AN ELDERLY Solihull man has released a book telling his first hand account of what it was like fighting in the Second World War.
We Fought at Kohima tells the tale of 94-year-old Raymond Street and his memory of one of the most decisive and hardest fought battles of the Second World War.
The novel concentrates on when the Japanese were advancing through Thailand, Malaya and Burma, seeming unstoppable with more than 13,000 fanatical Japanese troops facing the garrison of the Kohima made up of some 1,500 British and Indian Army soldiers, leaving India’s fate looking utterly precarious.
It then goes on to follow the next sixteen days which marked the turning point of the war in the far east thanks to men like Raymond Street who fought with legendary courage and tireless persistence.
Raymond, who was born in Cheltenham and moved to Birmingham as a child, was a member of the 4th Battalion – The Queen’s West Kents and, as a company runner, he was uniquely placed to witness the dreadful and dramatic events as they unfolded.
Not only did he miraculously survive but he made a superb record of the battle as fortunes ebbed and flowed.
His memories have been transcribed into this first-hand account of one of the
most decisive and hard fought battles of the Second World War.
It is believed We Fought at Kohima will be judged as a fighting man’s memoir of the highest quality to rank alongside such legendary works as Men at Arnhem and Quartered Safe Out
Here.
The book is available in hardback and paperback on Amazon. It is also available for Kindles.