Allan (91) tells of jungle warfare experience in Burma aged just 17
Allan Taylor, 91, was a pipe major in the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders during the Second World War.
He was with an Allied Force making its way to Japan in August, 1945, when the atomic bomb was dropped on the country and among the first British serviceman to witness the devastation caused by the blast.
Allan told his astonishing story after attending a ceremony at the Bannockburn War Memorial on Armistice Day at which his grandsons Aaron and Callan piped in tribute of those who had died.
Born in Brechin in April 1927, Allan attended Riverside High, Stirling, and walked five miles a day to get to his desk. He left school at the age of 15 to become a gamekeeper on the estate of Polmaise Castle. When the time came for war service, he had the choice of joining the Army or going down the mines.
“My father told me that I’ll either die above the ground or I’ll die below the ground,” said Allan who opted for the Army.
His dad, John, had fought with the Royal Scots during the World War One.
Following training in Losseimouth and the Scottish Borders, Allan was sent to Northern Ireland – on a cattle boat.
This was done as German submarines wouldn’t sink boats if they had livestock on board.
Allan spent nine months training in Northern Ireland before ending up in the Burmese jungle at just 17-years-old.
He said: “It was pure jungle from end to end. You just got [deployed] where they were short of men. You didn’t know where you were, and you were under trees all the time.
“You could see glints in the trees as the Japanese had gold teeth, and the sun would hit off them. The Japanese would mix in with the [civilians] and we often got bamboozled. It was a pure battle. I’m lucky that I survived.”
Allan recalls a moment in the jungle when only luck prevented his entire squad from being wiped out.
“What saved my life was a wee bit of wood that was jagging in my leg,” he explained . “I knelt down to take it out when I heard the click of guns. I yelled to the boys ‘down!’ as the Japanese opened up and by luck none of them was hit.”
He spoke of the brutal living conditions they