William Anderson was born in 1919 at Mutehill. Here his daughter Mary Warner shares her father’s account of his experiences during the Second World War.
William was encouraged by his family to make a record of his life, particularly for his grandchildren. Much of what follows is either a direct quote from his recollections or a synopsis of his comments.
William was born in 1919 at Mutehill. He recalled his childhood as not easy by the standards of today but a happy one. Before school he would milk his Grandmothers cows and then walk into Kirkcudbright to attend the Johnston School. He enjoyed school days and had a lifelong love of learning. Many years later William proudly showed his children his name on the Dux Board which was then in the entrance hall. The Academy proved to be equally as happy for William. He could still recite the school song well into his nineties. He excelled in his academic studies but was told by the Woodwork master that “you will have to make your living with your brains boy because you won’t make it with your hands”.
Family finances meant that William could not continue his education so he became a Grocers Boy, making deliveries in the town and countryside on his trusty bike.
Life was to change though in 1939. William volunteered for military service in June and made his first ever train trip to go to Dumfries for his medical. He wanted to join the local regiment, KOSB’s and was duly called to Berwick to enlist. After a period of training William and comrades were on coastal defence duties until the threat of invasion seemed over. He then volunteered for the Far East leaving from The Clyde on 16th February 1942.
The highlight of the voyage for William was being elected to represent his draft in a spelling Bee. He records that he “won in a very tough contest against a Green Howard.” He would always say that it showed the benefits of his Academy education.
Upon disembarkation his detachment travelled to Razmak to join the rest of the Regiment on mostly border defence roles. Meantime the Japanese Army had not only captured Singapore and Malaya but fought their way through Burma and were now on the threshold of India and inevitably more troops were needed to support battle weary soldiers already there.
The journey to Burma saw their first experience of monsoons and the need for vigilance over the local wildlife. Shoes and sleeping bags had to be checked before you ventured into them. Dad did comment though that he saw very little in the way of monkeys or snakes who all seemed to be put off by the sound of war.
It soon became clear that “We were headed to the dreaded Arakan, a place which drew the same feelings of
dread from us as The Somme must have done to the previous generation”.
Most of the roads and tracks were impassable to wheeled vehicles so every journey (except one, of which more later), would be made on foot. Each soldier carried his own rifle and kit bag which would get heavier as it got more and more sodden. The mules would carry heavier equipment particularly artillery and were invaluable for all troop movements.
