It was finally time to eat, but there would be no fires tonight to heat water and food, for it was imperative they remain undiscovered. The meagre meal was soon over, the water bottles remaining untouched as Jim, Bert and Ernie joined the other men in stand-to, equipped and prepared for any action as darkness fell with its usual swiftness.

Jim heaved a sigh of relief as the order to stand down came half an hour after darkness had fallen. The sentries remained at their posts and the signal and cipher men would be kept at work sending and receiving messages for at least another two hours, so it was with infinite thankfulness that his day was finally over that Jim shed his backpack and prepared for the night.

Taking off his boots, he stuffed the socks inside, leaving the laces drawn wide for quick and easy access, and placed his hat on top, the chinstrap tucked beneath them so it didn’t blow away. He loosened his belt and top fly button, checked his backpack was securely fastened and used it as a pillow. With his fully loaded carbine between his thighs, muzzle down, breach empty, safety on, he closed his eyes and was asleep in an instant.

The next day’s march took them to the edge of the forest where miles of fields, reeds, sandbanks and clumps of bamboo greeted them. A burst of gunfire from the east alerted them to the fact that the fighting patrol sent out to Katha was in action, and every man gripped his weapon in case the Japanese had sent other patrols towards their position.

‘Bloody hell,’ breathed Jim as they eventually reached the rolling sand dunes that bordered the vast Chindwin River which shone like molten silver in the brilliant sunshine. ‘We’ll be damned lucky to get the mules across that beast.’

‘It’s that over there you should be worried about,’ said Ernie, pointing to the far bank of the swiftly flowing river. ‘We’re going to have to tackle it with full kit as well as mules and heavy equipment before long.’

Jim stared at the high, jagged cliff of rock, the headland of which was covered in jungle growth that, from this distance, looked impenetrable.

He blew out his cheeks in a long sigh as he took off his hat and wiped away the sweat from his face. ‘At least we can have a drink now,’ he said, reaching for his water bottle, diluting a salt tablet in it and downing every drop in three great gulps.