Nowhere near as severe as Thom's Dad but my Dad went to Burma during WW2 as a Gun Aimer. Ended up with dysentry and beri beri and got sent back to India to convalese which took 6 months by which time the war was over.
I might add he joined up late because he was a Policeman, but decided he wanted to do his bit when his brother got killed on a mine sweeper (it hit a mine)