 |
 |
May 11 2007
Khine's Diary of her trip in February,
a very informative and well told story
of the world of Burma today
LEDO ROAD DIARY - FEBRUARY 2007
February 1: Yangon
I decided at the last minute to join the tour as the school will close for two weeks. I couldn't do really much in planning this trip due to my crazy schedule between giving English classes and teaching at the French school. Teaching is not easy....
February 3: Yangon
I continued to receive emails from all three participants. Tony from Baron Travels should have the permits squared away by now. I've told Tony to update the participants about the arrangements. Arun (from Bangalore) has many questions and continued to be so enthusiastic about the trip. I emailed everyone to bring sleeping bags, some food items they would like to have as we will only be eating "rice"!
February 10: Yangon
Met up with Baron Travels and went through the tour program. My mind is in a thousand directions. Time just isn't on my side.
February 13: Yangon
Visited Baron Travels office again to go through the program. Peter (from Australia) and Arun arrive a day early due to flight connections. Hotel accommodation is okay and transportation has been arranged. Ron, who came last year from the States, should be arriving in Bangkok on the 16th.
February 16:
Yangon, arrival of Arun and Peter Met up with Peter and Arun at the hotel in the afternoon. Peter visited Burma for the first time in the late 80s. He isn't related to any WWII veteran. His interest in the CBI Theater (Burma Campaign) started when he first read the book "The LongestWar" by Louis Allan. I forgot how he got my contact information though. As for Arun, he got my contact information from someone in America who is aware of my interest in the "road". I should check my head. Seriously, I am having such shortage of memory these days...
February 17: Yangon, Ron arrived
I went to meet Ron at the airport. Ron looked tired but he hugged me with a big smile. The arrival hall at the Yangon International Airport has gone quite modern within a year! I don't know how accurate the information is but the Myanmar Times (English newspaper) said that tourists arrivals are up this year.
We met up with Arun and Peter at the hotel and chatted for a couple of hours. Then, we went to have dinner at the "Royal Barge" (Karaweik) for a Buffet Asian dinner and traditional Burmese dance show. Ron slipped and had a bruise on his forehead. He must be really tired from the long plane ride.
February 18: To Myitkyina - On the Road!
Unlike last year, we didn't have to get up so early to get to the airport to fly up to Myitkyina. Our flight this time left Yangon at 11am and we landed in Myitkyina just after lunch time. It was smooth sailing on the flight and it was almost full. This flight goes via Mandalay and all the way up to "Putao" known as Ft. Hertz in the former days.
After formalities at the airport and after we checked in at this small hotel where we also stayed last year, we set out to visit some of the sights in the town.We also went to see Major Khun Jar Naw, the only living
Kachin Levie who is 89 years old. Arun asked a few questions about his former days working with the
"Chindits". I took Peter Heppell (Chindit Veteran from England) and his family to meet with him last year during our quest to visit "Broadway".
February 19:Myikyina. Woke up at 6am. Didn't sleep too well due to the noise outside of the room. Other participants slept okay, it seemed, except Peter who wasn't a happy camper due to the noise. He requested to change hotel on our way back from Pangsau. No problems, I said, we'll try and get some rooms at the sister hotel down the road. I went to a local teashop close by the hotel to have fresh brewed tea and "E Kyar Kway", a deep fried bread dough which is almost as good as the western equivalent of "doughnut". Tony and his son (the ever accommodating "Steven", who came with me to "Broadway") also woke up early and had some noodles,
they said. All three participants, on the other hand, had breakfast at the hotel. 9am - The 4-wheel truck was fully loaded with our luggage, water bottles and food items. Since it was a double-cab, Ron sat next to the driver, Peter, Arun and Tony sat at the back directly behind Ron and the driver. The driver brought along an assistant (who will become our river navigator) so there were 4 sitting at the back open space, next to the luggage. Space, was very limited and our bottoms were barely sitting on the spare tire. The wind was quite cool as well.
First stop: Namti.
We visited the old railway station still being used and also visited an old Chinese soldier from the Chinese Expeditionary Army who immigrated in Burma just before the war ended. An aggressive old guy of almost 90 years of age, talking to us half in Chinese and in Burmese. Tony being Chinese translated what the old guy was saying into Burmese and I translated into English for all the participants. The old Chinese soldier kept on repeating that he was the "supervisor" of one of the Chinese units and that he was not the "ordinary" foot soldier! His son who was half embarrassed about his father's behavior kept apologizing at us while his father shouted him to shut up.
Tony finally told me in Burmese that the old soldier wanted to have some money from us and that we should compensate him if we wished to listen to his war-time stories. Tony was not too happy about it but since he is also Chinese and it was Chinese New Year after all, he left some money for the old soldier.
From Namti onwards, we traveled on the road into the "Hukawang Valley".We came across several signs that said "You are now crossing the wildlife corridor", a program under the Wildlife Conservation Society, WCS.WCS's head office is located in Bronx, NY and I had the privilege to meet with Dr. Alan Rabinowitz, known as the Leopard Man, last year and again just prior to the my departure on the Ledo road.
Dr. Rabinowitz has been coming into Burma for the past 10 years, in order to save the "Tigers".
The road through Hukawang Valley until we reached Tanai (Walawbum) was graveled most of the way but very dusty in some areas. Both Ron and I noticed the clearings on both side of the road with visible tire tracks going into the forest. There weren't any clearings like this last year and according to the Burmese signboard, it says 200, 0000 acres of clearing for a big sugar cane plantation. This means there will be more traffic from next year onwards at least between Myitkyina and Tanai. I wonder if China has something to do with it.
After a few stops here and there along the road taking photos of local people in small villages and elephants, we stopped atWaruzup for a break where we crossed over a good size Bailey bridge. As we continued our way, we waved at kids; some waved us back crying "Hello..." As we had brought some candies with us we distributed them among the kids during our brief stops and the goodies disappeared rapidly. Kids were so shy at first that they didn't want to take the candies but it was all smiles later on.
We slowly continued our way to Shadazup where we stopped for lunch and repair the busted tires. Lunch was a simple affair, rice with curry or Chinese stir-fried noodles. Shadazup seemed to be a bit busier than Waruzup and the village seemed to be bigger in size.We saw a big cross on top of the mountain that suggested that there are a lot more Christians living here.
Finally, we entered Tanai (Walawbum) about 6.30 pm where we ended the day. Tanai is a small town with several small shops and restaurants along the main road.We lodged at a Government guesthouse this time under the Ministry of Forestry. (We were at a local guesthouse last year). Rooms were okay but we all had to share a common bathroom and toilette.
I was traveling with 8 men, including the driver and his assistant so I became the Mother Goose, fussing and asking everyone to hurry up while Tony, the tour manager hands out paper after paper to the local authorities. There were 4 different local authorities who visited Tony through out the evening. All wanted the same papers and none of them wanted to ask the other for our information. It was frustrating. We ended up having Chinese for dinner which was quite good! After dinner,we slowly walked back to the guesthouse and called it a day. It was getting quite cool outside.
Back at the guesthouse: The bed was hard but at least there were blankets and a mosquito net! Interesting enough, I didn't notice any mossies buzzing around (I learnt this expression from the Heppell family last year, the English word for mosquitoes). But the temperature dropped and it was COLD!!!!!!
February 20: Tanai to Shinbwiyang
All participants were up by 6.30am. Boy, I didn't realize it would be this COLD! We all went to have breakfast at a local teashop just around the corner from the guesthouse that served (in my opinion), excellent "chapattis" (Chapatti is the Indian version of the Mexican Tortilla made from whole
wheat flour). It was served with a small portion of potato dish called "bar-gee". The rest of the participants had some noodles with tea or coffee. Ron had the fried dough, "E Kyar Kway".
7.30am -Where is the sun when you need it? Just before we took off, Steven went to get me a pair of gloves in Tanai market. Might as well because it was so cold at the back of the truck with the wind blowing! As the truck took off, I put on my wool cap and my gloves. I had a long sleeve T-shirt and a sweater on top but obviously, that wasn't enough. It always happen to me. When you need warm clothing, you don't have them and when you have them, you don't need them!
The road was relatively flat with occasional bumps and very dusty again. I hope Tony will be able to make some conversation with Ron, Peter and Arun as we sat quietly at the back of the open truck with the luggage. I don't know about the others but my bottom air-borned a few times from the bumps of the road and it was not pleasant when it landed on the tire.
In spite of the bumps and the cold wind we kept our conservation going. Steven said he was told by one of the local authorities last night that the Chinese are thinking to make good use of the former "Tengchong cutoff" to get the Burma Road closer to the Ledo. The Indians on the other hand, I said, have agreed to build a highway from Imphal to Mandalay.
We crossed a number of terrible looking ditches on the way. The truck driver drove quite fast but he was experienced enough to maneuver the ditches. There were a few trucks loaded beyond the limit of "maximum" with people sitting on top. We took photos of course. Tarung River crossing: We crossed several small rivers en route without any problems but then when we reached the Tarung River, the driver stopped the car. It was here at this river where the U.S. army built a the longest Pontoon bridge duringWWII but there was nothing left there now. No bridge.
This is where the driver's assistant became the walking-GPS. As we did not know how deep the river would be, the driver asked his assistant to walk in the middle of the river where there were big pebbles.
As the young assistant slowly crossed the river, he shouted back at us where it was okay for the truck to cross. (The truck fortunately had high clearance).When the walking-GPS almost reached the other side, I asked all the participants to climb up to the back of the truck where they could stand while the truck crossed the river. Tony and I rode inside of the truck seated next to the driver.
The engine roared as we started to cross.Water came in slowly into the floor of the truck and I felt it under my shoes. Please do not let us be stuck in the middle of the river! The truck crept slowly and steadily as the walking-GPS hand signaled the directions to the driver, standing in the middle of the river, shivering.
And we made it across!
We spent about half an hour on the other side of Tarung to dry off the floor of the truck and the seats. Meanwhile, the young assistant changed into some dry clothes that he had carried in a bag as we took some photos of the Tarung River. I personally enjoyed feeling the warmth of the sun for a few minutes.
Direction Shinbwiyang: As soon as everyone was back in the truck, the driver began to put his heavy foot on the gas panel. The road from Tarung to Shinbwiyang was quite flat, mostly graveled and muddy in a few spots. We crossed more villages. Thank goodness, it did not rain this time. I remembered last year, a heavy down-pour came down on us that we had to stop by a small village to get some shelter. In fact, this time theweather was perfect.
By the time we stopped at the entrance of Shinbwiyang village in front of the old airfield, it was already close to 2pm. I personally wanted to move onwhen there is still day light and spend more time here on our way back. Besides, we're going to be in the middle of the JUNGLE soon and I really don't want to get stuck!
However, Peter and Arun wanted to walk along the old airfield for a while. Fair enough, this was their first visit. The motorcycle that Tony hired in Tanai in addition to the truck, proved to be useful. The driver was quite knowledgeable and because Steven rode on the bike, we finally had a bit more space at the back of the truck! Unfortunately, those seated on the spare tire at the back of the truck kept shifting their sitting positions more frequently now whenever there was even a slight bump!
3pm: After a quick bite to eat at a small restaurant operated by a mother and daughter, we made our way towards Nanyun. As soon as we reached the end of the village driving on the Ledo Road itself, we noticed high mountain ranges ahead of us. As our truck slowly moved its way towards the mountains, the road condition suddenly changed. There were more deep ditches, the road was not visible anymore and it was muddier.We started to climb uphill on the "Angpawng Bum" (Angpawng Range) which will become parallel to the "Patkai Range".
As the road took us into the heart of the Angpawng Range, the air became cooler, the jungle dense, and the road became narrower. There were no traffic at all for a while until we saw a military beat up old truck in front of us trying to get up on a hill.We couldn't pass by it either as the road was really narrow. So, we stopped. The situation didn't look too good as the old truck seemed to be having engine problems. The guys went over and tried to help but in vain. But, if it wasn't for Peter's genieous idea (who asked the drivers if they had brought with them any shuffle but found an iron rod instead) to use something sharp to dig the sides of the road to create some room for our truck to maneuver, we'd be stuck there for a long time! So we all joined in using some rocks from the side of the road to join in Peter who started digging.
We made our way slowly up the range, crossing a number of Bailey bridges. I must give credit to the driver who really maneuvered the road very well avoiding getting stuck in the mud! I have never seen such deep muddy ditches like that before! We stopped at 18th mile (post) to see the working elephants. There were people collecting long thin bamboos.
It must be about 5pm when we saw two military trucks ahead of us slowly moving up the hill. There were people on them too. Suddenly, the first truck stopped. No, no, I thought. You cannot break down now or stop here, not now. It is getting dark, we must move on.We really must reach Nanyun tonight! I stood up from the back of the truck with alarm bells ringing in my head of the truck. Then I saw someone approaching us from the first truck. He was in a military uniform. His face seemed familiar yet I couldn't remember where I had seen him. Suddenly, Ron got our of the car holding a photo he had taken last year with a Burmese Major when he was in Ledo. That was the Major! What a strange coincidence to meet him in the middle of the jungle and what a stroke of luck for us! The Major shook hands with Ron and after a few minutes of conversation, he told us to stay at his camp tonight at Nanyun. Of course, it was an offer too good to refuse! He then ordered one of his soldiers to accompany us to Nanyun and told us to go past their convoy. He said they had left Tanai at 6am this morning and it would take about 3 more hours for them to get to Nanyun as their trucks had to move slowly on the road.
Conversation with the soldier: The soldier was a friendly guy. He has been living in Nanyun for the past 5 years.Do you like it there? Not particularly but it's quiet, he said. How big is Nanyun and what is the population, I asked. Not big, about 3000 people, he answered. Not bad, I thought. Do you have enough provisions for the whole village, I asked him. No, not really - was the answer. Why, I continued.
We live with what we have until a provision truck comes up from Tanai or Shinbwiyang. But don't worry, he said, you'll be okay. (Little did I know then that it would not be the case for us!) As night began to fall, I became more and more concerned due to the condition of the road, especially crossing some old bridges. The soldier said rain had fallen just a week ago. Aha, that explains why the road was very muddy in some places!
As the truck moved its way slowly, there were two sharp pins that we had to turn with very little room to maneuver. The road was very muddy and there were only two planks on the road. Oh dear, I thought, please don't let us be stuck here now...
Miraculously, the driver managed to get us through. Everyone wondered how those two military trucks would pass these pins given the limited turning space. By the time we finally entered Nanyun, it was 7.30pm. There were only a few lights here and there and most of the village was in the dark! We were all very tired but had to wait about 20 minutes to get to our lodging place. The good soldier brought with him the local authorities who were all accommodating. Nanyun Guesthouse: A one-storey, two-room cement building.
The big room had three two-seater chairs and a table, and the so-called VIP room had a bed and a toilette. (I'm being very sarcastic using the term "VIP"). Since Ron was the senior member in our group and he was very tired, we gave him the room. Peter requested to be in the same room with Ron and to sleep on the cold-cement floor using his sleeping bag. I hope Ron doesn't snore, he said.
Like everywhere in Burma, the electricity in Nanyun was very limited and we were informed that it was going to be cut-off at 10pm. So, I had to rush and make arrangements for dinner. Ron brought some provisions with him but it was not enough to make it into a meal. One of the local authorities (there were several chatting with us) introduced me to a teacher from the Home Economics School and said I should talk to her to help me prepare the dinner. After a few words with the kind lady, I found out, just like the good humored soldier said that food was very limited in Nanyun. No one could spare much so I asked the kind teacher to take me to a store where I could buy some instant-noodles and some eggs. Everything was closed at that hour and the entire town (which looked more like a big spread out village to me) was pitchdark except at a few places.We were lucky to have met that Major; otherwise we would have had to sleep on the road!
As we walked to the store in the dark using our flash lights, I noticed how COLD the air had become. It was definitely colder than Tanai. The teacher was wearing a hat and a thick jacket and her hands were tucked in the pockets. I left all the guys in the VIP building who were chatting away.
The store did not have a lot of things. To cook rice would take long and there isn't anything to go with the rice so I decided to purchase some instant noodle packets and eggs for dinner, as well as for breakfast tomorrow. The items, obviously, cost a lot more than I had imagined. An egg that would generally cost about 80 kyat cost 150 kyat in Nanyun, the instant noodle packet was 250 kyat a packet vs. 120 kyat, and the individual coffee packs were 200 kyat vs. 90 kyat. The unofficial exchange rate was 1200 kyat to 1USD in the country at that time. These prices considered to be expensive for the locals would not be too much for most Westerners to spend but if you only make 12,000 kyat a month as a Home Economics teacher, with no provisions provided, I wondered how the teachers and the locals manage to survive? (The official exchange rate is still 6.46 kyat to 1USD but no one applies it. Not even the government officials).
With noodle packets, eggs and coffee in hand, the teacher led me to her living quarters where she lives with other student teachers. She suggested that the ladies would prepare the noodles for us there, and they would bring it over to the VIP building. I asked for some hot water as well to make some coffee. The ladies immediately poured some piping hot water (apparently, their wooden stoves continue to burn until very late at night) into two thermos containers which I carried them back to the guesthouse with some cups in hand. There were 10 people to be fed.
The truck driver and his young assistant and the motor bike driver declined to have dinner saying that I should spare the food for the guests. They were very considerate but I told them that I had prepared enough soup for everyone. I, on the other hand, was not hungry at all so I had only coffee and a few of Ron's crackers.
The ladies arrived within half an hour carrying a big pot and some bowls. The guys chowed down their soup fast!While they ate, I spoke with the ladies and made arrangements for breakfast, which would be the same deal - Noodle soup! They'd come over and serve breakfast at 7am the next morning and would bring some hot water as well. They were so nice.
After dinner, we quickly assembled to make our sleeping arrangements on the floor. The truck driver and his assistant would sleep in the truck, which leaves 6 people to share one room and I'm the only female. Peter, Ron and Arun had brought their sleeping bags which helped a lot, but the rest of us had nothing much to cover ourselves. So, Steven quickly went out again to buy 2 blankets from the same store where I bought the food and rented 3 other blankets from two different houses. We had purchased some mats in Myitkyina that we brought along that became very useful to sleep on the floor. Lights had gone out by then and we were using candles that I had brought along. It was a very, very, COLD night.
