Bill Smith was in the Territorial Army prior to the outbreak of WW2. He was a member of the 99th (Buckinghamshire and Berkshire Yeomanry) Field Regiment, RA which subsequently changed its name in 1938.
Bill never spoke of his wartime exploits, other than claiming the war was 'boring' and 'not a lot happened'. That said, he was known for being overly modest and, considering where the war took him, I doubt it to be completely true!
His regiment left for France in 1939 as part of the British Expeditionary Force, only to return to England as part of the Dunkirk evacuation in 1940. There followed what I imagine to be his 'boring' part of the war, two years spent in Yorkshire carrying out amphibious warfare training and various civil defence duties.
In June 1942 they were sent out to the Far East and attached to the 2nd Division, seeing service in India and Burma, including the Battle of the Arakan. In 1944, they were involved in the Allied advance and took part in the Battles of Kohima, Imphal, Rangoon and Mandalay. Bill took many photos during the war as he passed through India and Burma, mainly of the devestation the war had caused. During this time he received a mention in despatches.
One story he did tell of the war went something like this: "I was wandering through the jungle one day, thick jungle where you couldn't see more than a few metres ahead, when I came face to face with a Japanese soldier. We both looked at each other, nodded, and turned and walked back in the directions from which we had come." I believe that Hollywood has made us forget the human nature of the soldiers on both sides; that they were, afterall, humans. Whilst all sides had those hellbent on killing, I believe the majority of people were just that, people. They had found themselves in situations outside of their control and ultimately everybody wanted to survive the war and go home.
In 1945 after the end of the war he returned to Calcutta in India for demobilisation, finally returning home in 1946 just before Christmas.
Having survived the war Bill got married, had two children and enjoyed a long career in management at John Crane Packing in Slough. He passed away on in 1984 of an asbestos-related disease.
