There might be some interest in a fairly recent book (May 2017) by Gavin Wigginton entitled Wig's Secret War: The Biography of an SOE Air Operations Manager. I was pleased to have aided Gavin in a small way in his focused Burma investigations into the remote burial site in a village near to where his father, Sydney Wigginton, and 15 others died in the crash of Dakota KN584 of RAF 357 Squadron on 7 September 1945. The remains were buried on the grounds of a monastery in the small village of Mewaing and never relocated to a war cemetery. It was originally Gavin's hope that the original burial site could be found and the remains given a proper burial in a Commonwealth War Graves Commission-run cemetery, but this proved too troublesome. Political unrest in that region of Burma complicated matters, as well. Instead, the CWGC approved Gavin's proposal for an Alternative Commemoration at Taukkyan War Cemetery north of Rangoon, and this was held in November 2016. An engraved memorial stone now indicates the date and place of the crash of KN584 and the place where the casualties are buried in Mewaing. There is also an individual headstone for each of the casualties. If security matters improve, it is possible that one day a memorial will be established in Mewaing, as well. Gavin's book is painstakingly researched and superbly written. It was my great honour to be a very tiny part of his determined effort to uncover the truth to his father's life and his untimely death. Here is the summary, as found on amazon.co.uk: During the Second World War, Sydney Wigginton (“Wig”) was a senior officer in Britain’s irregular warfare unit, the Special Operations Executive (SOE). This is his previously untold story. Wig was an orphan but, thanks to an unknown benefactor, he received a decent education. After a career in public transport logistics, in 1939 he joined up. After obtaining a commission, and active service with the 8th Army in North Africa, in late 1942 he joined SOE’s Cairo office where he established the air operations unit. He was soon responsible for deploying missions to support the resistance across the Axis occupied Balkans. Later, he moved to southern Italy from where the scope of his role extended to the whole of south and Eastern Europe. In the final year of his life, as an acknowledged air operations expert, he was deployed to the Far East where he provided support to the resistance as they made a major contribution to the Allied liberation of Burma. In September 1945, Wig went on one last mission. On his way back, his plane crashed in the Burmese jungle. Two months later, his second son was born and was raised to think that he shouldn’t miss what he never had. 65 years pass and the same son, who has lived in blissful ignorance of his father, finds an old tin box belonging to his recently deceased mother containing papers from the 1940s. On investigation, he is drawn into a world of which he knew nothing. This book tells the story not only of the life and death of his father, but the intriguing world of irregular warfare during World War Two. For the author, it is also an account of personal discovery. Cheers, Matt
Matt,thanks for sharing. Cmdr.Wiggington is also mentioned as an Air Liaison for SOE Cairo. Source : Nigel West The Story of SOE Jaap
Sydney Wigginton | Set Europe Ablaze - Nigel Perrin's SOE Blog 201438750 | Myanmar | Politics PAGE 18
For anyone who might be confused by Jaap's links: Sydney Wigginton | Set Europe Ablaze - Nigel Perrin's SOE Blog , the first link to Nigel Perrin's blog, works fine, but then when I click on the specific link on that website to the Myanmar Times story about Sydney Wigginton and his son Gavin's quest, I get the message "It appears the requested page you were looking for doesn't exist. Sorry about that." However, the second line of Jaap's post, 201438750 | Myanmar | Politics , links perfectly to the Myanmar Times story, on page 18. Thanks, Jaap!
