大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People's War site by J Johnson of Congleton Library on behalf of Mr B Harper ans has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

In February 1942, a ship called the Dominion Monarch took approx 700 RAF men from Liverpool to Cape Town. We stayed in Cape Town for four days. As the people who lived in Cape Town saw the ship arive, they came out to welcome us and many of us got invited into their homes for tea. I was invited into a home just outside Cape Town belonging to a Welsh family.

From Cape Town, we went to Bombay and then we were posted to Jamshedpur on a balloon squadron (979 Squadron). We were there for a month and then got transferred to 28 Fighter Squadron, based in Calcutt. We had no planes at the time, so we all went on special courses including rifle firing. We eventually recevied movement orders and proceeed up to Imphall where the fighter planes were waiting for us. At Imphall, the squadron dug trenches next to the airstip. We called these trenches "Sardine" and we were like sardines in a tin.

Our Squadron was invited with the Ghurkas to go out on patrol in Impahll and we were instructed to go and take photographs of Kohima, where the Japanese had got through the lines. There was a tennis club in Kohima which was being used as a hospital. When the army had ousted the Japanese from the immediate area, they went in to inspect the hospital and discovered that the Japanese had murdered all those in the hosptial.

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