'Pick up your parrots and monkeys, and fall in facing the boat' was the traditional last order given to a detachment of British soldiers heading home from India. William Pennington heard it from the 'old salts' he met on the docks as he arrived in India at the age of 15. Enlisted as a 'boy soldier', a bugler in the horse artillery, he served in the 1930s when the British Army in India was little changed from that described by Kipling. Pennington's compelling description of army life in the last days of the Raj is followed by an equally moving account of his experiences in the Burma campaign. Promoted from the ranks, he fought the Japanese as an artillery officer, specialising in forward observation: the most dangerous job in the jungle.
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Fourteen-year-old Bill Pennington enlisted in the British Army as a trumpeter in the 1st Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery. At fifteen, he was on active service on the North-West Frontier. After serving in India, France, Belgium, Burma, Germany and England, he was demobbed in 1946. He married Enid in 1946 and emigrated to Canada in 1951, where he lives to this day. He started writing this book at the age of seventy-seven.
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I was born in 1920 in Salford, Lancashire where the cotton mills processed cotton imported from India and returned it as finished garments at a price still affordable to the natives, yet with huge profits for the mill owners. Read the first page
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I was born in 1920 in Salford, Lancashire where the cotton mills processed cotton imported from India and returned it as finished garments at a price still affordable to the natives, yet with huge profits for the mill owners. Read the first page
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By C. de Lacy
Format:Paperback
Before we went on holiday, when I was little, my Dad used to say "Have you got all your monkeys and parrotts?" Now I know where he got the phrase from as he served in India, before Penny. I found the book really interesting and eye opening regarding the Burma campaign. A good and easy read
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Ms Susie
Format:Paperback
Unfortunately I have not had time to read this book. I loaned it to my Brother to read whilst on holiday and he enjoyed it. Our Dad was in Burma so it was very relevant - look forward to reading it soon!
By A. Wass
Format:Paperback
Excellent value, would recommend this seller to everyone.
Received well packaged and promptly.
Thank you once again.
Received well packaged and promptly.
Thank you once again.
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