a day ago
- General
- Powys County Times
Remembering VJ Day and the Powys hero who returned home
Today marks the 80th Anniversary of VJ Day, when Japan surrendered and the Second World War ended in the Far East.
While VE Day marked the end of the war in Europe on May 8, 1945 many thousands of Armed Forces personnel were still involved in bitter fighting in the Far East.
Today is also a poigniant day for one Powys family.
Chrissy Maddy shared the amazing story of her father Lawrie Price who lived in Hay on Wye following the end of the war.
Mr Price had to lie about his age to get enlisted in the Oxe and Bucks Light Infantry and would train in Oxford, Northern Ireland and Scotland before boarding a ship to South Africa.
From there he was sent to India and flown into Burma.
They landed in the middle of the jungle where he joined the Chindits, a special force under the command of General Wingate.
They had a long march from the crossings of the Irrawaddy river in Burma - now Myanmar - and completed a 600 mile trek over three months which saw the soldiers navigate narrow valleys and mountain sides.
Daughter Chrissy said: "Dad witnessed many harrowing scenes and the loss of fellow recruits played heavily on his mind for the rest of his life.
"Few of us can imagine the hardship those brave soldiers endured.
"Trekking like mules carrying half their body weight in a backpack across mosquito infested rivers, through steamy dense jungle terrain with scant water, little food, high humidity, temperatures of 110-112F, monsoons and always the threat of the Japanese.
"Life here was no paradise and conditions were extremely tough."
The Chindits, named after a Burmese mythical animnal, endured some of the worst conditions of the War.
They suffered terrible casualties from savage hand-to-hand combat as well as sickness and slow starvation.
In the first expedition a third of the men were lost and 600 of the survivors were too ill to ever fight again.
Malaria, Dysentery and Tuphus were rife and Mr Price suffered with all three of these diseases as he plunged from a sturdy 12 stole to a skeletal seven sone.
"Dad was desperately ill and taken by raft across a lake to a hospital in Assa," said Chrissy. "There were many sick and wounded men on this raft and many were thrown overboard as one by one they died.
"By the time they got to Assam my Dad was the only survivor.
"He recovered slowly in hospital for three months were the nurses taught him embroidery and after convalescing he was able to join his Battalion in Poona."
However, fate intervened and changed the course of Mr Price's life.
When the day finally came to leave hospital and join his Battalion there wasn't room for him onboard.
The next day he learned that the boat had sunk and there were no survivors.
Chrissy said: "Dad always believed that there was someone with him all the time looking after him and that he was meant to survive.
"He was brought up in a religious family and like the rest of our family had a strong faith which helped him enormously. My Dad was a survivor one of the lucky ones."
After the end of the war, Mr Price returned home to Hay on Wye on the Powys border and married his sweetheart Peggy and together they raised seven children.
Mr Price re-joined Hay St Mary's Football Club having been a keen football player in his younger years and even declined a trial at Liverpool Football Club.
Chrissy said: "My Dad treasured each day and lived it to the full, his love of nature, the River Wye, his family and life's simple pleasures that cost nothing were what was important to him .
"Dad never talked about his time in Burma and only received his medals when my sister wrote to the British Legion when he was in his eighties and was dying of Bowel Cancer, so he did get to see his medals before he died."
