Four Taiwanese army officers on Thursday formed an honor guard as British Army veteran Gerald Fitzpatrick on Thursday was buried in Leeds with military honors with the Republic of China (ROC) flag draping his coffin.
Fitzpatrick, who was deployed to Asia in the 1940s, died on Aug. 27 at age 99.
He requested that his coffin be draped with the flag as a symbol of his gratitude to the ROC soldiers who rescued him and 7,000 other British soldiers in what was then Burma during World War II in the Battle of Yenangyaung.
Photo: CNA
In keeping with his wishes, the ROC flag covered his coffin during the funeral service, and was later folded and given to his wife at the cemetery.
The honor guard was formed by four Taiwanese military officers who are studying in the UK and were not in uniform.
The funeral was also attended by Representative to Britain David Lin (林永樂) and Liu Wei-min (劉偉民), son of late army Major General Liu Fang-wu (劉放吾), who led the rescue of Fitzpatrick and the other British soldiers during the 1942 battle.
Ministry of National Defense documents show that Liu Fang-wu was ordered to lead an emergency operation after Britain asked the ROC to assist thousands of British soldiers who were under siege by Japanese troops in the oil fields surrounding Yenangyaung on April 17, 1942.
It took two days of intense fighting for the ROC contingent to defeat the Japanese forces and rescue the Britons, records show.
During a 2013 visit to Taiwan, Fitzpatrick, who arrived in Burma on March 5, 1942, gave his account of the battle.
Immediately after the 500 to 600 Nationalist Army soldiers arrived, they moved south to take on the Japanese forces, he said.
Fitzpatrick wrote two books about the ROC’s role in the battle and sent letters to the British prime minister and foreign minister, urging the UK government to recognize the facts of history, and the sacrifices and efforts of the ROC military in the battle.
During Fitzpatrick’s 2013 visit, he was received by then-president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who expressed deep appreciation for the British veteran’s efforts to clarify the facts of history.
At the funeral, Liu Wei-min paid his respects to Fitzpatrick on behalf of Ma, saying that the British veteran’s death signified “the end of an important historic event.”
Taiwan has fulfilled two of Fitzpatrick’s three wishes: to have his coffin draped with the national flag and have an ROC honor guard, Liu Wei-min said
However, the nation might not be able to meet his third request — to have a memorial stone in his honor at the Martyrs’ Shrine in Taipei — because of stringent regulations, he said.
“At least two of his three wishes have been carried out today,” said Liu Wei-min, who was a close friend of Fitzpatrick and visited him four days before his passing.
The ROC honor guard reportedly did not appear in full uniform because the UK does not diplomatically recognize Taiwan.
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