The British 14th Army

You know that the British 14th Army was, they call them the Forgotten Army. Even in England, they’re considered the Forgotten Army. And yet, the British 14th Army, under Field Marshall Slim, killed 350,000 Japanese soldiers. They killed more Japanese soldiers than any other army, Americans included. Nobody gives them credit for that. That’s why they call it the Forgotten Army. And until this year, the thousand Canadians that went to India, they’re forgotten, too. They were never mentioned. You read all the Air Force history books … never mentioned. Is it because we were in the RAF? We were in the RAF squadrons, but they were Canadian crews. Our officers up to squadron leader were Canadian. The crew captains and up, the commander-in-chief was Earl Mountbatten. But all the other higher officers were British, I imagine. And, but there was never any mention of people in Burma, except this year. This is the first year. And we’ve been trying to ... I know my first navigator, Ira McNaughton, he tried to get the recognition, and he failed. He never got any. And it’s only this year that, you know, they mention Veterans of the Far East. They mention the soldiers in Hong Kong, and that’s about it. That’s the only Veterans. They don’t mention the thousand Canadians that went to Burma, or Burma Campaign.