February 21: Nanyun-Shinbwiyang.
The morning came for me very early between listening and counting the guys who snored in turn. Besides, I had to get up twice in the middle of the night to use the facility outside. It is not a good idea to drink coffee at night especially when it is cold. Forget about using Ron's VIP private toilette, it was blocked anyway.
6.15am - Everyone woke up more or less the same time. Breakfast came on time as well. There was an intoxicated gentleman who was chatting a bit too loud with Tony last night. I didn't have time to talk with him but who was he? Trouble started: As we were having coffee and trying to make plans to move forward towards Pangsau, a guy came into the building and asked to speak with Tony. A few minutes later, we were informed the bad news that we were not allowed to proceed to Pangsau and that we should return to Tanai immediately.
Why? It is not safe for foreigners.
A number of people came one after another to speak with Tony and a lot of discussion went on. He wanted to call to Yangon but no phone-line available until 12 noon. There was only one phone line (so we were told) that opens up from 12 noon to 3pm only. We tried to see the Major we met with en route - nowhere to be found. So Ron offered Tony to use his SAT phone to call his office in Rangoon. It was difficult for calls to go through but after several attempts, Tony managed to speak to his staff for a brief moment I asked Tony what was the matter but I wasn't given a satisfactory answer. Instead, he said, I'll explain later.
As Tony and Ron spent time in the VIP room trying to use the SAT phone (SAT phones are not allowed to bring into the country), the others stood outside in the sun. It felt good. However, a group of what it seems to be ‘officials' gathered near us. They wouldn't go into the building either but instead two of them came to me in turn, to say that we should leave soon for Tanai. They were so accommodating last night but now, all of them were eager to kick us out. They weren't rude or anything, but acted as if they were afraid of something. So I asked them what the matter was. Someone had radioed in from Tanai to Nanyun and gave specific instructions that we should leave Nanyun immediately without proceeding to Pangsau.
The real main reason, I was told then, was that our travel permit was only valid until Tanai. It was not the reason that the road towards Pangsau was unsafe for foreigners.We tried to talk to the authorities but everyone seemed to be scared to even talk to us. I tried to locate the friendly Major who offered us to stay in Nanyun but he too, was nowhere to be found.
1pm: We finally gave up and left Nanyun to return to Shinbwiyang. Tony, however, sent up his son Steven on a bike with the bike-driver to take photos of the road and to find out the condition in Pangsau. Burmese, on the other hand, were allowed to travel on the road. It was only 32 miles to Pangsau but according to the people in Nanyun, the road condition is much worse up there and they guessed that it would take a good 4 hours by truck anyway.
With a big disappointment, we slowly returned to Shinbwiyang. En route, we stopped to take some photos and to chat with the people who were assembling and collecting fuel pipes. They were definitely from WWII as some of them were bringing them down from the hills, passing thick trees. When asked what they were going to do with it, we were told that the local authorities will be using it as water pipes in certain areas perhaps in villages.
6pm: Shinbwiyang. We checked into Lynn Guesthouse, the only decent one in town. Conveniently enough, it was next to the Immigration check point.Why immigration check point in the middle of nowhere was beyond my comprehension. I guess we needed to make government workers happy by providing them with jobs even if it as not necessarily needed!
After making sure everyone had rooms (we had no trouble as we were the only guests there!), Tony asked me to follow him to the Immigration office. The young receptionist had already warned upon checking in that Immigration officers wished to talk with us (Tony and I) for an urgent matter. Oh, boy, I thought, what more could it be?
As soon as we sat down, the two officers told us that we MUST leave immediately for Tanai. It was already getting dark outside so we asked them that we would like to stay the night. They weren't too kind with us at all treating us like we had done something wrong. Burmese men prefer to do the talking and do not particular like a female cutting into the conversation. Especially a Burmese female. But I did. The two guys, in my opinion, were using their little muscles to show who the boss around here was. Well, think again, I thought. I'm not the typical Burmese female who would be easily intimidated! Tony looked at me in a way to say, don't argue with them. Our truck driver also offered to help by calling his sister in Myitkyina as she knew a high-ranking person there. Unfortunately, he couldn't be reached I refuse to give in because these guys were being such idiots! I toned down my voice and commented how could we continue our way out to Shinbwiyang when there was the Tarung River to cross? There is no bridge! We cannot cross the river in the dark, it is impossible! That is not their problem, they replied.
Oh, that made me mad. But instead of arguing with them and losing my temper, I had to think of a strategy. Ron had already turned himself into his room, sleeping and no way, am I prepared to leave Shinbwiyang that night!
So I went to get Peter and asked for his help. I told him the story of the nit-wits trying to kick us out and told him about my strategy to retaliate. It was simple: Peter just has to stand in front of those two idiots and ask me to translate that he wants know what's going on and to tell them that if we cannot stay here for the night, he would make a formal complaint at the Australian Embassy when he gets back to Yangon.
Burmese officials, most of them anyway, dislike having any kind of confrontation with Westerners. This is mainly due to the language barrier but more so because they can get into big trouble arguing with Westerner and they hate to ‘lose their face'. My plan was to use their weakness against them with Peter's help.
I hate to be nasty to someone but these guys weren't being helpful at all. I requested them again that we'd leave immediately the next morning and that this is only for the night. No, was the answer - we have orders from Tanai that you must leave now. So I translated that to Peter who stood next to me. He asked them what the problem was and why we could not stay the night. They told me to tell him the same thing that they told me. I did. Peter said he refused to leave Shinbwiyang. Not their problem. So I argued with the idiots that if they'd sign off a paper saying that if something happens to the "guests" while crossing Tarung, they'd be responsible. Of course, they didn't like that idea either. Suddenly, someone entered the office. He was their boss, a Lieutenant, who asked what was going on. I explained the situation. He was more receptive than his staff. While his staff explained to him in a bias way what the situation was, Peter told them that there were three different nationalities involved (India, America and Australia) and they were guests in Burma. If they kick us out tonight, he said that he would personally write to the Australian Embassy and make a formal complaint. Suddenly, the attitude of the two idiots changed and became apologetic. Finally, an agreement was made: we can stay the night in Shinbwiyang and leave the next day.
February 22: Shinbwiyang - Tanai - Myitkyina
Everyone woke up early. As agreed, we said we'd have a quick breakfast at the same little restaurant we stopped on our way and we would leave Shinbwiyang by 7.30am. The plan for today was to reach Tanai and depending on the arrival time, we may or may not stay overnight there.
Tony sat at the back of the truck this time and explained to me the whole situation then. He said he knew the travel permit was allowed only until Tanai but when he was applying for it in Rangoon, he had met up with a director-general from the tourism bureau who "verbally" assured him that the permit will only allow foreigners to Tanai but that Tony will have to work his way (which means pay as you go) through Pangsau. It was the same deal last year when we first went up to Tanai accompanying Ron. The permit was only allowed passage until Tanai but we made it to Shinbwiyang with the approval of the officials in Tanai. Tea-money, as we say in Burmese, does wonders. Most of the time, anyway.
So I told Tony that he should have told that to the guests before they flew over to Burma that their passage was assured only until Tanai but that we would have to negotiate our way through to Pangsau. But he told me not to tell the guests about it yet for some unknown reason. When we reached Tanai, it was about 12 noon.We had stopped en route to take more photos. We drove directly to the guesthouse to pick up some of the things we had left there. Tony was summoned immediately by the authorities. His acquaintance, the immigration officer, was the first to appear with a semi hostile attitude. When we were in Tanai, he was one of the people who came to meet with Tony.
Tony had already contacted him from Rangoon prior to our travel and was given a good amount of Teamoney who ‘verbally' assured him that he would take care of validity of the permit but that we would have to give some additional tea-money when we get there. Tony had agreed.
Tony told us not to worry and that we should go for lunch and that he'd follow us. Tanai Main Street was not New York's 5th Avenue and anyone could easily identify where we were as Peter, Arun and Ron were the only 3 foreigners in town anyway. Tony did not show up for lunch so we returned to the guesthouse and waited again. 2 hours later, no sign of Tony so Peter suggested that we should go and rescue Tony from being interrogated.
When we finally found Tony, he was leaving the Immigration office with his acquaintance. He, obviously had to give him more tea-money. But the reason why he absented for 2 hours was because he had to go and see this new military commander who apparently lectured him that he should have come to his office to report the arrival of his guests. The permit had reached his office and sure enough, he didn't want us to go through to Pangsau. Last year, we managed to go to Shinbwiyang although the permit was valid only until Tanai because the local authorities in Tanai allowed us to go through. It was obvious that Tony's acquaintance, the immigration officer, was unable to persuade the new commander this time, to let us go through.
No one really wanted to stay in Tanai anymore so we all decided to drive to Myitkyina. It would be late when we get there but at least we'd be in a more comfortable environment. Tony, still refuse to explain the situation to the guests and told me not to. He did not want to lose his face in front of the guests but I told him that it was better that he explained.
The ride to Myitkyina was solemn except Arun who was taking photos. He was cheerful and was still in good spirits. I was cold and frustrated trying to think what I should tell the guests while not making Tony embarrassed. It was hard.
We stopped in Warazup as we wanted to look for this old airfield there. Sure enough, we found it but it was not well-maintained. When we reached Myitkyina, (after a dinner stop) it was about 9pm.We checked into a different hotel. The rooms were good but I made sure Peter got a quiet room. We agreed to meet up the next morning to make plans to travel to Mogaung.
February 23: Mogaung
As we returned to Myitkyina earlier than planned we decided to visit Mogaung and have a full day tour of Myitkyina on February 24. In Mogaung, the guests saw a few oldWWII related things including a U.S. pontoon turned upside down, sitting in someone's backyard.We returned to Myitkyina early afternoon.
Bleecker turned into General Pick: Ron brought with him some DVD tapes that he made last year and one of them was the interview he did with a Shik family in Myitkyina. He wanted to bring a copy to the family.
Arun and Peter, on the other hand, wanted to go and meet this guy who told them about a book written by General Pick. Really? How interesting I said, because I did not know that General Pick had written a book.
So we decided that while they go and see this guy, I and Ron would go and deliver the DVD and we'd meet back at the hotel afterwards. We drove to the Shik's family. They were surprised to see us again. Ron gave them a copy of the DVD and sat down to talk for a while. Moments later, Arun and Peter appeared. What are you doing here, we asked
each other. We came to deliver the DVD, Ron said. We came to see the book, Peter replied. What book, I asked. The book the gentleman said he received last year, written by General Pick. The book, in turned out, was a copy of Ron's father, F.A. Bleecker's diary that Ron had left last year with the Shik's family. How on earth the name had transformed into General Pick, was a wonder. Oh, well, it proved there is such a thing called Chinese whisper after all!
Later that night we all went out to have dinner at a nearby restaurant. Tony was unable to join so I took the chance to tell everyone about the permit. Everyone was disappointed. Tony might be mad at me for doing this but I couldn't hold back anymore. No sign of Steven yet. He should have arrived to Myitkyina today.
February 24: Myitkyina
After breakfast, we went for a tour of the city and managed to identity all 4 airfields, according to my old aerial aviation map.We visited a house entirely built with US Army supplies. We also crossed the bridge "Bala Min Din" to go to the other side. The road was not ready and it was a rough ride. We returned to the hotel early in the afternoon.
Since it was our final day in Myitkyina, I told the guests that we should try some typical Kachin dishes beside the Irrawaddy River and to leave the hotel at 7. As we were leaving, Steven showed up. He looked so worn out but said he and the bike-guy managed to reach Pangsau. I asked what happened to him and why he was late. The motorbike broke down and they had to spend the night on the road at 18th mile post in a military truck. But he was still cheerful and said he took many photos and used a camcorder to show the condition of the road. I offered him if he wanted to join us for dinner. No thanks; he said, I'd like to clean up first.
We took off to this next-to-the river Kachin restaurant about 10 minutes from the hotel. There were a lot of people but we managed to get a table. The waiter, a small Kachin man, extremely accommodating told us the dishes that were available. I have no idea how they were prepared so he explained. Kachin spices mainly are herbs; lots of green chilies and the method used to cook most dishes is without using any oil.
Dishes are grilled, steamed or cooked with water. Can I come into the kitchen and see what you have? No, problems, he said. So I did, pointed what I wanted to have and came back out to join the guests. I thought of Ron. He decided to stay back at the hotel as he was tired and didn't feel like eating. I left him some cheese sandwiches.
The Kachin dishes turned out to be excellent. Myanmar beer, according to Peter, was an excellent beverage. We also sampled some Kachin liquor called "Kaun Yay". It was quite pleasant. I think everyone had a good time.
February 25: Myitkyina -Mandalay - Rangoon
Myitkyina airport is a small one. After checking in, making sure all bags are tagged, we proceeded ourselves into the departure lounge. I told Tony then that I have informed the guests about the permit and that I would take the responsibility. I also told him that we should refund some money back to the guests. He did not say anything. The plane took off Myitkyina on time. Peter and Arun disembarked at Mandalay. They still have along way to travel to Kunming crossing Pyin Oo Lwin (Maymyo), Lashio (the Burma Road railhead station) and Mu'se.
Before they left the aircraft, I apologized them that I take full responsibility about the mis arrangements and that I failed to inform them about the permit. I also added that they would also get a small amount of refund. As we left Mandalay leaving Peter and Arun, I prayed that their trip to Kunming would be a good one and that there would be no more hic ups.
Rangoon: we took Ron back to the hotel and told him that I would put all the photos that Steven had taken from Nanyun to Pangsau on a disk that afternoon to take it with him to America when he leaves tomorrow.
Tony also offered Ron the tape from Steven's camcorder to bring it him to America. I don't need it anymore, said Tony, I was unable to bring you to Pangsau, I am sorry Ron, he added.
After checking in I asked Ronwhat he wanted for dinner. Pork-chops he replied. So I took him to a cozy restaurant in town called Monsoon that evening, managed by a French-Malaysian couple. When I dropped him back at the hotel, I felt so guilty that the trip up the "road" this time, was not successful. He came along way, as well as the other two participants, and they spent a lot of money for this trip. I told him as I had told Arun and Peter that he would get some of his money back.
February 26: Rangoon
Back to school. I called Tony en route to school that I had told Ron that we would refund some of his money. Tony agreed and said he'd bring the money to give it to Ron when he accompanies Ron to the airport that morning. I checked email from school. Peter and Arun crossed the Burma-China border without any problems. The Chinese guide from the Kunming travel agency was waiting for them at the border. I emailed again the manager from Kunming travel agency to make sure that all arrangements were well-taken care of and to pay extra attention to the guests. He replied in the afternoon: do not worry.
February 27 to March 04.
Arun and Peter visited most of the places in the program (TengchongWar Cemetery Museum, Songshan Mountain, Dali, Robert Mooney's grave site, Yunnanyi Airfield (Flying Tigers), Burma Road terminus and the Hump Bar in Kunming) with, unfortunately, several hic ups to get there. I should have done the arrangements or, accompanied the guys. However, unlike last year, I was unable to get into the nitty-gritty details or accompany the guests to Kunming because I took up teaching English at the French school.
Still, I couldn't get rid of the guilt I felt. It was a lesson for me that as the organizer, no matter how busy I was, I should not have left anything to chance. Hopefully, there will be people still interested to visit the "Road". Regardless of the inconveniences and limitation of the permit, I am still one of the few Burmese who have accompanied and traveled on the Stilwell Road, minus, the last 32 miles to reach Pangsau. To travel on the road is indeed, to travel back in time because of the terrain that seemed to have changed a little sinceWWII ended.
END NOTE
Many people are still unaware of the existence of the road and I am sure many will not be able to imagine the amount of work that many U.S. Army personnel had to go through in order to build this road - unless one travels on it. One has to see it to believe the rough terrain across the mountains and the heavy Monsoon rain that had caused so many delays and set backs. Yet, the road was built.
It must be true then that the most challenging task for U.S. Army engineers and road builders back then has got to be the area from Ledo to Shinbwiyang because of the high mountain ranges crossing over and into the deep, thick forest. We saw how muddy the road was and could become during Monsoon. How tough and challenging it must had been for everyone involved in building this "Road". I wonder what most veterans would say, if they see the road again today.
While in Myitkyina, Arun and I managed to get some photos on a disk combining the ones he had taken and the ones Steven took from Nanyun to Pangsau. Among all the photos, I have posted 33 of them on my
website: www.cbiexpeditions.com
Arun, thanks for all the interesting conversations we had had on the road. Keep them coming. Peter, thanks for all the help and Ron (as well as Peter and Arun), my deepest regret and sincere apologies again for not being able to take you up to Pangsau, as agreed.
I don't know when I will be able to reach Pangsau but I have not given up hope yet. I am convinced that the Ledo Road will remain a "Mystery" as long as Burma remains isolated and for those who has only read about it and have not seen it yet. Despite of the limitation of the permit we had this year, it is a fact in my country that rules change constantly and that some people who dare to challenge will reach Pangsau eventually. It will not be an easy trip but it will be a memorable one.
Besides, China and India are making way to improve some part of the "road" to become accessible so that they could use the road for their own benefit. Without the existence of this road neither country would have had the opportunity to bring out or buy out more of Burma's ample natural resources that they need for their country. China, is mainly doing the upkeep of the "Burma Road" and one could feel its presence in Northern of Burma. Unfortunately, the section between Shinbwiyang and Pangsau will be untouched for a while longer until India begins to build a sea-port at Sittwe (Akyab) in 2009 for an on-shore gas pipeline that will past the Arakan Mountains into Chin State and into NE India. The border trade between Moreh (India) and Tamu (Burma) has increased tremendously last year so perhaps by 2009 the NE Indian authorities will push the main Government in New Delhi more to open up the border of NE India into Burma via the Pangsau Pass.
*************************************************
March 12 2007
Khines report of March which is self explanatory
Dear All,
My sincere apologies for the long silence.
