Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú

This story is from Wally Burns of the Cardiff Burma Star Association, and is added to the site with his permission. It concerns his feelings when he heard about the bombing of Hiroshima

When the bomb was dropped I was just outside Madras. We were all waterproofed up thousands of us, waterproofed up waiting for the invasion of Singapore. They were all ready there waiting for us to invade Singapore…when the bomb was dropped. And if the bomb hadn’t have dropped I might not have been talking to you today. Funny. We was all waterproofed up you know….right up to our chests…we went over and drove off into the water…the secret was you didn’t take your foot off the accelerator, if you did your wagon stalled and that was your lot. But there was thousands of us there, all around Madras. The actual place we was in was called Combattor, and when the bomb was dropped I was on guard duty that night…me and the bombardier…I was the last on duty 12 till 2…and while we were waiting to go out we drunk a bottle of rum and I went out and the next thing I knew I woke up at six oclock in the morning, bitten by everything, in a ditch. The corporal had come out just after I went on duty and found me fast asleep on my rifle drunk. He just rolled me in the ditch and when the officer on duty came round he said someone was standing guard for me. But that's where we were when the bomb dropped...and if they hadn't dropped the bomb. I don't know ....whether I'm glad it dropped. I wish to hell it had never been....I wish they'd never discovered it.

Anyway we were told the bomb had dropped and the war would be over....I don't say it was solved, but we started to live a life I suppose.

© Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.