Sussex centenarian speaks on ABF The Soldiers’ Charity podcast to mark the 75th anniversary of VJ Day

A Sussex centenarian has spoken about his part in the Far East campaign for an ABF The Soldiers’ Charity podcast to mark the 75th anniversary of VJ Day.
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A former Royal Engineer, 100-year-old Peter Heppell shares memories of his service during the final struggle for victory in the Second Word War.

Mr Heppell, from East Grinstead, was part of The Chindits, special operation units, and he landed by glider at Broadway, the codename for a small clearing in the jungle, 130 miles behind the Japanese frontline.

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He said he spent five months in the jungle and saw only one road the entire time.

The podcast Voices of VJ Day – Remembering the Forgotten Army is hosted by Harry Bucknall, who served in the Coldstream GuardsThe podcast Voices of VJ Day – Remembering the Forgotten Army is hosted by Harry Bucknall, who served in the Coldstream Guards
The podcast Voices of VJ Day – Remembering the Forgotten Army is hosted by Harry Bucknall, who served in the Coldstream Guards

His voice breaks as he recalls coming across a party of wounded soldiers awaiting evacuation.

“They were very, very severely wounded. As I went past, they were pleading with everybody to take them. And we looked at them, and that just wasn’t possible. They wouldn’t have survived. We had to eventually put them out of their misery, which was the only way.”

The Chindits were the largest of all the Allied special forces in World War Two. Between 1943 and 1944, they fought behind enemy lines in northern Burma during the war against Japan.

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Mr Heppell said: “We were always proud to be Chindits and we were extremely proud of what we achieved in quite exceptional and difficult circumstances.”

The podcast Voices of VJ Day – Remembering the Forgotten Army is hosted by Harry Bucknall, who served in the Coldstream Guards.

Also featured are General Sir Mike Jackson, General the Lord Richards, Virginia Lewis Jones, daughter of the late Dame Vera Lynn, comedian Griff Rhys Jones and a host of Burma veterans.

Voices of VJ Day podcast can be listened to here: audioboom.com/posts/7656331-voices-of-vj-day-remembering-the-forgotten-army

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