I am now back at school teaching English and my schedule does not give me a lot of free time as before. Plus, the fact that I do not have a
computer or a phone at home does not help me either, to correspond
with my overseas friends. I am working out a way to get a phone line at home but it is not so easy to do things in my country.
My last trip to Ledo Road did not go well as planned and we missed
reaching Pangsau by 34 miles. However, we managed to go through
Shingbwiyang and reached Nanyun this time. (Last year, we only got to Shingbwiyang). I shall email all of you a copy of my travel log soon.
Even though we did not reach Pangsau, the managing director of the
travel company sent up his assistant on a bike who traveled 4 hours on the muddy road to reach there. Photos between Nanyun and Pangsau showed several WWII remains but zero traffic on the road.
There were some changes along the Hukawang Valley. Many trees were cleared to grow 2.00000 acres of sugar cane. The ROAD still exists and rumor has it that China has offered to build part of the old Burma Road known as the "Tengchong Cut off" to connect to Ledo Road.
I shall either send a few photos of our latest expedition by email or
send you a URL link to log on to www.cbiexpeditions.com where I shall post some of the photos.
My apologies again to Ron, Peter and Arun who joined the tour who did not make it up to Pangsau as agreed.
Sincerely,
Khine (Khaing Tun)
www.cbiexpeditions.com
Remembering is a time-honored pastime.
******************************
January 17 2007
Dear All,
Below is a reply I have received from a Chindit Veteran, Peter
Heppell, with regards to my email, asking his permission if I can
forward his daughter's travelogue (as attached) to many other people I
know, who would be interested to read their experience in "Finding
Broadway".
Please send Peter an email for I am sure he would be delighted to hear from you.
Sincerely,
Khine @ Khaing Tun
www.cbiexpeditions.com
Remembering is a time-honored pastime.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Dear Khine,
Many thanks for your good wishes for the New Year, may you also enjoy
2007 and will be happy in your new apartment.
As Sally has already said, I too, would be very pleased for you to
send her journal to anyone that you think may be interested and to include my e-mail address.
In this respect you may be able to help me. Neville Hogan (Chindit OCA
Chairman) recently sent me what I believe is a page from an American
Veteran's Society's Newsletter detailing a very emotive description of
Broadway and the Glider landings in 1944. The piece is written by a
Lt. Col.Paul L. Bissell USSAF and describes in detail the jungle site
and the events which took place there. It appears that the story was
submitted by a person named A.R."Van" Van De Wegbe who has an e-mail
address: [email protected]
I wrote to him in November last year describing my connection with the
story, but have, so far, had no response. It is possible that the
newsletter originated in "THE BASHA BLABBER" a newsletter of the FIRST
AIR COMMANDO ASSOCIATION. Maybe you are aware of this
Association, if you are, I would be interested to hear.
We still hope to see you at one of our CHINDIT meetings.
Take care,
Kindest regards,
Peter
****************************************
January 17 2007
A Chindit's Return to Broadway - March 2006
Suddenly, without warning, we emerged from the jungle. The cooling cover of the trees, and the bushes, the undergrowth, were all behind us and we stood, in a line, looking across an open expanse of land. We were looking at Broadway. There was silence. We had finally arrived at our destination and we were overwhelmed. We had seen it on the internet; we had seen it in fading photographs. Now we were standing on the threshold
Broadway was the clearing where, on the night of 5 March 1944, the first gliders of Operation Thursday landed. My father was here that night, his 24th birthday. Now 62 years and one day later, he was back; what thoughts, what memories were in his mind? We gathered round him; his son, his daughter and his grand-daughter, a friend and supporter, our Burmese friend and our guides. We were all so proud to be there and share this moment with him.
His first words were to confirm what we knew; yes, this was Broadway. It was unmistakeable - though how he knew I have no idea! His next comment took us all by surprise: he wanted to cross to the other side of the clearing. He wanted once again to stand where he had stood in 1944. Crossing the clearing was more than hard. The sun was hot and the atmosphere humid. We were all tired, and the ground was uneven, churned and dried mud bearing the remains of burnt stubble of a kind of reed grown to provide roof thatch. The clearing was three quarters of a mile across and, within minutes, we were soaked in perspiration and covered in ash. As we crossed, we stopped - often - to take on water, to rest, to hear my father telling us what he remembered: how the gliders came in from the south, the buffalo wallow, enemy positions, how the Dakotas had come in later with supplies skirting the trees that encircled the clearing, how the Allies had eventually been evacuated. It was magical, almost unreal, as if a storybook had been brought to life around us. Apart from us, there was not a sound, only an intense and serene feeling that we were somewhere significant.
When finally we reached the other side, we stepped into a small copse. Here were foxholes, dugouts, hardly changed in all those years. On a tall, proud, teak tree that might well have been there in 1944, my brother nailed a brass plaque remembering the landings, Orde Wingate and the Chindits and we stood, our small group remembering so many. It was a very emotional moment. My father recited the words of the Kohima Epitaph and our Burmese guides, instinctively knowing while not understanding a word, bowed their heads too and, as we stepped away, circled the plaque with a yellow ribbon of their own.
My father has wanted to return to Broadway since 2002 when he first travelled back to Burma. My brother and I started to search for the site and a way to get there in 2004. We made contact with people all over the world, some of whom may be reading this. We thank everyone who offered us assistance, suggestions and other support. It was a long journey but we made it. We travelled from the Irrawaddy up the Kaukkwe Chaung in a small fishing boat. We travelled to a part of the country that is "inaccessible" to foreigners. We sat for two long days on narrow wooden planks, we ate countless rice cakes, we were hot, uncomfortable, anxious. Follow the meandering Chaung on a map and you will see, as our very sore backsides discovered, that while the apparent distance from its confluence with the Irrawaddy to Broadway is only 21 miles, our boat chugged nearly 90 miles.
About half way up the Chaung is a most delightful village called Myoh La ("beautiful place"). We spent the night here in a newly built guest house. We slept - rested might be a more accurate word! - on solid teak, we washed in Chaung water in an earthenware urn on a step outside the house and we were told we were the first "white" faces in the area since the end of the war. The villagers treated us like royalty, telling us that taking my father back to Taura Prang (the Burmese name for the clearing) was like taking their own father - or grandfather - there. We will long remember our welcome and the generosity of these wonderful people; compared to us they had so little and yet they shared it willingly with complete strangers.
Not counting 1944, my father has now been three times to Burma. He wants to go again, to Broadway once more and to spend longer there. This visit was too rushed, and we were too exhausted perhaps to appreciate it fully. He will be 87 soon, but his age has not stopped him yet. Who knows what I will be writing this time next year!
For more information, or to share memories, you can contact my father (Peter Heppell) at [email protected] or me (Sally Lockhart) at [email protected].
Return to top
*****************************************************
December 18 2006
Hello Everyone,
Please find below details of the FEB 17, 2007 departure of the Ledo
Road Program.
I would like to have your Burmese Visa number, including details of
your passport no later than JAN 05, 2007 in order to procure the
Special Travel Permits.
There are 2 other participants for this tour, one is Ron Bleecker, who
came to Burma last year (we went up the Ledo Road together), and the
other is Arun Veembur, a Ledo Road enthusiast from Bangalore who also
visited Ledo in NE India last year. I have another gentleman from
Australia, who will most probably join us.
The vehicle we will use has changed to a 4-wheel drive, instead of a Jeep.
Ron Bleecker will only travel the Ledo Road until Feb 25 but Arun is
going to visit the Burma Road as well, ending his trip there on March
4.
ITINERARY (Ledo Road Only).
Feb 17 (sat): Arrival in Rangoon. Overnight in Rangoon.
Feb 18 (sun): By flight from Rangoon to Myitkyina (0645-0935).
Overnight in Myitkyina.
Feb 19 (mon): Myitkyina to Tanai crossing the Hukwang Valley in a four
wheel drive.
Overnight in Tanai also known as Walawbum.
Feb 20 (tue): Tanai to Nanyun via Shinbwiyang. Overnight somewhere en route.
Feb 21 (wed): Nanyun-Pangsau-Nanyun. Overnight in Nanyun.
Feb 22 (thur): Nanyun-Shinbwiyang-Tanai. Overnight in Tanai.
Feb 23 (fri): Tanai to Myitkyina, overnight in Myitkyina.
Feb 24 (sat): Myitkyina extra day (to wait for return flight).
Feb 25 (sun): Myitkyina to Rangoon by flight via Mandalay. Overnight in Rangoon.
Feb 26 (mon): Departure.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ITINERARY (Ledo & Burma Road)
Feb 17 (sat): Arrival in Rangoon. Overnight in Rangoon.
Feb 18 (sun): By flight from Rangoon to Myitkyina (0645-0935).
Overnight in Myitkyina.
Feb 19 (mon): Myitkyina to Tanai crossing the Hukwang Valley in a four
wheel drive.
Overnight in Tanai also known as Walawbum.
Feb 20 (tue): Tanai to Nanyun via Shinbwiyang. Overnight somewhere en route.
Feb 21 (wed): Nanyun-Pangsau-Nanyun. Overnight in Nanyun.
Feb 22 (thur): Nanyun-Shinbwiyang-Tanai. Overnight in Tanai.
Feb 23 (fri): Tanai to Myitkyina, overnight in Myitkyina.
Feb 24 (sat): Myitkyina extra day (to wait for return flight).
Feb 25 (sun): Myitkyina to Rangoon by flight via Mandalay. Overnight
in Mandalay.
Feb 26 (mon): By road from Mandalay to Mu'se via Maymyo and Lashio.
Overnight in Mu'se. (Border town)
Feb 27 (tue): Early departure to the border, cross into Ruili and meet
with guide from Yunnan, China. Continue journey on Burma Road from
Ruili to Tengchong.
Overnight in Tengchong.
Feb 28 (wed): Extra day in Tengchong. Overnight in Tengchong.
Mar 01 (thur): Continue to Dali. Visit Old City and environ. Overnight in Dali.
Mar 02 (fri): Dali to Kunming via Yunnanyi to visit "The Flying
Tigers" old HQ and museum.
Overnight in Kunming.
Mar 03 (sat): Extra day in Kunming to visit The Burma Road Terminus,
Hump Bar, etc..
Mar 04 (sun): Departure.
Price: Burma portion: USD 2110.00 per person
China portion: USD 1350.00 per person
Payment: payable in USD cash to both Baron Travels and Yunnan Kunming Travel.
(Please bring NEW and UNWRINKLED notes, old notes, marked notes and
notes with CB numbers WILL NOT BE accepted).
Price includes: all meals, purified water, accomodation,
transportation including domestic air travel.
Price excludes: visa fees, international airticket, International
airport dept tax in Rangoon and Kunming, travel / health insurance,
personal telecommunication.
Note: Please bring a sleeping bag, a rain coat or cover, mosquito
repellent, all other necessary personal items and any medicine you
need. You may wish to bring some dyhydrated food available at REI, if
you cannot eat rice.
Sincerely,
Khine @ Khaing Tun
www.cbiexpeditions.com
Remembering is a time-honored past time.
Return to top
****************************************
STILWELL ROAD 2007
Hello Everyone,
Attached is a copy of a draft of "Stilwell Road tour 2007".
There is only one departure in Febraury and two departures in March.
Those who are interested should take note that we are using a WWII
Willys-Jeep on the Ledo Road which will only accomodate 2 client,
myself and a driver. The other vehicle may be a Jeep (not a WWII one
though) or a different kind that can take the 'rough' road.
I will inform you within a few weeks about the PRICE. Since there is a
deviation on the tour, I will have to inform you how much it will cost
in Burma and how much for China. Please also note that a Jeep may be
used for the Burma Road in Yunnan however, it is not a guarantee. You
will have a van instead and you will be traveling on and off the 'old'
Burma Road.
In general, Price includes: Accommodation, all meals (in Burma),
domestic flights (in Burma), all entrance fees and adminstrative fees.
Price excludes: International airfare, travel insurance, visa fees,
telecommunication and personal expenses, and, International airport
departure tax in Yangon and Kunming.
Dead line: DECEMBER 31, 2006 for the FEBRUARY 2007 tour. Please also
send in your Burmese Visa and passport details. The areas we will be
traveling to, requires a "Special Travel Permit" which will take at
least 45 days to get it. We can only procure this permit with your
visa number.
VISA required : China and Burma (to be obtained in your home country).
Other required items: Sleeping bag, a rain-coat (cap), mosquito
repellent, any neccessary medication, any dry food (such as hydrated
pasta available at REI).
I hope to inform you more in detail in the next following weeks.
Sincerely,
Khine @ Khaing Tun
www.cbiexpeditions.com
Remembering is a time-honored pastime.
STILLWELL ROAD 2007
Departure dates in February 2007: February 17, Saturday (Day 1) to February 29/30. (OR) February 24 to March 07/08
Departure dates in March 2007: March 03, Saturday (Day 1) to March 15/16 and,
March 17, Saturday (Day 1) to March 29/30.
DAY 1. Arrival at Yangon (Rangoon) International airport. Transfer to hotel. Depending on arrival time, we will have a brief tour of the city. Overnight in Yangon (Rangoon).
Accommodation: Sedona hotel or Nikko Royal Lake, Yangon.
DAY 2. Yangon to Myitkyina by Air Bagan. (Operates Sun, Tues & Fri via Mandalay 0645-0935). Tour around Myitkyina and to the conflux of Maykha and Malika. Overnight in Myitkyina.
Accommodation: Three Star hotel, Myitkyina.
DAY 3. Today our journey will take us to the heart of Hukuwang Valley, passing by Warazup and Shaduzup. Overnight in Tanai (Walawbum).
Accommodation: Shwe Toe Aung guesthouse, Tanai.
DAY 4. We continue our journey on the Ledo Road towards Nanyun crossing the Tarung river and a brief visit in Shingbwiyang, to see the WWII airfield. If we have enough time, we will continue to Pangsau.
Accommodation: En route.
DAY 5. Continue to Pangsau and return to Shingbwiyang.
Accommodation: En route.
DAY 6. Shinbwiyang to Tanai.
Accommodation: Shwe Toe Aung guesthouse.
DAY 7. Return to Myitkyina today.
Accommodation: Three Star hotel, Myitkyina.
DAY 8. Today, we travel towards Bhamo from Myitkyina.
Accommodation: Friendship hotel, Bhamo.
DAY 9. Early morning departure from Bhamo to Mu'se via Namkham where we will visit Dr. Gordon Seagrave's hospital.
Mu'se is the border town of Burma-China border. The town across the border from Burma is called Ruili.
Accommodation: Hotel in Mu'se.
DAY 10. Early morning departure from hotel to transfer clients who will be continuing their journey on the Burma Road in YUNNAN. Meet with Chinese English speaking guide at the border who will be waiting with a van. You will continue your journey today on the Burma Road towards Tengchong. Accommodation: To be advised.
For those who will remain in BURMA, we will continue our journey from Mu'se to Maymyo (also known as Pyin Oo Lwin) where we will stay overnight. Accommodation: Parkhotel, Maymyo.
DAY 11. (YUNNAN) Visit Tengchong and environ. If time permits, you will also have a chance to see the Hot Springs. Return to hotel in Tengchong. Accommodation: To be advised, Tengchong.
DAY 11. (BURMA) Transfer from Maymyo to Mandalay today. Brief city tour in Mandalay. Afternoon is free at leisure.
Accommodation: Sedona Mandalay or Mandalay Hill Resort, Mandalay.
DAY 12. (YUNNAN) Transfer to Dali from Tengchong. Visit Old city of Dali. Accommodation: To be advised, Tengchong.
DAY 12. (BURMA) We will return to Yangon (Rangoon) today by flight. Upon arrival in Yangon, tour of the city and relax at the hotel. Accommodation: Sedona hotel or Nikko Royal Lake, Yangon.
DAY 13. (YUNNAN) Transfer to Kunming today from Dali. Visit Yunnanyi en route, HQ of the "Flying Tigers".
Accommodation: To be advised, Kunming.
DAY 13. (BURMA) Transfer to Yangon International airport for your departure.
DAY 14. (YUNNAN) Visit the 24-zig from Kunming. Accommodation: To be advised, Qujing.
DAY 15. (YUNNAN) Return to Kunming.
DAY 16. (YUNNAN) Departure.
Minimum participant: 3 Maximum participant 6
__Return to top_____________________________________________
KHINE'S NEWS FROM BURMA
October 19 2006
Hello Everyone,
As I continue to tutor my International students, running from place
to place, I am happy to report that the Monsoon rain has begun to
subside in Rangoon (Yangon) and we are beginning to feel the warmth of
the sun! Unfortunately, however, northern parts of the country have
been seriously inundated with heavy flooding that has caused the lives
of several locals and that many bridges have been destroyed.
With that note, I would like to let you know that I may POSTPONE the
scheduled "Ledo Road January 2007" program to February or March,
depending on the local reports we will have next month by calling
people in Tanai (Walawbum) by phone (if it works), to find out the
road and area conditions. Tanai has become a sizable town in far
northwestern part of the Hukwang Valley and beyond from Tanai,
everything becomes quite remote. As the area we will be traveling
onwards from Tanai, involves crossing the Tarung River and several old
bridges, I do not wish to take any chances in traveling up there under
any unsafe circumstances.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The following piece of article may or may not be of interest to
American Veterans; however, I believe that it would be an interest to
British and other British Commonwealth Veterans who were involved in the Burma Campaign. The article was printed in the "Hindu":
http://www.hindu.com/2006/10/04/stories/2006100402231300.htm
Guwahati: Union Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh has said that India was awaiting a response from Myanmar (Burma) on the proposed bus service from Imphal to Mandalay. He said the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Home Affairs had agreed in principle to operate it.
The Indo-Myanmar Border Traders Union had raised this issue during his visit to Moreh on September 29. He said India would bring the proposal up again with Myanmar during talks likely to be held in November or December.
The Manipur Assembly had adopted a resolution on August 1, 2003 urging the Centre to start a regular bus service between Imphal and Mandalay via Moreh, the only functional trade centre on the Indo-Myanmar border.
