My grandad fought in Britain’s ‘Forgotten Army’ in WWII’s most brutal campaign
FOR television explorer and Army veteran Levison Wood it was his most emotional expedition ever.
The former Para officer travelled more than 6,000 miles to the battlefields of the Far East to follow the footsteps of his grandfather who fought in Burma.
In his luggage he carried a letter from King Charles and the last Burma Star medal ever to be issued, which he wanted to pass on to a 100-year-old veteran from the Burmese hills who had fought with Britain’s “Forgotten Army” against the Japanese.
Making the mission trickier was the fact that Burma, now known as Myanmar, is embroiled in the longest civil war in modern history.
When World War Two ended in August 1945, Burmese fighter Corporal Con Herh hoped he would receive a Burma Star, which was to be awarded to the 2.5million men from the British Commonwealth who fought in the Far East.
He had to wait 80 years and until Levison decided to make a documentary about his grandad and the fight in Burma, the longest and most brutal campaign of the war.
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In an exclusive interview with The Sun, Levison, 43, says: “It was an opportunity to recognise the service of my grandfather.
“But I was desperate not just to go on a history tour but to actually meet and say thank you to someone who fought alongside my grandfather.”
Afghan veteran Wood is the fifth generation of his family — all named Levison — to have served in the British Army. His great-great-grandfather fought in the Boer War, while his great-grandfather served in World War One.
And as a 19-year-old from Stoke, Levison’s grandad volunteered to fight in World War Two with the Royal Artillery before switching to the Royal Welch Fusiliers who were sent to Burma in 1944.
‘Booby traps’
He arrived at Kohima in northern India where a bloody two-month battle had raged that cost the lives of 4,000 Allied troops.
Levison’s grandad became part of General Bill Slim’s 14th Army and fought against Japanese troops in Burma all the way to Mandalay.
Levison says: “Grandfather didn’t want to tell his children too much about it. But perhaps enough water had passed under the bridge by the time I was ten years old for him to tell me some of the stories.
Japanese snipers would tie themselves to the trees so even if you did shoot them, they wouldn’t fall out. So, you didn’t know if they were still up there.
Levison Wood
“Fighting in the jungle was brutally hard work. You were faced with booby traps — pits full of sharp bamboo punji sticks.
“Japanese snipers would tie themselves to the trees so even if you did shoot them, they wouldn’t fall out. So, you didn’t know if they were still up there.
“He told me about some of the gruesome torture methods the Japanese would use. As a kid it was all very exciting. But now, as a former soldier who has been into war, it’s pretty horrifying.”
“I think he told me as a warning and a lesson. But I have to say it did pique my interest and inspire me to travel.”
- YOU can donate directly to the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal visiting rbl.org.uk/thesun. Or look out for poppy sellers collecting around the UK.
After victory at Kohima, the Allies launched a major counter offensive into Burma.
Thousands of Burmese hill tribesmen joined the British Indian Army and served with distinction with the Allies against the Japanese.
Levison says: “Sadly, it is a common story that the guys from Burma, they never got their medals after the campaign finished because Burma left the empire and quit the Commonwealth.
“Burma quickly fell into a civil war, so a lot of these guys retreated back to the mountains and the logistics of getting their medals to them were impossible.
“Or, they were actively fighting the new central government of Burma.” So, 80 years after the end of World War Two, Levison teamed up with military historian Alex Bescoby.
The pair were determined to track down one of the last-surviving Burmese soldiers who had fought with the British and to present him with the Burma Star.
They discovered that Corporal Con Herh — pronounced Sonur — was alive, aged 100, and living in Falam, about 50 miles from the Indian border, which was deeply caught up in Myanmar’s civil war.
Levison says: “The problem was he was on the front line of the battle between separatist forces and the junta. And the battle for Falam was happening the week we were trying to see him.”
Alex adds: “Our original plan had been to go into Myanmar and retrace Lev’s grandfather’s footsteps exactly, but there was also a massive earthquake a few weeks before we got in.”
Your selfless sacrifice and service stand as an example to us all. And will echo throughout the ages. I send you my warmest greetings and good wishes. Yours most sincerely, King Charles III.
King Charls
Border officials refused to allow the two Brits into Myanmar, but remarkably Cpl Con Herh managed to cross out of Burma — for the first time in his life — and meet them at Champhai in Mizoram, India.
Con Herh told Levison: “Japanese soldiers came near our village carrying heavy weapons. We were afraid of them. So we hid in the forest.
“That’s when I decided I wanted to join the British Army.”
Then, finally, Cpl Con Herh received the last Burma Star, produced specially by the Burma Star Memorial Fund, whose patron is King Charles.
And then Levison gave the old soldier a personal message from the King, which reads: “I very much wanted to send you a message of the greatest appreciation for your dedicated service.
“Your selfless sacrifice and service stand as an example to us all. And will echo throughout the ages. I send you my warmest greetings and good wishes. Yours most sincerely, King Charles III.”
Close to tears, Cpl Con Herh said: “It is beyond my wildest imagination. Thank you very much.”
After visiting a dentist in India, he then made the very dangerous journey back through the civil war front line to his home in Falam.
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Levison says: “I’d like to think my grandfather is looking down now and he’s very proud, because every Remembrance Sunday he would watch the parade and shed a tear for his colleagues and remember his time out here.”
- The Last Burma Star is on Sunday at 9pm on Sky History.
WORDS FOR THE DEAD
AT war memorials throughout the UK this weekend, the Kohima Epitaph will be read.
The words, carved in a memorial at the Commonwealth War Cemetery in Kohima, read: “When you go home, tell them of us and say, for your tomorrow, we gave our today.”