Letters from the front: Burnley soldier serving with ‘The Forgotten Army’ in Burma

Mr Arthur Green (84) of Cliviger contacted the Burnley Express in light of the upcoming 80th anniversary of VE Day to tell the story of his father, also called Arthur Green, who sent the letter on April 4th, 1945, just a month before the end of the war in Europe, but several months before his own war would end in South-East Asia. Victory over Japan (VJ Day) was not declared until August 15th, 1945.

Arthur, who died in 1997 aged 84, was a gunner with the 18th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery, part of the British Fourteenth Army, known as ‘The Forgotten Army’ who fought a brutal and gruelling war in the jungles of Burma (now Myanmar) but who largely went uncelebrated in Britain.

The letter was sent to his wife’s brother, John Ferguson, and his wife Dorothy.

Son Arthur said: “My dad had a very good sense of humour, even while serving in Burma against the Japanese, which was incredibly tough. They served in terrible hot conditions in the jungles.

“Despite that, there isn’t much complaining in the letter and you can see that dad enjoyed a laugh. Thankfully, he survived the war and became an upholsterer in Burnley.”

In the letter, Arthur jokes about swapping Japanese war mementos with American troops in exchange for cigarettes, saying: “The fag situation is a lot better since yesterday as we pulled into a place where there was Yankee pilots after souvenirs and we let them have a Jap carbine for a stack of Camel cigs.”

In another part of the letter, he writes: “Of course I can’t tell you where we are or what we are doing but you can hear on the wireless that I am leading the 14th Army on to great victories, hoping I can soon get this war over and get home and be like you Dot, henpecked.”

Arthur ends the letter by saying he will reply to every letter “even it means stopping the war for an hour” and signs it “Your Perspiring Pal” Arthur.