| BEGINNING TROUBLE IN
BURMA: 23rd December 1941  Rangoon was bombed on the 23rd
December1941 at about 10.30am. I was in Insein at the time in Mrs.
Cotton’s house. About 80 aircraft were over
the Rangoon area, docks, Phayre St.Lewis St.,
Judah and Ezekiel St., Boatatam Mingaladon
Aerodrome were bombed badly, more than 2000
people were killed. After the bombing there was a
terrible stampede and over 100,000 citizens fled
overnight, leaving the docks and railways
deserted. Fires broke out and destroyed the homes
of many more. On Christmas Day they came again.
The RAF and the American Volunteer Group (AVG)
fought the raiders, bringing down 52 for the loss
of two defending aircraft in the two attacks. In
the meantime, the Japs were advancing from the
south (Moulmein). For a month no air raids over
Rangoon. But they started bombing Rangoon once
again, mostly by night. The RAF strength was by
now reduced to (?) Hurricanes, 10 Blenheims and
43 Buffaloes. With the AVG, they had brought down
more than 200 enemy aircraft, exacting a 6 to 1
casualty rate. But Rangoon burned. Once more a
multitude of refugees poured down the roads from
the city, crammed the outgoing trains and fled
into the jungle.
The “E”
evacuation warning signal was hoisted on February
20th, 1942. The last days of dear old Rangoon was
at hand. Singapore had fallen, releasing Jap
troops and airforces from Malaya. With the loss
of Singapore there passed also the command of the
Indian Ocean. Rangoon became indefensible. The
British Army withdrew to the North, scorched the
oilfields. On the 7th March 1942 at 2 pm the
demolition squad started to dynamite Government
buildings, powerhouse, post office and industrial
installations. To the east of the port (Syriam) a
billowing black cloud rose; the B.O.C refineries
had been blown. The Allied Air Forces received a
mortal blow when the Japs destroyed most of the
remaining aircraft on ground at Magwe Airfield.
The AVG withdrew into China. At the time of the
battle of Prome, the Burman 5th Columnists were
about 4000. As the Japs were winning, the
recruits swelled to 30,000. Three years later
disillusioned by Japan’s broken promises,
many of them passed over to the British side as
the “Patriot Burmese Forces” and
rendered some service.
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| Here
there seems to be a page missing and I continue
at the next point in the manuscript as it was
found: …had to
join the unit as Ashton was on duty, his family
had already left Sagaing with Harold Payne’s
family as things were getting too hot*
around that area. We left Ywataung on 21st April
by the night train; we arrived at Shwebo next
morning (all’s well). Ashton managed to get
out of the train and prepare us some tea while
the train was at the station. The Treasury was
attached to our train as Shwebo too was getting too
hot*. Well, we moved off (I mean the train).
Two or three hours after our departure we met
with a terrible accident somewhere between Kinu
and Madaung Hla, (work of the Burmans –
Sabotage. They were after the currency which was
attached at Shwebo). Many people died, Ashton
very badly hurt and had to be taken to the
military hospital. Mrs. Brady too was hurt; we
were all taken back to Shwebo, where we stayed
under trees for 2 days. We had to continue a
journey back to Shwebo, but poor Ashton had to
remain in hospital as they said his leg was
broken because he was in great pain. Anyway I
reached Mayan at 8 p.m. the next day where I met
Kay and the Payne family who had settled down in
the village among the Kachins. Karenhla was the
headman (pro British fellow), he was very good to
us. Myitkyina was bombed in May 1942 – the
Aerodrome was the target and many of the wounded
soldiers and also the civilian evacuees who were
waiting to be flown to India were killed that day
(curse the yellow dogs). There were no more
planes to India after that terrible day so all
those who were at Myitkyina came down to Mayan
(our village) and lived among the Kachins. The
Japs entered Mayan at the end of May, the yellow
dogs managed to get a train assembled at
Myitkyina to proceed on their journey down South.
They, of course, stopped to inspect us (poor
Anglo-Burmans), we were scared out of our wits. I
remember the time clearly, it was at 7 in the
evening. A Jap Officer and his orderly came up to
our bungalow (a Kachin school in the British
time). It was our dinner time and our grub was on
the table. I remember we had pork curry and rice
and fish fry. The two yellow dogs had dinner at
our place; after dinner they returned to the
railway station where their soldiers were cooking
their dinner. These fellows ransacked the
village, took away poultry which belonged to the
Kachins and relieved our people of their
jewellery such as wedding rings, bracelets and
wrist watches. After a while they moved off down
south.
In the month of July the
Japs sent 10 cattle wagons from Myitkyina for the
refugees to return to their respective homes.