Tamu, the border town of Myanmar is five km from Moreh while Mandalay is 435 km from Tamu. Moreh also falls on the Asian Highway Network, proposed to extend from Tokyo to border with Bulgaria, passing through East-Asian countries.
The Union Minister said the Ministry of Commerce had allocated Rs.70 crore for setting up an integrated check-post at Moreh, which would be equipped with modern amenities.
In the last 10 years an average of 10 passengers crossed through Gate 1 of Moreh check-post every day. The RITES has been asked to execute the check-post project within 15 months. The project work is scheduled to begin by Year-end, the Minister said.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I will keep everyone posted with regards to the January 2007 Ledo Road program. Many thanks to O.J. Taylor, the editor and Veteran of 1905th Bn (the Unit who was heavily involved in building the Ledo Road) in sending me the latest edition/copy of 1905th Newsletter by mail to Burma!
He can be reached at: 1905th Bn Newsletter, O.J. Taylor, Apt 310-W,
9525 N. Ft. Washington, Fresno, CA 93730.
My dear friend, Raymond Kauppila, the American veteran who traveled to visit Burma Road with me in 2004 continued to email me in his interest to visit Burma again. He was from the 330th Bn and was stationed in Namkham, a border town of Burma and China where the American missionary Dr. Gordon Seagrave lived for numerous years. I will be taking a trip up to Myitkyina and Bhamo sometime early next year, with regards to identifying a place to build a memorial / dedication for all Veterans and Kachin soldiers of the Burma Campaign/CBI Theater.
Stay tuned and regards to everyone,
Sincerely,
Khaing Tun (Khine)
Email: [email protected] Website: www.cbiexpeditions.com
Remembering is a time-honored pastime.
Return to top
*****************************************************************************
September 18 2006
KHINE'S NEWS September 06
Hello Everyone,
The Monsoon rain has subsided but I doubt that it is completely over
yet. The past few months have been quite interesting as I traveled
from place to place, to tutor some students. I had expected to tutor
only Burmese however; I have now a few foreign students; French and Spanish who wish to practice their English. That served me a great deal as well, as I am now able to practice my French and Spanish!
I also recently organized a 'hot meal' for 150 people (adult and
children) living in poor conditions. It is surprising what a hundred
dollars in local currency can do. And the meal included a portion of
pork curry, lentil and mixed vegetable stew, some chili paste and a
healthy portion of rice. (I didn't cook the meal but were ordered from
a tiny local shop just opened a few months ago). All were packed
individually and we distributed the food near where these people live.
It was a great feeling to see many 'happy' faces in spite of the
conditions they live in. Most live in thatched roof bamboo huts built
next to one another in the mud. I looked at all these people and
admired the way they accept to live their lives under such conditions
for most of them told me, "What else do we have?"
Giving is such a great thing to do, and I will be organizing on behalf
of Charles Peterson, to build a dedication / memorial for all the
Kachins and Veterans involved in the Burma Campaign / CBI Theater.
Charles was one of the Americans who came to Burma in January to visit the Ledo Road. He is not related to any CBI Veterans but has taken a personal interest of the CBI Theater for quite sometime. He has sent me some funds to build a small Memorial and I will be working on it from end of this year. I have asked Cecilia and Lewis, my two good Kachin friends from Bhamo to assist me on this project. And who better than Cecilia? Her father was Subedar Major Mung Ga Tu from Det 101 and was given a CMA medal by Major F.A. Joost. I will update everyone on this project periodically.
The following are site visits I have scheduled:
November: Thanbyuzayat war cemetery, to accompany two families from Scotland and the Netherlands.
January 2007: Ledo Road (Jan 4 to 14).
I have so far three people interested to visit the Ledo Road, however,
to keep the cost under USD 2000.00 per person (without International
airfare); I need 6 people in total. If I have 5 or 6, we will travel
in two vehicles (a van or four-wheel drive) from Myitkyina all the way
to Pangsau on the condition that the steep climb is drivable.
Otherwise, we may also use motor bikes between Shinbwiyang and
Pangsau.
If there is anyone interested to join, please let me know by 25 November 2006.
One more piece of information about the on-going debate whether
Stilwell Road will be re-opened or not. There was recently an article
in the "Times of India" that the Assam Government is asking New Delhi to impress the Burmese authorities to take steps in re-opening the Stilwell Road.
My personal opinion is that it may take sometime before we see
'action' on this road however, the Chinese have agreed to build a road that would link Kunming to Akyab (called Sittwe in Burmese located on the western coast of Burma) via central Burma and at the same time, the Indian Government has agreed to develop Sittwe to become an International seaport.
I'm only an email away at: [email protected]
Sincerely,
Khine @ Khaing Tun
www.cbiexpeditions.com
Remembering is a time-honored pastime.
Return to top
*************************************************************************************
Khine's Newsletter June 2006
Hello Everyone,
www.cbiexpeditions.com has made some changes and it has a brand new look now.
Due to the slow connection speed to get on the Internet here in
Rangoon, I have not been able to load recent photos of our expedition
to find "Broadway".
Monsoon continues steadily in Rangoon but heavily in northern part of
the country as a few bridges has already been washed away from the
rain.
It has been 8 months since I have returned to Burma.
I am happy to be home, generally speaking, even the rain does not
bother me much anymore but there are a few things that I wish it could
be better. Such as: the lack of electricity in Rangoon and especially
the need to improve the telecommunication infrastructure.
Still, I cannot complain much as the lack of electricity is worse in
other places in the country. However, people who live in Bhamo and
Bagan claim that they have 24 hour electricity as also confirmed by
some of my friends who live there.
I would also like to inform some of the veterans that the new Sittaung
Bridge will be finished by end of this year. It is built next to the
old one where many Japanese died during the battle of Sittaung.
World Cup frenzy also continues here in the country.
Many Burmese may not be aware of the World News but when asked: "Who
is the captain of the English or German team" and they will tell you
the old, the new and the current! It is frightening how well they
know.
I have received so far, only one request for January 2007, to visit
the Ledo Road. If anyone is interested, please let me know as I would
like to plan ahead.
Depending upon the year end activities, I plan to visit and trek areas
in and around Putao (Ft. Hertz), areas in and around eastern part of
the country near by the Thai-Burma boarder and I really hope to visit
Northeast India via Chin State crossing the border at Tamu / Moreh.
Thank you to all the veterans who have visited Burma last year.
I have recently heard from Ray (Raymond Kauppila), a CBI Veteran who
visited the Burma Road with me in March 2005 and he said that he would
like to return to Burma again sometime next year!
A final note: I shall be returning to Arizona one last time in mid
July to get my personal belongings. I will have to head back to
Rangoon by end of July, as I do not want to absent too long from my
students.
Home will be back in Burma for the time being. Please let me know if
you wish me bring and mail you any information about Burma.
From a rainy Rangoon,
Sincerely,
Khine @ Ms. Khaing Tun
--
www.cbiexpeditions.com
Remembering is a time-honored pastime.
Return to top
March 24 2006
FINDING BROADWAY
From Khine
I received an email sometime in July last year, from Sally (Lockhart) wanting to know if I could assist in her father' wish to locate an old WWII airfield / stronghold coded "Broadway". Sally's father, Peter (Heppell) is a Chindit veteran and he was one of the Chindits who landed at Broadway on March 5, 1944. March 5 also happens to be Peter's birthday.
As we continued to email each other on a regular basis, Sally told me that she and her father had already visited Burma twice before, on a pilgrimage with other British veterans, organized by the Royal British Legion. However, she was unable to obtain any information with regards to locating Broadway. Sally had heard about my exploits through another Chindit veteran, Jack Lindo. Jack and I had previously corresponded through Bob, Jack's son-in-law, who apparently forwarded my email address to Sally and to Dav (Bradly), who decided to join our search for Broadway at the very last minute. David, formerly from the 6 th Gurkha Rifles is also a Chindit enthusiast and has been collecting various materials of the 77 th Brigade and has interviewed Peter a few times. He has also visited Burma back in 1997 to retracethe footsteps of Brig. Michael Calvert (Mad Mike) in and around Myitkyina and Mogaung.
When Sally wrote to me, I was living in America, but had already made plans to visit Burma towards end of the year 2005, as I have always done so for the past 20+ years. I left Arizona towards the end of November, 2005 via Thailan to visit the Manager and Director of the Death Railway Museum in Kanchanaburi. We have been pulling our headtogether for the past a year and a half, to retrace the Burma side of the old railway.
For the past two years, I had read, collected and compiled many reports, articles and books related to the Burma Campaign, otherwise known as China-Burma-India (CBI) Theatre. I had also corresponded with various veterans from the U.K., U.S., Australia and Canada and with a few Academics whose interests evolve around WWII history in Burma and generally about Burma. I had also become well acquainted with Tony (Yang), the Managing Director of Baron Travel & Tours, based in Rangoon. Tony's company would be assisting me with all the ground arrangements needed for my site visits in Burma; procuring all necessary permits as well. When I arrived in Rangoon on November 27, 2005, I already had one appointment made to meet with a British veteran, Bill Dalton of the Lancashire Fusiliers XX. Bill was visiting Burma with his son, John, joined by a few other veterans and their families on a pilgrimage to the Arakan area. John had emailed me previously, asking about some information on Burma through Geoff (Pycroft), the Data Archivist and web-editor, who had forwarded him my email address. Bill, John and I had met up for some drinks at the Inya Lake hotel and again after their return from the Arakan.
This time, I had the privilege to be their guest for dinner where I also had the opportunity to meet other veterans and listened to the various fascinating and intriguing stories, past and present. Five days later, I was on an airplane accompanied by Tony (Yang), bound for Myitkyina on a recce to find out if Broadway could be visited or not. Our trip took us to Myitkyina, Hopin, Namkwin village (Blackpool), Mogaung, Indawgyi Lake, Bhamo, Sinbo, Shwegu & Mandalay. Sally wanted to know if Indawgyi Lake could be included, should they decide to visit Burma sometime in March, 2006. Peter, later on, told me that in 1944, he and other Chindits had trekked from Broadway to arrive on the East side of the Indawgyi Lake where they evacuated the sick and the wounded. We met with numerous people and collected various information at each destination. However, it was very hard to determine the accuracy of the distance from between each destination and how easy or difficult it would be to reach Broadway. We travelled "a la local" by car, by train, on the back of a motorbike, on a boat in search for Broadway. It was a very tiring trip especially going out to Indawgyi Lake due to the bad road conditions from Hopin traveling up into the mountains in an over-crowded truck, taking us back down to the valley where Indawgyi Lake was located. At Sinbo, we found out about a route / trail that would lead us to Tawra Prang (Broadway), but as it required serious
trekking over the Kaukkwe Mountain, we decided not to go by that route. Suddenly, both Tony and I became the centre of attention the authorities there. Due to our keen interest to find this old airfield, we became special guests, to be exclusively interviewed by five different local authorities.
When we reached Shwegu, we received the same courtesy from the authorities. I was mentally very tired at this point and did not have the energy to repeat myself anymore. We were repeatedly told that we would be crossing the "Kachin's Land" and that we might not be allowed to find this old airfield..Therefore, after a restless night in Shwegu, Tony and I continued our way down to Mandalay by road using the local mode of transportation, a truck, carrying people and full of merchandise. By the time we reached Mandalay about 4 a.m. the next morning, I looked like a white monkey covered in a layer of dust, whose rear-side decided to give up its existence. I felt numb yet my head felt the vibrations from the road having spent 12 hours on a truck where travelers and merchandise became unidentifiable. I could shake my head to see the dust fall from my black hair; even my eye-lashes were covered with a layer of dust! As for Tony, he was so exhausted that his eyes seemed to protrude further out from his eye pockets and had the look of "I am ready to kill somebody!" I sent my report to Sally promptly after we returned to Rangoon, telling her that we had pushed as far as we could and
advised her to avoid Indawgyi Lake. I was not too sure at that point if Sally and Peter would take their chances to locate Broadway, as I could not give them any guarantee. Yet, I was not ready to give up and did not want them to give up either. It is interesting and intriguing how things eventually worked out in the end. As Sally and I continued to email, I had to leave Rangoon again on January 1, 2006, to accompany two Americans to travel on the Stilwell Road, covering northern Burma and traveling up to Yunnan Province in China.
Ron (Bleecker) was a 70 year old civil engineer, whose father was one of the U.S. Engineers who built the Ledo Road from Ledo, India to Bhamo in Burma. Ron contacted me wishing to retrace his father's footsteps. Joining in with us on the tour was Charles Peterson, a nuclear physician who has a passion for WWII Jeeps and Dodges. We visited Myitkyina and Bhamo. It is at Bhamo that I came to meet a few Kachins with whom I would become good
friends in a very short period. And this was instigated by a WWII Willys Jeep that Charles was admiring, parked in front of Bhamo market. After my 20 day journey accompanying these gentlemen through the Hukwang Valley (Death Valley) until we reached close to the Indian border, and on the Burma Road in China, I returned to Rangoon and continued to investigate ways to locate Broadway. By then, I had several names of people in Myitkyina and Bhamo who called in regularly to give me further information in the existence of this old airfield.
Finally, Sally and Peter decided to take their chances and set a date to visit Burma, with the hope to reach Broadway.
There would be a total of 4 people traveling together and they would arrive in Rangoon on February 28. Several days prior to their arrival, I had received an email from another British veteran, Ken Joyce from Australia requesting me to accompany him in his Burma visit that included a special request to locate a place called "Kokkowa", where the last actions of the Royal Navy's Coastal Forces in WWII took place. He also wanted to travel to Mandalay and take the river ferry down to Bagan, on the Irrawaddy River. Just recently, Ken had sent me a copy of his journal, wonderfully described, inspiring yet full of remembrance titled,
"Back to Burma February 2006" which I have forwarded to many people.
Five days after Ken's departure, Sally, Peter and his family arrived, followed by David who arrived in Rangoon a day later. We toured the Shwedagon Pagoda in the evening and had a lovely dinner together. Unfortunately, it was a very early start the next day, wake up calls at the hotel were given at 4.30 a.m. as we were to catch our early morning flight to Myitkyina. We arrived in Myitkyina around noon as the flight got delayed from heavy fog. We were met by our van at Myitkyina
airport, quickly went to the hotel to check in, and continued our visit around the city. I then took the group to meet one of the very last Kachin Levies, Maj. Khun Jar Naw who is holding steady at the age of 88. He was expecting our visit.
The most interesting part was that both Peter and Maj. Khun Jar Naw landed at Broadway on March 5, 1944. Peter as a Chindit, while Maj. Khun Jar Naw served the British as an infantry, scout clearing the area as soon as the gliders touched the ground at Broadway. However, they never came to meet back then. Maj. Khun Jar Naw slowly spoke about his 40 years in the military, how he trekked from Sittaung to upper Burma, crossed into India where he was trained by the British, parachuted back into Burma and worked in enemy territory, working as Intel for the British Army, eventually as part of the Wingate Chindits. Maj. Khun Jar Naw also had a picture of General. Orde Wingate posted at the entrance of his house and told us, "He was our commander". As Peter showed him the plaque "Remembering the Chindits" that he intended to leave at Broadway, Maj. Khun Jar
Naw asked me to tell Peter to pay his respects as well, for all the fallen comrades and to wish that no war as such would ever take place again. As they shook each other's hand, I could sense the kinship between them, so strong, which made my eyes all teary. We bid goodbye to Maj. Khun Jar Naw and slowly ended the day with a lovely "Happy Hour" by the Irrawaddy River..The next morning, again an early departure, was by road to Namkwin village, 80 miles from Myitkyina, 6 miles to Hopin. Sally and Peter had previously visited this village with other veterans two years ago. But as opposed to reaching Blackpool airfield by bullock carts, I managed to rent motor bikes from the village. The headman of the village had been informed of our visit by the local Authorities, days before our arrival which facilitated in making arrangements.
As we waited for the bikes to show up, many villagers began to gather around us, all curious to know why an elderly gentleman is accompanied by so many people. I explained to them about Peter's wishes and when they found out how old Peter was, much admiration and encouragement was expressed whole heartedly. We designated the biggest motorbike for Peter as each of us, 7 in total, climbed at the back of each bike heading towards the base of Blackpool, as Peter wanted to spend some time in the hills beyond the airfield. We finally reached the bottom of the hills and felt the heat from the sun. Without any delay, Peter and Sally found the
trail that they wanted to take and so we started trekking slowly up the hill. Most of the bike attendees followed us without being asked, as they were now curious to know where Peter wanted to go.
As we trekked further upwards, we saw among the trees other mountains in the area. The trail became very narrow at certain places and very bushy. The locals, however, were familiar with their surroundings and led us forward. At one point, we all stopped to take a break and to check our bearings. Peter, Tom (Peter's son) and David all took out their maps and checked the cross-points on the map deciding which point / path to take. We then split into two groups, David and I went to a higher point with four scouts and Peter with the rest of the party, went the opposite direction
where elevation was minimal. When we met at the base of the hill after a couple of hours, it was decided that we must have passed three or four cross points shown on the map. We also saw numerous dug holes in the hills still apparent to the naked eye.
According to the local (scouts), many of them were from WWII as they spoke about their younger days, playing in the hills in these dug holes where they also found numerous bullets on the ground. After a long but successful visit to Blackpool, we ended the day late, back at the hotel in Myitkyina. The following morning, we left the hotel around 8 a.m. for Bhamo. Today, we had arranged for two smaller vehicles. We followed the original Ledo Road and crossed several Bailey bridges dated WWII, built by US Engineers. We were
traveling now in a rugged area. We also saw many Chinese road builders along the way, paving the road by old traditional methods, breaking rocks into smaller pieces. But thanks to the very convincing and influential driver, we managed to pass various check points en route, that could have caused in arriving late at Bhamo.
