大象传媒

Sunday the 3rd of September War was declared.
Harry Dobinson at just twenty years old joined the RAF as a chef.
He joined as a chef due to the experience he had as he and his father were butchers.

Harry was in the RAF for six years. He was based in England for two years
and was then sent to India. He was based here for four years.
The army within this area was called the Fourteenth Army and was known as the Forgotten Army.

As he was near the jungle he faced many dangers. He was not only subject to the dangers
of War but also to the dangers of the jungle such as dangerous animals and the scorching heat.

Harry experienced the changes of the aircraft from the Fighter Aircraft to the Spitfires, whilst in India.
Such changes had to be made due to the Japanese鈥檚 advancing technology.

The duties of the squadron he was in, which was known as Squadron 17 RAF, was to keep the supply lines clear
so that the Americans could drop the supplies into the jungle by parachute. The supply aircraft flew low over the
the canopy of trees and would drop the supplies when there was a clearing. The squadron were also responible for supporting
the fighting of the Japanese aircraft. Due to this Harry experienced the many deaths and captures of English pilots, which were replaced mainly by Australian pilots.

The supplies that were dropped were of food and ammunition. The English and the Japanese had different military supplies
and so the Japanese often used swords whilst fighting, whereas the English used guns.

Harry, as chef, had to supply the food for the airman. This was often an extremely difficult task as food was in short supply.
Also the food supplied was very basic and often the food that was cooked was whatever could be found.
The Japanese however were used to eating a small amount of rice a day and so they did not suffer as the English did
as they were used to this and the English were used to a better diet.

When the War was over Harry and the rest of the squadron were transferred to Singapore on the first Hospital Ship to bring back
the prisoners of War. The prisoners were emancipated and so this was an extremely terrible event.

Harry then had to wait for a ship that would return him to London, this ship arrived two months later. However
it was planned that Harry was to catch the an earlier ship but due to illness he was unable to.

Looking back on his experiences Harry feels very fortunate that he and his family were survivors of such a terrible War.

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