History brought to life

Just prior to half-term Year 9 History students at Pipers were privileged to welcome John Giddings MBE to talk to them about his experiences as a veteran of three major conflicts.

John is now the Chairman of the Burma Star Association – an organisation that aims to promote the comradeship experienced during the bitter fighting in the jungles and hostile terrain of Burma, and to relieve the subsequent need, hardship and distress that veterans of the Burma Campaign of the 1939-45 War and/or their widows/widowers and may be suffering.

John began by talking to the girls about his love of reading about Biggles’ adventures as a youngster – something that inspired him to become a member of the armed forces. He joined the RAF when he was 17 and, although his non-perfect eyesight prevented him from being a member of air crew, John, who had spent three years learning engineering at technical college, trained as a wireless mechanic.

In the early 1940s John was posted overseas and became a member of 17 Squadron, a fighter squadron, as one of their wireless operators. He then spent four years, mainly fighting against the Japanese, which saw him move around from Burma to India, to China, Sri Lanka (known as Ceylon at the time) and back to Burma.

He spoke about some of his experiences of fighting in the conflict and the people he met along the way. He explained to the girls that although he has never quite been able to forgive the Japanese people of the time for some of the things he saw, he holds no grudges against the generations who have come since and who were no part of what happened.

John also talked about the importance of remembering the sacrifice given by so many people, of all nationalities, involved in war, sharing the epitaph from the Burma Star Association’s war memorial – “When you go home/tell them of us and say/for your tomorrow/we gave our today.”

John’s visit provided the girls with a unique opportunity to hear first-hand testimony from someone involved in conflicts they have learnt about in their lessons. It was a hugely beneficial experience for them to gain an insight into the human side of war and what it was like for members of the armed forces at the time.