14th Army

Discussion in 'Burma & India' started by WendyE, Aug 25, 2005.

  1. WendyE

    WendyE Junior Member

    I have posted before that I wanted to share a few stories of my grandfather in WW2. My grandfather shared very little of his experiences with me, perhaps because he thought me to young. But my Uncle has told me a couple. I am hoping that sharing these stories about the 14th Army will not disrespect the men that are heros, but to show people the pure hell they were up against.
    The men had run out of food. They were starving and had access to no food. They were talking to each other trying to figure out how to get food. One man mention that the Japanese had no food either. He said they must be living off food they were finding in the jungle. They were trying to figure out what the Japanese could be eating. Looking around, they were not trained in how to survive off thier surroundings. So instead of allowing themselves to starve to death they all decided on one action. Someone had to go out and kill a Japanese and bring his body back. So one of the soldiers went out and killed a japanese. The body was brought back. They dissected his stomach to see exactly what was being eaten.

    They were able to feed themselves after this, but from what my Uncle tells me it was a very gruesome and desparate situation for the all the men.
    WendyE
     
  2. Kiwiwriter

    Kiwiwriter Very Senior Member

    So what did they wind up eating, and how did they get out?
     
  3. WendyE

    WendyE Junior Member

    I don't know what they ended up eating, I'll have to ask my Uncle. But perhaps this is when my grandfather got out.....

    They were wondering through the jungle looking for the enemy. They came into this little village that appeared to desserted. They thought that they could use the village as a resting place. There was a well. And my grandfather thought good finally something to drink. He went over to the well to drop a bucket donw to retreive water for him and his buddies. There was no water. The well was jammed packed with the dead bodies of the village people. The Japanese had come in and killed everyone and hid their bodies in the well. Eventually they caught back up with the Japanese and a big battle broke out.
    During the battle my Grandfather was shot in the foot. Two of his buddies carried him through the jungle. Trying to get him to the hospital. All the way they also had to fight off tribal men. When they finally made it to the hospital 50 miles later. My Grandfather was in a room in a bed right next to one of the tribes medicine doctors. The same people who were trying to kill them on the way. The medicine doctor had been injured. Well my Grandfather kept an eye on this guy. Because they were quick to pull a knife out. If they pulled their knife out it was always to draw blood. If they couldn't draw blood from the enemy, they would cut and draw blood from themselves. So my Grrandfather is watching this medicine doctor. He notices something very strange around the guys neck. He looks closer and sees it is a necklace of ears. This tribe they were also up against in the jungle would kill them and slice one ear from their bodies as a type of trophy/souvenir. My Grandfather wanted to kill the man right there in the bed because he had knew some of his buddies ears would be on that necklace.
    My grandfather killed over 300 enemies while at war. When he finally returned home the Queen gave him a book called Burma. We do know this also, something really terribly bad happened that my Uncle says my Grandfather would not share with anyone. Every year though he had his own special Memorial day for this trajic event.
    I talked to my Uncle last night he said he has boxes of stuff from WW2 that my grandfather kept. They are in his basement. When he finds them and gets them out he is going to share them with me. I will share them all with you. I will also share more stories as he tells me.
    WendyE
     
  4. lionboxer

    lionboxer Member

    As with nearly all "war stories" these is an element of embellishment and error and confussion down the years. It sounds as though your grandfather could have been with the Chindits or any of the other special forces behind the lines. They really did have a tough time with not only the Japs for enemies but climate, terrain, disease and lack of supplies. The "tribals" could have been Nagas, Karens or Burman who were head hunters but were mostly fiercely loyal to the British. The ear trophies were collected as there was a bounty paid on Japanese ears that were brought in. The drawing of blood once a knife had been pulled is largely a common misconception as I have it on good account that the Gurkhas do not draw blood, though I don't know about others. Having spoken to many veterans of the Burma Campaign none of them were willing to say how many enemy they killed, not because they didn't bother keeping count but fighting in that environment it was impossible to tell. I always remember a friend of mine asking my father how many Japs he killed. Father replied that it was a question you never ask and it was not the thing to brag about anyway. I would take the story about killing 300 with a large pinch of salt!! That's not to say your grandfather was not involved in a battle where the dead were later counted. Not too sure what you mean about the Queen presenting him with a book, hopefully all will be revealed when you see his mementos. All interesting stuff!!
    Lionboxer
     

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