- Contributed by听
- CSV Media NI
- People in story:听
- John Farrell
- Location of story:听
- Suffolk, Chitagong
- Background to story:听
- Royal Air Force
- Article ID:听
- A6053654
- Contributed on:听
- 07 October 2005
This story is taken from an interview with John Farrell, and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions. The interviewer was David Reid, and the transcription was by Bruce Logan.
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I joined up in 1942. Royal Air Force. I was in the Ground crew. I started off in the signals, on the radio. I was on the east coast, in a radio station in Suffolk. So they were getting started on the Second front then, to go back into Europe again. And we were all detailed to go to Second Taff. Well unfortunately I had an injury to my foot, and I was kept, I stayed behind when all the boys went to join up Second Taff.
They asked me where I would like to go to, I said 鈥淣orthern Ireland鈥. So I finished up in Calshott, down below Southampton. I couldn鈥檛 have been further away from home. And I wasn鈥檛 there but a short time until the Flt Sgt 鈥 flying boats, Sunderland flying boats and high-speed launches. And the Flt Sgt came out to me on a Friday morning and says to me 鈥淧addy, you鈥檙e posted overseas鈥. He says 鈥 well, at that stage you鈥檇 got about 7 different depts to go to to get your clearance. You know? But I finished up anyhow, that was on a Friday so you go on embarkation leave. I finished up at home on a Sunday, and then to go to Blackpool. On a troopship from Liverpool, and I finished up at a place called Botanga on the Burma border outside Chitagong. All on my own. I left Calshott on my own. I left on the troopship and ended up there, at 22nd Station Post. So we were doing the supplies, that was what I was there for.
I was doing signals, more or less. I was doing dispatch rider and things like that, you know? But then I鈥檇 a, it didn鈥檛 matter what you were. It didn鈥檛 matter where the supplies were concerned, you had to give a hand. You had to 鈥 there was a platoon sgt from the Regt of Fusiliers, canters me. We were a mixed unit. American Aircrew, see 鈥 Mountbatten brought the American planes out of China, the commandos.
I was up in Mt Shan, just in the China states actually 鈥 just down the road from the Chinese border. I鈥檇 worked there with the AVG, you know? The old flying tigers. American bombers 鈥
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