It was crucial that we arrived relatively early in Bhamo as I had a few tasks to accomplish: It was our meeting point with the boat that would be sent up from Shwegu, also I was to meet up with Dr. Cecilia Tang Gyi and her husband, Lewis. Both Cecilia and Lewis who I will address in familiar terms, Aunty and Uncle, would become my allies in meeting with other important Kachin figures en route to Tawra Prang, as they know in Kachin language, (Jingpaw) for Broadway. Dr. Cecilia Tang Gyi's father was a very well-known Kachin Ranger who was recruited by OSS-Det 101 during WWII and Lewis's father was also a Kachin Levie, who worked for the British Army. After sorting out a few glitches with the help of David and my assistant, Steven, with regards to our boat, that will be
taking us all the way from Bhamo to Broadway, I picked up from a store nearby the water front, all necessary items for the road. Most importantly, I had invested in an ice box that would be carrying various drinks to last until we reached Broadway. Dinner that evening, ended at a little BBQ restaurant within a short distance from the hotel.
March 05, 2006: D-Day to reach Broadway.
I woke up early to check on the boat docked by the river front. I almost panicked as I did not see the boat captain and his assistant, Nyein Chan whose name means "Peaceful". A few moments later, the boat captain came running down towards the boat, assuring me that everything has been taken care of and that we should be leaving on time at 8 a.m. So I walked back to the hotel where Steven waited at the reception with the luggage. The hotel got us two horse carts to carry the luggage down to the boat. I suddenly became concerned: would the boat be able to accommodate all of us 9 people and the luggage?
As I accompanied the luggage in one of the horse carts, every one walked down to the river front. I quickly gathered a few locals to help me carry down the luggage to the boat as the participants arrived to the boat, waited to be seated. We left the river front 30 minutes behind schedule, however, everyone quickly settled in their designated spots on the
boat. We are now cruising on the Irrawaddy River..We saw many boats big and small while we slowly traveled downstream towards Shwegu. We crossed the second defile of the Irrawaddy where the scenery became more pleasant, the river much wider. On this point of the river, the water was not too deep. High cliff towers formed on one side of the river, rafters made up of bamboo poles were often seen with one or with a few passengers on board, as well as boats, towing whole teak logs.
The whole river scene would be as almost identifiable as quoted in a book dated 1930s by an Irishman, Maj. Raven-Hart: "Even at the villages where did not tie up, our passing was an excitement: men and women bathing stood to watch us, boys washing their skirts waved to salute, naked urchins sliding down the banks yelled and waved, water buffaloes really were scared and gave their pygmy guardians a chance to show their authority (and to see a child of six dragooning one of these antediluvian monsters weighing a ton or so almost makes one proud to be human). All the life of the riverside village is on the bank of an evening: everyone bathes at least once a day, and longyis are changed and washed at every bathe, and smaller children with no longyi to worry about swim as soon as they walk or sooner, and still smaller ones are brought down to be gurglingly dipped, astride the hip of a not-much-larger brother or sister." We crossed Shwegu and stopped at an island across named "Kyun daw gyi" where we had about 45 minutes break.
We then continued our journey on the river and began traveling north on the Kaukkwe river (chaung) with a stop en route. Our final stop for the day would be at a small village called "Myo Hla" (Pretty village) at about 4.30 p.m.
I first hesitated to stop here for the night but as we were supposed to inform the local authorities here, we had no other choice. As the headman accompanied me into the village and as he pointed out where we'd be staying for the night, I thought I had made the right choice to overnight here. The rest of the group traveled a little bit further to the other side of the village on the river and slowly walked up the
slope to reach our little "guesthouse". Everyone was happy. Besides, I thought it would be good for Peter to take a break for we had been cooped up in a boat the whole day and we needed to celebrate his birthday!
The locals from Myo Hla have never seen western people up close that suddenly created a lot of commotion in the village. As everyone tried to settle in at the guesthouse for the night, I visited the headman's home a few feet away from the guesthouse to meet his wife, who would be arranging dinner for us. Dinner became a simple affair but what became so special were the surroundings of our guesthouse. A few locals watched us from a far, as we enjoyed our meal, served by the locals. Then, time to bring down the birthday cake for Peter as we sang Happy Birthday. The icebox that I had invested with drinks became our standing bar. Early next morning, we left to continue further up the Kaukkwe River, taking with us a local navigator who knows the
river intimately. He would become very handy later as we trekked towards Tawra Prang. Till this point, I had been told that Tawra Prang (a) Broadway could be reached within a few hours and that we should be back in Myo Hla by the end of the day. Little did we know that would not be the case!
As we slowly traveled up the Kaukkwe River, we entered another village which would be the ‘last' village before we reached Tawra Prang. This would also be the place where I had been informed in Bhamo, that I would be speaking privately with a few key Kachin figures, with Aunty and Uncle as my Allies. The discussion would determine if we are allowed to continue onwards or not. We just entered the Kachin territory. As I left my group and slowly walked with Aunty and Uncle towards where the discussion would take place, I silently
prayed that everything would be okay. The discussion lasted almost two hours but I managed to get their nod of approval to continue to Tawra prang. Relieved, I came down to meet with my group and informed all the participants that we have the "go ahead" and that a designated scout would be accompanying us. This scout, a small man with a serious look on his face, wearing an Hawaiian shirt with a straw hat, became the "key" to the door that we were trying to enter.
The river became shallow in several places as our boat continued its way zigzagging, with the hand signal of the navigator who was seated at the front of the boat. The heat index also climbed a few notches as Tom checked his GPS to determine the speed we were going and how far we had traveled on the river. We saw a few bamboo rafts and people living with bare minimum on the shore of the banks. The water level had obviously, receded quite a lot. We looked up to see beautiful wild birds, mainly King Fishers, several wild ducks and a rare site of a pair of flying
monkeys at one spot. Thick, green, luscious trees were present at both side of the river bank, with an occasional glimpse of some villagers waving at us..I kept an occasional look out inside the boat to see that Peter and his family, who were seated together, were doing okay and that they seemed to be enjoying the natural scenery - although the benches were not the most comfortable seats for one's rare side. The Captain's assistant, Mr. Peaceful, seemed to take a particular interest in Emma's (Peter's grand daughter) i-pod.
Finally, about 3.30 p.m. the scout shouted: "We're here"!
The boat pulled up along side a muddy bank as we slowly got off the boat and carefully found our way to the top of the slope. There were two water buffaloes not far from our docking area, enjoying their douche whilst looking at us with curious eyes.
As we checked our back packs, I noticed a small hut with four people living inside. Aunty and I greeted them, briefly telling what we were up to as Mr. Scout started to lead the way. "30 minutes to Tawra Prang", he said. How can he be so accurate, I wondered? So, I timed my watch and followed him. I made sure that Steven would follow close to Peter and his family, to avoid getting separated from us who were behind the scout, who had suddenly picked up his pace. As we had been sitting all day in a small boat, my legs were happy to feel some movement. The heat was still quite
intense as we walked through a trail. I stopped occasionally in between groups to take some "in action" pictures, walking towards Broadway. Peter walked slowly, followed by his family and Steven. He looked tired, I thought. We continued to walk through a forest which used to be covered with Teak trees, but there weren't many anymore.
Eventually, we approached a large clearing and were suddenly out on an open burnt field. Astonishingly, it was exactly 29 minutes from the starting point. There were ashes all around that a slight ray of dust followed every footstep. We stopped for a while to check our bearings.
Peter, at this point, looked tired but he was taking interest at the maps that David and Tom brought and began to point at the west side of the field. A few moments passed, as other members followed to catch up with us and surprisingly, the boat captain was there, curious to know where we were heading to. Peter, his family and David continued to have a brief discussion, as I took a few photos of the open field. I thought: "This was it. This was where the Chindits landed". Then much to our surprise, Peter wanted to continue further, pointing towards what it appeared to be the edge of a forest. It would take about 30 minutes more to walk. Sally asked her father if he was sure that he wanted to continue giving the fact that he was tired. He insisted that we continued.
As we approached the edge of the forest, Tom took out his GPS and checked the position. That was it!
It showed: 24 43' N, 96 42.2' E. We were standing in the middle of "Broadway"! Peter seemed suddenly, re-living the past as he explained about the events that took place 62 years ago. He walked further into the forest and chose a tree to put up the plaque he carried from England. It read:
Remembering "THE CHINDITS"
Elements of 77 th Brigade, Special Force
Commanded by General Orde C. Wingate who landed here by Glider on 5 th March, 1944
"BROADWAY"
After a moment of silence, Peter slowly read a verse taken from the book "March or Die". He suddenly was overcome by emotions that Sally continued to read the verse for him. It was a very solemn moment. We took several photos in turn as Peter put a Flanders Poppy wreath at the bottom of the tree, where he had put up the plaque.
He then asked me to approach, hugged and thanked me for bringing him back to "Broadway". I was suddenly in tears, why, I do not know but I felt a rush of sadness as well as a sign of relief from Peter. The locals who followed us including Mr. Scout watched us in awe. They had never experienced such reunion from any elderly person, in Peter's case, someone who flew all the way from England, traveled such a long distance to come to this spot, to pay his last respects. We spent about 1.5 hours at the site and decided to slowly find our way back to our starting point. We knew by then,
that we would be spending the night by the Kaukkwe River as the sun began to set in the horizon..When we got back to our starting point, the sun had already set as I began to hear many attention bells ringing in my head. We were ill-equipped and had very little food with us. We did, however, bring a big container of purified water.
Fortunately, Peter and his family had brought their sleeping bags, except the rest of the group, did not bring anything. As I consulted with Steven and Aunty for dinner and sleeping arrangements, another boat suddenly appeared and stopped next to ours. As I called out why they were here, the captain of our boat and his assistant, Mr. Peaceful shouted at the boat, so happy to see the ‘provisions' the boat had carried. They assured me now that we would not go hungry anymore and that they would cook dinner for us. How does Porcupine curry sound to you? Porcupine curry??! You must be joking, I said. So we all ended up having fresh cooked rice with Porcupine curry (quite salty and chewy), and some left over fried rice
that we carried all the way from Myo Hla. We managed to find a pot from the hut and boiled water, as some of us wanted to have coffee. (The coffee was what the Burmese call 3-in-1 instant packets, just pour hot water and you have a Cuppa Joe). Sally graciously provided us with butter cookies, as dessert. We then found some logs nearby to build two camp fire. One for Peter and his family and one for the rest of the group.
We cleared a spot for The Heppells a few yards away from us, using the tarp from the boat to cover the ground, so that they could put down their sleeping bags. Steven, David and Aunty made sure that both fire camps had enough log to get us through the night, as Aunty and Steven volunteered to be the Watchman and Watch lady. I suddenly realized that Uncle was missing but moments later, found him in the hut with the good Mr. Scout, sharing a bottle of rice liquor, roasting some Porcupine meat. "Have some", they offered with a sip of the liquor. Both seemed to be having a great time. The four people whom I saw earlier, sat quietly close to each other in the hut observing us with curious eyes. I could not even imagine how they would sleep, for all I saw was a rickety bamboo shaft. Peter and his family was exhausted that they called it a night by slipping into their sleeping bags. Our side of the camp,
became animated as Mr. Peaceful entertained us with a few of his Michael Jackson's moves. Aunty kept us awake more or less, all through the night with her pleasantries and delightful conversation as she also tried to put a stop to Uncle's mid-night singing. Mr. Scout was fast asleep in the hut above. Finally, the boat captain and his assistant went back down into their boat to call it a night. I lied down on my back for a while, using my backpack as a pillow to watch the sky above. (At this point, we also had another tarp that came off from the provision carrying boat). There were full of stars shining brightly and the crescent moon trying to appear into the wide open sky, from above the trees. I could also hear the faint sound of the wild birds chirping in the distance, the light breeze through the forest, the crackling sound of the camp fire and the smell from the burning wood. What a great experience that was!
As mist began to fall, we all felt the coolness in the air and it became quite chilly by dawn. We left our overnight spot at 6.30 a.m. and began our way downstream on the Kaukkwe River, to return to Myo Hla to get our bags before we continued further. But first, we needed to stop at the last "Kachin" village to drop off Mr. Scout and to thank the people there who gave us the opportunity to visit Tawra Prang. One of the Kachin leaders summoned for Peter this time, wanting to chat with him as I translated the questions into
English. After a brief discussion, he shook Peter's hand and said, "An honor to meet you. Please return anytime you wish and you can be our scout!" He also turned to me and said that I should also return with more visitors. I knew then and there, that I had won their trust and confidence.
Peter, his family and David were officially considered the first "outsiders" who traveled up the Kaukkwe River since the end of WWII. The whole village came out to the bank to wave goodbye at us as we waved back at them from our boat.
"Come back again", they shouted.
At Myo Hla (Pretty village), we picked up our bags. I asked Steven to handle the bags with the help of a few villagers to get to the boat, as I went to find the headman to thank and pay for all the food his wife had prepared for us. As soon as I stepped into their house, his wife said we should have something for the road and started to cook some noodles, despite the fact I was telling her that we were running out of time. Finally, we walked out of Myo Hla with the locals following us behind to the water's edge. Again, many waves and
goodbyes from people shouting at us to come back again..Our river journey finally took us to back to Shwegu on the Irrawaddy River. I honestly dreaded the thought to stay overnight there because I knew the poor condition of the guesthouse which was more like a dormitory. But there was no other choice. We could not avoid not going through to Shwegu as this was the only point where we could continue to Mandalay. I thought to continue to Mandalay on the river, but the water level was seriously low and there were many sandbanks. I could not risk being stranded on the river. Besides, prior arrangements were made to send up a van from Mandalay to travel by road, after an overnight stay in Shwegu.
That plan finally fell apart because the rooms at the guesthouse were filthy and we all knew that we could not be sleeping due to the heavy congested traffic noise. Meanwhile, one of the local authorities in Shwegu came after me, wanting to know why I did not report to them en route to Myo Hla. As they knew me from my first visit where I had been interviewed five times, I put on my not-so-genuine smile, telling them that I did not have time to stop in Shwegu as we had a long way to go. At this point, it was too late for them to lecture me that I would not be able to make it to Tawra Prang. But I did! Meanwhile, a discussion came to surface whether we ought to stay here or continue to Mandalay. After a brief
discussion, a consensus was made and the decision was to continue to Mandalay. We all knew that it would be a very long ride, 10 hours at least, but we would be walking into an air-conditioned atmosphere, clean rooms (and have a long shower..) at the very nice, Mandalay Hill Resort. Peter was extremely tired at this point but managed to keep up with us.
I paid off the boat and bid good bye to Mr. Peaceful and his boss. As our designated van and driver, U Cho (Mr. Sweet) showed up, I requested if he would mind driving us back to Mandalay, immediately. He just spent 10 hours on the road and I was not sure what his answer might be. But instead, he gave me the most engaging smile and said, "No problem". I was then requested by all the participants to make sure that all their rooms at the Mandalay Hill Resort were guaranteed for EARLY check-in, as we estimated to arrive there around 5 a.m. the next morning. I did and managed to secure the rooms. Meanwhile, Aunty and Uncle decided to return to Bhamo on a midnight bus. We waved good bye at them and left Shwegu at 6 p.m. We settled into the van, Steven seated next to Mr. Sweet as the appointed navigator. I sudden had a flash-back of
looking like a white monkey but was glad to see that the windows in the van were not wide open. Still, there was a cloud of dust as the wheels began to roll. As Mr. Sweet put his heavy foot on the gas panel, everyone began to feel the bumps of the road. However, as we were so exhausted, the rattling and shaking became less obvious except that David, being the tallest person, had a hard time being seated in one place. He and I chose the last row of the van, seated close to the bags but also because there was also some leg room for him. His long legs tried to hinder his body from shifting to places but because we were seated at the end of the vehicle where it created maximum vibration, his head became good pals with the side window as he nodded off periodically. My head also joined in to say hello to my side of the window after some time. I managed to look over Sally's shoulder from my semi-comatose condition, to see Peter and others, having some rest in spite of the rough ride. I think Peter might have a few hours of sleep. I also thought of Aunty and Uncle and regretted that I had very little time to thank them properly for their most gracious and valuable company. What a lovely couple! 3:15 A.M: What a beautiful sight!
We wobbled into the empty hotel reception at Mandalay Hill Resort, feeling the cool and most comforting atmosphere. We must be a sight for sore eyes, not having showered for almost 48 hours, covered in dust! The night manager came out to welcome us, as I apologized to him for the early arrival. Fortunately, there were no problems and so I hastily checked everyone in and gave them the room keys.
As the group went up to their rooms with the bags behind them, I made arrangements for the afternoon with Mr. Sweet and thanked him for driving us back to Mandalay. He just spent 20 hours behind the wheels and was still smiling! Our two nights at the Mandalay Hill Resort was just heavenly. At least, I hope everyone would be in agreement on this.
After a full day's rest, fully recuperated, we went to visit some well-known places in and around Mandalay, and did some shopping along the way. We had a lovely dinner at the hotel that evening, watching a Burmese Traditional dance show. Afterwards, we went for a night cap at the Kipling bar in the hotel. Sally wanted to go on the dance floor and suddenly we saw Peter, who got on his feet and started dancing! A round of applause came from a group of Koreans who were present at the bar..We flew back to Rangoon on the morning of March 10. I accompanied David to the airport that afternoon, to catch his flight back to the U.K., while Peter and his family stayed an extra night in Rangoon. Dinner that evening was on the Royal Barge with another lively dance show. The next morning, March 11, we visited the Taukkyan War Cemetery located at the outskirts of Rangoon, at Peter's request. He needed to do one last thing before he left Rangoon.
We were met by Oscar Dewar, MBE, Manager of the War Cemetery whose face has become quite familiar among many veterans who have visited Burma in the past few years. Oscar waited for us with coffee and biscuits.
