I remember by grandfather (known to me as Papa Coats) telling me a little about his war service when I was about 7 or 8. I got an Action Man for my birthday and he spoke to me about what he did in the war. He used to drive a DUKW delivering supplies, and he said the Japs were everywhere and he used to drive with a sten gun and a couple of hand grenades on the seat next to him because you never knew when you might get ambushed. He had a tattoo of a black cat on his upper arm (near the shoulder), and he always blamed his comrades for getting him drunk one new year in India and making him get a tattoo. He didn\'t like the tattoo, but couldn\'t do anything about it (bearing in mind this was the late 1970s that I remember seeing it). The black cat in question was a copy of the Divisional sign of 17th Indian Division (as I now know). On another occasion he talked about being surprised bumping into his brother when on leave in Calcutta. His brother didn\'t know that he was also out in the far east, but they spent the evening with his brothers comrades and had a good time. (I have a picture of David Coats showing him as being in the 2nd Argylls, of the Plymouth Argylls fame from Singapore). A third story he told was that he didn\'t spend any of his army pay when he was away, and used to earn extra money by driving officers to the nearest town for a night out when they weren\'t in the line. He used to use the money to get a curry while he was waiting to pick them up. There is also an interesting photo album from his time in the Far East, which shows photos of him and comrades in river crossing gear.
James Kemp
