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VJ Day - Help Wanted !! Do you known anyone who served in WWll in the Far East?
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VJ Day - Help Wanted !! Do you known anyone who served in WWll in the Far East?
Past Events  |  06.09.2020 3:21 pm  |  1059  |  A+ | a-

 

We are fast approaching August the 15th which will be the 75th Anniversary of VJ Day  (Victory in Japan) .

 It’s the story of General Sir William Slim and his 14th Army, sometimes known as the forgotten Army,   it includes thousands of prisoners of war, many thousands who never came home, the story tells of   thousands of British Citizens who worked in Singapore and Hong Kong, and in Malaya who also   with their families became prisoners, all of them in conditions of appalling brutality.

 Anyone you know who may have survived and been used by the experimental horror of unit 731   very unlikely I accept, but you never know, if possible we would like to meet them, or talk to   relatives.

 We would like to hear from any family in the Burnley Pendle area who had any connection with   Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, or families in this area during WW2.

We also would like to hear from anyone who had a family member with General Orde Wingate’s Chindits, or who wason the High Command staff in Delhi, civilian or military up to 1943 or moved with the staff to Kandy in Ceylon along with Lord Louis Mountbatten’s staff, also if your relative was in the Civil Service in or around Delhi, and last but certainly not least have any of your family been involved with the battles at Imphal or Kohima, and did any of them receive the much respected Burma Star medal for service in the Far East.

The team at the Armed Forces Support Group in Pendle would like to hear from you, we are intending to try and make a local history about local people in the Far East War, if you have any stories or photographs please let us have a look, we will return anything you send if you tell us too, otherwise it may be offered to Townley Museum, we are hoping to be able to make a reasonable presentation in The Nelson Leader/Burnley Express near the date of the 15th August.

Thousands lost their lives worked to death on the dreadedBurma railway, or starved in POW camps, families were split up for 3 years, and also lived in barbaric conditions, they were captive to a people who at that time had a whole different outlook on life than we did.

The 14th Army is known as the forgotten Army, the reason was we were fighting in Europe which was next door, in places we had heard of with Generals with household names, not a lot was known or reported on the Far East, accepted by most as the most horrific battle area of the war, that few even today know about, hence they were forgotten, but not by the Armed Forces Support Group, and we will do our best to bring these events to the public again.

We are sure the TV companies will be running lots of news reel events, Our Asian neighbours may like to know this was the war they helped to win.

If you can help please do, send any information pictures, or stories to;

The Secretary, Armed Forces Support Group, HolmfieldHouse Annex, Gisburn Road, Barrowford  BB9 8ND.

Or e-mail to info@armedforcessupportgroup.co.uk    Or contact us on Face Book 'Armed Forces Support Group'

Many thanks

Michael Sutcliff

Chairman AFSG.

 

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