appreciated the emphasis that we鈥檝e put on Remembrance Day today, and she thinks it鈥檚 been beautifully done鈥︹�︹�︹��..

HW: Can I just finish with the Epitaph from our War Memorial?

JS: Please do.

HW: Which is, 鈥淲hen you go home, tell them of us and say, 鈥楩or your tomorrow, we gave our today,鈥欌�� so we should remember our tomorrows and particularly, today is one of those tomorrows and if any of you who are listening can get down to town, or to your local service, well, that would be great.

JS: And in town, at Sheffield, it鈥檚 half past ten at what used to be Coles鈥欌�︹��..

HW: Well, Division Street.

JS: Division Street, yes. Howard Woodcock, ex-Captain in the Royal Artillery, thank you for today and thank you for all those other days as well. This is the other piece of music that you wanted, and I鈥檓 sure it鈥檚 just right, thank you.

HW: Thank you Jack.
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See also "Make Me A Soldier, A Burma Soldier:
A8766156

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