Polly, from Wild Wolves Explorer Unit, is one of 15 Explorers representing ScoutsCymru in this year’s Remembrance Sunday Parade. The National Remembrance Day Parade is at The Cenotaph in London. Everyone marching submitted an expression of interest and Polly’s story really stood out.
Like so many, Polly’s great grandfather, Sergeant Keith Brown had a traumatic time during WW2. Captured in 1942, he was taken prisoner in South East Asia and survived despite being held in horrendous conditions for 3 years. He was hospitalised on several occasions with dysentery. He only realised he was free when he woke up one morning to find just a handful of Japanese people and the gates of the camp open.
He may have been free but he had nowhere to go because he was in the middle of the jungle!
The Americans then parachuted into camp, brought rations and collected notes they’d written to loved ones to be delivered home. Eventually, after three weeks and one more hospital stay he boarded a troop ship for home.
It took Sergeant Brown weeks to sail home, and he finally arrived in Southampton during October in 1945 to be met by Polly’s great grandmother. He was safe but the trauma of the experience stayed with him for life.
Polly’s grandmother said,
“My dad was just 26 when he was captured. When he came home, he went straight back to work and suffered his whole life with PTSD.”
The story of her great grandfather’s experience in the war was recounted by Polly when she volunteered to take part in this year’s Remembrance Day March. Polly said,
“I think that Remembrance Day is an incredibly important. Having been a part of Scouting since Beavers, I would be honoured to represent the Scout movement in this National Event. On a personal note, my nan’s dad Sergeant Keith Brown, was taken a prisoner of war in 1942. He was kept in Changi Prison then was sent in a cattle truck to Kanchanaburi camp on Burma Railway and slept for 3 years on a bamboo shelf in all weathers. He did what he could for money including selling his wedding ring for duck eggs. My nan goes to London every year to march with COFEPOW Children of Far Eastern Prisoners of War. She would be immensely proud if I was participating in the Remembrance Day March.”
Polly is a perfect representation for Scouts in Wales. Thank you to Polly and her grandmother for sharing their family story.
