The Hell of Burma by Sean Rayment

Author:Sean Rayment [Rayment, Sean]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Nonfiction, History, Military, World War II
ISBN: 9780007517602
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2013-02-28T05:00:00+00:00

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On 15 August 1945 Harry and his team were conducting a recce patrol when, during a break, Harry began tuning in a small radio receiver. Harry knew the BBC would broadcast news reports every hour. Finding the right frequency, he listened intently and was amazed when he discovered that the Japanese had surrendered.

‘I turned to Major Boal and Captain Coomber and told them the war had ended. They both looked at me and said nothing. So I said it again: “The war’s ended. Emperor Hirohito has broadcast a message to the nation himself.”’

Suddenly Harry’s team was in a predicament. Under the rules of war it would be illegal to open fire on enemy troops unless it was a matter of self-defence. Major Boal decided that the only sensible action was to return to their base, try to make contact with their headquarters and await further orders.

Just as the team were about to leave, they saw a small enemy patrol moving through an area of cleared jungle along the edge of a paddy field.

‘They were armed, the soldiers had rifles and the officer was carrying a sword. We had no idea whether they had been told the war was over and we had a discussion about what to do. I said we should ambush them, but Major Boal said that it was best just to let them past, given that the situation was still very confusing.

‘So we moved off in the opposite direction through the jungle, making our way back to our camp. The country was very close and in situations like that I would sling my carbine over my shoulder and have my .45 in my hand ready for action. Then suddenly, as I came round a corner, a Jap came at me with a sword. He suddenly appeared in front of me, just feet away. I had my rifle in one hand so I quickly brought my .45 – it’s strange but this sort of thing happens with me, it happened several times when everything seems to go into slow motion, and I could see him coming and I was firing at him. I did a double shot, twice in the chest, and killed him stone dead. The bullets hit him in one side of the chest, picked him up and spun him round and I could see all this in slow motion. And then things came back to the normal speed and the two others came up and said, “You all right?” and I said yeah and they said, “You’ve got blood on you.” And it was a scratch from the sword, about two inches long, on my sternum. It was where the sword had hit me, so I was very lucky. I don’t know what happened to the rest of the Japs in the patrol, but they didn’t show themselves after the officer was killed. I was never sure whether it was the same patrol we had seen some time earlier, but I was a

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