Well done Eddie. Great night last night mate. Fascinating to learn so much about a man who was central to the WW2 experience of both your Great grandfather and my grandfather. You need to be more relaxed about our ongoing relationship mate, I know I am.
Well done the pair of you...! As you said, Eddie, research can take you in directions you never expect, and like the event horizon of a black-hole, time can expand exponentially until...
I am making a family video about my great uncle Bill Smyly and the chindits. If anyone has any information on how to track down other chindits still alive I would be very thankful. Any other reunions planned? Here is a trailer for the video: William Smyly 5th Column Gurkha Rifles WW2 1943-1944 - YouTube thanks for your time, Chris Smyly
This years (2014) Chindit Old Comrades dinner was attended by 11 veterans and their families. It was an enjoyable evening and made even more memorable by the presence on our table of a young soldier recently returned from his second tour of Afghanistan. Also present was an Arnhem veteran who gave good value to everyone's evening. The Chindits really appreciated the young Scots soldier, they were happy to have someone amongst them that truly understood what it is like to be in the firing line and who understands the horror of losing one of your comrades to enemy fire. They took him in to their hearts. Great also to be in the company of Eddie Chandler and Ken Stewart (Hebridean Chindit).
Been somewhat pre-occupied this week but will post some pics as-soon-as... The young Glaswegian Dave gave us all an understanding of what they must have gone through in Burma re loss of comrades and his losses in Afghanistan... a real diamond... presently serving his Country... (and a "yes" voter in September ) It was a real pleasure to have been there...
I thought I'd lost these as they were on one of those titchy little memory cards in phones these days, so I'd swopped it out for safe keeping and oops... Anyway... First two show our Eddie with his "extended family", the next show the Arnhem vet, the you Highland Regiment gent and some of those accompanying the vet south; iirc the lady in the shot is an RAF Cadet Sgt. Next is our B43 Steve and myself, then Eddie with the "family medals". The veteran all posed together towards the end of the evening... back row right (iirc) is Bill Smylie, one of the last veterans of both Longcloth and Thursday, and also at "Blackpool" - Steve may be able to put names to the faces... The last two show Steve with author Tony Redding and FOTC's Paul Shenton...
HC, you have captured me in secret talks with the Chindit hierarchy there!! Good to see these mate well done.
Well, today was an example of the Forgotten-strikes-again, with works in the memorial gardens taking place and the Chindit Memorial being isolated with no pathway to it... cheers, Boris... hope you had a great day...! Anyway, met up with B43 for a coffee and a chat, then up to the memorial to find what was quite frankly a shocking mess on two sides of the memorial, as in the pics... anyway, a small crowd of fellow family members were present for 1100 and later one of the four veterans (John Riggs) that made the main procession on Whitehall made it round...
Nice pics HC, I have booked my opticians appointment today to see what can be done with my burned retinas. I will keep you posted on that one. Yes, I agree, very shabby from Westminister Council to leave those memorials in such a bad state, knowing full well that Remembrance week is upon us.
Well, the inevitable has occurred, and last night it was announced that COCA was closing shop after 67 Chindit reunions... the baton has now been passed onto the families, the descendants of the veterans, to carry their memory on... It was a fine evening, with three members of this parish being present: Eddie, Bamboo and myself... more information will follow in good time about the future moves on this venture and I will watch with interest as to what progresses... There were more veterans present than in the picture but some were unable to come forward for the photo... I'll ask Steve to identify those that he can from the image...
Thanks for putting up the photos HC. A rose between two thorns as they say. It was an enjoyable day, with I think twelve veterans present.
More like a bamboo copse in a chaung...! I know Bill Smylie was present (seated far left) but none of the other names in the pic... any others you know for sure...?
Hi Mate, Bill Smyly is standing third left as we look. Far right (standing) is Philip Hayden of the King's Regiment. Next to him (2nd right) is Peter Heppell, Royal Engineers, att. King's Regiment. Seated far right, Reg Salisbury, Essex Regiment. Not shown, but seated with us on the our table was Arthur Baker of the 2nd Leicester's.
oops... got my vet's mixed up... I can see that now... Arthur retired just before the photo-call, which was probably a bit later than desirable...
You're right, should have got the boys together a bit earlier. It will be interesting to see what type of gathering replaces the COCA dinner, something more family orientated I hope.
Here is one of the surviving Chindits, briefly speaking about his Burma experiences: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/vj-day-70-far-east-veteran-leaves-his-mark-on-soldiers-of-today