As it was getting quite warm and humid, Peter started to walk around the cemetery, looking at some graves. It was another solemn moment, as we walked behind Peter from a distant, giving him some privacy. He placed a Flanders Poppy wreath at each grave. Sally, who was walking along side with me, asked her father if he would like to say something. He said that he had never been good with words but that he would read the verse again from the book, "March or Die". I suddenly felt tears in my eyes listening to his soft, gentle voice as he tried to finish the verse. Sally too, was in tears. I am not sure why I felt the rush of sadness or why I felt so emotionally charged, looking at Peter through my teary
eyes with admiration, who managed to revisit Broadway after 62 years of absence. Did he promise his fallen comrades that he would return? Did he feel that he had abandoned them on March 05, 1944? Or, was I in tears because Peter reminded me of my own father? As Peter slowly walked out of the cemetery, he looked back again towards the graves one last time and said, "This is my last visit, unfortunately". I got teary again at the airport later that day, as I accompanied them. Obviously, I was not good in saying goodbyes. History played a major role in our search for Broadway but personally, it is indescribable how it felt to help fulfill someone else's wish and it happened to Peter's, a Chindit veteran.
I can only reflect upon my own personal experiences in that, we had made such a strong kinship amongst us during the 11 days we traveled on the road. So it would not be a surprise at all, for all the Chindit veterans like Peter, who seemed to have made a pact or a bond with other veterans whom he had come to know during the war, past and present, under such harsh and terrible conditions.
I would like to thank Peter and Sally for giving me the opportunity to travel back in time and learn about the existence of Broadway, which I have taken interest for quite sometime. I would also like to thank others, near and far, involved in our search for Broadway, who had made it all possible. It was great team work!
Finally, I would like to share with you an email that I had received from Peter, two days after he left Burma which had sent me to seventh heaven: "There are so many things that should have been said in appreciation of all the hard work put in by Tony, Steven andespecially by you that made this trip, a truly memorable experience, absolutely unforgettable. I feel that unfortunately, this will be my last visit to your country, but the memories now, thanks to you, are good ones. Fond regards - Peter "
With that, ends my report: "Finding Broadway".
Sincerely,
Khine (Ms. Khaing Tun)
Website: www.cbiexpeditions.com
Email: [email protected]
Remembering is a time-honored pastime
Return to top
____________________
March 19 2006
Ken Joyce's Story of Going Back to Burma--. March 2006.
We are deeply indebted to Khine for sending us this fascinating
story--Thank you Khine
BACK TO BURMA FEBRUARY 2006
It was like the proverbial bolt from the blue when my wife, Heather, decided in the middle of January that to mark my forthcoming 80th birthday, I should make a return solo journey to Burma. I don't usually make a habit of giving in to Heather's ideas but I must admit that this was a most welcome suggestion as I had regretted missing out on visiting certain places on our previous trip, 14 months earlier, mainly due to Heather having difficulty in travelling. That first trip had been very emotional for us and included a long drive to Moulmein where Heather had been at boarding school, where her parents had been married and where her grandfather had been the Pilot for shipping. My objectives were to try to visit Sookalat, the remote Rubber Estate managed by her father that I had visited after the end of hostilities in 1945, not long after we had handed our Fairmile Gunboats over to the Burma Navy. This would entail firstly getting to the former De La Salle school/orphanage at Hnget-au-san, close to the town of Kawhmu. To get to this orphanage I would call on the help of the DLS Old Boys Association. A further objective was to visit and lay wreaths at the War Graves at Rangoon War Cemetery and also the Taukkyan War Graves. At the Rangoon Graves I would take a number of photographs for a local friend here in Australia and also for Matt Poole from the USA. Matt had been very successful in tracing downed aircraft in the Rangoon area and had researched what had happened to the crews of these planes, including his Mother's first husband. A visit to Mandalay and travel by ferry down the Irrawaddy River to Bagan was also planned. Finally, I wanted once again to see the area around Kokkowa and Yandoon (Nyaungdon) close to where the last actions of the Royal Navy's Coastal Forces in WW2 took place.
The success of our first trip was largely due to the fact that Heather, who had left Burma at age 15, still fluently spoke the language. For my trip I was fortunate to be able to call on Khaing Tun (Khine). She has proved her expertise in leading ex-service groups from the USA over the route of the wartime roads from Burma to China, tracing the sites of downed aircraft and also conducting Chindits and their families back to their area of operations such as Broadway, White City, etc. Over the past few years I had read many of Khine's reports of her travels to help ex-service people and their surviving families. She had also read some of my writings on Burma matters. Heather wrote to her asking that she look after me and I was delighted when she promptly agreed and we settled on a very modest fee for an all-in tour. I did need to surmount one little glitch; this was my eldest daughter's strong wish that for once, I take out Travel Insurance. No problem I thought as my Doctor gave me a clean bill of health although quite properly recording near eighty years of medical treatments. This led Australia's biggest Insurer to stipulate that it was happy to give me a policy provided there could be no claims even remotely due to Heart, Lungs or Digestive Systems. It looked as though I should take my own banana skin to Burma with me if I was to give them a sporting chance of considering a health claim!
To tie in with Khine's already agreed tours, I made a prompt booking with Singapore Airlines and after an 8.30am take-off in Sydney, a change of plane in Singapore, I was in Rangoon at 4.15pm local time on 15th February. Within minutes of getting my baggage, there was Khine whisking me through the minor airport formalities with porters taking the luggage and I was soon settled in the back of a car and on the way to my city hotel.
What can I say about Khine? Unlike what one has come to expect in the East, she immediately stamps herself as a self-assured, confident,highly professional woman, completely in charge of the operation but fully considerate for others. On top of all this, she is a beautiful, well groomed, lady. In the days ahead I learned to cope with the puzzled glances and even remarks made by some when watching her paying the bill or buying drinks for this ‘old man', an obvious foreigner at that. This was maybe most obvious in Bars frequented by ex-pats who had difficulty in hiding their curiosity but it obviously sent the hotel boys into a spin.
I had mentioned that I wanted to revisit the Shwedagon Pagoda and a tour had been arranged for that very evening, as it is the most comfortable time to walk around in bare feet! Very few tourists at this time but many devout Buddhists praying at the various shrines. I chose to pour water over the head of the Buddha at the ‘Thursday Born' shrine. It was then back to the City and dinner at a restaurant opposite my hotel, the very convenient Central Hotel. I received a telephone call from Eugene Delmas, the President of the DLS Old Boys, arranging a 6am start the next day for the journey to DLS and Sookalat.
An early morning call with breakfast delivered to my room. I found the DLS fellows meeting outside the hotel, they had come from as far as Insein and the other side of Mingladon following 4am starts. We taxied down to the Pansodan Jetty to catch the ferry across the Rangoon River to Dalat. Being a foreigner I had to go to the Office for the special ticket costing one US dollar! I am always fascinated by this river where I had spent so many months in 1945. There are still sampans being rowed across reminding me of the tragedies I had witnessed when the current had overtaken the power of the rower and the boat had been swept against jetties or moored craft, spilling the occupants into the fast flowing river.
In Dalah we bargained for a taxi to Kawhmu where we would change over to a Willys Jeep for the more difficult road to Sookalat. The fellows kindly put me in the front seat alongside the driver whilst the four of them squeezed into the back. I see from my notes that on the way we passed a Funeral and two Weddings. We prayed for the funeral although someone joked that we should pray for the wedding!. It was early morning still and there was quite a fog arising off the paddy fields. Liberal use of the horn among heavy traffic. On arrival at Kawhmu, one of the fellows was greeted by an old schoolmate who insisted that we join in to greet the wedding of his nephew. We entered a large decorated hall and were introduced to the couple, had part of the wedding feast and took many photographs. The young couple were second and first year University students, I kissed the hand of the beautiful Bride to much applause.
We then got our Jeep, a genuine leftover from the war but reconditioned by Mitsubishi. Again I was put in the front seat, holding on tightly as the roads soon became pretty awful. Finally reached the De La Salle area, much reduced in size as the former buildings had been taken over many years ago and had been badly damaged in the 1975 earthquake.. The original church has been refurbished with the cost being met by Old Boys in Australia and the USA. Their donations have been put to good use as it is again a fine place of worship. This was the time to remember the Brothers met in 1945, Bro. Patrick, with his two revolvers - he was better armed than I was! Brother Edmund, who stayed with us in London only a short time before returning to Rangoon and his tragic death. Christopher who I later met in Ireland, Celestine, my hunting partner and great friend to my 3 year old daughter, and not forgetting Bro Felix, aged 93, now in retirement in Germany. I also thought of my dear friends, those Old Boys now living in Australia Fr.Eddie, Robin and Freddie who still do so much in memory of Papa John, the Founder of this place of refuge.
We had brought our lunch with us from Kawhmu, it was served by Daw Rosa and the staff who were looking after the babies including little Tsunami. We did not see Fr Eugene and his flock of orphans who were of course at school. We soon started on the drive to Sookalat along what could hardly be described as a road. It looked as though it must have only been cut through heavy growth over the last year or so and was in very poor condition. The driver, with my modest help, had to stop to clear foliage that got wrapped around the wheels. At one point we were completely bogged but fortunately a truck arrived with a dozen farm workers who made us old fellows stand aside while they manhandled the jeep out of trouble.
We eventually arrived at Sookalat Rubber Estate, now a government enterprise, and were kindly greeted by the Manager and his administration staff. Heather's magnificent family home, with its famous mossie-proof music room had long gone. Nature had reclaimed the well laid out gardens which had been the pride of her Father who had been the Superintendant of the Rangoon Agri-Horticultural Gardens in the early 1930s. Most of the factory buildings were quite new. It was a pity to see the man-made Lake that had now deteriorated into not much better than a swamp. In this area sixty years ago, four villages supplied up to 400 Rubber Tappers but now the number employed at Sookalat is in the sixties due no doubt to changes in the economy.
We started on our journey back to Kawhmu, braving again the poorest of roads, meaning we had to get out whilst our driver had to cope with the sand drifts. Of course this route would have been even worse during or just after the monsoons. We finally reached Kawhmu only to find that there was no taxi available. At first this was not a worry as we assumed that one would materialise but after an hours wait it became clear that the only way we could carry on to Dalat was by the country bus service. After seeing one such ancient bus leave, packed tight with people seated and hanging on, we got on to the next one expected to leave. After a long wait while it filled up with passengers and the roof was loaded with cargo we set off. Not the best of journeys - all packed tight with a missing handrail, one foot over a spare tyre, and the other baking on the engine top. I was kindly offered the comfortable seat in the front with the driver but I refused, I just couldn't leave these four wonderful fellows, all pretty near my age, to suffer such discomfort on their own. They are all involved in helping to continue to keep alive the work of Brother John who had the De La Salle school and orphanage built. His team of Brothers from France, Germany, England, Ireland and East Europe had laboured since 1921 to care for orphan boys, trained in food gardening and educated up to University entry standard. The school had been the refuge for many Christian families throughout the Japanese Occupation even though a Kemptai Military Police station was established among their premises. Anyway we finally reached Dalat and returned by the ferry to Rangoon. After a final drink in the hotel bar we parted, on my part quite reluctantly. Three of them had served on the Gunboats we had passed over to the Burma Navy after the war ended and they are the type of men one would appreciate having beside you in time of troubles. Thank you Eugene, Bunny, Benny and Cecil.
Khine had arranged to join me at 9.30am the next day, so being an early riser I had a couple of hours to wonder the streets of the city in the cool of the morning. I find it good to see a city come awake and Rangoon is no exception. Throngs of people on the move, stopping here and there to do business with streetside traders selling fruit and cooked food, papers and magazines, exchanging friendly banter with pretty girls. Maybe more relaxed than similar crowds in Sydney or London but probably all in the
same state of mind. Khine soon arrived with her car and driver and we set off for the Rangoon War Cemetery where lie the British and Commonwealth men who died during the Landings of 2nd May, 1945, those who had died whilst in custody in Rangoon Jail, airmen from downed aircraft. The larger Taukkyan War Cemetery, much further out of the city, is the resting place of the fallen brought from all over Burma, especially the Arakan, the Chindit expeditions, the mighty battles for Mandalay and Meiktila.
My task here this day was to photograph the graves of downed aircrew of the RAF, RAAF, and RCAF. I won't go into the often horrific stories of these real heroes, suffice to say that their ages are in the range 21 to 25 and include those whose bravery whilst POWs earned decorations such as the posthumous George Cross. A special thought for those who died just after being rescued. Should you even have a heart of stone, I would lay odds that you would be moved to tears in this illustrious company. The Cemetery Manager, Mohan Segran, took us to his office for refreshments and the chance to compose ourselves. He also explained the work being done to preserve the individual plaques, the examples seem very good. Most people visiting these graves would be in groups such as organised by the British Legion. I suggest that individuals or families telephone ahead to give the manager a chance to greet them.
To tie in with Khine's already agreed tours, I made a prompt booking with Singapore Airlines and after an 8.30am take-off in Sydney, a change of plane in Singapore, I was in Rangoon at 4.15pm local time on 15th February. Within minutes of getting my baggage, there was Khine whisking me through the minor airport formalities with porters taking the luggage and I was soon settled in the back of a car and on the way to my city hotel.
What can I say about Khine? Unlike what one has come to expect in the East, she immediately stamps herself as a self-assured, confident,highly professional woman, completely in charge of the operation but fully considerate for others. On top of all this, she is a beautiful, well groomed, lady. In the days ahead I learned to cope with the puzzled glances and even remarks made by some when watching her paying the bill or buying drinks for this ‘old man', an obvious foreigner at that. This was maybe most obvious in Bars frequented by ex-pats who had difficulty in hiding their curiosity but it obviously sent the hotel boys into a spin.
I had mentioned that I wanted to revisit the Shwedagon Pagoda and a tour had been arranged for that very evening, as it is the most comfortable time to walk around in bare feet! Very few tourists at this time but many devout Buddhists praying at the various shrines. I chose to pour water over the head of the Buddha at the ‘Thursday Born' shrine. It was then back to the City and dinner at a restaurant opposite my hotel, the very convenient Central Hotel. I received a telephone call from Eugene Delmas, the President of the DLS Old Boys, arranging a 6am start the next day for the journey to DLS and Sookalat.
An early morning call with breakfast delivered to my room. I found the DLS fellows meeting outside the hotel, they had come from as far as Insein and the other side of Mingladon following 4am starts. We taxied down to the Pansodan Jetty to catch the ferry across the Rangoon River to Dalat. Being a foreigner I had to go to the Office for the special ticket costing one US dollar! I am always fascinated by this river where I had spent so many months in 1945. There are still sampans being rowed across reminding me of the tragedies I had witnessed when the current had overtaken the power of the rower and the boat had been swept against jetties or moored craft, spilling the occupants into the fast flowing river.
In Dalah we bargained for a taxi to Kawhmu where we would change over to a Willys Jeep for the more difficult road to Sookalat. The fellows kindly put me in the front seat alongside the driver whilst the four of them squeezed into the back. I see from my notes that on the way we passed a Funeral and two Weddings. We prayed for the funeral although someone joked that we should pray for the wedding!. It was early morning still and there was quite a fog arising off the paddy fields. Liberal use of the horn among heavy traffic. On arrival at Kawhmu, one of the fellows was greeted by an old schoolmate who insisted that we join in to greet the wedding of his nephew. We entered a large decorated hall and were introduced to the couple, had part of the wedding feast and took many photographs. The young couple were second and first year University students, I kissed the hand of the beautiful Bride to much applause.
We then got our Jeep, a genuine leftover from the war but reconditioned by Mitsubishi. Again I was put in the front seat, holding on tightly as the roads soon became pretty awful. Finally reached the De La Salle area, much reduced in size as the former buildings had been taken over many years ago and had been badly damaged in the 1975 earthquake.. The original church has been refurbished with the cost being met by Old Boys in Australia and the USA. Their donations have been put to good use as it is again a fine place of worship. This was the time to remember the Brothers met in 1945, Bro. Patrick, with his two revolvers - he was better armed than I was! Brother Edmund, who stayed with us in London only a short time before returning to Rangoon and his tragic death. Christopher who I later met in Ireland, Celestine, my hunting partner and great friend to my 3 year old daughter, and not forgetting Bro Felix, aged 93, now in retirement in Germany. I also thought of my dear friends, those Old Boys now living in Australia Fr.Eddie, Robin and Freddie who still do so much in memory of Papa John, the Founder of this place of refuge.
We had brought our lunch with us from Kawhmu, it was served by Daw Rosa and the staff who were looking after the babies including little Tsunami. We did not see Fr Eugene and his flock of orphans who were of course at school. We soon started on the drive to Sookalat along what could hardly be described as a road. It looked as though it must have only been cut through heavy growth over the last year or so and was in very poor condition. The driver, with my modest help, had to stop to clear foliage that got wrapped around the wheels. At one point we were completely bogged but fortunately a truck arrived with a dozen farm workers who made us old fellows stand aside while they manhandled the jeep out of trouble.
We eventually arrived at Sookalat Rubber Estate, now a government enterprise, and were kindly greeted by the Manager and his administration staff. Heather's magnificent family home, with its famous mossie-proof music room had long gone. Nature had reclaimed the well laid out gardens which had been the pride of her Father who had been the Superintendant of the Rangoon Agri-Horticultural Gardens in the early 1930s. Most of the factory buildings were quite new. It was a pity to see the man-made Lake that had now deteriorated into not much better than a swamp. In this area sixty years ago, four villages supplied up to 400 Rubber Tappers but now the number employed at Sookalat is in the sixties due no doubt to changes in the economy.
We started on our journey back to Kawhmu, braving again the poorest of roads, meaning we had to get out whilst our driver had to cope with the sand drifts. Of course this route would have been even worse during or just after the monsoons. We finally reached Kawhmu only to find that there was no taxi available. At first this was not a worry as we assumed that one would materialise but after an hours wait it became clear that the only way we could carry on to Dalat was by the country bus service. After seeing one such ancient bus leave, packed tight with people seated and hanging on, we got on to the next one expected to leave. After a long wait while it filled up with passengers and the roof was loaded with cargo we set off. Not the best of journeys - all packed tight with a missing handrail, one foot over a spare tyre, and the other baking on the engine top. I was kindly offered the comfortable seat in the front with the driver but I refused, I just couldn't leave these four wonderful fellows, all pretty near my age, to suffer such discomfort on their own. They are all involved in helping to continue to keep alive the work of Brother John who had the De La Salle school and orphanage built. His team of Brothers from France, Germany, England, Ireland and East Europe had laboured since 1921 to care for orphan boys, trained in food gardening and educated up to University entry standard. The school had been the refuge for many Christian families throughout the Japanese Occupation even though a Kemptai Military Police station was established among their premises. Anyway we finally reached Dalat and returned by the ferry to Rangoon. After a final drink in the hotel bar we parted, on my part quite reluctantly. Three of them had served on the Gunboats we had passed over to the Burma Navy after the war ended and they are the type of men one would appreciate having beside you in time of troubles. Thank you Eugene, Bunny, Benny and Cecil.
