I was only 20 and you were dodging bullets

VETERANS LOOK BACK ON THEIR DAYS FIGHTING IN THE FAR EAST

- by PAUL BRITTON

AGED just 20, Tom Jones found himself holed up in the jungles of Mandalay in what was Burma as the Second World War drew to a close. Not that Tom and his comrades at arms knew the end was coming.

For them - and many thousands like them, including soldiers held as Japanese prisoners of war fighting for their lives in dreadful conditions - the war was still raging, despite Victory in Europe Day celebrations months earlier.

Now aged 103, Tom, from Walkden in Salford, shared his memories of serving with what became known as the 'Forgotten Army' as the nation observes the 80th anniversary of VJ Day today.

Tom spoke of losing friends in the jungle fighting, but how his determination to honour their memories and sacrifice spurred him on.

Born in 1922, Tom headed to the Far East in 1942, to serve as a driver and a wireless operator in the Royal Artillery 33rd Jungle Field Regiment.

He crossed the Brahmaputra River and became part of a relief effort in Kohima, supporting the West Yorkshire Regiment and the 10th Gurkha Rifles.

From there he went to the jungles of Mandalay, in present-day Myanmar.

Tom said men slept on the ground, without a roof, blanket or pillow for months on end.

"The conditions were terrible," he said, recalling his story through the Royal British Legion to mark the anniversary.