Description
Object description
His interesting and informative ts memoir (148pp), with few dates, recording his service with the Royal Warwickshire Regiment and the Parachute Regiment (c.1943 - 1946), notably his service as Company Clerk with B Company, 8th Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment in the UK (no dates); sailing from the UK via the Suez Canal to Bombay, India in the troopships SS RUYS, a Dutch liner, and SS CIRCASSIA (no dates); training with 81 Column (Chindits) at Jhansi, Central India (no dates); active service as a Bren gunner with the 81 Column during the Second Chindit Expedition (February 1944 – August 1944) into northern Burma, notably stronghold BROADWAY (no dates), patrolling the area up to the Irrawaddy River as the "Reconnaissance Patrolling Column", forming the stronghold BLACKPOOL (May 1944) where he was wounded in the leg by shell fire, the evacuation of BLACKPOOL (July 1944), his evacuation by canoe and then Dakota to a hospital in Calcutta in India (no dates); absconding from hospital in Calcutta to a special Chindit hospital in Dehra Dun for treatment for malaria (no dates); attending a Convalescent Camp near Murray recovering from jaundice (no dates); undergoing parachute training as a signaller and then despatch driver with the 15th Parachute Battalion at Rawalpindi, India until the war against Japan ended (no dates) and then in Karachi providing internal security dealing with rioting in support of the "Quit India" campaign (no dates) and a mutiny in HMIS HINDUSTAN (February 1946); the return from Bombay to the UK in the troopship SS ORANTES (no dates); commenting on army life, notably his low opinion of officers and NCOs, medical inspections, his fellow soldiers; life in a troopship and India; training with the Chindits, notably the equipment, the use of mules, the issue of rum, American K Rations, his pet guinea pig; life in the jungle and his experiences with the local wildlife; the camaraderie and high morale; the loss of comrades; beatings of Burmese villagers who collaborated with the Japanese (First Chindit Expedition, 1943); the helpful Kachins; the exhaustion and malnutrition of the troops; the flogging of two soldiers; problems with ants, flies, leeches, mosquitos and scorpions; leave in Lahore; and mentioning Major-General Orde Wingate, Admiral of the Fleet Lord Louis Mountbatten, Jacky Coogan, the American film actor and General "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell. Also included are five photographs of Heely (5pp, 1944 – 1945); a photocopy of a ts News Item (1p, January 1997) by United Trusts reporting the discovery of the wreckage of a C-47 Dakota which crashed in dense jungle in Northern Burma which included the late Sergeant Hugh McGee (1st Battalion The King's (Liverpool) Regiment); and a ms letter (2pp, February 1984) from E R Tunstall, the only brother of Harold, killed aged 34, thanking Heeley for his letter; and a photocopy of a ts newspaper article from the Evening Mail (1p, March 1997) describing the visit of Chindit veterans to northern Burma, including Brigadier J M Calvert.
Content description
His interesting and informative ts memoir (148pp), with few dates, recording his service with the Royal Warwickshire Regiment and the Parachute Regiment (c.1943 - 1946), notably his service as Company Clerk with B Company, 8th Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment in the UK (no dates); sailing from the UK via the Suez Canal to Bombay, India in the troopships SS RUYS, a Dutch liner, and SS CIRCASSIA (no dates); training with 81 Column (Chindits) at Jhansi, Central India (no dates); active service as a Bren gunner with the 81 Column during the Second Chindit Expedition (February 1944 – August 1944) into northern Burma, notably stronghold BROADWAY (no dates), patrolling the area up to the Irrawaddy River as the "Reconnaissance Patrolling Column", forming the stronghold BLACKPOOL (May 1944) where he was wounded in the leg by shell fire, the evacuation of BLACKPOOL (July 1944), his evacuation by canoe and then Dakota to a hospital in Calcutta in India (no dates); absconding from hospital in Calcutta to a special Chindit hospital in Dehra Dun for treatment for malaria (no dates); attending a Convalescent Camp near Murray recovering from jaundice (no dates); undergoing parachute training as a signaller and then despatch driver with the 15th Parachute Battalion at Rawalpindi, India until the war against Japan ended (no dates) and then in Karachi providing internal security dealing with rioting in support of the "Quit India" campaign (no dates) and a mutiny in HMIS HINDUSTAN (February 1946); the return from Bombay to the UK in the troopship SS ORANTES (no dates); commenting on army life, notably his low opinion of officers and NCOs, medical inspections, his fellow soldiers; life in a troopship and India; training with the Chindits, notably the equipment, the use of mules, the issue of rum, American K Rations, his pet guinea pig; life in the jungle and his experiences with the local wildlife; the camaraderie and high morale; the loss of comrades; beatings of Burmese villagers who collaborated with the Japanese (First Chindit Expedition, 1943); the helpful Kachins; the exhaustion and malnutrition of the troops; the flogging of two soldiers; problems with ants, flies, leeches, mosquitos and scorpions; leave in Lahore; and mentioning Major-General Orde Wingate, Admiral of the Fleet Lord Louis Mountbatten, Jacky Coogan, the American film actor and General "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell. Also included are five photographs of Heely (5pp, 1944 – 1945); a photocopy of a ts News Item (1p, January 1997) by United Trusts reporting the discovery of the wreckage of a C-47 Dakota which crashed in dense jungle in Northern Burma which included the late Sergeant Hugh McGee (1st Battalion The King's (Liverpool) Regiment); and a ms letter (2pp, February 1984) from E R Tunstall, the only brother of Harold, killed aged 34, thanking Heeley for his letter; and a photocopy of a ts newspaper article from the Evening Mail (1p, March 1997) describing the visit of Chindit veterans to northern Burma, including Brigadier J M Calvert.
Physical description
A4 black plastic covered loose leaf folder containing photographs and carbon copies of typewritten memoirs.
History note
Cataloguer SNI-R