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British Army M3 Lee, C Sqn, 150th (Yorks & Lancs) Regt. RAC, 254th Indian Tank Brigade, Burma 1944-45


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19 minutes ago, Kev The Modeller said:

Very nice and nice to see late version :clap:

 

These did very well in the pacific theatre and served from their introduction until the end of the war, my Grandfather also served in the Burma campaign.  Unfortunately he was a guest of the Japanese for a while, sadly he's no long with us.     

Thanks Kev,...... yeah they did a good job. Sorry to hear about your Grandad,..... he must have gone through hell as one of their guests too! My late Grandad was a Chindit and my wife`s late Grandad also fought in Burma with the Buff`s,...... as well as fighting in N.Africa first against the other two Axis baddies! They were a special breed that Golden Generation and we should never forget them,

Cheers

            Tony

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49 minutes ago, tonyot said:

Thanks Kev,...... yeah they did a good job. Sorry to hear about your Grandad,..... he must have gone through hell as one of their guests too! My late Grandad was a Chindit and my wife`s late Grandad also fought in Burma with the Buff`s,...... as well as fighting in N.Africa first against the other two Axis baddies! They were a special breed that Golden Generation and we should never forget them,

Cheers

            Tony

Thanks mate, my Grandad was Royal Artillery and converted to pack guns and supported the Chindits.  Who knows they could well have known each other they would certainly have shared they same ground at some point. 

 

He survived the war.   He was a regular solider he joined in 1926, he would talk about he pre-Burma days openly, but rarely about Burma and only that he was there or in a camp no or very little detail.  He suffered from malaria for the remainder of his life, he died in the early 80's aged 76. :poppy:   

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3 hours ago, Kev The Modeller said:

Thanks mate, my Grandad was Royal Artillery and converted to pack guns and supported the Chindits.  Who knows they could well have known each other they would certainly have shared they same ground at some point. 

 

He survived the war.   He was a regular solider he joined in 1926, he would talk about he pre-Burma days openly, but rarely about Burma and only that he was there or in a camp no or very little detail.  He suffered from malaria for the remainder of his life, he died in the early 80's aged 76. :poppy:   

How interesting,.... yeah my Grandad never spoke about the war to anybody and he threw his medals in the sea. He hated anything Japanese,..... nobody in the family were allowed anything Japanese and he threw our Radio Rentals telly out into the street in the 70`s!! I remember him having a few bevvy`s and saying how he found a mate tied to a tree and used for bayonet practice by the Japs,...... and just before he died,.... although quite confused he just sat me down and spoke about it,..... he said "I`m telling you because you are the only bugger who will understand",.... as I was a soldier myself!

My wife`s Grandad in the Buff`s was also a pre war Regular,.... 1932 I think,..... already seen active service in Palestine, Burma and the NW Frontier before the war started,..... and he was in Burma when it did. Sent to the desert,..... he fought the Italians and Germans there,....... then when that was over he returned to Burma for the rest o the war,........ he was one of a handful of the original battalon still serving in 1945!! He hated Japs too and he most definitely had what we now call PTSD,..... he was a hard little bugger too!

Thanks for telling me your Grandads story,...... my Grandad may well have come across him because he was a Jungle Warfare Instructor at the camp in India and then went in with the lads he had trained,

All the best

                  Tony  

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7 hours ago, tonyot said:

Thanks mate,..... I never realised that the Hallamshires was a descendent of the York & Lancs,..... you learn something new every day! Yeah quite a few old infantry regiments had battalions converted to the armoured role and given RAC numbers.

Cheers,

             Tony

The Hallamshires were originally the 4th Battalion of the Y&L, the territorial battalion.  When things were reorganised in the '70's the battalion became a company in the 1st Battalion Yorkshire Volunteers, D Company, based in Sheffield with a platoon at Barnsley.  Interestingly, (well I think it's interesting) when the army was reorganised in the Cardwell reforms in 1881, the regiment, an amalgamation of the 65th and 84th Foot, was originally going to be called the Hallamshire regiment before it was decided to call it the York and Lancasters. 

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Nice work, I started out building British and Commonwealth AFV's so a British Lee got my attention, I found building AFV's was a lot more relaxing than aircraft as well.

I have an interest in Burma as well as my late and very much missed father in law spend the war in India and Burma.

He was in the 9th Field Regiment which was on it's way to reinforce Singapore but it fell while they were still at sea so they were diverted to Madagascar where they became part of the invasion force. The unit then proceeded to India and thence to Burma, where they were attached to the 20th Infantry Division (India), the unit was trapped behind enemy lines for some time and David's wife got a telegram saying that he was missing. Thankfully he was fine fine and was promoted to Captain, after the war he was moved on to Palestine.

He reckoned that as terrible as it was they were the best years of his life, he did not talk about the war to anyone until I he realised that I knew what a Quad was, once he got to know me better he told me quite a few stories, he was a pretty amazing character and he is much missed.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

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21 hours ago, tonyot said:

How interesting,.... yeah my Grandad never spoke about the war to anybody and he threw his medals in the sea. He hated anything Japanese,..... nobody in the family were allowed anything Japanese and he threw our Radio Rentals telly out into the street in the 70`s!! I remember him having a few bevvy`s and saying how he found a mate tied to a tree and used for bayonet practice by the Japs,...... and just before he died,.... although quite confused he just sat me down and spoke about it,..... he said "I`m telling you because you are the only bugger who will understand",.... as I was a soldier myself!

My wife`s Grandad in the Buff`s was also a pre war Regular,.... 1932 I think,..... already seen active service in Palestine, Burma and the NW Frontier before the war started,..... and he was in Burma when it did. Sent to the desert,..... he fought the Italians and Germans there,....... then when that was over he returned to Burma for the rest o the war,........ he was one of a handful of the original battalon still serving in 1945!! He hated Japs too and he most definitely had what we now call PTSD,..... he was a hard little bugger too!