There were 20 in each wagon plus all our
paraphernalia. No WC or
water for 2 days and 2 nights, but we were
allowed to get down at places where the train
stopped for half and hour. We got into Sagaing
after a very tedious journey. Kay, Ashton, the 2
children (Michael and Gloria) and I lived near
the Ava Bridge in Mg Mya’s house, after 2
weeks we shifted to Mg Kan Nyun’s house.
Most of the folks went down to Rangoon and a few
went to Maymyo (I made friends with Mrs. Joe
Martin at Mayan), she went to Maymyo. Sagaing was
bombed by the RAF sometime in January 1943. Good
work done that night, the ammunition dump got a
direct hit and we saw fireworks till 4 next
morning. Most of our crockery broke that night as
the vibration was terrible, but we were very
happy (cheers to the RAF). “God bless
them” and keep them free from harm.
We had to thank God for
keeping us safe that night because what we saw
the next day was a sight never to be forgotten.
There were shrapnel of all sizes and shapes all
over the ground around where we lived as the
ammunition dump was quite close to our house and
it was the railway Bund (?) which protected us.
Well we got into a boat and ‘hooked it’
to the other side of the river (a place called
Inura or Ava) but we were not allowed to stay
there. The Kempatai (the Gestapo of the East) Jap
police ordered us to be interned at the police
station at Tadau which is in Sagaing District.
The P.S.O. was pro-British, so was kind to us but
was afraid to help us on account of the Japs. We
managed to live by selling our good clothes and
we also had to do some needle-work and knit
sports shirts for the villagers (the yarn they
supplied).
The price of foodstuff was
rising by leaps and bounds. Rice was 1100 Rupees
for a bag, oil was 180 a viss, brown sugar 75 a
viss, milk 10 R’s a viss, onions 6 R’s
a viss, tomatoes 5 Rs a viss, eggs 5 Rs each,
beef 6 Rs a viss. We managed to live on rice with
tomato curry & boiled white peas. We could
eat beef twice a month; it was a luxury.
No news at all about the
arrival of the British and we were getting
down-hearted. We dared not ask about the
pamphlets which were being dropped by our planes.
The police station was turned into a sort of camp
for the Jap soldiers, some going up north and the
sick fellows returning from the front line at
Myitkyina. Some of them had malaria and
beri-beri. The P.S.O. and the police sergeants
sent their families away to the jungles to be out
of the way of the Jap armies but we internees had
to stay put. Those were dark days for us, some of
the stores which were in the police station (such
things as wire, cement, petrol and different
items) were moved down South. We began to get
suspicious. We asked each other, what are the
yellow dogs up to now? And we came to the
conclusion that they were retreating and we were
glad but frightened because we did not know what
they would do to us. Whilst all this was going
on, our police station was bombed sometime in
January (about the 24th or 25th 1945) and,
believe it or not, our house was bombed and we
lost the little we were holding onto. God help
us.
After the bombing we
managed to collect some bedding from under the
debris and a few pots and pans which were all
dented and bent, but could be used. We had
another raid the same day and this time the
village was dive-bombed and I was the unfortunate
one to run into the village not knowing it was
the next place to be bombed. Well God spared my
life as the trench I was in got a near miss as
the exit was blocked. Thank God that there were
two entrances and thank God my children were not
in that trench. Well after the 2nd raid we hooked
it into the jungle and stayed there till
nightfall. We slept in the trench that night at
the police station and all night long the tanks,
soldiers and their paraphernalia moved down
south, making a hell of a racket. The RAF too
were busy in the air, going backwards and
forwards. We did not hear any bombs being dropped
and we presumed that paratroops were being
dropped in the jungle instead.
After the bombing of Tadau
Police Station and the village, all the people
evacuated and ran into the jungle and we followed
suit of course. That night was slept under a tree
and next day the Police Station Officer sent a
man with a cart to fetch us to Gadoseik**, a small village. The policemen and
their families were now stationed at that
village. We were given a barn to live in but we
were thankful to have a roof over our heads once
again (we could not possibly get back to the
Police Station at Tadau as everyone fled with
their belongings and Tadau was a dead city and we
could not remain on in the Jungle for fear of the
Dacoits and jackals). We stayed only 10 days in
the barn and we were asked to shift into a bamboo
shack which was quite close to the barn and was
required for the prisoners and Gadoseik was the
headquarters of the policemen. So we humbly
shifted to the tumbled down bamboo shack which
was quite close to the barn. We had just made
ourselves at home in this shack when the Japs
came to stay a month in our village and the
villagers took their paraphernalia and hooked it
into the fields and the police too ran away so we
too followed suit and ran once again. All the
trees in the field were taken up when we shifted
to we had to live under a small tamarind tree
right out of the village. The large trees were
taken up by those who went first into the field
and I must say the villagers made themselves
comfortable by building mat huts under the trees
but we Anglo-Burmese had to make the best of it
by hanging mats to keep away the sun during the
day. What a miserable existence, the British were
quite close, but we did not know it at the time.
