大象传媒

I had the privilege of serving with 19th KGV Lancers. We were halfway across the Indian Ocean as part of the force to invade Malaya, when the bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 15th 1945. I often reflect that I owe my life,
to those horrific weapons.

I enlisted on day two of the declaration of war in 1939 and was sent home to grow up!
Some months later I joined the Ox and Bucks Light Infantry at Cowley Barracks in Oxford. My principal recollections of that experience were that I rapidly learnt the facts of life, or at least the words that explained them. Also that I was the only recruit to go to bed in pyjamas, as I had naively thought that everyone did so!

In 1941 I was commissioned into 4/7 Royal Dragoon Guards. That I had no title in those days was not a problem, but the lack of 拢150 per annum over my pay was a serious matter. A year later and somewhat in debt, I transferred to the Indian Cavalry, where my colonel kindly explained: 鈥淵ou鈥檒l be able to live on your pay!鈥�
My five years with 19th Lancers was the great turning point in my life. I rapidly achieved a good command of Urdu and an affinity with troops, who like me did not eat meat.
It is too frequently forgotten that the Indian Army was the largest volunteer army the world has ever known. Over one million men under arms. Victory in the Far East could not possibly have been achieved without them. My regiment first saw action in the Arakan and subsequently down the coast to Akyab and Ramree Island and finally to Rangoon.
The loyalty and bravery of our soldiers formed a bond with British officers, which none of us privileged to serve with them, can ever forget.
Those who live together in difficult and dangerous conditions develop a brotherly respect for each other that transcends background and rank.
Engraved in our hearts were the words, still to be seen on the walls of The Indian Military Academy in the Dehra Dun:
鈥� The safety, welfare and honour of your country comes first - always and every time.
The safety and welfare of the men you command comes next - always and every time.
Your own welfare and safety comes last - always and every time.鈥�

Come to think of it in times of peace, these words should also be engraved on the heart of all of us who seek to represent our constituents in Parliament.

In defeat defiance, in victory magnanimity, is a sound maxim. One of my most treasured possessions had been a sabre, which I had obtained after the surrender of the Japanese Army at Kuala Lumpur in 1945.
In 1993 I heard that seven members of the All Burma Veterans association of Japan were to be in London and I resolved to return this sword to them. It has now been placed in a specially constructed shrine at Yasukuni Jinja Yuhsuhkan Japan, as a symbol of Anglo-Japanese reconciliation and friendship.

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