Page 127 - AGC-Journal-2016

AGC JOURNAL 2016

Day Eight

Today we visited the well maintained
Taukkyan War Cemetery, which is set in
beautiful grounds designed to look like a
British garden despite the Burmese heat.
The cemetery is for allied soldiers from the
British Commonwealth who died in battle
in Burma. There are over 27,000 names
of individuals, whose bodies were never
recovered from the battle sites, listed on
memorial pillars. There are over 6,300
named graves and 860 graves containing
the remains of unidentified soldiers.
Seeing all the graves of those soldiers
who never made it home, but fought so
valiantly, gave me mixed emotions; I felt
inspired by their strength, heroism and
resourcefulness. I also felt a deep sense of
empathy for the families of these ordinary
men, who had done extradionary things in
unthinkable conditions.

Train Derailment
Final Day
ultimately unsuccessful. We discussed how, Day Seven
stepping into the shoes of the Company Our unique trip to Burma had finally come
Commander, we would have dealt with to an end. We can now share the history of
the situation tactically. This gave the We headed to Mogaung learning how the Chindits and identify lessons that can
group the opportunity to reflect on how the Chindits had suffered from severe be exploited to benefit the development of
events in Burma, and the tactics used by malnutrition, extreme exhaustion and 77th Brigade. At the beginning of the trip I
the Chindits, are implemented into today’s lack of Artillery. Due to the number of did not fully comprehend how special and
77th Brigade, and how we can learn from casualties, and the imminent attack unique the trip would be. The experience
their mistakes and utilise their strengths. upon Mogaung village, the Chindits went of retracing the footsteps of the Chindits
This reiterated to me the importance of from working in columns into Battalion really made me realise the heroism and
planning ahead and how lack of supplies formation. This shows how the Chindits determination of all those that took part in
can affect a soldier’s morale and ability to were able to quickly adapt to the situation the Burma campaign.
operate. around them. They knew by staying in
column formation this would not have
Whilst making our way to Machina worked for the next phase of the attack.
we were forced to stop, say farewell to
the Chinthe Express and move onto a
replacement train due to a derailment
blocking the line. Under police escort we
made our way to our next hotel which was
a refreshing retreat after two nights on
board the Chinthe Express.

Laura Morley with local people Laura Morley admiring a Chinthe in Mandalay Laura Morley visiting a temple in Yangon

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