240020 Pte. James Cledwyn Jones British Army 178th Field Regiment, Signal Sec. Royal Artillery from:Swansea Cled Jones was transferred to the 36th Division as part of the 178th Assault Field Regiment on 24th of October 1943. The Division took part in the Arakan offensive in 1944 where there was tough jungle fighting to try to extricate the Japanese from the hill country around Ngayadauk and Mayu which was difficult given the tenacity of the Japs to fight to the last man. In June 1944 his unit entered the concessional area in north west Burma where they came under the Command of Vinegar Joe Stilwell and his American Chinese forces. He spoke of being flown in by glider and taking over from the remains of the Chindits.
His qualification was as an electrician signaler where the training he had previously had in Doncaster, Bury and Huddersfield was used to help supply power, telephone cables and send and receive messages by Morse Code. He recalled tough fighting around Myitkyina and Mogaung. He spoke of the reliance on American planes which supplied everything and occasions when members of his unit ran out of food for several days when a drop missed its targets. He spoke of the Japanese calling out in English to get responses to locate where the British troops were. During this period they were the British troops furthest away from home. They needed machetes to cut through the jungle which was full of snakes many of which were poisonous. They were trained to stay put and not to attempt to flee or surrender when they were encircled by the Japanese . From time to time he went down with Malaria and was in hospital.
In January 1944 the division crossed the mighty Irrawaddy River by raft over to its western bank and came under command of General Slim's Fourteenth Army and took part in the tough fighting as that Army moved south as part of the final assault that broke the final Japanese resistance in Burma. He spoke of the Banzai charges by the Japanese and the hand to hand fighting that ensued. He spoke highly of a visit to the unit by Bill Slim of whom he was a great supporter.
He recalled receiving the news that the enemy had surrendered after the dropping of the Atomic Bombs which removed the need to be part of an assault invasion force in Indonesia. However his unit was transferred to Jakarta then called Batavia in November 1944. On 18 November his Commanding Officer signed off his form for notification of impending release. His comments "conduct was assessed as exemplary and described as having performed his military duties with the greatest efficiency and can be trusted to do so without supervision. In his capacity as electrician signals he is painstaking and thorough proving himself cooperative and willing to give of his best at all times".
He finally arrived home on 31 March 1946. He arrived with a bush hat and a Jap cap. He had been away with the Army for almost six years and found that those who had skived off military duties had been promoted above him. Although by nature a great raconteur be spoke rarely about the war and never wore his medals. He put it all behind him and got on with making up for lost time going out dancing with Megan.
In 1954 they were given a home fit for heroes, a council house in the Clase in Swansea and he worked hard in the Post Office eventually becoming a Head Postmaster in Ludlow and finally in Neath. Megan died of breast cancer in 1977 and fortunately after early retirement during his wife's illness Cled went back to work handling the insurances taken out by Alun Griffiths Contractors in Abergavenny until well into his seventies. Occasionally when it was hot in the summer he had some Malaria type fevers which went away when it got cooler.
He was and is still much loved. When he died in 1992 he had three funeral services and a large bench was given in his name to the bowls club in Pandy near the England Wales Border north of Abergavenny where he was remembered well. It is kept overnight in a shed and brought out for the matches.
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