大象传媒

BEST OF TIMES, WORST OF TIMES:
SERVING IN THE FAR EAST -JANUARY 1943 to JULy 1946
BY THOMAS E. NuTT
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Our next stop was our destination, Bombay. The journey from Liverpool took seven weeks. This was the first place where forces personnel came into contact with India and the first impression always remains with me: a huge city teeming with people, sacred cows mingling with the masses of human beings, ox and camel drawn carts with huge loads, rickshaws and noise. Everywhere was noise.

We stayed in Bombay for a few days. Some of us did go on a sight seeing tour -alii can remember about it was the sea. The Arabian Sea and the coast on which Bombay is situated are very beautiful.

As there was no need for troops locally everyone was posted somewhere else usually to the other side of the country. Ten RAF wireless and electrical personnel, including me, were given a posting to 22 ASC (Air Support Control). It was stationed inside Burma not far from Imphal. We were to report to RAF HQ in Calcutta from where we would get final details.
We crossed India by train -a very slow train -with absolutely no comfort. The journey took six days. At times the train travelled so slowly it was possible to get off, run along beside it and jump on again. We sat all day on the hard wooden seats and then had to sleep on them all night. On the way we stopped at all stations big and small. The big cities we stopped at were Nagpur, Raipur and Khargpur. I was later to spend a very happy time in Khargpur. At all stops fruit vendors descended onto the train carrying oranges, bananas and pineapples. One man left bananas on the rack while he was peeling an orange. Suddenly a monkey jumped through the carriage window, grabbed the bananas and jumped out through the opposite window onto the roof of another stationary train where he sat down and peeled and ate them. This was a great source of amusement to the Indians on board who knew what to expect and it taught us to watch out for the monkeys in the future.

In Calcutta we were taken to a large transit camp where we were supposed to receive instruction for our onward journey.
I will always remember this place because of the kite hawks. The kitchens were situated a distance from the dining area. You received your food, usually sausages and mash and had to carry it along a covered walkway to the dining area. You would be walking along carrying the plate in front of you when suddenly a kite hawk would swoop down and grab a sausage from the plate and flyaway. It was done so quickly that some people did not know it had happened until they sat down and found out there was only one sausage on their plate instead of two.

After waiting around for a few days -and trying to avoid the kite hawks -we were told that 22 ASC had been over-run by the Japanese and now ceased to exist. We were to form a new unit 23 ASC to be stationed in Assam, not far from Imphal -at that time most of Burma was occupied by the Japanese. We then embarked on another long journey by train and lorry through towns, two of which would later become household names - Kohima and Dimapur. The railway ends at Dimapur and from there we travelled by lorry via Kohima to Imphal -about 120 miles. Special drivers were recruited to drive as it was a very dangerous road -along, over and around the Naga Hills. In some places the road had been cut out of the face of the hills. Looking up, the top of the hills could not be seen and looking down the bottom of the valley could not be seen because of the mist which hung over it. An army sergeant at Dimapur told us not to worry -two out of three lorries managed to complete the journey without going over the side! It was a bit of an exaggeration but some did go over. Road sickness was very common. One older man (as I then thought, but he was in fact probably only in his mid thirties) was so bad that he had eventually to be flown to hospital.

The camp a few miles outside Imphal consisted of a couple of bamboo huts. One was occupied by Ghurkha troops and we occupied the other. There was also a small cookhouse, but there were no toilets or washing facilities. There was a small, fast-flowing river close to the camp. The water coming from the hills was icy cold. Morning and evening we washed ourselves and our clothes in this river. One morning I was going along the path to the river, walking along still half asleep when a Ghurkha soldier coming back from washing shouted to me to stop, which I did so immediately. He came running up to me, pointing at something on the ground. To me it just looked like a bit of Elephant grass which grew on both sides of the path. But the Ghurkha pulled out his knife and slashed it in two. I then realised it was a snake lying across the path -I found out afterwards it was a deadly green mamba.
The path was well worn as it was used continuously by mail men who ran long distances carrying loads on their backs suspended by broad bands on their foreheads. This was probably the cheapest form of transport in India, even cheaper than the camel trains.

