Get the biggest stories sent straight to your inbox Sign up for regular updates and breaking news from WalesOnline Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

As part of the Heroes In Our Midst series ABBY ALFORD talks to Ray Clemo, chairman of the Cardiff Burma Star Association, about the Forgotten Army

DIG or die was the motto Ray Clemo and his fellow soldiers came to live by during the many months they battled the Japanese in the impenetrable jungles of Burma.

At night we had to dig in. There would be two men in each little trench and you had to go down at least two or three feet to get your head below ground, he said.

If you didnt go deep enough you might not be alive in the morning.

At night in the jungles of Burma in 1944 and 1945 the Japanese would shell or throw hand grenades into areas they believed were occupied by the Fourteenth Army, the Allied force whose goal was to liberate the country.

They would also taunt the young British troops by yelling at them through the darkness.

They would shout obscenities from the jungle at night, said Mr Clemo, 90, from Barry, chairman of the Cardiff Burma Star Association.

They would also shout hello Tommy in English.

I think thats all they knew.

Aged just 24, Mr Clemo, a bombardier in the Royal Artillery, found himself thrust into one of the worst theatres of World War II.

Since the end of hostilities the name Burma has become synonymous with the suffering endured by soldiers fighting to overcome the huge challenges posed by the enemy, heat, disease, a lack of supplies, impenetrable jungle and impossible terrain.

But when the war in the Far East was at its peak, little was known about the huge toll Burma was taking on British and Commonwealth forces fighting as the Fourteenth Army and, as a result, it became known as the Forgotten Army.

After sailing from Liverpool we went to Ceylon, now known as Sri Lanka, for jungle training, said Mr Clemo, a great-grandfather of five.

They threw a scare into us about the Japs about what sort of fighters they were, that they werent scared to die, so we were scared of the Japs. We didnt know what to anticipate.

From Sri Lanka Mr Clemos regiment was sent into northern Burma and, almost seven decades later, he can still recall the terror which gripped them.

I remember it was getting dark and we were in a teak forest and they told us that the Japs were about two miles down the road, he said.

It had been raining and every time a huge water droplet came off the tree canopy and hit the floor we thought it was the enemy. That first night in the forest I was scared.

We were all scared.

As they made their way south, Mr Clemo and his fellow troops encountered fierce resistance from the Japanese and countered with light artillery.

But as well as all this fighting going on we had terrible food and disease to deal with, he said.

Dysentery and malaria were prevalent.

The boys we appreciated were Americans. They were non-combatants who werent serving with the Americans, but had volunteered to serve with us.

They were very brave men. They would drive jeeps with two stretchers on to take the wounded and sick.

But for those who escaped the worst illnesses, life was on a knife edge in the jungle as the troops fought to stave off the Japanese and hunger.

To get supplies we used to rip parachutes up and make a big X as a signal for the Dakota aircraft to drop supplies, said Mr Clemo.

But when they came the supplies consisted of special Army biscuits known for their ability to break teeth and canned mutton which the soldiers had to eat cold.

In the daytime we couldnt light fires because the Japanese would see the smoke and at night we couldnt light a fire because they would see the flame. I cant remember having a hot meal.

British soldiers also had to take extraordinary steps to warn the RAF during bombing runs of their presence underneath the thick tree canopy.

To stop our own aircraft attacking us we would go up above the canopy of the trees someone would have to climb a tree and hold up an orange umbrella to let the British aircraft know there were British troops underneath, he said.

During his time in the jungle Mr Clemo developed a hatred of the Japanese, but his view mellowed when he encountered a dead solider in 1945 as the war drew to a close after the atom bombs had been dropped on Japan.

I took a picture out of his pocket. There was his wife and around five or six Japanese children all dressed in sailor suits, he said.

I thought my God. These people are human after all. You do mellow when you see something like that.

Mr Clemo is inviting all Burma veterans and their families to join the Cardiff Burma Star Association, which meets on the second Wednesday of every month at the Rafa club on Riverside Terrace, Ely, Cardiff.