One Man's War: A Potteries Man in India in World War Two

'What did you do in the war Daddy?' A common question asked by boys of my generation in the 1950's and 60's. My father rarely spoke about his war experiences, but in a shoe box at my parent's home, there was a collection of family photographs including some that he had taken during the war. My father was a working class laborer from Stoke-on-Trent - the Potteries - in England, and when war broke out he had recently got married, being just twenty-five years old. As the war expanded and turned into a global conflict, he was posted to India in what was to become known as the 'Forgotten Army'. Thanks to personal anecdotes, Military Records, family photographs and other research, I have written this account that includes many of the photographs that he took at this time. This is not a story of heroic deeds - it is more humble than that -many other young men would have shared similar experiences at this time - and some would not have made it back home. It takes us from army training in England to the border between India and Burma at a time when there was an increasing threat of a major Japanese attack. It also takes us to northern India, not far from Nepal, and close to the notorious North West Frontier, as calls for Indian independence from the British Raj were becoming increasingly loud. This introductory account of these themes should be of interest to anyone who has a developing interest World War 2 in India, or who has an interest in the history of the Potteries and its people during the Second World War. It includes a number of my father's photographs as well as maps, and requires no previous knowledge of the areas concerned or the military, as general background information and contexts are described in the text.