Sister of last Durham Light Infantry soldier killed in action backs campaign for memorial

Tears well up in Shirley Johnson’s eyes as she recalls the death of her brother – the last Durham Light Infantry soldier to die in action.

Mrs Johnson says: “I still cry about it. I have cried many times since then. It will be with me for the rest of my life.”

Private Thomas Griffiths from Shotton Colliery, County Durham, was serving with 2 Platoon of the 1st Battalion of the DLI in Borneo when he was killed in a mortar attack on February 26, 1966.

His sister speaks of his death and the sacrifices their family has made for the regiment as she throws her weight behind a campaign for a new DLI memorial in Durham City.

Mrs Johnson, whose DLI father died of wounds suffered in the Second World War and whose grandfather was killed in action in the First World War, said: “I feel that it is important that the regiment have a visible presence in the city.

“I would like to see the DLI memorial take pride of place in the Market Place - where everybody can see it.”

Mrs Johnson, 77, of Coxhoe, says she vividly recalls the day she learned the tragic news.

She says: “I was standing ironing and my sister came in crying and said: “Thomas has just been killed”.

“We were all devastated. He was only 20 years old.

“My brother Robert, who spent a good part of his life in the DLI and has since died, was in the base camp with another platoon when Thomas was killed.”

The last gallantry award made to a member of the DLI was the Military Cross, presented to Major John Arnot for his actions on the same day.

As commander of A Company, he led three platoons that set and sprang an ambush for Indonesian troops on a jungle track, in an operation called Blaydon Races.

At least 11 Indonesian soldiers were killed and many more wounded in the firefight that followed.

Before 2 Platoon could withdraw, however, it was hit by mortar fire and Pte Griffiths was killed by shrapnel.

His brother, Lance Corporal Griffiths, was at the base when a call came over the radio for help in evacuating the wounded.

According to eye-witnesses, when someone noticed L/Cpl Griffith’s there a fellow soldier broke the news to him as gently as he could - not wanting him to walk over and discover his brother under a groundsheet.

L/Cpl Griffiths told him not to joke about such things. “It’s no joke, Bob. It was your Tom who was killed,” he was told.

L/Cpl Griffiths then ran off down the track almost smashing his rifle as he bashed it against a tree in his anger and his grief.

The 1st Battalion of the DLI fought against invaders from Indonesia in the forests and jungles of Borneo from 1965 to 1966.

Their role was to defend 100 miles of border to prevent incursions by Indonesian forces. The dense jungle and lack of roads meant all supplies had to be airdropped or brought by helicopter.

The conflict in Borneo was so controversial that details of the campaign were even kept from the House of Commons.

It was the regiment’s last campaign before it was dissolved in 1968 and amalgamated with others to form the Light Infantry.

At the time of Pte Griffith’s death, his brother Ken, from Easington Colliery, appealed for the body to be returned to County Durham, but that was rejected and he was buried in Singapore.

Mrs Johnson says: “All this killed my dear mother, Nora. She was never the same again. The weight slipped off her and she was taken to hospital 18 months later.

“She was only 58 years old when she died of a broken heart.”

Since his death, the family fought to have Pte Griffiths’ name included on the war memorial in his home village, alongside his grandfather Andrew Sinton, who died in the First World War.

Although no more names could be added to the statue, a marble plaque was unveiled behind the cenotaph in February 2007.

Among the hundreds of people at the ceremony were Pte Griffiths’ brothers, Ken, Andy and David and sisters, Mrs Johnson, Catherine Plews and Nora Bartlett.

Mrs Johnson, who has made a contribution toward a new DLI Memorial, says: “My father Thomas Griffiths was in the DLI. He had to leave and come home after he was wounded in the Second World War.

“He was shot in the stomach and was in and out of hospital.”

He died of complications, aged only 38 years old.

Mrs Johnson says: “The DLI played a big part in our lives. It is something no-one can understand.”

The new DLI memorial, a replica of a statue unveiled at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire last July will be a fitting reminder of the many sacrifices, she says.

Donations for the appeal, made payable to the Regimental and Chattels Charity of the former DLI, should be sent to DLI Memorial Appeal, The Rifles Office, Elvet Waterside, Durham, DH1 3BW.