14th August 1945

VJ Day is commemorated tomorrow. Blink and you might miss it. This week I have been looking back daily at my father’s experiences with 'the forgotten army' 75 years ago. At this time dad was with the 4th Field Royal Artillery around the area of Taunggyi and involved in the Battle of the Breakout. His regiment was stopping the escaping Japanese around the Shan Hills. But the enemy is still putting up a fight. Particularly in the hills above the villages of Namhkok and Hopong. So a fire plan (coordinated artillery fire) had been organised against these locations.

On August 14the 1945 the diary has:

“08:00 hours: Harassing fire continued against three locations.‘F’ Troop 14/66 Battery moved forward to 804148 to a permanently defended area in order that H.F. could be continued by night as well as by day”.

Later that day, a regimental reconnaissance party was ambushed  by the Japanese in the hills above the village of Pengsu. There were no casualties, but they were unable to proceed. So at 23:30 hours, F Troop of 4th Field RA organised a fire-plan at Mile Stone 9, supported by 1 Sikh LI.  Another fire-plan was coordinated from the south-west. 

But the Japanese continue to cause problems and another reconnaissance mission by 4th Field RA, this time from the north, also had to be abandoned, due to ambush. More tomorrow.

13th August 1945

This Saturday is VJ Day. To commemorate this, I am looking back at my father’s experiences with the 5th Indian Division in Burma 75 years ago. On this day August 13th 1945, dad’s regiment are based at Taunggyi and involved in The Battle of the Breakout. The ‘Forgotten Army’ are stopping the escaping Japanese around the Irrawaddy Valley and the Shan Hills east of Meiktila. Dad’s regiment is instructed to 'destroy all enemy'. On the 11th  August 1945, news had reached his regiment of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. But the Japanese are still fighting back. In the 4th Field Royal Artillery Diary it has:

“ D Troop 522 Battery moved out to support 1 Sikh operating against LOMG KA LR. The road is known to be bad; in parts nothing better than a bullock cart track, but owing to insufficient troops, JAPS cannot be dislodged from hills around LOMG KA”.

A reconnaissance patrol returned to headquarters at Taunggyi at 13:45 hrs, and reported that the village of Namhkok (see map) now contained 300 Japanese soldiers. At 16:00 hrs ‘D Troop’ reported that the road was impassable after Mile Stone 4 and all their guns had to be winched back three miles! The troops were finally in position at 23:00 hrs. But night patrols reported that the hills around Hopong and the Namhkok Road were still held by the Japanese. More tomorrow.

12th August 1945

As we approach VJ Day on the 15th August, It’s time to share some research into my father’s experiences with the ‘Forgotten’ 14th Army in Burma 75 years ago. I hope to publish a book soon.

On 12th August 1945, the 4th Field RA Diary shows that news had just reached them of a possible Japanese surrender. But it stresses, ‘It is fully realised that if the Japanese do surrender, it must be a week or so before the forward troops are informed, therefore there will be no relaxation of effort either in offence or defence”.

Dad’s regiment are providing patrols, around the village of Pang Peng. After days the village is now reported clear, apart from a Japanese Observation Post discovered a mile outside the village - it was assumed to have been put there to avoid British artillery shelling...More tomorrow.

The Fairy Coffins at Arthur's Seat

On June 25th 1836, three boys searching for rabbit warrens on a rocky peak known as Arthur's Seat near Edinburgh, came upon some thin sheets of slate covering a small cave. Inside they discovered 17 tiny coffins containing intricately carved wooden figures. 

They soon became known as the 'Fairy Coffins'. 

Accounts vary considerably on this remarkable discovery and no sources are given. The London Times of July 20th, 1836 has this:

" ...the coffins were miniature wooden figures. They were dressed differently in both style and material. There were two tiers of eight coffins each, and a third one begun, with one coffin. The extraordinary datum, which especially made history here: That the coffins had been deposited singly, in the little cave, and at intervals of many years. In the first tier, the coffins were quite decayed, and the wrappings had moldered away. In the second tier, the effects of age had not advanced so far. And the top coffin was quite recent looking".

