大象传媒

Lloyd reported to Forty-ninth Brigade HQ and I was told to report to One Brigade HQ. This was the brigade the Seaforths were a part of. On reaching the office I was informed that Brigadier Rodham had returned and left word for me to follow him to Mandalay, in Burma, which he had to take from the Japanese. Alas, I was most upset not to be allowed to do this but could do nothing about it as I had to follow orders. I reported for my new job as driver/batman to the brigadier of One Brigade, Brigadier King, who was one of the youngest brigadiers in the British army. I must admit I was still disappointed at not being allowed to follow Brigadier Rodham, but I will always be grateful to have served with him as in my opinion he was one of the army鈥檚 greatest commanders.

I found Brigadier King鈥檚 tent and went in to introduce myself. He was in bed with a touch of dysentery but said he would be all right in the morning so I tidied up the tent and put out his toiletries for the next day. When I woke him in the morning with a cup of tea, he told me the whole brigade was going into action. The brigade consisted of the Seaforth Highlanders, the Sikhs and the Punjabs, plus Brigade HQ which had a sixty-man defence platoon of Sikhs who were attached to the brigadier鈥檚 bodyguard and followed him wherever he went. Although I was just a private soldier, they respected my position as the brigadier鈥檚 driver/batman.

I had been back three days when we set off back into the jungle. We marched for days before reaching our destination which was the top of yet another hill. After heavy fighting, the Japanese fled and the Seaforths took another hill which was then re-named Seaforth Hill. It was the same wherever we went. We threw the Japanese off Puteala Hill, the Punjabs took another one, and the Brigade HQ with the defence platoon occupied our hill close by. We were now getting short of food. Situated at the bottom of the hill was a small illage which we thought we might explore to see if we could get some food. The problem was that the Japanese were between the village and us as they had surrounded the hill. The Seaforths and the Punjabs were told to deal with this, which they did with very few casualties, and when the Japanese had gone, a few of the men and I decided it was time to go down to the village as we were getting increasingly hungry. The village was deserted except for a wild boar roaming free, which must have sensed what was going to happen as it charged us so we did the only thing we could. We shot it. George, the brigade鈥檚 cook, decided he could make a lovely stew out of it, so we cut a good-sized pole from a tree and tied the boar to it. It was very heavy and we took turns carrying it up the hill, one man at each end of the pole. On reaching the top, we had to pass through the Sikh lines and as we approached, the men turned away and hid their faces. I learnt later that it is sacred to their religion. George kept his word and although it was swimming in fat, his stew went down very well and we all praised his efforts.

The Japanese had by now moved on in retreat and our orders were to follow them, which we did. Before long, the battalions were back in action again. We at Brigade HQ were told we had to move but first were to bury all our personal belongings. I had a photograph of my wife and baby which I dug into the ground inside my tent. We then moved to another hill which we had taken from the Japanese. The latter then moved on to the one we had just been occupying so once again we had to fight our way back there, but I think the Japanese were losing heart. Once back on the hill, I went into my old tent where I was greeted with the photograph of my wife and baby hanging on the wall of the tent. I learnt that a Japanese officer had occupied my tent and he must have found it. Again we packed and moved to another hill. While marching there we passed a number of trenches where soldiers had been thrown in head first, with their legs showing above the edges of the trenches. We could not tell if they were Indian, British or Japanese; not that it made any difference as they were all dead. It was a heart-wrenching sight and we passed them in silence. A little further on we came across bodies, propped up against trees, and burnt to a cinder. Again we could not tell who they were and we were not allowed to bury them as they might have been booby-trapped. It is a sight that will always be with me. The Japanese were on the run and once again orders were to go after them but, being Brigade HQ, we did not take part in this action. The brigadier decided to check out our defences and on his round he came across and captured a Japanese who was just wandering about. We gave him a cheer. After seeing so many dead bodies, my one fear now was being killed in a foreign country far away from family and home. After this acton, the brigadier was pulled out for a while and sent to Bombay for combined operations. We were to go out of the jungle by car and two days later we left for Bombay.

To read chapter 15 go to: A7356404

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