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This story was submitted to the People's War site by Jenny Ford on behalf of Ken Armstrong and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

PART ONE
AN AIRMAN IN SOUTH EAST ASIA COMMAND
by
Ken Armstrong

In March 1942, I, and about 4000 Army and R.A.F. personnel disembarked from the Troop Ship M.V. Mooltan onto Indian soil at Bombay. Our first sight of Bombay did not appear impressive, but after about two months of life aboard a troopship the contrast made it seem almost attractive. All R.A.F. personnel were put on a train for a fairly short ride to an R.A.F. Station, on the coast a few miles north of Bombay to await posting to an active service unit; and in a few days I was posted to 28 (A.C.) Squadron at Ranchi in Bihar State. A train ride of nearly two weeks across India on a troop train was an experience I will never forget. The carriages were divided into compartments to hold six men; and we lived in that compartment for the duration of the journey of fourteen days. At night, the backrest was lifted and locked into position so that one-man slept on the seat, another on the raised backrest and the third on the luggage rack, leaving all the kit on the floor between the bunks. Food was provided by a Cook house Carriage and we either queued for if the train was stationary, or it was collected by one of us. It was extremely hot, especially when crossing the plains of Central India. Eventually we arrived at Ranchi Station and the last part of the journey was by R.A.F. Transport.

The Squadron was ‘on rest,’ and Ranchi was considered a ‘good’ posting as the climate was quite equitable. At the same time the opportunity was taken to equip the Squadron with Hurricane Aircraft in place of Lysanders. The change over was almost complete at this time — there was only one Lysander still on the strength — but a great deal of work was involved in getting familiar with the Hurricane and getting prepared for a move to the forward areas, in fact I think ‘B’ Flight had already left for Cox’s Bazaar to continue active service. As a Wireless Operator my work involved checking the aircraft radios to ensure that communication between aircraft and Aircraft to H.Q. were satisfactory. A few weeks after joining the Squadron a new Commanding Officer arrived; He was Sqn/Ldr Larson who, I believe, was tragically killed whilst flying an early version of the Harrier Vertical Take-off aircraft (commonly known as The flying Bedstead) shortly after the war.

The Orders to move came quicker than expected. ‘A’ Flight was to go to Imphal! Volunteers were called for from the Radio Section and my name came out of the hat but to sweeten the pill I was assured that I would be relieved in two or three months; a promise that was never kept! I had never heard of Imphal and had not the faintest idea were it was; not that this was of any importance as transport was well organised. I think the journey took two days. First by rail, including a change onto a narrow gauge line to Dimapur followed by a hair-raising trip by truck over a Mountain road to Manipur then on to Imphal. The Manipur Road followed the mountain contours with high mountains one side and steep, vertical drops on the other. It was a continuous series of ‘U’ bends. It was a frequent sight to see groups of road menders at work repairing rock slides where the road had just fallen into the valley. Several vehicles went over the side with fatal results to all inside.

The town of Imphal lies in a basin surrounded by Mountains — a part of the Himalayas and enjoys a fairly temperate climate. Fruit grew abundantly, including Mangoes, wild apple, pineapple, tomatoes, pears and other more tropical fruits. The livestock was as varied; packs of Hyenas roamed the whole area and their calls were awesome until it became monotonous. Flying Fruit Bats hung from certain dead trees favoured by them and looked for all the world like some obscene fruit. Fireflies seemed to all settle on one shrub, and at night thousands of these flies gave off their flashing greenish light like miniature Christmas Tree Lights, and of course there were the mosquitoes necessitating the use of a mosquito net at night. The indigenous population were Naga Tribesmen, who, in general were friendly towards the British but who had a deep hatred of the Japanese. They killed any Japanese they caught and to prove it, they cut off the right ear.
The domestic area consisted of a number of ‘Bashas’ or huts. They were all of different dimensions but the construction was the same in every case. The framework was entirely of bamboo. The floors and walls were beaten mud whilst the roof was thatch. They were cool, relatively, in the summer and warm in winter. Living conditions were acceptable, but the food tended to be monotonous although the cooks did work wonders as a rule. I lost count of the ways in which bully beef could be presented; when it came out of the tin it was uneatable as it was a lumpy liquid. The complaints were usually about the lack of mail from home, no N.A.A.F.I. or other canteen facilities. The Indian authorities refused to allow N.A.A.F.I., to operate on Indian soil. Mail was very erratic and failed to arrive sometimes for weeks on end. This tended to improve as time went on, but the lack of canteen facilities was much more serious. If it were not for the parcels from home — mainly of cigarettes, which were always very welcome, life would have been very difficult. We did get a cigarette ration although not all that regularly but they were the notorious ‘Victory V brand which were very unpopular even when they were in good condition. During the Monsoon season they usually disintegrated. After some time a beer ration was issued. This consisted one bottle per man per month — when it arrived, which was rare.
The Airfield was to the north of the town and astride the one and only road. The Airstrip was to the left or east of the road, with the domestic quarters behind it and to a large extent hidden by trees. To the west were the dispersal areas and workshops. As soon as we had settled in flying started in earnest, and as a photographic support squadron to the Army we worked very closely with the Army, and in the main this entailed our aircraft flying over Jap positions at the request of an Army group, photographing the targets specified by the Army, and delivering to them the prints of the target. Most, if not all the requests came from Artillery Units, the reason for this was that because of the mountainous terrain the fall of shot could not be observed and the gunners could not know whether their shots were hitting the target. The aircraft always went off in twos so that the pilot taking the photographs could fly straight and level, and consequently could not evade any attacker. The second aircraft patrolled over the whole area to protect the Aircraft taking the photographs., and this aircraft was able to send and receive radio signals. Another Squadron joined us after a time and I think they were 84 Squadron flying American planes