US academic Professor Samuel Menefee and Allen Simpson the former principal curator of the National Museums of Scotland, suggest that all were placed in the niche after 1830, about five years before the boys discovered them.

But who placed them there? And why?  Simpson suggests that they may be an attempt to provide a decent symbolic burial for the victims of murderers William Burke and William Hare, who had sold 17 corpses to local doctor Robert Knox in 1828 for use in anatomy lessons. But 12 of Burke and Hare’s victims were women and the occupants of the coffins are all dressed as men. Furthermore, the eyes of the figures are open, not closed like a corpse.

The little figures are made of white wood, but the coffins are carved from Scottish pine. Each figure is dressed in plain cotton clothes that have been stitched and glued around them. Analysis has revealed that they were not the work of a carpenter or woodcarver, but judging from the knife marks and materials used, they were likely to be the work of an amateur using the tools of the trade of a leatherworker or cobbler. Also, the coffins, 95mm in length, come in two styles, one square, one rounded, which suggests that either there were two makers at work, or that their creator changed and/or refined their style as they were being made over a period of time. 

Fewer than half of the coffins survived because it was believed that the boys 'pelted them at each other' in fun, not realising their potential importance. Those that survived became part of a collection kept by Robert Frazier, a jeweller, who displayed them in his private museum. On his death they were auctioned as, ' the celebrated Lilliputian coffins found on Arthur's Seat, 1836,' and sold for just over £4.

In 1901 Christina Couper of Dumfriesshire generously gave a set of eight coffins to the National Museum of Scotland, where they have remained until this day. Speculation has continued to grow about their purpose. Many have suggested that they were 'ritualistic offerings,' highlighting the fact that Arthur's Seat has long been associated with the supernatural, with one of its springs being quoted in one of the earliest recorded witch trials (1572). The Scotsman on 16 July 1836 has:

 “Our own opinion would be – had we not some years ago abjured witchcraft and demonology – that there are still some of the weird sisters hovering about Mushat’s Cairn or the Windy Gowl, who retain their ancient power to work the spells of death by entombing the likenesses of those they wish to destroy.”

Shortly after, The Edinburgh Evening Post claimed the coffins represented:
"An ancient custom which prevailed in Saxony, of burying in effigy departed friends who had died in a distant land." 

The Caledonian Mercury added:
"We have also heard of another superstition which exists among some sailors in this country, that they enjoined their wives on parting to give them “Christian burial” in an effigy if they happened [to be lost at sea]."

The mystery of these coffins continues to this day.

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Lammas

Today is  Lammas, the 1st of August, roughly halfway between the summer solstice and autumn equinox. This is another celebration that had faded from memory. As a genealogist and family historian, I find these traditions fascinating and they often give us a glimpse into the lives of our ancestors.

The word Lammas is derived from the Old English 'hlafmaesse' (loaf-mass), it is also linked to 'hlaf-dige' and 'hlaf-weard' - Anglo Saxon terms for which the literal translation is 'loaf-kneader' and 'loaf-guardian'. It is clear from Anglo-Saxon records of the ninth century onwards, that it was celebrated in the church as a festival of 'first fruits', with bread and wheat, to celebrate the corn harvest.

Because a ritual loaf was made from the first new wheat. It was brought into many parish churches and offered on the altar as a thanksgiving for the first-fruits of the harvest. Thus, it was the feast-day on which the bread of the Sacrament could first be made from the year's newly-ripened corn.

In our modern world, it is difficult for us to imagine the trials and tribulations our ancestors faced when growing food. For us, we just order on-line or drive to our local supermarket. Hundreds and even thousands of years ago, the harvesting and processing of grain were crucial. If crops were left in the fields too long, or the bread not baked in time, families could starve. Taking care of one's crops meant the difference between life and death.

