the young soldier
1949 May - 1951 February
Created by Justin 10 years agoKen was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant in The Royal Norfolk Regiment and was attached to the Suffolk Regiment in Malaya.
He sailed on the HMT Lancashire from Liverpool, through Egypt and Ceylon to Singapore. On the way Dad saw Dolphin leaping in the wake of the ship and flying fish that skimmed the Indian Ocean.
In the Jungle Dad recalled the "whoop, whoop" of the monkeys, stepping on Crocodiles in the swamps, elephants that shook the stilts of the long houses as they scratched their backs on the stilts in the nights. Tigers up close, Snakes across the pathways, ants that taste of chocolate, fireflies put in a jar to make a light to read by when deep in the Jungle, leaches that had to be burned off with cigarettes - he had 47 on his back once! The rain that came at 4pm on the dot in the monsoon. The Jungle or Ulu as he called it was so thick it had to be cut through with a machette, the humidity was oppressive.
Pictures
2nd Lieutenant K. W. Lovell Smith
Dressed in Khaki
Military ID
HMT. Lancashire - from Liverpool to Singapore
Aged 21 in Malaya