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This is not a story of savage warfare in the Burmese jungle. Much has been written about the terrible, vicious fighting that was the lot there of the men of the 14th Army. This Army, made up of men of various races, has been documented a great deal — and hopefully will continue to be so while those of us who served with its brave body of men are still alive. I myself am approaching my 83rd birthday, and my memory of places and times has become less sharp.

At the time when this incident occurred, at a place called Tamu, I was serving in a field hospital. The Japanese army were reeling in disarray after the battles at Kohima and Imphal in India, where they had been stopped and decisively beaten by the men of the 14th Army.

During a period of comparative calm, we were called together — about 15 men — by a Roman Catholic father, who was organising a short service. He stated that he was aware that not all of us were all of the Catholic faith, but that we were welcome to take part in the service. I can not remember the service itself in detail — suffice to say there were a couple of hymns and some prayers. When the ritual at the end of the service was carried out the father said, ‘Go forth, men, the Lord is with you and will protect you from harm.’

At this point I have to record that in any group of men there is always one who is considered, for want of a better expression, a wag, and this is about such a man. He stood up and asked, ‘If the Lord you have told us about is looking after us, can you tell us which father is looking after the Nip (as we called the Japanese) not too far away from us?’ The reply from our priest was, ‘A very good question, my son,’ at which point he blessed us all again and went on his way to other duties.

As a footnote I will add that the chaplains and priests who served with us at these terrible times were among the bravest of the brave.

W A Hopkins, Cpl, RAMC/IAMC

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