The Forgotten Army Honoured…
(The memorial at Portscatho, Cornwall…)
The Cornish granite pillar may be overlooked at first sight,
Due to its worn slate plaques and faded dedications of gold
Lettering upon weathered stone rising up to eight feet in height.
Yet to stop and decipher the words about a story rarely told,
Thoughts are provoked about the Burma army’s plight
During World War Two, a tale to leave one’s emotions cold…
Dead soldiers in the Arakan region were often hastily buried,
Until locals disturbed their graves and exhumed
The corpses to redeem their blanket shrouds in a scurried
Disinterment, leaving stripped bodies to the elements doomed…
The solid granite pillar cherishes those men, deprived
Of decent burials by desperate folks and their simple needs;
But the ‘forgotten army’ by their comrades who survived
Are recalled in Portscatho, for their traumatic strifes and deeds…
Pete Ray
22nd July 2025…
More than 26,000 of 36,000 dead soldiers of many nationalities and religions have no known grave from the struggles in Burma, 1942-45.
The Portscatho memorial was realised by James Allan, once a company commander in the 2nd Battalion, Green Howards in Burma.
He had moved to Portscatho and at 82 years of age, in 1998, he was present at the unveiling of the memorial…
I am pleased I stopped to read the inscription…
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