[BITList] Drifting Camera: They That Are Left 2010

[John Feltham]

Hugh,

On 17/11/2010, at 12:38 AM, HUGH wrote:

> I noted the words "Burma Star" in one photo and looked out my late father's. 
> The badge in the photo is of the Burma Star Association - I once asked Dad why he hadn't joined it. 
> The gist of his reply was that he had had enough of Burma. 

If your dad served in Burma as part of "The Forgotten Army", then he receives my respect.

You might get this one bookout of your Public Library.

"John Masters; A Regimented Life by John Clay was published by Michael Joseph in 1992. Now out of print,"

In this book he takes great comfort that for a few hours, when the boss was away at an Army Conference, he commanded a 'Division' of the Indian Army. 

From wikipedia...
In May, the brigade was ordered to hold a position code-named ‘Blackpool’ near Mogaung in Northern Burma. The isolated position was attacked with great intensity for seventeen days and eventually the brigade was forced to withdraw. Masters had to order the medical orderlies to shoot 19 of his own men, casualties who had no hope of recovery or rescue. Masters later wrote about these events in the second volume of his autobiography, The Road Past Mandalay.
After briefly commanding the 3rd battalion of his regiment, Masters subsequently became GSO1 (the Chief of Staff) of Indian 19th Infantry Division, which was heavily involved in the later stages of the Burma Campaign, until the end of the war. After a spell as a staff officer in GHQ India in Delhi, he then served as an instructor at the British Army Staff College, Camberley. He left the army after this posting, and moved to the United States, where he attempted to set up a business promoting walking tours in the Himalayas, one of his hobbies. The business was not a success and, to make ends meet, he decided to write of his experiences in the army. When his novels proved popular, he became a full-time writer.


He remains one of my favourite authors.

ooroo


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