Chindits 1943

[Pete Keane]

Ruskie

Hard to know without seeing them in context.

Let us have the abbreviatins and we'll see what we can do (maybe bessingby can help!)

Pete

[Ruskie]

Thanks for the reply Pete.

Here are some examples of mentions of 8/9M and the context:

8M are holding a dance
8M are playing a football match
mentions some names and says they are members of 8M
8M are turning out for a parade
28M are in Paris
talks of meeting up with 9M again
played 9M in a football match

Not sure if this helps ... 

Thanks. 

[Pete Keane]

Ruskie

I dont know is the short answer!

Normally it would be something like A Company, or 1 Platoon, but I cant think what M could stand for - the closest I could think of was Mess, which is unlikely given the context.

Do you know his unit details?

Pete

[Ruskie]

No Pete, I don't I'm afraid.  It's his unit details etc that I was trying to work out and thought 8M (etc) might give some clues. 

As I've discovered in the past couple of weeks since I began looking at my father-in-laws army days, abbreviations were used a lot. Google has helped with many of them, but not in this case.

It's not really important, I was just curious about what this meant. I intend purchasing his service record but need to get around to purchasing, or have someone find, his d/c before I can go ahead and do that.

Thanks anyway. 

[Pete Keane]

he doesnt mention the death of anyone in his unit - we could maybe try and identify them from cwgc?

I will ask on another forum about 8M.

As he was a signaller, he may well have been attached to a different unit, ie artillery.

This was my first thought:

http://www.ra39-45.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/med/page8.html

But that theory falls about when you look at 9M, who stayed iin England.

His service history would be ideal, you dont have any letters home, any paperwork with his service number?

Pete

[Ruskie]

Thanks for the link Pete. I thought that looked promising at first, but when I looked at 9M they don't appear to have been in Burma, and I know 8M and 9M crossed paths there.

No mention of any deaths or casualties in his unit. As I mentioned, I think he arrived later - some places he describes as being war torn, and mentions discovering a few 'Jap' bodies ...

No service number or letters home - just this diary he wrote about his experiences along the way - no entries for some months, and it stops abruptly in February 1945, and then one final entry almost two years later when he is back in England.

Quite frustrating to try to fill in the missing months ... I think I've come to a standstill until I get his service record.

But thanks again for the help.

[Billyblue]

Hi all you military folk
Could someone please explain to a non-UK, non-military person , the significance of the name Chindits?  Is it short for something? A nickname? 
Interesting reading
Dawn M

[Ruskie]

Good ole Wiki:
There's an explanation under "beginnings." 

It is interesting isn't it. I'm new to WW2 matters and am enjoying the research. What I think is interesting is how many stories have already been lost, and this is still within living memory. There are a few things I've tried to research and there's very little about it on the net and still some ambiguity and confusion over certain events etc. Maybe not enough was documented at the time.

[Billyblue]

The reason a lot of war stuff hasn't been told is that it was so horrific the returning servicemen and women didn't want to talk about it.
Forty or more years ago I nursed returned soldiers at Greenslopes Repat Hospital in Brisbane.  Most of them didn't want to relive the horrors.  But they often did, in their nightmares!
Sometimes you would walk into a room where they were exchanging stories, and all talk would stop.

My OH was a RAAF Spitfire pilot and apart from a few escapades while over Australian territory, he has always been reluctant to relive a lot of his  experiences, especially overseas when, as he says, 'they were all trying to kill you'.   A couple of years ago his daughter urged him to dictate his memoirs - we got life in detail up until he joined up, then a complete refusal to go further.  In his original squadron, he and one other were the only ones to survive.
When he was discharged from the RAAF he was given a life expectancy of 55.  He's now 87! 
Dawn M