Day after day we flew the aircraft taking photographs for the army. Seven days a week with no excitement to speak of. The arrival of mail was the high light of our existence. Life was very monotonous, but later that year our life changed when H.Q. joined us. ‘B’ Flight was still at Cox’s Bazaar I think. The whole layout of the camp was changed. We moved to a local village where several Bashas were available just along the river from the Mess. These Bashas were around a Temple. It was secluded and largely hidden from the air, a fact we came to appreciate later on.

Work still continued as hitherto but the Army, always ready to experiment, then enquired if it was possible for Aircraft to operate even closer by attending an Army Unit with a mobile radio vehicle. After appropriate consideration an experimental vehicle was fitted out as a Mobile Radio Station to be operated by a crew of two. Obviously both of the crew had to be able to drive, which at that time I could not. This led to a problem. The Air-field was situated on both sides of the only road through Imphal, with the Runway one side and the aircraft dispersal bays on the other. This necessitated aircraft crossing the road when moving to or from the dispersal area. For safety reasons a speed limit was imposed. Whilst I was receiving driving tuition from a sergeant and driving along the road from the domestic Site to the Dispersal Bays, I was stopped by an army car containing an M.P. Officer, a Sergeant and an N.C.O. I was reported for being improperly dressed! It is true I was not wearing any cap or Slouch Hat, nor was I wearing a shirt, my footwear was a pair of plimsols. This was the normal dress for airmen working on aircraft. The Sergeant Driving Instructor, who was dressed like me, was not noticed by the M.Ps, so was not charged. He reported the incident to the Orderly Room and it reached the ears of the C.O. who took the greatest exception to airmen being harassed on the road which, he maintained, was under his control. When the charge was received the C.O. promptly binned it and to underline his authority he kept a close watch on M.Ps using the road and any found exceeding the speed limit were immediately charged. There were no further problems of this nature. Having passed the driving test, I took every opportunity to improve my driving and drove every type of vehicle from a JEEP to a three ton Lorry .

The. vehicle chosen for the Mobile Radio Station was a 15cwt Van which was to have a crew of two. It was equipped with one ground-to-air transmitter-receiver and a ground-to-ground transmitter-receiver, so that the operators were in touch with the base at Squadron Headquarters to report and receive instructions and, when Aircraft were flying, contact the aircraft. In addition, we then had to find space for a petrol generator to charge the accumulators, spare valves and other parts which might prove a problem, iron rations for about a fortnight and personal kit for two. It was a very tight squeeze! The ground-to-air transceiver was by voice whilst the other was Wireless Telegraphy, that is by morse code. The intention was that we were to be entirely self-supporting. The crew consisted of, in my case, a Corporal whilst I was an L.A.C.

The first test of the whole scheme and of the home made wireless truck was planned and it was arranged we would attach ourselves to an Artillery unit not far from Tamu just inside Burma. We found the Artillery unit and it became very clear that, whilst we were with the Army we were Army personnel, and subject to Army discipline. We arrived late afternoon at the unit’s night time area in a clearing in the jungle and our truck was included in the area limited by a number of slit trenches. At sundown orders came down for us to stand-to. A procedure quite unknown to us. Nevertheless, we got into a slit trench with our rifles and ammunition and were told to keep very quite; no talking, and to keep a very vigilant look-out. Conversation was limited to whispering the passing on of orders or any warning. We were very strongly warned not to re-act to any calls for help etc., as these would not be by any British serviceman! At sunrise there was another stand-to, after which breakfast was eaten. Although we had iron rations the army kindly invited us to mess with them.

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