Before the coming of Christianity, it was the great feast of Lugh, or Lug, the great Celtic Sun King and God of Light. August was his sacred month when he initiated great festivities in honour of his mother, Tailtiu.  Harvest suppers, market fairs, games and bonfire celebrations were the order of the day. Circle dancing, reflecting the movement of the sun in sympathetic magic, was popular, as were all community gatherings - a reaffirmation of neighbourly feeling. 

So, Lammas marked a time of transformation, of rebirth and new beginnings. In Wessex, during the Anglo Saxon period, bread made from the new crop would be brought to the church and blessed and then the Lammas loaf was broken into four pieces and placed in the corners of a barn where it served as a symbol of protection over the garnered grain. Lammas was a ritual that recognised a community's dependency on what Thomas Hardy once called 'the ancient pulse of germ and birth.'

It was also a traditional time of year for craft festivals, and for skilled artisans to peddle their wares. In medieval Europe, guilds would arrange for their members to set up booths around a village green, festooned with bright colourful ribbons. Harvest customs included the crowning of girls as harvest queens by sets of reapers, the bringing home of the last load of corn covered in garlands, with loud acclamations, and the weaving of images from grain stalks.

A corn dolly

The Lammas practice of making corn dollies dates back to ancient times when the Romans first introduced cultivation to the tribes of northern Europe. Made from the last sheaf of grain, the dolly was paraded through the village and treated with reverence or derision, depending on the tribe. Eventually, the corn dolly became the good luck talisman for every farm. Different regions wove their own beautifully complex designs, often decorated with bright ribbons or wool. Traditionally, the corn dollies woven at Lammas (or their ashes) were ploughed back into the land at Imbolc, thus symbolising the return of the Corn Spirit to the earth, in an attempt to ensure a good crop the next year.

Lammas is also the time of year when sweethearts exchanged favours – these were simple knots woven from corn and sometimes tied with a ribbon.  If a girl accepted a boy’s favour, she’d pin it to her clothing to show the community she was ‘walking out’ with a lad, and he’d pin her favour to his hat to do the same.

These glimpses of folk tradition unlock a past that many of us are unaware of. They take us to a time when our ancestors relied on nature, but also supplemented it with a strong mixture of ancient customs and superstition.

Let me discover more about your family history. Contact me at tonywait@hotmail.com.

Artillery Tracer Card

Family history is always full of surprises. On V.E. Day I posted a page from my Dad's Regimental Diary in Burma. Shortly after I had a quick look through the archives and was stunned to discover two of his artillery tracer cards. I had goosebumps. Although I already have much of the information, this gives clearer detail of his earlier military career. Needless to say I'm thrilled.

V.E. Day

4th Field R.A. Diary 8th May 1945

My Dad was in Burma with 4th Field Royal Artillery when V.E. was being celebrated in Europe. I am currently writing a book about his experiences. Here is a page from his regiments diary, showing the entry about Churchill’s V.E. radio broadcast on May 8th 1945. But, Dad, with the rest of the ‘Forgotten Army’ still had plenty to do. The Japanese Imperial Army did not surrender until August 15th 1945. It was then that WWII came to an end, and our boys could at last celebrate. It became known as VJ Day. In Burma, Dad’s regiment celebrated with a 21 gun salute, consumed  2 months worth of liquor and had a football match between officers and NCOs. The NCOs scored in the last minute! 

Dad finally came home in November 1946.