Khine had arranged to join me at 9.30am the next day, so being an early riser I had a couple of hours to wonder the streets of the city in the cool of the morning. I find it good to see a city come awake and Rangoon is no exception. Throngs of people on the move, stopping here and there to do business with streetside traders selling fruit and cooked food, papers and magazines, exchanging friendly banter with pretty girls. Maybe more relaxed than similar crowds in Sydney or London but probably all in the
same state of mind. Khine soon arrived with her car and driver and we set off for the Rangoon War Cemetery where lie the British and Commonwealth men who died during the Landings of 2nd May, 1945, those who had died whilst in custody in Rangoon Jail, airmen from downed aircraft. The larger Taukkyan War Cemetery, much further out of the city, is the resting place of the fallen brought from all over Burma, especially the Arakan, the Chindit expeditions, the mighty battles for Mandalay and Meiktila.
My task here this day was to photograph the graves of downed aircrew of the RAF, RAAF, and RCAF. I won't go into the often horrific stories of these real heroes, suffice to say that their ages are in the range 21 to 25 and include those whose bravery whilst POWs earned decorations such as the posthumous George Cross. A special thought for those who died just after being rescued. Should you even have a heart of stone, I would lay odds that you would be moved to tears in this illustrious company. The Cemetery Manager, Mohan Segran, took us to his office for refreshments and the chance to compose ourselves. He also explained the work being done to preserve the individual plaques, the examples seem very good. Most people visiting these graves would be in groups such as organised by the British Legion. I suggest that individuals or families telephone ahead to give the manager a chance to greet them.
Khine very wisely judged that it was a bit too hot to carry on to Taukkyan War Cemetery and so we returned to the city. She may very well have decided to get me on a more even plane after walking around among these fellows who had given their all whilst only being the same age as my eldest grandson. I was soon diverted by a pleasant lunch and exhilarating conversation. The plan was then to have a rest and set off to Taukkyan after 4pm. This gave me the opportunity to go to the market to buy cards for my grandchildren and friends. I find that the best buys in this connection are paintings of country and river scenes.
At Taukkyan we were greeted by Oscar Dewar, MBE. the Regional Manager with more than 30 years service. He and his staff have the graves in magnificent condition and with its wide colonnade it must vie for the position of the finest of the war graves. Oscar had a table with cold refreshments set out in the shade with the records of all those buried in these grounds. Here I searched for some record of Bill McNemeny of ML 904 who was killed at Kokkowa but he doesn't figure among those very many with no known grave. He is of course recorded on the Naval Memorial overlooking the Solent but unlike those thousands lost in the oceans of the world, he was killed in Burma, I must mention this to the Commission. Oscar knows them all, just as he knows the plants, bushes and grasses. He points out the VC holders and notes the famous British and Indian Regiments. In the case of the British regiments, if left to the U.K. bureaucrats, in years to come it will only be in such Graveyards that these Regiments are publicly recorded. Oscar retires in a couple of years or so, let's hope for a suitable replacement. Soon we said our farewells with a return to the city for refreshments and dinner. It was then necessary to arrange a 4.30 am wake-up call so as to be able to catch the early flight on Air Bagan plane to Mandalay.
Off to the Airport in the dark to join the plane, it was a very new Turbo Prop carrying about 30 passengers. After a flight of about 90 minutes we landed at the ultra modern Airport fitted with passenger bridges but all of this not yet in service! Met again by a car and driver and drove the 28 miles into the city along a dual carriageway, All level country and can't fathom out why the airport so far from the city. Khine wanted to take advantage of the cool of the morning and before heading to our hotel we were driven to the U Pein Bridge, a 100 year old wooden structure spanning the Irrawaddy. We walked a fair way across viewing local boats and abundant flocks of geese being tended by their owners. Back on dry land we drove off to the very large Buddhist Monastery complex to see the ritual of the feeding of the hundreds of monks. Khine kept clear of the throng of tourists and took me up to a balcony overlooking the area where large vats of rice were being prepared. The monks are served their food by the Donors who gain merit for their generosity. We then drove around Annapurra, an early capital, booked into the Mandalay City Hotel and then went to BBB Euro Restaurant for lunch. Due to the heat, it was back to the hotel for a rest until 4pm when we drove up Mandalay Hill, went to the top by escalator. Enjoyed the wide view of the area although there was some mist. Overlooked Fort Dufferin, could see where the Wall had been breached during the war. Not for the first time, I thanked the Gods that I hadn't been a soldier!. Toured the Palace and Golden Monastery. Very pleasant drinks at the Mandalay Hill Hotel. An early morning call, with a packaged breakfast, enabled us to get to the jetty for the Ferry ride down the Irrawaddy to Bagan. We left at 5.50am in the dark with the boat's searchlight probing ahead into the mist. This ferry was not quite what we expected, instead of airline type seating, we had plastic garden chairs set out in rows. To get it right at the start I had to keep those in front of us in their own space and not encroach on us. (We became quite friendly as the hours past, so no harm done!) The boat was crowded with in the main, a German Tour Party but also individuals from the USA, Canada, France, Germany " but not with that lot"! As the sun came out we could gaze on hillsides of Pagodas and view a mighty new steel bridge being built over the river, its outline gave memories of the Forth Bridge. I, of course, with my memories of patrols around the Delta and the Irrawaddy whilst going aground on uncharted sandbars, was interested in the navigation of this boat. There are very few markers to help with the depth and it appeared that the boat had a draught of about 2 to 3 feet, a lot better than our near 6 foot. At the bow, I introduced myself to the Captain and showed him the photos of my gunboat. He seemed very interested but kept peering ahead for most of the time through his binoculars whilst two sailors plunged the marked poles into the river, singing out the depth. The only one with an easy job was the helmsman who sat back, altering course by his feet! On a ferry such as this, the Captain has an extremely responsible job. If they were grounded there is the danger of the current swinging them across the river with the possibility of the boat laying on its beam and maybe even shedding passengers. A nightmare for any Captain.
At the stroke of 0800 hours, I went to the stern of the ferry and cast a small Flanders Poppy wreath into the waters of the mighty Irrawaddy in honour of the thousands of combatants, British, Indian and also Japanese who had perished in the surrounding countryside.
Refreshments on board came from a little kiosk run by a nice mother whose son kept us amused. She had cold drinks on ice, could rustle up a fried rice dish. I had a good supply of Heather's ‘emergency rations' in the form of K-Time Fruit Bars, Salada Biscuits to be taken with Red Laughing Cow cheese portions. There was a unique way of serving coffee in pint beer mugs, easy to handle and less spills on a moving boat. Even though they weighed over 3 pounds, I had brought my binoculars and could now reap the value. I was able to get a good sight of the glistening pagodas, little villages and hard working fishermen. One interesting sight was to see groups of men, camping on sandbanks and sieving for gold, must be worthwhile as there were many of them. This turned out to be a long journey, over 12 hours, but always something happening on this, one of the world's mighty rivers. When I first came to Burma in 1945 whilst the country was occupied by the Japanese, I was surprised to see that on all the Jetties at each town we retook they had left the bold sign; IRRAWADDY FLOTILLA COMPANY. INCORPORATED IN GLASGOW. Apart from the British built railway, this was the lifeline for Burma's trade and transportation. Now the massive bridge building over the rivers and streams is making road traffic more feasible. However our trip down river showed how much the country still depended on river traffic. Tugs pulling flat-tops loaded with massive timber logs, others with general cargo, trucks and cars were in sight every few minutes. We had a fine view of the luxury ferry, ‘The Road to Mandalay' heading north. There were short stops at Pakokku and Myinmu where vendors tried to earn a few kyats selling fruit. I noticed one girl offering bananas at a price of 2,000 kyats which price dropped to 500 kyats in 2 minutes. She still looked happy with the sale she had made. Before reaching Pakokku, another of Burma's mighty rivers joined the
Irrawaddy. This was the Chindwin, well known, if not loved, by many of my army friends in Burma Star.
The seat I was on had a passageway behind it and while relaxing I suddenly found my neck being manipulated. This was from a team of ladies offering massages on deck. They weren't overwhelmed with takers but from time to time you would find someone flat out on deck with the masseuse doing her work. Khine was advising them that they would do better if they spread the available work among four or five of them rather than seven. Good advice as it seems they have to pay to work the boats.
The river journey was nearing its end and we were comparing ideas and information with other passengers, I particularly remember the young Canadian who came proudly to me to state that his Grandfather had the Burma Star. Quite a number of the young travellers approached and spoke to me about the wreath laying. As we moved over to the bank at Bagan, we could see that there was nothing like a passenger jetty. It was a case of ‘walking the plank' with many hands outstretched to help. Then Khine quickly had a porter carry our bags over a rickety bridge and up the hilly beach to where she had organised a car. A drive in the dark to the Pagoda City Hotel, again fine rooms and facilities. We took a short walk out to dinner at a new hotel, built with massive wooden beams, very friendly staff known to Khine who had spent Christmas here with her Mum. The menu had dozens of choices but having just spent 12 hours on the Irrawaddy, I chose to honour the river by having Irrawaddy Fish and Chips, washed down with Myanmar Beer, an excellent choice. Had a chat with a German couple, game enough to wear their longyis in public not like me confining this to my room for fear it all fall down!
Met Khine for breakfast in the attractive garden restaurant. We have been warned that for the next day our breakfast would be served in our rooms as the hotel was booked for a wedding reception. After Kawmhu I would be keeping clear of that! Our
car arrived for the start of a tour of a few of the finest temples in Bagan. Many of them were about 1,000 years old and in some cases had suffered damage in the 1975 earthquake. There is a program of restoration of these gems that I understand was being supported by UNESCO. This support has been withdrawn as part of the US boycott. We visited a few temples but the one that stands out was the Dhammayongyi Temple that dates back to the year 1163. We had a guide for this, a twelve year old girl named Yu Yu Lwin. Her fluency and directness of speech charmed me with my poor hearing! It was really too hot to keep going from temple to temple and so we retreated to a riverside hotel for its magnificent views of the Irrawaddy and cooling drinks. Khine had booked us to an evening Dinner and Marionette Show. Took it easy back in the cool of our hotel whilst Khine made the arrangements for the evening. We met at teatime in the hotel garden, made a hole in the bottle of gin I had brought from home. I brought ice from my room whilst Khine looked after the tonic. As usual it was very pleasant just to listen to Khine and her stories and of course, bask in the company of such a beautiful young women. However the time came to be off to Dinner even though there was a couple of decent gins in the bottle. I planned to keep them for another time.
We arrived at the show being held at the Nanda Restaurant, before the tour parties and had excellent seats. When dinner was served it came on large platters with many compartments. This was a first class Burmese dinner, just look at the Menu:-
Lentil Soup (Dal)
Coconut Rice
Pork Curry
Fish Curry (Butter Fish)
Burmese Sauteed Watercress
Cauliflower & Egg Stir Fry
Eggplant Stew
Cabbage & Lemon Salad
Balachaun
I can't pretend to have eaten or even sampled all of this, but it was a magnificent meal. The marionette show was a review of Burmese classical dancing and was appreciated by all the European guests. In the morning, we were off to the Airport for the flight back to Rangoon. Met a number of nice people in the departure lounge, when Khine mentions that I am an ex-serviceman on a sort of pilgrimage, I get more kisses and hugs than I deserve, ‘ah weel, I can put up with it'. On arrival in Rangoon, the car and driver are waiting and we are soon back at the Central Hotel. Time to freshen up then a drive along the Strand, close to where we landed in 1945 and made our base until the war's end. Posted cards outside the G.P.O. using intermediaries, pleased to say they arrived safely. Had a pleasant lunch at Monsoon Restaurant and then to Scott Market to buy little gifts for grandchildren. (Not completely successful as one of my 5 year old twin grand daughters, Alisha, wants me to take her back to Burma to change the colour of her gift!)
I needed to visit the Director of the De La Salle Order to discuss some problems that my wife was having in her charitable work. I therefore suggested that Khine have an early mark and I would take a taxi for my trip. Khine finally agreed to call it a day but insisted I keep the car and so I was able to do my business with Bro. Anselm and return to the hotel for the evening. Next morning at 9am, Khine arrived with the car plus an additional driver who it was thought knew more of the area we were aiming to cover. For the past sixty years I have wanted to be able to return to the scene of two gun actions in which the boat I was serving on was involved. This was M L Gunboat 269, 14th Flotilla. 269 had been a Navigation Leader at the Normandy Landings whilst at the time I was serving on MTB 749. After Normandy, 749 was accidently badly damaged and the crew dispersed to other boats. I finished up on 269 that then made its way out to Burma, arriving early in 1945. Originally known as a Motor Launch, 269 was built in Cockenzie, Scotland, in 1941 when I was just 15. ( My family used to holiday close by and I commanded an eight foot dinghy in the little harbour of Cockenzie, putting my young sister, Kareen, in grave danger.) In Trombay, close to Bombay, the large petrol tanks that were required for such a long trip were removed and we were fitted with numerous weapons, a six pounder forward, twin 20mm Oerlikon and 40 mm Pom Pom . This made us into a formidable Gunboat.
In May 1945, six weeks after my 19th birthday, we led the Task Force that sailed up the Rangoon River and retook the city with little opposition. Our job was then to scour the Delta and Irrawaddy, searching out enemy craft and in effect retaking the many towns. We were mostly made very welcome at these towns stretching up river to Henzada and across to Myaungmya, others in our flotilla took over the Bassein. area. Four boats of our flotilla tried to get up the Sittang River resulting in the loss by a tidal wave (bore) of the Flotilla Leader and one other boat. Possibly because of this, 269 operated around the Delta on its own. The first of these gun actions occurred close to the village of Kokkowa. Three gunboats of the 13th Flotilla had set up an ambush when 269 came on the scene and was instructed to anchor well away. When the Japanese boats arrived, the resulting gunfire was quite sufficient to encourage our Commander, Lt. Peter Royal, to move in , resulting in us taking some minor hits from both friend and foe. Peter Royal was a veteran of the Lofoten Island Raid up in the Arctic and was also decorated for heroism at the famous St Nazaire Raid. Not being aware of the details of the ambush plans, there was little chance of him sitting out as a spectator. After this ambush, 269 was later left on guard close to the junction opposite the village and was in a good position to engage a further group of Japanese boats coming down the Bawle River and putting themselves between 269 and the burning waterfront of Kokkowa. The result was disaster for them as all where hit repeatedly and burst into flames as they were carrying drums of fuel for their possible return trip. The British boats all received damage, with one man killed and three wounded. 269 took a direct hit right through its 6-pounder gunshield but thankfully none of us were hurt. The next day we proceeded to Yandoon, crossed the bar into the Irrawaddy and engaged a further three Japanese boats. In this action, 269 was hit by a mortar shell fired from the shore. Thankfully, the shell exploded on a steel davit and not in the Engine Room and only one man was wounded. Peter Royal again distinguished himself by stopping engines and keeping 269 alongside the enemy until they all had burst into flames.
Now was my chance to revisit these sites. Due to the building of bridges, it is now only a couple of hours driving to the Bridge over the Irrawaddy at Nyaundon, which I knew of as Yandoon. However we did find difficulty in getting to the town. When the prospect arose of maybe finding Kokkowa, I was delighted as of course this was at the heart of our biggest action whilst the fight at Yandoon was a few miles from the town. We returned over the bridge, stopping to ask directions and finally arrived at the tiny village of Anyarsu. Here a local advised that we could get a boat to Kokkowa so in my excitement I rushed down to the river, without my water or the photos of 269. Khine soon struck a bargain and we got on board the quite comfortable launch that had good cover from the sun. The boatman was named Aye Soe, his wife, Thiri. For a moment or two, Thiri let her hair out, it fell down to her knees! For a village women, it was interesting to see her in animated conversation with Khine. I sat full of anticipation as we motored up the river, too hard to recognise anything from 1945 until we reached the Y shaped junction. There was the spot where we had anchored, opposite the village on the bend closest to Nyaundon. The village was stretched out along the bank. We moved into Kokkowa and I stepped ashore, I must be the first of us to do this because at the time we didn't land there. I must admit to feeling very moved to be back after 61 years, oh how I wished that Eddie Perry and Alan Penny had been alongside me as they were in 1945. Thinking of how Bill John and Jack Spiers and Eric Earnshaw would have felt. There was a dear lady, who was aged 18 at the time of the action, just a few weeks younger than me. She mesmerised us all, including the local youngsters, by recounting what had happened, the terrible gunfire, the burning of the waterfront part of the village and the sinking of the Japanese boats. They all gathered around me and I tried to address them but emotion overwhelmed me leaving Khine to explain what she could. I was just so sorry not to have any possible gifts to give, I emptied my wallet, leaving Khine to get me back to Rangoon.
All of this trip had been very good, Sookalat, the Graves, Mandalay, Bagan and the Irrawaddy but getting back to Kokkowa was the highlight for me. I was surprised to learn that in recent times, Japanese groups had been to this area, had built a school and done other works for the benefit of the villagers. The records show Japanese deaths of some fifty men from the Kokkowa action, was this humanitarian work in their honour? I know that for many years my wife and a group of her friends have contributed to orphanages in Burma, but is Britain, the former colonial power, part of the shameful US boycott bringing suffering on the peoples of Burma? I was in a dream on the drive back to Rangoon, what an experience. I staggered into the hotel, a bit dishevelled, carry my footwear. I only realised how bad I must have looked when I returned to the lobby, all showered and shined and dressed in my best to go out to dinner. The Reception Staff showed their appreciation with applause!
