大象传媒

My father (Frederick Stanley Ould) was a civil engineer who specialised in re-inforced concrete and bridges. In 1941 he was taken into the Indian Engineers as an advisor and worked on the Burma Road between Imphal and the Burmese border until the end of the war. His job there was to survey streams, rivers and the hairpins in the road to establish bridges to enable the huge lorries and transporters to negotiate the road. His base was at Imphal and it was not unknown for him to return to his depot and find a large crater and all his equipment gone. He worked entirely alone with the help of his driver several miles in front of his Indian workforce surveying. At one time he was "lost" behind Jap lines during the seige of Imphal, only returning to Imphal as the Japs moved out. He was greatly indebted to the local Naga Hill tribesmen, who scouted ahead for him to make sure it was safe to continue to his next objective and also produced various items of food to agument his diet of bully beef, biscuit and tea. He was plagued by malaria and always said his daily tablets were as much as his meal. As time went by the 14th Army became more realistic with the quantites of bully beef allotted to him, in that they gave him 2lb tins and not the usual 7lb tins. They had lost sight of the fact that his workforce did not eat beef, being Hindu!! After the defeat of Japan he was introduced to the Marahaja of Manipur State, where thanks were given for his contribution to the war effort. It is understood that his bridges and other work are still in place on the Burma Road.

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