Fressingfield man honours war hero uncle during visit to Burma

Michael Flounders, centre, with his partner Elizabeth Moore (in the hat) in Burma

Callum Maclean
Wednesday, December 24, 2014

9:00 AM

A severely disabled Suffolk man has visited Burma in a quest to honour his fallen uncle, who went missing in the Second World War.

Michael Flounders, with his partner Elizabeth Moore, in Burma

Michael Flounders, from Fressingfield, was inspired to go on the trip to Rangoon Memorial to honour his uncle Ernest Flounders, by a conversation with his father when he was younger, and by getting into family history.

Mr Flounders said: "When I was about seven I asked how my brother Ernie got his name.

"My dad said his brother went missing in action in Burma. He slipped when carrying casualties over a ravine. He was a medic.

"It wasn't uncommon that, if people were found, the villagers would just bury them.

"He was the kind of guy who would wander around, and there wasn't a lot of confirmation in those days."

Mr Flounders' uncle was listed as missing on July 31, 1942, and declared dead in 1946.

He added: "His parents never accepted it as they couldn't close the chapter.

"I thought I need to pay tribute to this man, and being a bit gung-ho I thought why not?"

Mr Flounders, who was also in the Army, broke his neck about 15 years ago, and was paralysed from the neck down.

He said the climate and the conditions in Burma made the trip difficult for him and his partner, Elizabeth Moore.

Mr Flounders added: "I wrote a poem in his memory, which I read out at a memorial service.

"Every emotion was flowing through me. I said 'I found you'."

He also took pebbles from his families' graves to place at his uncle's.

Mr Flounders said: "The pastor liked the poem so we had it framed and took everything we could and gave it to the pastor's wife, who worked at the orphanage at the chapel where the service took place. It was like we had given her the world.

"I can't explain how much it made us appreciate the fact that we have what we have. There were people out there who have nothing but share everything, it was very humbling."

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