Burma Star Association - B.C. Chapter
This commemorative trip to the Far East was arranged and paid for by the Government of Canada.
There were 32 veterans, accompanied by a military band of twenty-five, a guard of honour of twenty army, navy and air force personnel, a flag party of eight, plus a major general, a brigadier general and fifty additional military personnel from the Canadian Forces Base, Chilliwack, British Columbia. Ernest "Smokey Smith" ( Victoria Cross ) and his wife were in attendance. The Secretary of State (Veterans Affairs), the Honorable Laurence Macauley, two senators, three M.P.'s, plus a doctor, 3 nurses, two padres, 16 staff members from the Department of Veterans Affairs (who looked after us extremely well) plus four young Canadians were in the company. We flew in an air force Airbus 310 which was fitted out as a passenger jet. The veterans sat in the first class section for the whole trip and were treated royally.
The pilgrimage left Vancouver on November 30, 1995 and returned on December 14, 1995. We traveled just over 22,000 miles in total. As this was a Royal Canadian Air Force Plane, we landed at military bases where possible.
We were issued with official passports and never had to pass through any customs or immigration procedure. We landed at Hickam Field in Hawaii for a stop of two hours and proceeded to Guam, landing at 1900 hours on December 1 st. at Anderson Air Force Base. A day of rest gave us time to tour the island and learn its history, as well as the W.W. 2 battles that engulfed the island.
December 3, 1995 we flew to Rangoon, now called Yangong, (a seven hour trip).
Rangoon has not changed much since the war ended. It is at least forty years behind the rest of Asia. The beautiful Shwedagon Pagoda still is the outstanding feature of the city's skyline. This pagoda is over twenty-five hundred years old. Both the allies and the Japanese were extremely careful not to damage the temple in any way. To do so would have incurred the wrath of the Burmese people.
Our stay was at the Inya Lake Hotel which provided excellent accommodation. Rangoon Cemetery was the site of our first ceremonial. There are 1,400 headstones here, of which four are of Canadians.
Our next ceremonial was at Taukkyan Cemetery. More than 6,300 allied veterans are buried here including fifty-one Canadians. There are also the names of 26,380 army, navy, and air force personnel who have no known graves. Major Charles F. Hoey from Duncan, B.C. who was awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously is buried here.
These ceremonials were conducted with full military precision and with tremendous dignity. Our piper and the band played many hymns that we associate with these occasions. The Last Post, Abide with Me, Amazing Grace, O God Our Help, Nimrod, The Day Thou Gavest Lord is Ended, Reveille and others added to the solemnity of the occasions.
Our next stop was Singapore (2 hours and forty minutes flying time). Our hotel was the Westin Stamford, a five star hotel. After a day of rest we visited the infamous Changi Jail. Over 16,000 POWs died here during their three and one‑half years of captivity. James Clavell wrote the book "King Rat" based on his experience as a P.O.W. there. The actual Changi Prison is still very much in existence and houses many of today's criminals within its walls. The ceremonial was at the Kranji War Cemetery. There are 6,000 allied veterans buried here, of which three are Canadian.
The Singapore War Memorial, which is located at Kranji, contains the names of more than 24,000 allied veterans who have no known resting place. 200 of these are Canadians.
Our next stop was Hong Kong, ( 3 hours and 30 minutes ) flying time, arriving at 1630 hours on December 8, 1995. This stay was especially moving, as we were joined by 12 Hong Kong veterans, 6 widows, and 19 family members. They gave us a tour of the battlefields, their stories of the battles, capture and P.O.W. time were as vivid and penetrating as they must have been in 1941. The cruelty and inhuman treatment is almost impossible to understand.
Our first ceremony was at Sai Wan Cemetery. Over 1,500 allied veterans are buried here including 285 Canadians. The next day the ceremonial was at Stanley Military Cemetery. As we walked among the headstones nearly all of them read "Killed In Action on December 25, 1941 ".
Of the 1,975 Canadian soldiers who were sent to Hong Kong, 554 of them never returned home.
We arrived at the Yokota U.S. Air force Base, which is just north of Tokyo at 14:00 hours. on Dec. 12, ( 3 hours and 40 minutes flying time ). The ceremonial was at the Yokohama British Commonwealth War Cemetery. Next to Hong Kong this was to be extremely moving. Those buried here were not killed in action. They were P.O.W.'s who were brought to Japan and forced to work as slaves in the mines, shipyards and dockyards. They were starved, beaten, tortured and so badly treated that many of them died. There are 135 Canadians buried at this cemetery.
We were reminded that Japan has still never offered an apology for their part in W.W.2. In fact, there was no recognition by either the politicians, military or bureaucrats of our visit there. We were ignored by them.
I want to close this report with a poem that was written by a P.O.W. in Japan. It says it all.
"And we that are left grow old with the years
Remembering the heartache, the pain and the tears.
Man will sink to such sorrow and shame.
Every day, every month, not just in November."
It was a great honour for me to be a part of this pilgrimage and to be one of those chosen to represent Canada as we continue to remember those who gave their lives that we could live in peace.
This
above account was by Ted Paxton, a chosen participant in the pilgramage.
The members were George Waite, Herb Lim, and Tex Paxton, representing three different branches of service. Of the three, George Waite actually witness the same terrifying plight of the doomed plane that Gordon Slark sadly recalled from so many years ago. George Waite was in another aircraft, waiting his turn to run on target.
These are the grave stones, in the TAUUKAYA Cemetery, north of Rangoon, of some of the crew of the doomed plane mentioned in Gordon Slark's latest addition to his war time memories. Unbelievably, 5 or 6 of our current British Columbia Branch members took part in this mission. They were pilots belonging to the same squadron and all witnessed the calamity which befell their comrades while waiting their turn to approach their target. After the war they mostly lost contact with each other and became acquainted once more only when they, individually and randomly, joined the British Columbia Branch of the Burma Star Association. Talk about a small world!
Report by Lt. F.R. "Ted" Paxton, R.C.N.V.R. assisted by F/O George Waite, Burma Bombers Association and Herbert Lim, Force 136.
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