Description
Object description
Six detailed letters (four ts, 33pp with carbon copies, two ms, 10pp) written to his wife by a Sergeant in the Intelligence Section, 7th Battalion Worcestershire Regiment, 5th Infantry Brigade (2nd Division), on the India / Burma border, SEAC, (May 1944 - ? 1945), mentioning clearing Japanese road blocks cutting off the Kohima garrison (April 1944), pursuing retreating Japanese, receiving copies of May Day leaflets from the Communist Party, friends coming down with dysentery and malaria, a night march to take Phesama (6 June 1944), hearing news of D-Day, supporting engineers repairing bridges, attacking Maram, and opening the road to Imphal, advancing down the Imphal road to Tamu, Burma (July 1944), witnessing the poor conditions of the many Japanese dead, wounded and prisoners they encountered, crossing the frontier into Burma, encountering enemy soldiers of the Indian National Army, seeing propaganda leaflets calling for a free India, meeting soldiers from the East African Division, moving to Yazegyo in the Kabew valley, Burma (November 1944), seeing Indian engineers rebuilding destroyed bridges using abandoned Japanese trucks, casualties caused by setting off a grenade while burning corpses, having Christmas dinner on 21 December, moving to Ye-U, being relieved and returning to Maram, Manipur, India, for rest, building their own camp, shortage of good rations, seeing the contrast between the Indian community and Europeans while on leave in Calcutta, his thoughts on the differences between Black American soldiers and those of the East African and West African Divisions, entertainment, concert parties and seeing films in an improvised cinema constructed by the Royal Engineers, taking part in the Maram Model Parliament where soldiers could discuss and debate issues presented in mock 'bills', being chosen to represent the Worcesters when the Earl of Munster, under-secretary of state for India, came to investigate the welfare conditions of British troops, putting forward the case for repatriation, better facilities, entertainments and food, the argument that the 2nd Division and General Grover were getting little credit in the British press, seeing a memorial to the memory of the men of the Worcestershire Regiment killed in the campaign so far, carved by a soldier. His letters describe the landscape and people, the exhaustion of constant marching through rough terrain, the deaths of men in his regiment, experiencing snipers and suicidal Japanese attacks, witnessing attacks on Japanese strong points, meeting local Naga tribesmen, the colossal firepower used by the British, sadness at further destroying native villages to provide shelter for trenches, the masses of equipment abandoned by the retreating Japanese, and seeing vehicles and equipment left behind by General Alexander's retreat from Burma in 1942. Together with a 2nd Division Intelligence Summary for 14 January 1945 (2pp), a letter (1p) from South London Press regarding the possibility of publishing his account, a copy of Keynotes magazine (Christmas 1943), 11 Maps of Burma and Assam showing Kohima and Imphal, a photo album from India (June - November1942), a pamphlet declaring his candidacy for the Camberwell Borough Council Election as a member of the Communist Party (November 1945), and a ms profile (1p) on his retirement in 1976 from the Association of London Housing Estates (ALHE) giving a brief biographical background of his life and career.
Content description
Six detailed letters (four ts, 33pp with carbon copies, two ms, 10pp) written to his wife by a Sergeant in the Intelligence Section, 7th Battalion Worcestershire Regiment, 5th Infantry Brigade (2nd Division), on the India / Burma border, SEAC, (May 1944 - ? 1945), mentioning clearing Japanese road blocks cutting off the Kohima garrison (April 1944), pursuing retreating Japanese, receiving copies of May Day leaflets from the Communist Party, friends coming down with dysentery and malaria, a night march to take Phesama (6 June 1944), hearing news of D-Day, supporting engineers repairing bridges, attacking Maram, and opening the road to Imphal, advancing down the Imphal road to Tamu, Burma (July 1944), witnessing the poor conditions of the many Japanese dead, wounded and prisoners they encountered, crossing the frontier into Burma, encountering enemy soldiers of the Indian National Army, seeing propaganda leaflets calling for a free India, meeting soldiers from the East African Division, moving to Yazegyo in the Kabew valley, Burma (November 1944), seeing Indian engineers rebuilding destroyed bridges using abandoned Japanese trucks, casualties caused by setting off a grenade while burning corpses, having Christmas dinner on 21 December, moving to Ye-U, being relieved and returning to Maram, Manipur, India, for rest, building their own camp, shortage of good rations, seeing the contrast between the Indian community and Europeans while on leave in Calcutta, his thoughts on the differences between Black American soldiers and those of the East African and West African Divisions, entertainment, concert parties and seeing films in an improvised cinema constructed by the Royal Engineers, taking part in the Maram Model Parliament where soldiers could discuss and debate issues presented in mock 'bills', being chosen to represent the Worcesters when the Earl of Munster, under-secretary of state for India, came to investigate the welfare conditions of British troops, putting forward the case for repatriation, better facilities, entertainments and food, the argument that the 2nd Division and General Grover were getting little credit in the British press, seeing a memorial to the memory of the men of the Worcestershire Regiment killed in the campaign so far, carved by a soldier. His letters describe the landscape and people, the exhaustion of constant marching through rough terrain, the deaths of men in his regiment, experiencing snipers and suicidal Japanese attacks, witnessing attacks on Japanese strong points, meeting local Naga tribesmen, the colossal firepower used by the British, sadness at further destroying native villages to provide shelter for trenches, the masses of equipment abandoned by the retreating Japanese, and seeing vehicles and equipment left behind by General Alexander's retreat from Burma in 1942. Together with a 2nd Division Intelligence Summary for 14 January 1945 (2pp), a letter (1p) from South London Press regarding the possibility of publishing his account, a copy of Keynotes magazine (Christmas 1943), 11 Maps of Burma and Assam showing Kohima and Imphal, a photo album from India (June - November1942), a pamphlet declaring his candidacy for the Camberwell Borough Council Election as a member of the Communist Party (November 1945), and a ms profile (1p) on his retirement in 1976 from the Association of London Housing Estates (ALHE) giving a brief biographical background of his life and career.
History note
Cataloguer SJO