It was brought to my notice by a trusted source that the whereabouts of the missing Dudley Dumbar Bahadoo Chettri *has been found. This information has been verified and confirmed by my source. Sadly for all concerned, and in particular for his loved ones and those who loved him, it was revealed that Dudley had passed on in 1976 and was followed by his beloved wife in 2006. May their souls rest in peace. My wife and I offer heartfelt condolences to all.
Joseph Valu, Editor WorldWar2BurmaDiaries.com July 5, 2009 * His name correctly spelled as per Sandra Carney, author/ 6/13/13
SEEKING DUDLEY DUMBAR BAHADOO CHETTRI* by Joseph A. Valu Copyright, 2008. All rights Reserved. U.S.A. Published by WorldWar2Burma Diaries.com *UPDATE NOTE: It was pointed out to me on 6/13/13 by Sandra Carney, author and contributor , that this gentleman's full name is correctly spelled: Dudley Dumbar Bahadoo Chettri, and hence this correction.
Recently I heard a Kiplingesque story, or one which reminded me ofTagore’s “Gora”, regarding a youngerbrother of a former veteran of WWII in Burma--Donald Mellican, 85 years old, formerly of Moulmein, Burma, now living in Kent, United Kingdom. It is a story of the terrible consequences of War, the breakup of families, their trauma and inexplicable loss through pestilence and disease in trying to escape the terror of capture by an unforgiving enemy. More than that it is a story of a lifelong love and search for a baby brother of Donald’s, Reginald Oscar Mellican. Donald was 17 1/2 years old when the War broke out in 1941 and he joined the Burma Auxiliary Force of the British Army, and saw action as an AA gunner in defending Rangoon’s Mingaladon Airport during the first attacks by the Japanese Air Force. He escaped April, 1942 with his unit into India, but his parents, two brothers and two(correction: three) sisters, perished in trying to escape via the Hukawng Valley route in Northern Burma-- except for the youngest, 7 year old Reginald Oscar Mellican, "Reggie", who, according to an eye-witness who escaped into India, had witnessed the terrible demise of his family and was given by his dying Father to a Gurkha family seeking escape in that region. A break occurred when a story, attributed to a Sandra Carney who contacted Donald, described a young man whom her father befriended in post-war Kalaw,Burma in 1950, who was tall, fair-skinned, with light eyes and gave his name (as unlikely as it sounds) as Dumbar Bahadoo Chettri. Obviously English-looking, this person had only a slight knowledge of the English language. He apparently requested and was confirmed to the Catholic faith in the Kalaw R.C. church and took the name of “Dudley”, joined the 4th *Regiment Burma Rifles(an indigenous unit of Gurkhas which his adoptive father may have been a World War II veteran, and of which *Colonel Raymond Campagnac, Sandra Carney's father, was Commanding Officer) then incorporated into the post Independence Burma Army. Much later he is reported to have retired from that regiment and emigrated, with his wife and large family, to Perth, Australia and/or New Zealand. Officials in Burma (Myanmar/ pronounced: m'yumma)) have been contacted but, apparently, have not responded to Mr. Mellican’s pleas for news. If you know or have heard of such an individual, or his family, please contact me via my web site as nothing would give me more pleasure than to unite this precious family. The e-mail address: josephvalu@worldwar2burmadiaries.com Thanks so much! Joseph Valu, Editor WorldWar2BurmaDiaries.com
Copyright 2008 by Joseph Alwyn Valu. All Rights Reserved.