WWII and the Burma Campaign

Dr Jessamy Carlson, principal record specialist for Family, Local and Community History at The National Archives, explores the archives to tell the story of two soldiers who fought in the Burma Campaign during WWII.

As the 80th anniversary of VJ approaches, this was an excellent opportunity to consider the Burma Campaign and highlight some of the stories which came out of the bravery and sacrifice of the men and women who fought in the Far East during the Second World War. Those whose service rendered them eligible for the Burma Star are often considered to be part of the Forgotten Front, and increasingly, attention has been drawn to their experiences.

Alec George Horwood, V.C., D.C.M.

29 Victoria Crosses (V.C.s) were awarded for service during the Burma Campaign, of which 17 were awarded to members of the Indian Army, and 11 were awarded to members of the British Army. The remaining V.C. was awarded to an officer serving with the No. 1 Commando. Many of these were posthumous awards.

One of these awards was made posthumously to Lt. Alec George Horwood, V.C., D.C.M., a member of the Queen’s Royal Regiment (West Surrey) who was attached to the Northamptonshire Regiment at the time of the action which earned his V.C. Horwood had already been decorated for courage at Dunkirk in 1940 with a Distinguished Conduct Medal (Gazette issue 34936).

Alec was the elder son and middle child of George Alfred Horwood and his wife Florence Emma (née Harding). In the 1921 Census, the family were living at 2 Beechwith Villas, North Hayling. Both Alec and his older sister Ivy were listed as being in school full time, which their mother remained at home with their younger brother Kenneth who was just eighteen months old at the time.

George is listed as a passenger guard on the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway Co., working out of Havant station. Connoisseurs of South Coast Railway history may be aware that this area of railway was the subject of a ‘frog war’ between the LB&SC Railway Co. and the London & South Western Railway Co in the 1850s. Alec married his wife, Madeline in 1941 in Yeovil, and their daughter was born in 1943.

Alec was mortally wounded in Kyauchaw, British Burma (now Myanmar) on the afternoon of 20 January 1944 and died on 21 January. His citations in The Gazette (Gazette issue 36445) recorded that he ‘set the highest example of bravery and devotion to duty, to which all ranks responded magnificently.’ Aged 30 at the time of his death, he has no known grave and is commemorated on Face 4 of the Rangoon memorial in the Taukkyan War Cemetery, in Myanmar.

Alec George Horwood census

Captain Victor Charles Connell

In the process of researching Alec’s story, another name in the lists adjacent to his caught my eye, in part because his initials were V.C., as opposed to his awards. Captain Victor Charles Connell, also of the Queen’s Royal Regiment, but attached to the 9th Battalion of the Nigeria Regiment (Royal West Africa Frontier Force), died on 5 January 1946, aged 34, and is also buried at the Rangoon Cemetery.

Victor was the son of Dennis and Amy Ellen (Eleanor) Connell, and one of two surviving children alongside his older sister Gladys. The family appear together in Chelsea, London in the 1911 and the 1921 Censuses, Victor being just two months old in 1911. His father Dennis worked throughout for the Chelsea poor law Union. He married Freda Burton in Chelsea in the spring of 1939, and probate records show that the couple were living in Wimbledon at the time of his death. Victor’s occupation is listed as war service administration, and his testators were his wife and his father.

In the archival records attached to Alec’s entry in the Commonwealth War Grave Commission collections, it shows that initially, Victor was also due to be included on the panel amongst the men of the Queen’s Royal Regiment. However, a manuscript annotation subsequently shows that he was to have his own grave, suggesting a change in circumstances in the aftermath of his death, perhaps that the whereabouts of his body was initially unclear. He is nevertheless buried in a marked grave, remembered by his parents and wife, with the following epitaph:

“Your memory hallowed in the land you loved.”

The entries on the CWGC note a connection to Bontddu, in Merionethshire, so perhaps the epitaph is a nod to some Welsh heritage.

Victor Connell census

For those wishing to learn more about the Burma Campaign, an extraordinary range of personal and professional testimonies can be found through the Burma Star Memorial Fund resources.

About the author

Dr Jessamy Carlson is the principal record specialist for Family, Local and Community History at The National Archives. She is a historian and an archivist, with a range of interests in 20^th century social history.

Find out more

ALEC GEORGE HORWOOD (Commonwealth War Grave Commission)

VICTOR CHARLES CONNELL (Commonwealth War Grave Commission)

The Story of the Burma Campaign (Burma Star Memorial Fund)

Images

Imperial War Museum

The National Archives

Publication date

6 August 2025

Any opinion expressed in this article is that of the author and the author alone, and does not necessarily represent that of The Gazette.