Our money was coming to an
end and we sold 2 towels and some baby sheets and
bought some tomatoes and oil with the money.
It was a hard, hard
struggle. Just imagine living under a tree for 1
month and 18 days without proper food and not
enough of water. There was only one well in the
field and we could not go to the village as the
Japs were there. All the wells were in the
village so the headman allowed people to take
water only for cooking and drinking from the well
in the field. One blessing, the Japs did not come
into the field to pester us but kept to
themselves. One day we were told that they had
left the village and we thought we had got rid of
them forever, but no such luck because some of
the retreating troops from the North came into
the fields and took up the huts which the Burmans
had erected and worse luck, a few of them came
and paid us a visit under our tree and they took
Ashton away with them. We could not stop them. I
mean they would not leave him alone. Two British
planes were hovering around our village and the
Japs hid in the huts. More troops came in the
afternoon and this time we decided to run back
into the deserted village as our field was full
of Japs. In the meantime Ashton managed to join
us and we were just getting away from our tree
when one of the Japs lay hold of him and
threatened to throw a hand grenade at him if he
ran away. So Kathleen and I and the two children
ran back to the village but poor Ashton had to
stay back with the Japs. Kay and I reached the
village and had barely jumped into a trench when
the British started shelling our village. God
help us, the shelling lasted a few hours; after
it stopped we got out of the trench which Hla
Shin kindly allowed us to share, as our trench
was taken by another family of Burmans. At about
9 p.m. the shelling started all over again, but
this time it was going over the village (I mean
the shelling). Having no where to sleep we
changed into our own trench as the Burmans had
run away to another jungle.
All peaceful to 2 a.m.,
except for the noise of the shells passing over.
Well, at about 2 a.m. a Jap who was prowling
around fell into our trench and seeing it was
nice and spacious asked us to move out as he said
the Big Master (meaning his officer) wanted to
come into our trench. So we quickly got out and
ran back to Hla Shin’s trench, who kindly
allowed us to enter. We were awakened by Hla
Shin’s mother at 4 a.m. who informed us that
Jap troops had come into our village and that
they were digging fox holes. She presumed that
they were getting ready to defend from our
village. She kindly advised us to follow them as
they were leaving before sunrise, so Ashton, Kay,
and the 2 children joined the crowd of Burmese
people and managed to pass the Japs. They thought
we were Burmese because we had longyis (Burmese
skirt type garment) on. We walked towards a huge
tree where all the villagers from the surrounding
villages had congregated. I left the crowd and
went towards our tree in the field to get some
food for the children, when on my way a Jap got
hold of my hand and dragged me about. I yelled
blue murder and he let me go. I ran back to our
tree, I mean the tree we lived under for 1 month
and 18 days. I was just trying to kindle the fire
when I heard the tanks coming towards me. I
looked up and there I saw the dear British
soldiers. I was so overjoyed and I cried. I never
felt so relieved in my life as I did that day, a
day of deliverance, a day of liberation, a day
never to be forgotten – the 13th March 1945.
God bless our 14th Army, 2nd Div (Cross Keys).
I was so happy when I saw
white faces after seeing yellow ones for 3 years
that I forgot all about the Japs for that moment.
All of a sudden a soldier said to me, “Are
there any Japs around here?” Then only I
remembered I gave them all the information they
wanted. While I was talking to a British soldier,
pointing out the Japs positions, the battle began
as the Japs started shelling. God alone knows
where the Japs had their big guns, but thank God
the shells were going over our area and no-one
was hurt by the shelling. While the shelling was
going on we jumped into our trench. After the
shelling subsided we (the civilians) were told to
go into another village which was already in
British hands. I ran with the crowd and remained
in a Phoongyi
Kyaung (pronounced
paonji chown) in the meantime. Ashton, Kay and 2
kids were still under the tree where the
villagers where congregated. You see they were
still in the Japanese lines and were nearly
killed by bullets flying all over that area. Most
of the time they had to lie flat anyway. One of
the Burmans who knew the place well managed to
bring them into the British lines that same
evening, and they were taken by a jeep to a place
of safety where the other Anglos were stationed
(Mrs. Talbot and daughter and Brian her son. Mr.
McMinus, Bridie and Eilene Mathews were the other
folks). I was left behind in the Phoongyi Kyaung
when they were taken away by a jeep, so I slept
at night in the Kaung and next morning I went
back to our tree to see if I could find any of
our belongings were there.
