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Call goes out for applications for Heroes Return 2
As the nation prepares for ceremonies to commemorate the heroism of a special generation on this Remembrance Sunday (Nov 13th), a group of Second World War Royal Marine Commandos from Merseyside will be marching up a Scottish mountain alongside veterans from across the UK to salute fallen comrades at the iconic Lochaber shrine, dedicated to the many British Commandos killed in action.
The group, the Merseyside Branch Royal Marines are among the latest veterans to receive awards being made under the Big Lottery Fund’s Heroes Return programmes which have to date awarded over £25 million to more than 51,000 Second World War veterans, widows, spouses and carers across the country for journeys in the UK, France, Germany, the Middle East, Far East and beyond.
Today, BIG is urging veterans who have not yet been able to travel on a Heroes Return 2 grant to apply now for funding under the extended scheme, which closes in January 2012. More information and details of how to apply for a Heroes Return 2 grant are available by calling 0845 00 00 121 or visiting www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/heroesreturn
Peter Wanless, Chief Executive of the Big Lottery Fund, said: “These are very special people and it is wonderful that as Remembrance Day approaches, we can pay tribute in this way to the invaluable service they gave to our country. A huge debt of gratitude and recognition is owed by today’s society to the men and women who fought across the world during the Second World War. They built the peace and protected the freedoms we enjoy today.”
Feared by the enemy, yet respected by friendly forces, the Commandos fought with great success in every theatre of World War Two in Europe, the Middle East and the Far East. Merseyside Commando veteran Jack Johnson was just a lad of 16 when war broke out. Jack volunteered as a runner for the local Home Guard before joining up with the Royal Navy at 17 where he was selected for service in the Royal Marines 3rd Battalion.
He recalls: “I always had bad feet. We did nothing but training and I got a bit fed up so I volunteered for the Commandos. We went up to Scotland. The training exercises there were really harsh. It never stopped raining.”
Jack then joined 44 Commando and in November 1943 was sent to Folkestone as part of an advanced party awaiting draft to North Africa.
He remembers: “We were billeted with a couple who had two boys fighting abroad. When we first arrived we dumped our kit bags and went out. When we got back all our washing had been done and there was a hot meal waiting for us. They were very kind to us, they treated us like sons.”
Promoted to Sergeant, Jack was given day leave to get married before setting sail on The Queen of the Pacific bound for Aden. Combining forces with 5 Army Commando the troop then carried on to Bombay, and from there commandeered a train to Kedgaon, where Jack spent Christmas.
He recalls: “We each got two bottles of beer and that was it. You had to be quick with your meals because the place was full of kite hawks. They would swoop down and steal the food off your plate with their feet. We would wake up in the morning covered in ants.”
However, Jack was soon training in preparation for a key landing assault at Akyab, on the border of Burma, the place pinpointed as the entrance route into India for the invading Japanese forces.
He remembers: “As we approached the landing area, some of the men started to jump into the water and got dragged under the landing crafts and drowned. The Japanese started firing at us and some of our guys got badly injured and were pinned down in a field though we managed to go in and pull them out.”
The commandos pressed on and the Japanese quickly retreated. Jack then went on to fight in one of the most crucial battles of the Burma Campaign on the Arakan Peninusula at Myebon, known as the Battle of Hill 170, where his 1,600 strong Commando brigade lay under an unprecedented Japanese artillery barrage for four days.
He recalls, “We had taken a hill, named Pinner. At the top we dug into the undergrowth as far as we could for protection, our heads down into the soil. There were bullets going over us and the Japanese were firing shells which blasted into the hilltop, injuring many soldiers.
He continued: “Suddenly I saw one of our men stand up in the middle of it all. I shouted to him to get down but he turned round and shot two of my men. I think in all the noise of battle he must have been disorientated. We discovered that the Japanese were very clever at imitating voices and in the heat of battle would call out to our soldiers to try and confuse them.”
After fierce fighting over many days the combined allied assault finally won through securing the Peninsula, and cutting off the enemy supply and escape routes to Rangoon. Jack began training for the next battle as the Japanese prepared to make a last stand in Malaya. However, the bombs of Nagasaki and Hiroshima brought the war to an end and Jack was deployed to peace keeping duties in Hong Kong where he was promoted to Senior Sergeant and later to Major before coming home to England.
Now 88, Jack is preparing for his poignant march on Remembrance Sunday where he will place a special plaque in memory of those who died and to also pay tribute to the present day Commando regiments. He said: “It’s a duty and a privilege to pay my respects to the fellows who didn’t make it. We‘ve also got to do it for all the young fellows who are fighting now in Afghanistan, as we see them coming back and going out again.
He adds, wryly: “Of course we are all jealous of them as they got a smarter uniform.”
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