GROWING up in rural Scotland in the 1970s couldn't have been further from the hell of Burma in the Second World War but it hung like a black cloud in the form of my grandfather, David Warden Hay. He was a brave man, a war hero with the medals to prove it, who had volunteered the day the Second World War was declared. Family legend has it that he marched down to the recruiting office with his pals from Govan and his Territorial Army comrades to do his duty for God, King and Country.
He was a member of the King Own Scottish Borderers, long disbanded, and in many ways the war years were the best of his life. He thrived on the adventure, the comradeship, the sense of purpose and rose up the ranks, eventually becoming a captain but there was a terrible price to pay. That price was falling into the hands of the Japanese and ending up in a prisoner of war camp in Burma.
No one knows what he endured – he wouldn't talk of such things – but he was left a broken man, both physically with malaria and mentally. My mother recalled him waking up screaming with night terrors when she was a child.
He drew solace from the veterans' Burma Star Association but he was a difficult, disappointed man. I recall him throwing one of my toys out of the window as it was stamped Made in Japan and I shudder to think what would have happened had my dad dared buy a Japanese car. Sunday lunches were a nightmare for my sister and myself. He would explode if food was left on our plates. At the time I didn't understand why.
He died when I was just a child, and so much of what he did in the war as a member of the Forgotten Army has sadly been forgotten once more. But his medals have pride of place in my house.
GARRY SCOTT
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel