A group of veterans from the Burma Star Association (BSA) met in the George, Castletown, on Thursday.
This was a last minute gathering, organised by Keith Kinrade, because his friend John Giddings, chairman of the national BSA, was in the island with his wife, Beryl.
The impromptu gathering was ‘brilliant’ said James Fenton, from Port Erin, who added: ‘There were five Burma veterans, wives and friends and Burma Star secretary Sheila Healey, also [D-Day veteran] Hector Duff.’
The island branch of the association meets once a month in the Cat With No Tail in Douglas. James said: ‘We do not discuss the war, we rarely discuss it anyway, we know all about that. It’s usually arrangement –, we have two or three dinners a year.’
The infamously arduous nature of the war in Burma has prompted James to wrote a book, a compilation of every letter he wrote to his parents from the day he joined up in 1942 to the day he was discharged, in 1947.
It is called ‘The Forgotten Army’, the name that has become associated with the conflict because of the lack of recognition of their heroism – against a ferocious Japanese enemy in hostile jungle conditions – when veterans returned to Britain.
A copy of the book was handed to John, along with a historical booklet ‘Still Going Strong’, by another veteran, Michael Linck.
Afterwards John visited the Arboretum in St John’s where he was impressed by a memorial to Burma War veterans.
Why is it important to meet?
‘Camaraderie is the first part,’ said John. ‘And because there was the great battle of Kohima, which the Japanese were winning and then the British and Indian troops turned the tables and started to win, there is the BSA Kohima epitaph at the heart of why we meet: “When you go home tell them of us and say: For your tomorrow, we gave our today”.’