Sidney Machin, a 101‑year‑old veteran and one of the last surviving members of the Chindits who fought in Burma during the Second World War, was presented with the Freedom of the City of London at a ceremony in the Guildhall — a civic honour he received alongside his son, Trevor Machin. The short, formal event recognised a lifetime that spans wartime service, decades working in the City and continued family pride in service to crown and community. According to the original report, Mr Machin attended wearing his Burma Star medal and a 77th Brigade tie. (Sources: Irish News; London Archives.)

Mr Machin’s wartime story underlines why the award felt particularly appropriate. As a teenager he served initially as a signaller at Chindit headquarters before returning to the 1st King’s (Liverpool) Regiment and, in March 1944, flying into the jungle landing-strip codenamed Broadway by glider as part of Operation Thursday. The Chindits were long‑range penetration columns formed to operate deep behind Japanese lines; Broadway was one of the hastily cleared airstrips used to bring men, supplies and equipment into territory otherwise inaccessible by road. Contemporary histories of the campaign describe how gliders and Dakota transports marshalled supplies into the clearing and how columns — including so‑called floater units — then patroled, raided and defended the perimeter strongholds. (Sources: Irish News; The Chindit Society; operational histories of Operation Thursday.)

At the Guildhall Mr Machin offered a typically modest account of those years. “I never really think about it really,” he said when asked about bravery, adding that Burma was “hard going” and that he was “only 19” at the time. The veteran’s reticence is echoed in many surviving Chindit testimonies: extraordinary hardship, high attrition from combat and disease, and a sense that comradeship and luck decided survival as much as planning. Mr Machin’s Burma Star — awarded for operational service in the Burma campaign between December 1941 and September 1945 — remains a visible reminder of that period. (Sources: Irish News; Burma Star Memorial Fund.)

Brigadier Jim Allen, commander of the reconstituted 77th Brigade who attended the ceremony, put the wartime experience into blunt relief. Speaking at the Guildhall, he described how the gliders were towed up and released at night, then navigated by compass into tiny jungle clearings — often crash‑landing — after which men scrambled out and continued to operate behind enemy lines. “What they did was truly amazing in the defence of that part of the world,” he said, praising the unit’s “fighting spirit” and endurance. Modern accounts of the Chindits’ campaign draw attention to both the tactical innovation of air‑landed strongholds and the severe attrition the columns suffered from combat, tropical disease and the physical strain of long marches. (Sources: Irish News; The Chindit Society; operational histories.)

Mr Machin’s own recollections include a painful episode when a sliver of bamboo pierced his foot and became infected; he was carried on an officer’s horse for several days before being treated in hospital in Meerut. After recovering, he later returned to regimental duty and attended an officer training unit in East Sussex. Following his military service he built a long civilian career in the City of London — more than 40 years working first as a telephone engineer and later in management — a transition not uncommon among veterans who re‑established civilian lives after the war. (Source: Irish News.)

The decision to admit both father and son as freemen added a contemporary civic dimension to the ceremony. Trevor Machin, who retired two years ago after nearly 35 years with the City of London Police, was admitted alongside his father. Speaking after the ceremony he praised his father as “a lovely man” and “our rock of the family,” saying the day was “something we will always remember together.” He also recalled his own policing career — which included duties at Snow Hill station during periods of IRA activity and civil unrest — as varied and heavily community‑focused. (Source: Irish News.)

The Freedom of the City of London is an ancient civic tradition with modern ceremonial form. The London Archives notes four established routes to admission — Honorary Freedom, Servitude, Patrimony and Redemption — and describes how the Freedom once carried practical rights for those living and working in the City. Today the honour is symbolic, administered through the Chamberlain’s Court and the Court of Aldermen, and used to recognise outstanding public service or significant achievements. The dual admission of a veteran and his police‑service son neatly illustrates how the Freedom continues to be used to acknowledge both historical sacrifice and contemporary public duty. (Source: London Archives.)

The veteran’s medal and the day’s commemorations also touch on wider efforts to preserve the memory of the Burma campaign. The Burma Star Memorial Fund, which cares for memorials and supports educational and remembrance work, explains the medal’s eligibility and seeks to ensure the campaign’s stories are not forgotten; such charities maintain memorial groves and organise events that keep veterans’ experiences in public view as the number of surviving participants dwindles. The presentation at the Guildhall can be read as part of that wider endeavour to safeguard memory and to weave individual testimonies into public commemoration. (Source: Burma Star Memorial Fund.)

For those present, the ceremony was at once a family moment and a public act of remembrance. Colonel Simon Duckworth, the City’s lieutenant, called it “a really wonderful opportunity” to confer the Freedom on a father and son who have “exemplified public service.” Brigadier Allen said it was a privilege to represent the 77th Brigade’s heritage and ethos. In an age when direct links to the Second World War are becoming rarer, the Guildhall’s gesture recognised both a remarkable personal history and the continuing civic habit of honouring service to the nation and the community. (Sources: Irish News; The Chindit Society; London Archives.)

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Source: Noah Wire Services