Thank you Ivan for helping to put our tiny red dot on the world map. Be sure to tell them that GMY has not only helped to bridge the generation gap in Singapore, but also the cultural gap that existed a few decades ago between baby-boomer Britons and Singaporeans.
In fact, it was through GMY that two young Scotsmen who served in the First Queens Own Highlanders at Selarang Barracks in the early 60's, Tom Brown and Terry McGinnie became re-connected. Below are some photos I received from Terry. But he did not give any explanations to go with the photos; so maybe he or Tom can elaborate later in the comments section.
5 comments:
Tom said...
Chun See I think by looking at the cloths the men are wearing in the first photo,it may have been taken in Germany or Norway, Iam not sure. In the second photo that is Terry third from the left, and the other photos Iam not to sure a bout them. Terry come in and tell us were the photos were taken
It would really be interesting if we could hear some of the stories behind these photos. Hope Terry is reading these.
You know that curve, semi circle like structure looks like those in Ipoh's camps. I guess they are standard army structure during the colonial days.
In the old University of Spore campus at Bukit Timah, there used to be these buildings call Nissen Huts (not sure of the spelling) which were inherited from the British. Near my house along Bukit Timah Rd, 4th Ave junction there are still some buildings like these. Better go and take some photos before they disappear.
Throughout history of war symbols play a rallying point to the soldiers of a country. To the Americans the raising of the American flag in Iwo Jima was the psychological turning point in the Pacific war. To the Japanese the Kamikaze pilots were a desperate effort, though senseless, to save their country. To the German commanders there was a need for their soldiers to defend the 'father-land'. To the Russian, after drinking bottles of volka, they were ready to charge head on into the advancing Germans. To the Gurkha pulling out the kukri meant 'business'. In the words of our MM Lee, when the British troops blew up the causeway, while retreating to Singapore before the advancing Japanese troops, the Scottish soldiers calmly blew their bagpipes, and the last to cross over. These were the warriors' symbolic acts of bravery.
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