Private Pessima Lamboi
Pessima (Peter) Lamboi was born on Christmas Day, 1921, in Moyamba District of the Kori Chiefdom in Sierra Leone. He enlisted on 31st March 1942 at Benguema Barracks, Waterloo, and had six months' basic training at barracks in Freetown and Daru. He explained: "It was through the Army that I learned to read and count".
From Sierra Leone to Burma
Shortly after, he joined the 1st Battalion, The Sierra Leone Regiment (1 SLR). The Battalion was soon given ten days' leave so that the soldiers could return their homes to bid goodbye to their families, before they departed for the east - and active service. Pessima was one of 600,000 Africans who served in the war.
1 SLR was in 6th (West Africa) Brigade, which was part of 81st (West Africa) Division. The Division formed in Nigeria in March 1943, and embarked to India in July. Pessima and his comrades finally reached Bombay (Mumbai) and the battalion boarded a train for Calcutta (Kolkata), where they had tented accommodation: "Six soldiers to a tent" he recalls.
Arakan campaign
In December, the 81st (West Africa) Division crossed the Brahmaputra River into Burma and took part in the Second Arakan Campaign. Pessima remembers that every soldier was issued with 150 rounds of ammunition and six grenades before being sternly told that "they are the mother and father of your life". The Division advanced down the Mayu Peninsula, before a Japanese offensive stalled their efforts and they withdrew to Chittagong.