The British army were still
in the field, they were waiting to push forward
into the village (our village). I saw the officer
in charge and told him I wished to be taken to my
people and explained how I happened to be left
behind. He was very kind to me and asked one of
his men to take me to join our Anglo-Burmese
crowd, so one of them got a truck and took me
into the village where they were being looked
after by CAS officers. When we arrived I saw my
children safe and sound and all beaming with
smiles. (God bless our British). Next we were
sent to Nazoon Island by bullock carts. After
about 2 miles we hailed out to a British soldier
who was driving a ration truck and asked him to
take us to Nazoon town. He helped us to load our
paraphernalia into his truck and we all got in
and drove off to Nazoon. When we arrived we lived
in a bungalow (Dak) for 1 day after which Captain
Webb came across from the Island and took us
across by carts right through the stream at low
tide. When we got there we were given Mat bashas
to stay in, remained on the island for 6 days
then we were sent to Ye U by trucks. In that
place there were about 1000 refugees, each family
had a basha with a kitchen, bathroom and latrine
attached. Rations were issued every week. Capt.
Murrell and B.A. Williams were in charge of the
Refugees.
The first night of our
arrival we were given blankets and longyis. We stayed in Ye U for 2 months and
a few days. We were very happy at Ye U; there was
a terrible storm some time in May and some of the
basha’s collapsed and we were sent up to
Maymyo. We lived in Kachin
barracks from 20th May till the 1st November 1945
after which we were once again shifted to
Alexandra Barracks. In the meantime, Ashton was
taken back into the railway and posted at Thazi
(where Charles and Lorna were born in 1946 and
1947) so Kay and family left the camp, but I
stayed on till the 28th December 1945. About 30
of us refugees left Maymyo for Rangoon to sail to
India. We left by trucks from Maymyo to Myitgne,
from there we travelled by train right into dear
old Rangoon (a place we hadn’t seen since
1942). From the station we were taken once again
by trucks to Kamaynt to Ali Khan’s house
until 12th January 1946 when we left for India in
the troopship, Nevasa. We had a glorious time on
board, arrived Calcutta on the 15th. We were
housed at Lake House for a few days then left for
Lahore and met Nadine after having been separated
for nearly 3 years.
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| Explanatory
Notes: Rangoon - located in
Southeast Asia (referred as Yangon), literally
means "End of Strife" and is a former
capital of Myanmar (Burma). Under Japanese
occupation from 1942–1945 Rangoon incurred
heavy damage during World War II. On 04 Jan 1948
Yangon became the capital of Union of Burma when
the country regained independence from the
British Empire. (View Map)
Insein - a town located about 20
miles from downtown Rangoon/Yangon.
* too hot - does not mean hot
weather, but it means Japs coming closer to the
units – closing in.
WC - Water closet or room or
booth containing a toilet and often a washbowl.
Kachins - a term formerly used to
describe one of several ethnic groups in Burma,
more recently associated only with the Jingpaw,
known in China (Yunnan) as the Jingpo, and in
India (Arunachal) as the Singpho. For more, view
or downlaod at Google Books:
**Gadoseik – a
cultivating village with about 60 houses, mostly
bamboo shacks, the people were illiterate. I must
say it was a filthy village, no latrines of any
kind and the cultivators were 100 years behind
time. Some of them had never seen a white man,
but they were honest and very simple folks, they
hated the Japs but feared them, the headman of
Gadoseik was pro-British and often gave us good
news about the situation.
Britsh Army 14th Army, 2nd
Divison (Cross Keys) - unit commanded by
Lieutenant-General William Slim who was born 1897
in Bristol, Britian to John Slim and Charlotte
(Tucker). He joined the British Army in 1914 and
by March 1942 was promoted to the rank of
Lieutenant General, assigned to defend Burma
against the Japanese invasion. He was later made
Knight of the Garter and Viscount in 1960, and
passed away ten years later in London on 14 Dec
1970.
Phoongyi Kyaung - a monastery which
are usually long, single-storied, rectangular
buildings, with a flight of steps leading up to
the verandah. Most of the older kyaungs are of
teak, and are often most elaborately and
grotesquely carved.
Longyis - a sheet of cloth
approximately 2 m (6½ ft.) long and 80 cm (2½
ft.) wide which is often sewn into a cylindrical
shape. It is worn around the waist, running to
the feet. It is held in place by folding fabric
over, without a knot. It is also sometimes folded
up to the knee for comfort. It is widely worn in
Burma, with similar garments found in India,
Bangladesh, Juiz de Fora, and Sri Lanka.
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