Dinner that evening was with Khine and her Mum, Daw Win Win Kyi. Great company with two charming ladies. I apologised for not bringing the Gin Bottle left over from Bagan, "Sorry Khine, I drank your tot as well" The Ladies had a fine Burmese dish put before them whilst I was brought Pork Chops! This was Khine making sure that I wouldn't go home with a ‘belly bug'
To mark my coming birthday, the dessert was banana fritters in ice cream, a candle standing boldly from one of the bananas. Birthday present of a longyi and excellent new map of the country.
Back at the Hotel Khine and Win Win came in to say formal goodbyes although Khine would return in the morning to get me to my plane for the flight home. In the morning there was a last minute hitch in that I awoke to find that I had somehow broken the frame of my spectacles. Only in Burma could this mishap be rectified in 30 minutes. An optometrist supplied a new frame, fitted with my own lenses, all for only $US25. At the Airport it was with deep sadness that I said my farewells to Burma and to dear Khine. The end of an unforgetable trip into the past.
Ken Joyce. March 2006.
____Return to top______________
BROADWAY REVISITED
March 16 2006
This is the News letter the Editor received from Khine now with photographs
Khine writes:
We did it!!! We managed to locate "Broadway".
Lat 24.43 N
Long 96 42.2 E 
This is the proof using the latest GPS machine
62 years later
The participants arrived on Feb 28 and we left Rangoon on Mar 02. We
returned on Mar 10 late afternoon, after two nights break in Mandalay.
We tried to reach "Broadway" on Mar 05, to coincide with D-day of
"Operation Thursday" which also happens to be Peter's birthday but
were delayed by a day and therefore we got to the old airfield on Mar
06.
|
Broadway 1944
|
Broadway 2006
|
CHINDIT Veteran, Peter Heppell and his family members were present
with him as he placed a CHINDIT plaque on one of the trees at the edge
of the forest. He then gave his final respects towards all fallen
comrades and spent about one hour and a half at the site.
It was a fantastic journey as well as an exhausting one. My admiration
goes to Peter who turned 86 on Mar 05 where we celebrated his birthday
at a small quaint little village called Myo Hla. We camped out at the
water's edge near Kaukkwe Chaung the next day after our visit to
"Broadway". I am certain many Chindit veterans will remember the name
of this river: Kaukkwe Chaung.
along a trail leading to the clearing
I am certain many Chindit veterans will remember the name
of this river: Kaukkwe Chaung.
Below is the picture of the group on the Kaukkwe river
Kudos to Peter who managed to keep up with us until the very end of this journey.
Peter and Maj. Khun Jar Naw
There were all together 9 people to take part in this journey. Peter
and his family, David Bradly, a Chindit enthusiast who joined last
minute, myself, my assistant Steven and Dr. Cecilia Tang Gyi and her
husband, Lewis.
Cecilia's father was a Kachin Ranger who worked for OSS-101 during
WWII, a very well-known figure, and Lewis's father was also a Kachin
There were all together 9 people to take part in this journey. Peter
and his family, David Bradly, a Chindit enthusiast who joined last
minute, myself, my assistant Steven and Dr. Cecilia Tang Gyi and her
husband, Lewis.
Cecilia's father was a Kachin Ranger who worked for OSS-101 during
WWII, a very well-known figure, and Lewis's father was also a Kachin
Levie.
Peter, his family and David were the first western group who has
traveled up the Kaukkwe Chaung to visit "Broadway" since 1944. Their
names deserved to be mentioned in the history books from now.
We also met an 88 year old Kachin WWII Levie, Maj. Khun Jar Naw, one
of the last Kachin Levies still living in Myitkyina. Peter and he made
a certain connection when they shook each other's hands.
It was the most amazing trip I have ever organized. Truly one of a
kind.
Here is the plaque we left behind for all to see
For more information, I am only an email away at: [email protected]
Sincerely,
Khine
www.cbiexpeditions.com
Remembering is a time-honored pastime.
March 12 2006
Return to top
*****************************************************************************
October 14 2005
This is the October newsletter from Khine about her plans to visit various places of WW2 historical interest and guide some old veterans and families to these places of interest--we thank her for the opportunity to show it on www.koi-hai.com
KHINE'S NEWSLETTER
OCTOBER 2005
http://www.cbiexpeditions.com/
Remembering is a time-honored pastime.
I would like to apologize in the delay of sending out my October newsletter.
I had initially planned to leave for Burma on October 7th immediately after I have attended the C.N.A.C reunion in Burlingame, south of San Francisco. Unfortunately, my return to Burma has now been postponed almost a month. I did not feel comfortable to leave when there were still a few loose ends that needed to be taken care of, especially with regards to my upcoming voyage on the LEDO BURMA ROAD.
The C.N.A.C reunion (China National Aviation Corporation) had a great turn out and I had a wonderful time meeting everyone!
I would like to thank William Maher, President of C.N.A.C. Association for giving me the opportunity to meet numerous veterans. There were former HUMP pilots and Flying Tigers present at the reunion such as Peter Goutiere, Moon Chin, Harold Chin, Fletcher Hanks (Christy), William Gilger, John Parish, Dick Rossi & Starr Thompson, to name a few. There were also immediate family members of many veterans, which made the reunion fun and interesting. It was the first time I was invited to join the C.N.A.C Reunion and I hope it will not be the last! Tom Moore, the web editor of C.N.A.C has taken great photos of the reunion and they can be viewed at: http://www.cnac.org/reunion200501.htm
October 22, 2005 is the deadline to sign up for the January 11, 2006 departure of LEDO BURMA ROAD program. I would be very glad to produce another departure date in 2006, for the same program if I receive more interest. I shall already be in Burma by then so it will be much easier for me to accommodate all your travel needs. Currently, I have three people who have signed up for January 11th departure.
The first person happens to be Ray (Raymond Kauppila), a WWII veteran who visited the Burma Road with me in March. Ray is determined to return to Burma and to visit the Ledo Road this time. The second person is Ron Bleecker, whose father was an engineer of 330th Engineer Regiment who spent two years between Ledo and Bhamo, building the Ledo Road. F.A. Bleecker kept a diary of the two years he spent in the Burmese Jungle and Ron had expressed his wish to retrace the sites that his father had described in the diary.
The third person is also a WWII Veteran. Professor Milton W. Meyer served for three years in the army in continental service, London, and the CBI Theater. He holds a PhD in history from Stanford and for thirty-five years, he was a professor of American and Asian histories at California State University, Los Angeles and authored thirteen books relating to Asia. One of them which he had very kindly sent me is titled "G.I.Joe 1943-45" in which he described the time he was stationed in Myitkyina, Bhamo and on the Burma Road that finally led him to Kunming, China & further beyond. Needless to say, I am excited and honored to have the privilege to accompany these gentlemen.
Additionally, we are planning to meet the Olmanson Family in Namkhan, Burma. Dr & Mrs. Olmanson was friends with the late Dr. Gordon Seagrave (Burma Surgeon) and lived in Namkhan for 2 years, probably just after WWII. Their daughter Trudi, who contacted me, was born in Namkhan delivered by Dr. Seagrave. They have not returned to Namkhan since they left many years ago and it was through Sterling Seagrave, (Dr. Seagrave's son) who told them to get in touch with me. Sterling knew about all about the Burma Road trip that I had organized in March and also about my upcoming site visit on the Ledo Burma Road.
When we visited Namkhan in March, we stopped by to visit one of Dr. Gordon Seagrave's nurses, Esther Po, at her home in Namkhan village. According to the Olmansons, Esther was their neighbor in Namkhan years ago so they are very excited to know that they will be seeing Esther, after all these years.
The 19-day LEDO BURMA ROAD program begins in Rangoon (Yangon). We then fly to Myitkyina and travel on the original Ledo Road to Shinbwiyang via Tanai passing Namti, Waruzup and Shaduzup. We then backtrack to Bhamo, visiting Mogaung en route. From Bhamo we will travel towards Namkhan where we will meet up with The Olmanson Family who would have toured by then, other tourist sites in Burma. We will spend a few days together in Namkhan, (make a surprise visit to Esther again) and we will all continue to travel together on the Burma Road towards our final destination, Kunming. En route, we will stop by to visit Wanting, Baoshan, Tengchong, Tali (Dali) and Yunnanyi.
After the tour ends in Kunming, I will return to Rangoon to try and accomplish another ‘assignment'. This assignment happens to be a request sent by a former CHINDIT who participated in "Operation Thursday" of the Chindit's Second Expedition in Burma on March 5, 1944. This date also happened to be the birthday of the Chindit, Peter Heppell who had sent in the request through his daughter Sally. Peter was only 24 when he landed at "Broadway", one of the glider-landing sites in northern Burma. Although he was very fortunate to survive, there were a number of his comrades who did not. If I manage to locate "Broadway", Peter and his family are planning to visit Burma in March 2006 to visit Broadway and to pay his last respects to all the comrades who lost their lives at this site 62 years ago.
I have already sent some preliminary information to the ground agent in Rangoon who does an outstanding job in making arrangements for my organize site-visits. Tony Yang also happens to be born and raised in Mogaung and he went to school in Myitkyina. He was also involved in the Jade cutting industry in Phakant, which is a small town 66 miles from Mogaung. Although Tony now lives in Rangoon, he visits Mogaung and Namti occasionally and in April, he made a survey trip to Shaduzup, Tanai & Shinbwiyang along the Ledo Road, as he knew I was planning to organize a visit on the Ledo Road. His survey trip report can be viewed at the following Website: http://www.universalbaron.com/
I wish to thank all the veterans who sent in an overwhelming amount of information with regards to "Broadway's" location and encouraging me to locate this site. In particular, I'd like to Oliver Milton (Oscar) & Harry A. Blair, Historian of 14 USAAF 27 TCS.
Oliver's knowledge in Northern Burma is simply amazing. Oliver also led a very interesting life, to say the least, starting off as Forest Assistant in Myitkyina, Bhamo in 1937. Five years later, he was seconded to American O.S.S., dropped by parachute 400 miles behind Japanese lines in Northern Burma for information and sabotage work. Later in the same year, he was sent to live on the "Hump" to organize search and rescue parties for crews of supply airplanes that crashed on the India-China route. He left O.S.S. in 1945 and was awarded "Military Cross" in 1946. He returned to Burma later on to run his own business as trader on Burma-China border. The years that follow until Oliver retired in 1981 could be simply described as ‘colorful' and he still writes to me in Burmese after all these years!
On the other hand, I came to know more about the 27 Troop Carrier Squadron's involvement at "Broadway" through Harry. The 27 TCS was assigned, along with the First Air Commando, to partake in this invasion entitled "Operation Thursday". The flights, towing at times two gliders each over the mountains, were made in the middle of the night in extreme weather. The taking of Myitkyina by the allied forces saw the 27th transferred into the 14th Air Force "Flying Tigers" in China, under the direct command of Major General Claire Chennault. The squadron at once partook in the "Salween Campaign" - the invasion of Burma from west China.
As I continued to read various books, articles and correspond with numerous people with regards to my site-visits, I befriended David Air, the editor of the following Website: http://koi-hai.com/
David has been so wonderful in passing on information about my activities of the CBI Theater and I have already received emails from people who were in Burma many years ago. Many of them were not aware that one can now travel on the new 4-lane highway Burma Road in Yunnan and the re-opening project of the Ledo Road.
The following is about David's website: This site has been created as a free service for those, irrespective of nationality, who lived and worked in North East India in the Tea industry, Ferry Service, Oil Industry, ITA administration, ITA Research Station at Tocklai, etc. The resourceful people included Planters, Engineers, Agronomists, Accountants, Scientists Administrators, Aircraft Operators, Doctors, Nurses, and many others. These lucky people are now mainly retired and living in various parts of the world. It is hoped that this website will offer a trip down memory lane and facilitate communication between these people, their friends and family. Today there are a large number of children who were born in N.E. India and have a strong interest in the place of their birth. We hope to encourage that interest.
So I hope you will visit David's website for you never know whom you might find again!
Finally, I'd like to offer you some additional news on the "Re-opening of Ledo Road" project.
----------------------------------------------------------
WWII ROAD SEES IMPROVEMENTS
The Burmese government has been rebuilding the famous Ledo Road to boost its regional trade potential. Leaders from China and Bangladesh have supported the improvement of the road, which was built during World War II and connects Ledo, in northeastern India, to Muse in Burma's northern Shan State. According to The New Light of Myanmar, a 940-foot bridge has been rebuilt on a section in Kachin State between Namti and Tanai while areas near Burma's Sagaing Division are also being reconstructed.
CBI Expeditions Ms. Khaing Tun (Khine) POB 12871 Prescott, AZ 86304
Tel: 928-925-0338 Email: [email protected]
Return to top
*************************************************************************
September 22 2005
We are indebted to Ms Khaing Tun, a Burmese lady living in Arizona for passing on the two press statements below--thank you Khine
The Editor
Historic Stilwell road could be Indo-China bridge
Source: Reuters, September 10, 2005
STILWELL ROAD, India, Sept 11 (Reuters) -
Ninety-year-old Phingal Singh Limbu still remembers his colleagues dying around him as they hacked a way through the Burmese jungle to build a road from India to China during World War Two.
"The deaths were uncountable," said the frail former Indian Army sepoy, speaking at his home in Assam state in India's far northeast where he settled after the war.
"Most of them died of malaria, some of diarrhoea. But we also fought the tribes who attacked us, because they had never seen outsiders," he said, his house beside the road he helped build.
Sixty years ago, that road -- built by Chinese labourers, Indian soldiers and American engineers, and named after American General Joe Stilwell -- provided a vital lifeline to relieve China's besieged army as it fought Japanese occupation.
Today, much of the Stilwell Road (also known as the Burma Road) lies disused and overgrown, in parts little more than a jungle track. For decades it has exemplified the mistrust between Asia's giants, India and China.
But it is slowly becoming a symbol of hope, as Beijing and New Delhi repair relations, and talk of repairing and reopening the road for trade, perhaps as part of a pan-Asian highway.
It may also become a symbol of hope for India's undeveloped and troubled northeast, a lush but landlocked region joined to the rest of India by a "chicken's neck" of land just 32 km (20 miles) wide, and racked by decades of separatist violence.
"For more than four decades, since India's war with China in 1962, the northeast has been seen as a sensitive border area, viewed exclusively through the lens of national security," said Sanjib Baruah of New Delhi's Centre for Policy Research.
"We need a fundamental re-thinking, a 'glasnost' kind of opening up of the northeast. Globalisation is a moment of opportunity, and re-opening the road is clearly a good idea."
ALONG THE ANCIENT SILK ROUTE
Near the coal-mining town of Ledo, a giant signboard marks the start of the Stilwell Road, urging "Rejuvenate our lifeline. Revitalise our relationship. Reach out beyond the borders".
A huge map traces the road's 1,736-km (1,078-mile) journey through the jungles, over the mountains and across the rivers of Myanmar into western China and ultimately the city of Kunming.
This was once the southern Silk Route, bringing jade, silk, amber, spices, tea and Buddhism across ancient Asia. Today, that route is dead. Trade between India and China makes a laborious 6,000 km (3,700-mile) trip through the Straits of Malacca.
Officials say Indian goods using the Stilwell Road could reach Kunming in two days, and by branching off south through Myanmar, make it to Bangkok in four and Singapore in six.
Trade between the world's two most populous countries is rising sharply, reaching over $13 billion last year from less than $3 billion in 2000. But it still represents less than one percent of China's total trade. The potential is huge.
But the Stilwell Road could have even more dramatic implications for India's restive northeastern states.
The British did little to develop the northeast. Partition of the subcontinent at the end of colonial rule helped cement its isolation, surrounded by often hostile neighbours China, East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and Burma (now Myanmar).
In 1950, Assam, northeast India's largest state, was more than four percent richer than the rest of India. Isolated and often ignored, by 1999 it was more than 45 percent poorer, with the gap steadily widening, according to a United Nations report.
Geographically and ethnically closer to Southeast Asia than "mainland" India, the northeast is home to dozens of separatist rebel groups. Experts agree private sector development and trade has to play a central role in weaning young men away from guns.
"If you can't earn a livelihood, the cheap thing to do is to pick up a gun," said George Verghese, an author and another academic at the Centre for Policy Research. "People have now recognised that peace and development go hand-in-hand.
"Tea and oil prop up the northeast's economy, but there is little or no manufacturing. Raw materials, brought from distant Kolkata, are expensive, and the market -- less than four percent of India's one billion people -- too small to care about.
Optimists hope that opening up those long dormant borders would change that equation, and make the northeast a vital staging post for India's new engagement with Southeast Asia. But economics professor Bijoykumar Singh says it will not help if the region is merely a transit stop. "What we need is for some of the exports India will be sending to be produced here."
CHINA LEADS THE WAY
Work has already begun on repairing the road.
Eyeing the vast South Asian market, and trying to attract investment to its southwest, China is leading the way -- turning its 679-km (422-mile) stretch of the old Burma Road from Kunming to Myanmar into a six-lane highway and helping rebuild the road in Myanmar itself.
By comparison, India is dragging its feet. A 61-km (38-mile) section that rises from Assam's paddy fields through thickly forested hills to the border at Pangshu Pass was upgraded into National Highway 153 in 2000 and given a fresh coat of tarmac. But it is still scarcely wide enough for two cars to pass.
"The Indian government was keen at one point, but they have had a serious re-think," said businessman Sudip De. "They are extremely worried that cheap Chinese goods are already flooding in, and opening up the highway would make them a lot cheaper."
There are other concerns too, not least turmoil in Myanmar. The road passes close to the "Golden Triangle", a major source of the world's illicit drugs, and through the jungles of lawless northern Myanmar, home to several local and Indian rebel groups.
But businessmen and academics in eastern Assam are slowly waking up to the potential that a new trade route might offer, to export products like bamboo and bring in tourists.
The Stilwell Road transported 50,000 tonnes of bullets, guns and food to China in the 10 short months it was open in 1944-45.
"The kind of effort it took to build, the men who were lost -- to keep it unused is criminal," said Narendra Dibrewal, a tea factory owner from Assam.
Return to top
|