Memories of 1942

My father was born in what is now the Republic of Ireland, but came to Scotland at age 4, with his mother and 11 (half) siblings. After working as a chauffeur for the Chief Constable of Galloway, he went to England in 1936 to join the police. Being a policeman, he did not have to go to war, but he volunteered. He joined the Seaforth Highlanders and was sent as a Commando to East Asia. I remember him telling me that, to be tested for resilience, he had to go on a fortnight's survival course in the Highlands - with nothing but the need to survive. Having been brought up on an estate, where the children had to hunt and scavenge for food, he had no problem. He succeeded.

He told my brother (not me), that when he was in East Asia, the fear, which he had felt at first, drained out of him, physically. He felt it one day in Burma, I believe.