By E. P. Jones from Welshpool

"I was born in 1919 and joined the Territorial Army in July 1939. I was called up on the first day of the war with the Royal Welsh Fusiliers. In January 1940, I was sent to the Independent Companies which were known as 'Suicide Soldiers'.

I was in raids on the French coast around the time of Dunkirk. We were taken at night by R.A.F. speedboats to do as much damage as we could - besides meeting up with the Germans when all hell would start. We never knew whether we would come back or not.

In August 1940, we were sent back to our Battallions, 2nd Batt R. W. Fus. We were attached to the 29th Independent Brigade.

We had trained for seaborne landings and in February 1942, we sailed from the Clyde and landed in Madagascar to take the Naval base of Diego Suaiez which the Japanese were using. After eight months of fighting the Vichy French, we had taken all of the Isles.

From there, we were sent to the war against the Japanese in Burma in 1943. The first big battle was down in the Arakan, known as the 'Admin Box', where we defeated them. That battle lasted for about six weeks. That's the first time the Japanese were beaten which was a turning point.

After nine months in Arakan, we were pulled out of the fighting for a rest for a month. We were then flown in to North Burma by the U.S.A. 10th airforce and dropped 800 miles behind enemy lines, on an air-strip at a place called Myitkyina.

The brigade had to fight its way down the railway corridor towards Rangoon which was 1,400 miles. We were taking casualties most days as we had to fight for every station. We reached the Torawaddy river, which was two miles wide on the 21st December 1944 and had Christmas dinner on the 25th December.

We crossed the river on the 28th December 1944. It was very frightening and I said my prayers many times. Here we were fighting again as we had caught up with the Japanese on 11th January 1945 and a big battle started. This was about 200 miles north of Mandalay and here I got wounded in the leg and head.

I was taken back to a little air-strip from which I was flown out to a dressing station. The pilot who flew me out was the American actor Jacky Coogan.

I was awarded the Military Medal, I did not see my family for seven years. One of the worst things was coming home and going to see my mates' parents."

By E. P. Jones from Welshpool