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A wartime sojourn into Burmese with six Sappers.

We have moved across India and made camp near Jansie, and it was here that I was given my first promotion, something that I was rather reluctant to take having been with the Company and comrades since early 1940 and was quite happy with my lot. Many of the Company were off on maneuvers but a few of us were kept back to make models of Japanese tanks to enable the Infantry more easily to recognize them — information was very scarce at the time. A nice little job that was soon to end! I was called to the general office to be told that I was to pick six men complete with tools that would be required to enable us to fit out Gliders and Dakotas for transporting Mules. Because we were all to be armed it was necessary for me to have the rank of a full corporal, talk about rapid promotion! Next morning we traveled by road to the nearest airfield and boarded a Dakota plane. It had no seats, and flew with interruptions to Imphal. We flew over the celebrated Taj but it was too dark to really see it. We made our way to the HQ. We carried out our work on the airfield and saw them deport and it was then that some more interesting work cropped up.

Our next task was to make a contoured sand —table of a proposed dropping zone in Burma for General Wingate. This finished; we traveled down the Tidim road to join an Infantry Division. Here we spent an imteresting time providing a better watering hole for the mules, a farewell plaque for Matron Geary, making friends with the Gerers etc — altogether a very interesting time. Once there, I quite rapidly lost my promotion. During a spell as orderly Corporal I gave a young lad who was on a punishment spell his mail, against the rules. The office found out, and I was given the option of standing trial or handing in the stripes. I was not cut out to be other than a basic Sapper. But I enjoyed myself.

Arthur Stroud
December 2004

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