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Dark Jungle, Steep Mountains
In this book are gripping accounts of four refugee journeys which happened during the terrifying Japanese invasion of Burma 1941/42. Along with tens of thousands, both civilian and military, the writers of these stories were forced to escape to India, the only way out being to trek through dense jungle and over steep mountains in appalling conditions. Thousands did not survive. Josephine Chapman witnessed savage air raids and survived an exhausting journey. Dr Russell reluctantly left his hospital when all personnel were finally told to get out of Burma in April. Captain Gribble's superb descriptions of his work in the Burma Frontier Service give wonderful insights into the Kachin and Naga people.Sergeant Benjamin Katz stayed for months in a remote village and helped other refugees. Added is fascinating detail about the heroic rescue missions of the Indian Tea-Planters' Association. Dr Russell's son had many records from a Refugee Administrator which he allowed to be used, creating a direct link to the remote places in Burma and India where these incredible scenes of drama and endurance unfolded over 70 years ago. These accounts are inspiring and unforgettable. They are four out of thousands of stories, many unwritten and unknown.
220 pages, Paperback
Published August 30, 2014
About the author
Elizabeth Tebby Germaine
22 books264 followersWriting was always something I intended to do eventually.
I WANT TO WRITE HERE ABOUT SOMETHING THAT HAPPENED during and after writing 'A Man Who Seemed Real'. Call it strange, reassuring, disturbing, striking …
I’ll use abbreviations to avoid spoilers, hopefully it will make sense to anyone who has read the book. In the chapter before the Epilogue J discovers the translation of an old document – Y.
Y is inspiring, very beautiful, something unexpected and deeply significant for J. But at this point he is too weary and distracted to work out whether or not Y is true. And I myself as the author didn’t at this time have the energy or inclination to try and find out more about Y, having seen in a brief online search that ‘…scholars consider Y is a forgery.’
Despite this I kept it and J and I were at a point where many people are which is putting these considerations aside for the time being.
Now, in this, the re-written novel I made this event more ‘low key’ in the context of the story and of course the fact of the Epilogue means I am further distanced from any guilt that might be hovering somewhere in my mind about J asking questions on this subject – (it was this particular guilt and fear that made B very ill).
It had been a startling moment in my own life when I first found and read parts of Y, and I had the same experience as J, ‘… it was like coming home and hearing what he always knew. It made him feel he had been right to keep asking so many questions … it was like someone was shaking him by the hand and confirming what he had been doing all these months, endlessly struggling with the meanings of words …’
However, later on I have been very interested indeed by another search online which brought up the exceptional writer, Dolores Cannon on Goodreads. There are two of her books I was amazed to discover (which two will be obvious to anyone who knows what Y is) – many of her books are so utterly extraordinary and controversial I simply didn’t (and don’t) have the head space to even think about reading them yet. However I then read some reviews of these two particular books which relate to Y – and there are several reviews in particular which give a lot of information, one by Linda K. Thomas, and another (on the other book) by Robert which has been hidden because of spoilers but can be accessed.
And some instinct drove me to keep digging.
And I am relieved and delighted to find – Petra Meyer – YouTube – The European School of Theosophy – there a number of videos, and one which obviously relates to Y. It is long and intense, with a rather drawn-out introduction at the beginning, so it requires a concentrated effort to listen to. However I am thrilled to have found it and will return to it soon. And there must be more to discover, Petra refers to many names and places.
In my own life the questions J continually asks have been in my mind from an early age. They say write about your own experience. I have been doing that to start with.
Elizabeth Tebby Germaine October 2024 www.elizabethtebbygermaine.co.uk.
I WANT TO WRITE HERE ABOUT SOMETHING THAT HAPPENED during and after writing 'A Man Who Seemed Real'. Call it strange, reassuring, disturbing, striking …
I’ll use abbreviations to avoid spoilers, hopefully it will make sense to anyone who has read the book. In the chapter before the Epilogue J discovers the translation of an old document – Y.
Y is inspiring, very beautiful, something unexpected and deeply significant for J. But at this point he is too weary and distracted to work out whether or not Y is true. And I myself as the author didn’t at this time have the energy or inclination to try and find out more about Y, having seen in a brief online search that ‘…scholars consider Y is a forgery.’
Despite this I kept it and J and I were at a point where many people are which is putting these considerations aside for the time being.
Now, in this, the re-written novel I made this event more ‘low key’ in the context of the story and of course the fact of the Epilogue means I am further distanced from any guilt that might be hovering somewhere in my mind about J asking questions on this subject – (it was this particular guilt and fear that made B very ill).
It had been a startling moment in my own life when I first found and read parts of Y, and I had the same experience as J, ‘… it was like coming home and hearing what he always knew. It made him feel he had been right to keep asking so many questions … it was like someone was shaking him by the hand and confirming what he had been doing all these months, endlessly struggling with the meanings of words …’
However, later on I have been very interested indeed by another search online which brought up the exceptional writer, Dolores Cannon on Goodreads. There are two of her books I was amazed to discover (which two will be obvious to anyone who knows what Y is) – many of her books are so utterly extraordinary and controversial I simply didn’t (and don’t) have the head space to even think about reading them yet. However I then read some reviews of these two particular books which relate to Y – and there are several reviews in particular which give a lot of information, one by Linda K. Thomas, and another (on the other book) by Robert which has been hidden because of spoilers but can be accessed.
And some instinct drove me to keep digging.
And I am relieved and delighted to find – Petra Meyer – YouTube – The European School of Theosophy – there a number of videos, and one which obviously relates to Y. It is long and intense, with a rather drawn-out introduction at the beginning, so it requires a concentrated effort to listen to. However I am thrilled to have found it and will return to it soon. And there must be more to discover, Petra refers to many names and places.
In my own life the questions J continually asks have been in my mind from an early age. They say write about your own experience. I have been doing that to start with.
Elizabeth Tebby Germaine October 2024 www.elizabethtebbygermaine.co.uk.
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