ONE of the most remarkable things about 'Tell Them Of Us,' Ian Hendy's new book on the 1941-1945 Burma Campaign, is the sheer number of Foresters who served in one of the most gruelling military operations of World War Two.

The book, launched next Tuesday (August 23) at the Bream Community Centre, details those from the Forest of Dean who served, and in some cases lost their lives in what became the longest and one of the most difficult single campaigns fought by the British.

In what became known as the 'forgotten war' troops faced the corrosive challenges of monsoons, disease, snakes, impenetrable jungle, poor transport and lack of supplies.

But despite the privations, combat and risks of capture, stories of lasting friendships forged shine through, where men from the Forest would find joy in greeting 'ow bist owd but' when encountering a fellow Forester.

Men like Nunc Sanders and Mick Baldwin who lived only a few miles from each other but first met thousands of miles away in the middle of a jungle battle.

"Nunc was a wounded infantryman, Mick was the stretcher bearer who got him to safety. Both were serving – unbeknown to each other – in the 1st Wiltshire Battalion."

Nunc was wounded in a counter attack in the Goppe Pass and Mick, after administering morphine, carried him on his back to the evacuation mule lines.

It took a while before they realised they both came from the Forest, Nunc from Lydney and Mick from Cinderford, and then began a friendship that has lasted more than 67 years.

Another Forester was Ivor William ('Bill' or 'Buck') Taylor from Bream who served with the 32 Field Ambulance and witnessed one of the most infamous episodes of the war when the Japanese attacked a dressing station in the Okedoke Pass, massacring all the wounded, doctors and staff.

Eyewitness Bill Slim, of the same unit recalls: "The helpless men on their stretchers were slaughtered in cold blood, the doctors lined up and shot."

Ivor still finds himself unable to forgive: "This was just one case of Japanese brutality. Now 55 years later, I feel that I will never in my heart be able to forgive them. For the next two or three months the fighting was bitter. The attrocities of the Japanese troops were the catalyst that created the viciousness we felt towards them."

The story of many other Foresters are featured in the book, too many to recount here. Soldiers like Bob Teague from Cinderford who fought with the Chindits and Lou Knight from Woolaston who saw fierce action in the fetid mangrove swamps of Ramree Island while serving with the Royal Marines.

When they returned home, many joined to form the The Forest Burma Star Association, which was first formed in 1955 after a meeting at the New Inn, Whitecroft. In 2005, on the sixtieth anniversary of VJ, the association was finally disbanded and its standard, carried by Lou 'Luin' Knight committed for perpetuity to Bream Church.

Retired teacher and magistrate, Ian Hendy, of Bream, will be speaking at the launch of his new book, published by Douglas McLean Publishing (Forest Bookshop) at a special event on the evening of August 23 at Bream Community Centre. There will also be staged performances of WW2 songs, 'soldiers' songs and music memories of the period by Jan Bayliss and Doug McLean.