The Tiger And The Wren by Fergus Wiggin

Author:Fergus Wiggin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Brown Dog Books

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

SUNSET AT KOHIMA

The middle of March 1943 saw me back in Naini Tal for the start of the nine-month-long term. Spring had been early and it was mild, but I was still glad to join my friends MN and Pat indoors at assembly. We considered ourselves to be relatively ‘old boys’, but the downside of moving up to the Sixth Standard was that our new classroom did not get the morning sun. However, I made a point of using the connecting veranda to reach it and the views of the high peaks were as stunning as ever. We entered the world of Chemistry and Physics in a serious way that year. It must be said with hindsight that our Indian teacher for these subjects was the best that I encountered during the whole period of my higher education. Professor Roy was one of those rare masters of their subject who could actually impart what he knew to laymen like the children at St. Joseph’s College. All his lectures were punctuated by practical demonstrations which included an interesting chemical experiment or evaluation test in Physics. These invariably involved an excitingly ‘vigorous’ (one of his favourite words!) reaction. He knew that a good, controlled explosion or a really foul smell were guaranteed to hold our interest and I soon became a great fan of his, particularly when he taught us about the discovery of gunpowder by the Chinese! All the boys of the school were treated to a spectacular show of this invention that year. The liberation of Libya was made the happy excuse for a major fireworks display on the flats, during the weekend of Guy Fawkes Day. The children from all the schools in the area were invited to a show of floodlit gymnastics and marching by professional military contingents. The display finished with a set piece of pyrotechnics. The finale was very impressive, because three huge figures of Hitler, Mussolini and Tojo were set alight in fiery outlines of their caricatures, using fireworks as a substitute for burning the Guy! The show came to an end with the bright, incandescent message of a patriotic ‘GOD SAVE THE KING’ framed in red, white and blue, whilst the massed bands played the National Anthem.

Winston Churchill had stated that the surrender of the German and Italian forces in North Africa marked ‘the end of the beginning’ of the war in Europe, but the situation in the Far East seemed to be getting worse. The Japanese used the Siam-Burma Railway and the bridge over the River Kwai to reinforce their army in north-west Burma for the invasion of India. The intervals between the letters which I got from my father were becoming longer, to the point that the infrequent notes and occasional remittance from Uncle Gerry became a lifeline to a family connection for me. These told me that Dad was now busily engaged in constructing more than a dozen aerodromes for use by the British and American air forces in the defence of India.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.