Company Serjeant Major J. Cairns M.M.

Operations in Burma, February - May 1943

This Warrant Officer set himself a high standard of achievements from which he never faltered for an instant. Vigorous, courageous and cheerful, no detail escaped his notice, no duty was outside his scope, and no march could tire him. At the halt or in bivouac he was always alert and willing to spring to his feet to supervise a task which he might well have ignored or left to another. On the move he was everywhere, helping the muleteers, adjusting loads or directing the scouts. In action he was the embodiment of calm courage, steadying or cheering the troops with a quiet word wherever needed and always available and at hand. This characteristic was to the fore in the action at HINTHA on 28th March 1943, when he seemed to be everywhere at once, yet completely unflurried and unperturbed even in the thick of the fighting. He worthily upheld the traditions of his country and regiment in every moment of a long and arduous campaign, and finally became separated from the Column through helping the sick and wounded in their slow progress towards India and safety. No finer Warrant Officer ever took the field.