India in action: a collection of pictures by Anthony Gross

INDIA I N ACTION Ex t rac t s f rom Captain Gross' Diary CM THESE pictures, painted mostly in India and Burma, will have to stand on their own merits. However, I think it would be interesting to describe some of the adventures I had in doing them. Th e journey down to the Arakan b y paddle-steamer, hitch-hiking by track and sampan (a country boat rowed by a Chittagonian standing upright in the stern like a Venetian gondolier), skirting close under the banks, as shelter against Jap aircraft, while the boatman continually tended midstream to take advantage of the current. [LD3340]. Night time on the Mayu River, slowly falling asleep to the cadence of the oars. Wak i ng at night to find the boat stopped, the shouts of the oarsmen, their faces lit in queer silhouettes by their fires as they waited for the tide to change. Then the curses and bumping till the rhythmic move- ment started again. [LD3160]. A halt at a village, where we were given final instructions and warnings as to our destination. No question now of keeping well under the banks, where in the deep mud queer birds standing on one leg watched us go by. W e scanned the wide sweeps of the river anxiously till we found a landing stage hidden in a mango swamp. W e ran the sampan well under the bank, out of sight. A mule was waiting for my kit. A battery opened up somewhere on my left. The track skirted paddy (rice) fields and finally entered a jungle of bamboo, mangoes and jackfruit trees. [LD3164]. A sentry challenged me. I had arrived at Brigade H.Q. A guide took me by devious paths to visit the battalions. First I found the Lancashire Fusiliers sitting up on Pentlebury Hill over- looking the Temple of Rathedaung. [LD3333]. Abandoned cattle were grazing peacefully on paddy fields in no-man's land, while beyond, a t what seemed a stone's-throw, were the wooded hills of the laps. In this thick scrub they were invisible, not a movement indicated the enemy. Occasionally a salvo of shells shook the air, then out of the vegetation on the other side little puffs of white smoke slowly rose. Later I visited the Rajputana Rifles [LD3335], where I made a detailed drawing of the Jap position. [LD3161J.