The Forgotten Army

Heroes Remember

The Forgotten Army

Transcript

I was on a … V-E Day, I was … tour expired on a squadron. And I was over in another squadron with other duties as an instructor trying to teach Liberator pilots, or at least Lancaster pilots about Liberators. Well, when that program was given up, so, I wasn’t doing anything really. We had a hurricane. And the hurricane came through and it wiped out the squadron. Knocked down all the buildings, ruined all sixteen aircraft we had and it set the mess on fire, which burned down, and so we didn’t have and while all this had taken place, someone said it was V-E Day in Europe. Well, we discovered that while the mess has burned down, the bar supplies hadn’t perished. And we were able make our way into the bar supplies and we had ourselves a pretty good party with the excuse that it was victory in Europe. But really, our war was Japan and we always felt resentful of Europe because they got everything first. Everything that was any good, they got first. They had radar on their aircraft before, long before we ever saw any of it in the East, the Far East. And the Middle East was getting the next wave of equipment. And it seemed to be what was left over found its way to the Burma theatre. And it was literally the forgotten war. It was not a big press thing in Europe or in Canada or the U.S. The U.S. was the Pacific and that’s what they were, and Europe. But Canada and Britain were really Europe and the invasion of Europe, and you know we know all about that. And the way things were handled with V-E Day and the D-Day landing celebrations. The 60th celebration or what had been done in connection with this. With the victory in Japan, or victory over Japan has had relatively little coverage. It’s sort of almost an afterthought. But there is a resentment because there’s always the short end of the stick for the Burma group, whether it was the transport fellows or the bomb group. Even Mountbatten was aware of this and spoke to the 14th army people. It’s a famous quote in a book that’s around. You’re not the forgotten army because people have to know. You have to be known before you can be forgotten. And they’ve never even heard of you.

Description

Mr. Sharpe talks about the lack of recognition that the Burma Campaign has received.

Charles Richard “Dick” Sharpe

Charles Richard Sharpe was born in St. Catharines, Ontario on February 11, 1925. His father worked for the Canada Customs Service, getting pensions for wounded Veterans. A Veteran of World War One, Mr. Sharpe’s father told him many stories about the war.

Mr. Sharpe joined the RCAF on the morning of his 18th birthday and became a pilot. He flew 23 missions for the RCAF and rose to the rank of Flight Lieutenant. After the war, Mr. Sharpe became a very successful businessman, serving for many years as CEO of Sears Canada. Among his many awards and recognitions, in 1998, he became a member of the Order of Canada.

Meta Data

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:: 2:25
Person Interviewed:: Charles Richard “Dick” Sharpe
War, Conflict or Mission:: Second World War
Location/Theatre:: Southeast Asia
Battle/Campaign:: Burma
Branch:: Air Force
Units/Ship:: 159 Squadron
Rank:: Lieutenant
Occupation:: Pilot

Language selection

The Forgotten Army

Heroes Remember