AFVOA Newletter August 2020

Section 5 - Memoirs CV 2 No. 02 / 2020 Page 168 of 237 28 Warrior from Thirukoyilur Capt Narasimha Genre: Remembrance riraman heard of World War-II raging in Europe and that it may spread to India as well. The British had started recruiting our able bodied men to fight alongside the Allied Forces. The news of recruitment spread far and wide and reached Thirukoyilur where Sriraman was tutoring children after he had completed Matriculation, thanks to his Headmaster father who ensured he had proper schooling. At the very first opportunity he applied for the Army and was recruited. After nine months of rigorous training in Thiruchinapally, he returned home for a 3 week vacation. His father was a very proud man! More so his son would receive a princely pay of Rs 60 against his own Headmaster salary of Rs 35. Inducted into the Army in 1943, Sriraman was posted to Burma to join the 14th Army. He landed right into the middle of action with the Japanese Forces that was rampaging through South East Asia. He recalls his first days in the bunkers where he along with two other colleagues from Uttar Pradesh being bombarded by the Japanese Air Force. He was lucky to have gotten away with minor injuries when the other two sadly succumbed. In those early days, he also recalls the visit of a senior British officer from the War Office. One evening, the transport returned after delivering the officer back to the Rangoon Airport. Sriraman, a young lad then, had just finished his bath and prayers. He came out and was surprised to find that the officer had left behind the stylish Gurkha cap on the rack. More out of fascination than curiosity, he picked up the cap and plonked it on his head and sat down. No sooner than he started to dream of becoming an officer, a four foot long snake emerged from the hat, slithered down his nose, torso and legs. To this day, he is surprised as to how he sat still like a statue till the snake slithered away! He was told that it was rather a venomous Burmese snake. He was twice lucky in a short span of time! Throughout WW-II he was in the battle front, in Burma, Malaysia and Singapore. His many medals are a testimony. S