There were so many pitfalls in the Assam/Burma area, including poisonous snakes, malaria and prickly-heat (a form of impetigo). The perspiration collected around the waist- band of the trousers and the skin became raw and very itchy, sometimes resulting in infection. At that time it seemed that the Japanese were the least of our worries. Staying alive at times became a matter of luck.

We had to sleep on the floor -there were no beds provided. Shortly after our arrival one of the men, a Scotsman, woke up during the night shouting that a snake had crawled over his face. No one moved a limb all night in case the snake was still about. In the morning there was no sign of a snake or any other reptile. It was assumed that he had had a nightmare. Nevertheless there were plenty of snakes about.

For administrative purposes we had one officer. He was told about this episode and that beds would have to be obtained from somewhere. He agreed we could do with something to lie on. He knew that charpoys, string beds, could be purchased in Dimapur. They would cost four Rupees (about 30p) each and if we agreed to purchase, he would send a lorry to collect them. Four Rupees was handed over by each of the men, coming to about 80 Rupees. An Indian driver was given the money and sent off. He left the lorry in the lorry park at Dimapur and was never seen again. We didn't get the charpoys and had to I continue sleeping on the floor.

The object of the Air Support Control Unit was to relay radio messages from the Army requesting air support, bombing, staffing and supply drops. We received numerous requests from General Wingate's First Expeditionary Force for supply drops at various locations. These messages were relayed to the RAF. We had a wireless hut about half a mile from the camp where two men had to be on duty all the time, day and night. Between the wireless hut and our billet was an army camp. The soldiers were from East Africa and the NCOs were from a Yorkshire Regiment.

In my experience there are no Africans as black as the East Africans. I was coming off duty one night about 12 o'clock -it was pitch black. I was challenged by a guard "Who goes there friend or foe?". I shouted back "Friend". The guard was supposed to answer back "Advance friend and be recognised". But again he shouted "Friend or foe?" I shouted again "Friend". The only thing I could see in the dark was his white teeth. He shouted again and this time I heard his rifle being cocked. The guard commander who also heard the rifle came running out of the guardroom. I shouted to him that I was one of the RAF men from the wireless unit and to call off the guard. When all had settled down I went into the guardroom to complain. The sergeant explained that the only English his men knew was Yorkshire English -he didn't understand Irish English. He said I was lucky he hadn't been asleep. If so I would probably have been shot. I thought this was cold comfort.

We never left the vicinity of the camp. One night ENSA provided an open-air film show on ground behind the wireless hut. Two of us were on duty. I stood outside and saw most of the film -a Fred Astair/Ginger Rogers picture backwards.

Under the same roof as the wireless hut was a small clothing store. It was a "help yourself" place. The only thing I got out of it of any value was a pair of shoes. Unfortunately, one was size eight and the other size nine. These came in very useful later.

At that time we wore mosquito boots all the time. They were multi-purpose, protective against small snakes as well as mosquitoes and leeches.

In about a month we moved again, this time quite near the army, four corps, and shared a hut with some soldiers. The name of this place was Canglitombi, which when translated meant "Valley of the deadly mosquito". It was, nevertheless, a slight improvement on the , Imphal camp. The huts were very new and we were able to fix our mosquito nets to wires which ran the full length of them. There was a raised bamboo platform running along each side. This is where we slept.

A group of airmen all from Northern Ireland.
Left to Right: Self, Johnston, Shields, Stevenson & Hamilton.

There was a swamp not far from the camp -this was a breeding ground for the mosquitoes which spread malaria. The swamps were sprayed regularly by Indians using
knapsack sprayers. It was doubtful if it did any good but I suppose something had to be done.

Some of us got malaria, including me. The doctor visited every two weeks and left a supply of quinine which we took daily until we had recovered. I felt very miserable indeed.

I One of my friends took a tarpaulin off a small lorry and tied it across the hut. I lay in it until I got better. Fortunately I did not have another attack.

We had not been there very long when one of the soldiers became very ill and had to be I taken to hospital. The following day we were told that the soldier's condition was serious.

He had bubonic plague and that we would have to report to the medical officer to have an injection against it. Apparently the disease was spread by rats. We were told to go back to the hut and as quickly as possible gather all our personal possessions together and get out as the hut would be burned right away. We got our things together, jumped on the lorry and as we were leaving the hut was set on fire. We then returned to our old barracks at Imphal.

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