Leading Seaman Arthur Birch 1923 - 2003
Royal Navy Gunner 1939 - 1945, various decorations.
Once opened fire at what he thought was a Jap bomber with escorts over Calcutta one day...the whole harbour defense promptly followed suit...turned out it was Lord Louis Mountbatten in his C-47, who was introduced to my grandfather and rewarded his excellent shooting (?!) with a new uniform to replace the worn outfit he was wearing....
Spent most of that time fighting the Japs in Burma etc, was also the RN lightweight boxing champ for a few years. I miss my Grandad and that cockney accent dearly, will be at the local dawn parade for the first time without him this year.
He went to his grave angry that developed societies (Germany, Aussie, NZ, North America etc etc) were being held accountable for sins of the past (colonisation, holocaust etc) yet the Japanese continue to disregard their atrocities durng WWII. He saw a lot of nasty stuff when he was posted on landing craft that went up the jungle rivers.
Hope those who can make it will attend their local dawn service as well....
Last edited by Launchpad McQuack; 21st Apr 2007 at 08:40.