SITREP : A Poem by 4th Battalion Royal West Kent Regimant

My father, Samuel Wait (1923-2008)

For over 18 months I have been researching my father's military career. Going through various regimental diaries, military papers, books etc. Dad was in the 4th Field Royal Artillery and often attached to 4th Battalion Royal West Kents. Here is a poem I have discovered in the RWK Diary, written just before the ' Battle of the Admin Box' : 

‘SITREP' a poem attached to the Appendix of the Royal West Kent Regimental Diary dated January 1944:


SITREP
The Jap hold out at RAZABIL
He’s made a raid on TAUNG,
There’s trouble on the NGAKYEDAUK
It seems he must be strong.
He’s even tried for BRIASCO BRIDGE
The sky is full of Zeros,
His troops hold out on 731
Prepare to die like heroes.
Brigade have moved up on a hill,
And put up a sign “NO ENTRY
And just to show they mean their word
Beside them stands a sentry.
They say they’re digging in at Corps
(The RAJPUTS are at hand,
And 14th ARMY orders us
To fight and make a stand.
There’s reinforcements on the way
No talk of going back,
The keynote of our plans shall be
Attack-Attack-ATTACK
We’ve lots of planes and tanks and guns
While Britain rules the ocean,
We’re only waiting for the word
To set the thing in motion.
We’re fighting fit and full of fight
So let’s get cracking soon-
We’d like to see old TOJO’s face
When he hears we’re in RANGOON”.
(4 RWK Diary)

The Cloak of St. Brigid

St. Brigid

Saturday (1st February) was the Feast Day of St. Brigid. As one of the patron saints of Ireland, she has many supernatural events, and folk customs associated with her. Some believe St. Brigid (also known as Brigit, Bride, Brid), is an ancient mother goddess whom Christian monks ‘borrowed’ to become a saint. She shares her feast day with the pre-Christian ‘Imbolc’, a spring festival, midway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox .

St Brigid’s life, is like the miraculous cloak she is said to have worn - shrouded in mystery. In fact, there have been controversial debates as to whether St Brigid existed at all. As a family historian and genealogist this wets my appetite. So, in-between searching for the ancestors of my clients, I decided to investigate her story further.
It is said that if you repeat St. Brigid’s genealogy you will be protected:

“ This is the genealogy of the holy maiden Bride,
Radiant flame of gold, noble foster mother of Christ,
Bride, daughter of Dugall the Brown,
Son of Aodh, son of Art, son of Conn,
Son of Crearer, Son of Cis, son of Carmac, son of Carruin,
Every day and every night
That I say the genealogy of Bride,
I shall not be killed, I shall not be harried,
I shall not be put in a cell, I shall not be wounded,
Neither shall Christ leave me in forgetfulness.
No fire, no sun, no moon shall burn me,
No lake, no water, nor sea shall drown me,
No arrow of fairy nor dart of fay shall wound me
And I under the protection of my Holy Mary
And my gentle foster-mother is my beloved Bride” .

Tradition states St. Brigid, sometimes known as the ‘Mary of the Gael’, was born in Faughart, a few miles from Dundalk, County Louth, Ireland, in about 450 AD. A shrine and well, dedicated to her, can still be seen, on a hill near the town.

Her father was possibly a pagan chieftain of Leinster, known as Dubthach Bryen an’ Brocca and her Portuguese mother, Brocessa, was a Christian bondswoman baptised by Saint Patrick. Brigid’s father named her after one of the most powerful goddesses of the pagan religion - the goddess of fire, whose manifestations were song, craftsmanship, and poetry, which the Irish considered the flame of knowledge.

She is said to have been born a slave and was inspired by St. Patrick’s preachings to become a Christian. As she grew up, she became renown for her healing and kindness. One account, describes how Brigid donated to the poor, her mother's entire store of butter, which was later replenished after she prayed. 

Dubthach became tired of his daughters charitable deeds, and one day took her in a chariot to King Breasal Bealach of Leinster, in Dun Ailine, with the intention of selling her. Outside the castle, Brigid gave her father’s jewelled encrusted sword to a leper, so he could barter it for alms. When the King heard of this, he recognised her heart and convinced Dubthach to grant her freedom by saying, "Her merit before God is greater than ours.”