Thanks for telling me your Grandads story,...... my Grandad may well have come across him because he was a Jungle Warfare Instructor at the camp in India and then went in with the lads he had trained,

All the best

                  Tony  

They sound very similar.  My Grandad never collected his medals, he was to ill when he returned to the UK and missed all the celebrations,  I got his medals for my Nan after he died, I've got them now.  Your Grandads story of the bayoneted soldier was one he did mention towards the end of his life, his was men falling out of a work line,  He also mentioned the Japs would execute men by sitting and securing them on growing bamboo, as you know its grows up 16in a day.  He too hated the Japs, I didn't know how much until I bought my first motorbike a Kawasaki KH250 he was so up set, I felt really bad.  

 

I'm sorry, this has kinda hijacked the thread, but they were like all the others very brave men.   

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20 hours ago, spitfire said:

Nice work, I started out building British and Commonwealth AFV's so a British Lee got my attention, I found building AFV's was a lot more relaxing than aircraft as well.

I have an interest in Burma as well as my late and very much missed father in law spend the war in India and Burma.

He was in the 9th Field Regiment which was on it's way to reinforce Singapore but it fell while they were still at sea so they were diverted to Madagascar where they became part of the invasion force. The unit then proceeded to India and thence to Burma, where they were attached to the 20th Infantry Division (India), the unit was trapped behind enemy lines for some time and David's wife got a telegram saying that he was missing. Thankfully he was fine fine and was promoted to Captain, after the war he was moved on to Palestine.

He reckoned that as terrible as it was they were the best years of his life, he did not talk about the war to anyone until I he realised that I knew what a Quad was, once he got to know me better he told me quite a few stories, he was a pretty amazing character and he is much missed.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

Your Father in Law certainly did his bit too Dennis,...... what a generation they are/were eh?

Cheers

          Tony

23 hours ago, Ridhani Agustama said:

Simple but beautiful, great work :D

Thank you very much,

Cheers

         Tony

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19 hours ago, Kev The Modeller said:

They sound very similar.  My Grandad never collected his medals, he was to ill when he returned to the UK and missed all the celebrations,  I got his medals for my Nan after he died, I've got them now.  Your Grandads story of the bayoneted soldier was one he did mention towards the end of his life, his was men falling out of a work line,  He also mentioned the Japs would execute men by sitting and securing them on growing bamboo, as you know its grows up 16in a day.  He too hated the Japs, I didn't know how much until I bought my first motorbike a Kawasaki KH250 he was so up set, I felt really bad.  

 

I'm sorry, this has kinda hijacked the thread, but they were like all the others very brave men.   

Not hijacked at all Kev,..... I love hearing about veterans stories although your Grandad`s sounds rather harrowing,...... he must have been through a living hell,...... I certainly don`t know if I would have been able to cope with what he went through. ....... to survive that he must have been mentally and physically tough, that takes some doing under those conditions for such a long time. 

All the best

                   Tony

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3 minutes ago, tonyot said:

Not hijacked at all Kev,..... I love hearing about veterans stories although your Grandad`s sounds rather harrowing,...... he must have been through a living hell,...... I certainly don`t know if I would have been able to cope with what he went through. ....... to survive that he must have been mentally and physically tough, that takes some doing under those conditions for such a long time. 

All the best

                   Tony

Thanks Tony.  I really no very little about his Burma and POW experiences other than what I've mentioned and a few other bits, he did say about 30 odd were captured only half survived the camp, work details, neglect and disease to be repatriated to India a few more died there.  I've read more died later after returning to the UK and died early due to complications, he suffered what we now know as PTSD and drank heavily (for a while) for years before I was born.  I knew him as a loving Grandad father my mother didn't she was born in 39, he spent very little time with her before he was sent to Burma via India she was 2 when he left and almost 6 when he returned she had no idea who he was.  His PTSD made things very difficult for them both and she tells me she never had the loving father she wanted all very sad and I've no doubt very common story.  I've got know idea where the camp was or what he was forced to work on, possibly the infamous railway at some point, I'm not even sure how long he was a POW for.  I suppose I could find out but a part of me doesn't want to know the facts I'd get upset and probably quite angry!     

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9 minutes ago, Kev The Modeller said:

Thanks Tony.  I really no very little about his Burma and POW experiences other than what I've mentioned and a few other bits, he did say about 30 odd were captured only half survived the camp, work details, neglect and disease to be repatriated to India a few more died there.  I've read more died later after returning to the UK and died early due to complications, he suffered what we now know as PTSD and drank heavily (for a while) for years before I was born.  I knew him as a loving Grandad father my mother didn't she was born in 39, he spent very little time with her before he was sent to Burma via India she was 2 when he left and almost 6 when he returned she had no idea who he was.  His PTSD made things very difficult for them both and she tells me she never had the loving father she wanted all very sad and I've no doubt very common story.  I've got know idea where the camp was or what he was forced to work on, possibly the infamous railway at some point, I'm not even sure how long he was a POW for.  I suppose I could find out but a part of me doesn't want to know the facts I'd get upset and probably quite angry!     

Kev,.... I`ve heard almost the same story so many times when it comes to Far East veterans and my wifes grandad was exactly the same,...... angry little man who drank a lot and wasn`t there for his daughters who hardly knew him when he came home......, definitely what we would call PTSD now,...... it wasn`t just the war years that the survivors sacrificed mate.... these blokes fought their demons for the rest of their lives and there loved ones suffered too!

All the best

                  Tony 

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