The Burma Star Connection

The The Burma Star Association Web Site is created by Paul Loseby and it is sponsored by his father Rev. E.J.C. Loseby.

Upon receiving the Invitation and the News Release from an e-mail from Chung Chieh, Paul wrote:

It is a pleasure to help and I will get to your site and read about the General. It is my father that was in the war in Burma and I was telling him today of your contact and invitation. He says that people do not realise just how much the Chinese people did in the war and they do not get the credit that they deserve. He says that they were a great army with great leaders and much more should have been written about them than has been. Probably there have been books written in Chinese but these obviously would not be understood by such as myself.

I will read up on the General and I will put a link to your site on this one.

Chung wanted to find out more about Rev. Loseby, and he asked Paul to provide a glimpse: My father was a Gunner/Signaller with the Royal Artillery serving with the 28th Indian Field Regiment which was part of the 19th Indian Division and led by Major General Rees. I don't think that he ever spoke to the General or had any great dealings with any of the Officers. He was in Burma between 1943 and 1946 having stayed behind after the war had officially finished, to help clear the Japanese troops that were still fighting in the area, either not knowing or not wanting to know, that Japan had surrendered. After a time in Deolali he moved to Imphal in India and then down to the Arakaan area (although at that time, he was part of the 5th Indian Infantry Division).

With the 19th Division, my father was involved in the fight southwards towards Rangoon. I am currently writing his story of his time in Burma and once I have typed it, I will try to translate it (I have some translation software for Japanese and I believe that it also translates into Chinese) and send it to you if you would like me to. I know that he saw many things that changed his life and whilst he was reading his story to me a few weeks ago, he had to stop on a number of occasions and he cried. He is now nearly 80 years old and some of the memories were hard for him to speak of.

He travelled through Mandalay and crossed the Irrawaddy and Chindwin rivers and was involved in heavy fighting around the area of Meiktila which was supposed to have already been captured.

As I say, I have my father's story and just have to type it out and then I will pass it to you.

When I told him of my contact with you, he did not say whether he had actually fought alongside any of the Chinese people but he did speak very highly of them and what excellent and courageous fighters they were. He said, and as I have found out since creating the Burma Star website, that people only seem to speak of the British, the Canadians, and the Americans. The Chinese, the Indians and even the Japanese all seem to be ignored. Like you, I want to put stories from ALL sides on the web site.

Until now, I have only had contact with a number of Chinese gentlemen from Canada and many of these were with Force 136 - a specialist force trained to fight behind enemy lines in small units. I am trying to get their stories too.

After leaving the Army, my father had a few jobs but then studied and became a priest in the Church in England. He has now almost retired but still holds services especially for the remembrance of his old friends. He is getting old and sometimes confused now and that is why I am trying to find out all I can now. Having said that, he is a very nice and caring man and I could not have wished for a better father.

Chung learned that Paul Loseby, is an ex-Royal Marine commando, but left the armed forces in 1972 and became a policeman for a long time. He had an accident at work on the police motorcycles and had to retire a few years ago.

Paul and Chung both want to gather stories regarding the Burma Theater and they share some common interests too.