St. Brigid wanted to live a life of holy chastity in the service of God and to the poor. However, her father insisted that she marry the wealthy man he had promised her to. So, legend says that she prayed to God, that her beauty would be taken away from her, so no one would seek her hand in marriage; St. Brigid’s prayer was granted. Her father then succumbed.

She then travelled to Croghan Hill in Co. Meath and asked St. Maccaille, who was a bishop and had a church there, to admit her into religious life. At first, he was reluctant to grant St. Brigid’s request, but was eventually convinced of her sincerity. Some sources say she received the veil from St. Mel, one of St Patrick’s nephews. 

Once Brigid began leading a life of prayer, her beauty is said to have returned. 

Little is known about St. Brigid’s early church work, but, after a vision from God, she tried to convince the King of Leinster to give her land, to set up a convent. She explained to him that it was near to a wood and a lake, providing both fuel and water, as well as pasture to raise animals. However, the King laughed at her, and would not part with the land. At this, St. Brigid begged him to give her as much land as her cloak could cover and promised not to bother him again. The King, wanting to get rid of her, agreed, as he could easily afford to lose such a small area of land. St. Brigid then led the King to the place and removed her cloak. With God’s help, the cloak is said to have spread miraculously across acres of land! 

According to the Liber Hymnorum, written in the 11th Century, the Curragh, a plain in what is now known as Kildare, was granted by the King of Leinster to St. Brigid. It’s location was situated where the Druids had venerated a sacred oak tree, and kept a perpetual fire burning in honour of the Celtic gods. St. Brigid and her seven nuns, tended the fire too, but they ‘baptised’ it, consecrating the eternal flame to Christ, the eternal light of the world. It became known as Cill-Dara (Kildare) or the Church of the Oak. Sadly, it was destroyed in the 12th Century. But, this marriage of the Celtic and Christian became the hallmark of St Brigid’s mission.

"Bride, excellent woman,
sudden flame,
may the fiery, bright sun
take us to the lasting kingdom."

Tradition puts the year of St. Brigid’s founding of the first Irish convent, as 480 AD. It soon flourished into a centre of pilgrimage for bishops, priests and chieftains and later became one of the three most important Christian sites in Ireland. Kings showered the site with rich gifts and royal favours. The poor and the infirm came in their multitudes. The community later became an abbey for monks and nuns, with the abbess ranking above the abbot.

St Brigid is said to have been given the last rites in Kildare  on the 1st February 525 AD.  She was buried at the right of the high alter of the church she had created, and soon her shrine became an object of pilgrimage, especially on her feast day. An elaborate tomb was then constructed, ‘adorned with gems and precious stones and crowns of gold and silver.’ Many miracles ‘were wrought there through her intercession.’

Sadly, down the centuries, St Brigid’s remains have not rested in peace. About 878 AD, because of Viking raids, her remains were exhumed and taken to Downpatrick and re-buried alongside St. Patrick and St. Columba. A stone in the grounds of Downs Cathedral, overlooking the meandering River Quoile, reputedly marks the place. 

But, St. Brigid’s skull was then extracted and taken in about 1283 by three Irish knights travelling to the Aragonese Crusade. However, they perished near Lisbon and her skull was enshrined in a special chapel in the Church of St. John the Baptist at Lumier. 

One of many popular and profound legends of St Brigid is the story of Dara, the blind nun. St. Brigid prayed for the restoration of Dara’s sight, but when the miracle was granted, Dara realised that the clarity of sight blurred God in the eye of the soul, whereupon she asked Brigid to return her to the beauty of darkness. 

Another of the miracles attributed to St. Brigid, is her ability to change water into beer for a leper colony -  and provide enough beer for 18 churches from a single barrel! She is sometimes known as the patron saint of beer. 

But she might also be able to cure a hangover. On St. Brigid’s Eve if you place a ribbon on the window sill outside during the night. The ribbon is said to lengthen, and if preserved, is as a cure for headache!