Overall Historical Summary

Hap enlisted in the army on July 28th 1942 at Leeds and joined the Reserves until he was transferred to the West Yorkshire Regiment in December of 1942.  It wasn't until the following year that his unit left for India  where he was re-assigned to the Essex Regiment for further training in jungle warfare techniques at Gawilor India.  Once training was completed they were moved to Lalaghat in March of 1944.  

Originally destined for the interior of Burma to join existing forces the Essex Regiment was diverted to Jorhat and then on to Rangazumi India on April 11th 1944 to fight the advancing Japanese forces at Imphal and Kohima.  The Japanese were desperate at this time, their supplies were running low and they saw the supply dumps at Imphal and Kohima as key assets in maintaining their presence and in supporting their planned advance into India.

The battles were fought for two and a half months and included British, Indian and American forces with the Americans providing crucial air support.  It was during this time that the Essex Regiment fought as Chindits in the Nagaland hills and across the border into Burma.  Nagaland is hill country that was used to the Chindit's advantage, they were a lightly armoured force that could move quickly.

The first contact the Essex Regiment had with the enemy was at Phekerima on the 25th of April 1944.  They disrupted Japanese communication and supply lines leading to Kohima in the north and Imphal further south.  Over the course of their action the Essex Regiment marched in and out of the Nagaland Hills/Burma area covering over 400 miles and climbed over 60,000 feet to reach their objectives.

Almost all of the army personnel in that regiment were impacted by malaria and dysentery and had to be hospitalized on numerous occasions.  Hap's hand written record of the dates of his malarial attacks show just how frequently this occurred.  This is reflected in the official record as well.

After the conclusion of the battle of Imphal and Kohima Hap was hospitalized on several occasions for malarial attacks.  He was able to go on War Leave in the last days of 1944 for 22 days.  I believe this is the time he was able to travel around in India and was when he took the photos he kept from that trip.  From what I can see he then had a short period in the hospital again and then went back into active service for two months after which he was re-admitted into hospital again.

By this time the Japanese had retreated and or were captured and the European war was concluded.  In July 1945 Hap was moved to a hospital in Poona near Bombay for convalescence until he disembarked for England in November of 1945 arriving in Glasgow on December 15th.  Hap was awarded the Burma Star on March 21st 1946 and was released from the Army on April 29th 1947.

Information from all of the available sources is listed below.