BUBONIC PLAGUE INMALTA WOUNDED VC CHARGED JAPANESE
“Lieutenant Claude Raymond, Royal Signals [sic], posthumously awarded the VC for gallantry in Burma, charged a Japanese position near Talaku, lastMarch, although wounded in the shoulder, face and wrist.
“Raymond, whose father is in India, was second-in-charge of a small patrol destroying isolated Japanese posts some fortymiles in advance of an Indian infantry brigade pushing down the road from Leptpan to Taungup. Entrenched Japanese detachments fired heavily on the patrol moving across an open stretch of ground in front of Talaku village.
“Raymond immediately charged in the direction of the fire. Ignoring his wounds, one of which – inflicted by a grenade which burst in his face – caused him to fall. Ryamond picked himself up and in spite of loss of blood, charged the enemy positions. Not only were the Japanese killed and wounded, but the remainder fled in panic into the jungle, leaving the position in British hands with much equipment.
“This is the 152nd VC awarded since the war began, and the 56th won by the British Army.”
LEFT: Claude Raymond grew up in Seaford in East Sussex, and is remembered on the town’s warmemorial. A road in Seaford is also named after him. Aged 21 at the time of his death, Raymond was buried in TaukkyanWar Cemetery which is located some thirty-five miles north of Yangon (formerly Rangoon). (Courtesy of Kevin Gordon)
Ed – The citation for Raymond’s award, published in The London Gazette of 26 June 1945, adds
the following detail on the action, which occurred
on 21 March 1945: “The position would have proved extremely formidable had not the attack been pressed home with great determination under the courageous leadership of Lieutenant Raymond. The outstanding gallantry, remarkable endurance and fortitude of this officer, which refused to allow him to collapse although mortally wounded, was an inspiration to everyone and a major factor in the capture of the strongpoint. His self-sacrifice in refusing attention to his wounds undoubtedly saved the patrol, by allowing it to withdraw in time before the Japanese could bring up fresh forces from neighbouring positions for a counter-attack.”
Blitzed Britain...
BOMB DAMAGED CHURCH St Anne’s Church, Berwick Road, London
Next month marks the 70th anniversary of the start of the Luftwaffe’s Blitz against the towns and cities of the United Kingdom. Between September 1940 and the end of July the following year, no less than 50,000 high explosive bombs rained down upon London (the number of incendiaries dropped was far larger). Some of the main German targets were the capital’s dock areas – a
situation exacerbated by the fact that both the River Thames and the docks could often be readily identified by the Luftwaffe crews.
Located just a few hundred yards to the north of Royal Victoria Dock in London’s East End, St Anne’s Roman Catholic Church, inNewham’s Berwick Road, found itself on the front line. By the end of 1941 it had been so severely damaged through the bombing that, althoughwhat was still standing had been repaired in the 1950s, most of its remains were finally demolished during the 1960s and replaced by amodern structure.
This arch is all that remains of the original church, built in 1899, that can still 104 ABOVE: Bomb
damage in Malta: this is the battered ruins of Valletta’s Royal Opera House. The building was virtually razed to the ground by Luftwaffe bombing on Tuesday, 7 April 1942. The remains still stand as testimony to the suffering of Malta and its people in the Second World War.
WINGATE AIMTO ‘FIGHT TORIES’
“Major-General OrdeWingate, famous Chindit leader in Burma, would have been a Labour candidate if he had not been killed in a plane crash, said Will Nally, former war correspondent and a Labour candidate at Bilston, Staffs.
“Nally said Wingate had expressed a strong preference to fight a Birmingham industrial constituency, particularly one with a strong Conservative majority. Wingate mentioned by name a prominent Conservativememberwhom, he said, itwould be a public duty for himself or any other Labour candidate to remove from British parliamentary life as early as possible.
“Wingate said that when he had fulfilled what he believed to be his essential contribution towards Japan’s defeat, he intended to come home and place his political life in the hands of the Labour Party.”
These stories come from the edition of SEAC (the services newspaper for South East Asia Command) published on Saturday, 30 June 1945.
“The presence of bubonic plague was confirmed [in Valetta] yesterday when four cases were reported. TheGovernment has taken precautionary measures.
“Since the bombing of Malta, counter-measures have never kept pace with the growth of the rat population which is aided by the presence of bomb debris.”
be seen today. It is a reminder of the nearly 14,000 churches and other ecclesiastical buildings that had been destroyed or badly damaged inGreat Britain between the start of the war and September 1944. (Image courtesy of Nigel Cox)
AUGUST 2010
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