Cpl Edward B Hunt (1619766) RAF

Edward Hunt, my father, was enlisted into the RAF on the 3 June 1942. Very little is known of his war service and locations during his RAF War service.

He returned to the UK in 1946 but rarely mentioned the war. I have written these comments from memory of the very few conversations we had about his war. None of the letters sent home have survived.

My father travelled to India by boat in the autumn of 1942, first to South Africa through the South Atlantic, well populated by German U boats. Then passing through the equally hazardous Madagascar straits, avoiding the Japanese submarines, the ship stopped in Mozambique, Colombo and finally Bombay (Mumbai). After a period in Pune, he travelled to Calcutta, probably by train in late 1942.

As a member of the 313 Maintenance Unit, he was stationed at Kankinara, Calcutta, supporting the airborne activities using the nearby Dum Dum airport. In 1942, the US Army Air Forces 7th Bombardment Group flew B-24 Liberator bombers from the airport on combat missions over Burma. The airfield was used as a cargo aerial port for the Air Transport Command, a communications centre for the 10th Air Force.

He was also stationed in Chakrata, Uttarakhand, in the foothills of the Himalayas, an Indian hill station at an altitude of 7000 ft. He also worked with units from Australia and New Zealand.

The latter part of the war was spent in Burma and he would have been there through VJ Day and afterwards too as India moved toward partition. I have no idea where he was in Burma or his activities there beyond a few comments regarding the horrors of trying to get through the jungle which he described as so dense that the enemy could be only a few feet away. In addition he mentioned encountering many snakes to add to the dangers of jungle warfare. He did mention proudly the Ghurka units who joined with the RAF and other troops in Burma.

During his time in India, my father somehow managed to take some photographs of his travels in India, with a camera which survived his exploits in Asia. The pictures in his album which also travelled with him throughout the war, were all processed by the local India photographic shops. The album is at Elbury.

His journey home to the UK was made in a DC3, and would have been long and hazardous. The plane hopped from Calcutta, Karachi, probably Iran and Egypt and then finally through Malta and Marseilles to the UK. His return to the UK was unknown to all of the family and relatives so his sudden appearance at 307 was a tremendous surprise for everyone.

He was awarded the Asia Star, Burma Star, War Medal and Defence Medal for his war service, but never collected them himself, nor mentioned very much about his War service.