John Hislop's reminiscences of the Jat Regiment- 1933 to 1947

Review for the Sandhurst Foundation
ln the summer of 1956, Field Marshal Sir Claude Auchinleck opened the R.M.A Sandhurst's Indian Army Memorial Room with its fine stained glass commemorative windows. Before a large gathering of forrner lndian Army officers, with one of whom I was staying as a guest, "the Auk" gave a message which few present will ever have forgotten, a message telling us to look back on the lndian Army with pride for its splendid achievements, but that its era was now over, history, and nostalgia would serve no purpose.

John Hislop's reminiscences, edited by his daughter Penny Kocher, follow "the Auk's" counsel excellently. After passing out from Sandhurst in 1933 Hislop served in lndia with the 9th Jat Regiment and in staff appointments until the end of British rule in 1947. His various chapters cover service in the golden years before 1939, operations on the North-West Frontier and in Burma in the Second World War, and the turmoil of the final two years before independence.

Readers will leam much interesting detail about operations in Waziristan and Baluchistan before the outbreak of war, tactics needed for protection on long marches - an officer in charge of a flanking picquet might find himself moving over thirty miles per day over mountainous ground for several consecutive days, and all the problems of food supply and water. ln 1942-43, as protection as much because of anxiety over a possible German invasion via a defeated Soviet Union as of local insurgents, the equivalent of five divisions were engaged in operations in the North-West Frontier provinces. Hislop was then moved to the even more dfficult conditions of Burma, fighting the Japanese in the unfamiliar conditions of sticky heat, only a few roads and these very poor, rain, lush jungle and leeches.

Perhaps most interesting of all, though, is the author's description of how the lndian Army actually worked; the Jat Regiment battalions, for example, were structured around two companies of Hindu Jats, one company of Punjabi Moslems and one company of Musulman Rajputs, a mix requiring not only good purely military leadership to ensure the respect of all but sensitivity for different cultures and beliefs. Hislop's long service revealed many examples of good leadership. Sadly there were also examples of bad command by others; lessons for officers in any army at any time.

A valuable addition to the history of the lndian Army, written with pride and no nostalgia.
Dr Anthony Clayton, Academic Staff RMA Sandhurst 1965-1993
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A Soldier's Story- John Hislop, Indian Army officer of The Jat Regiment
More about the life of John Hislop click here

Britain honours WWII Havildar Lachhiman Gurung, VC

The Telegraph Monday 27 December 2010

Havildar Lachhiman Gurung, who died on December 12 aged 92, won the Victoria Cross while serving with the Gurkha Rifles in Burma in 1945; in recent years he had been a prominent figure in the campaign led by the actress Joanna Lumley to allow former Gurkhas to settle in Britain.

At the end of April 1945, the 89th Indian Brigade of 7th Division was ordered to cross the Irrawaddy and destroy the enemy north of the Prome-Taungup road. By May 9 the Japanese, after a series of desperate attacks, had broken off contact and were withdrawing towards the Taungdaw Valley. “B” and “C” companies of the 4th/8th Gurkha Rifles were positioned to block their route at the village of Taungdaw, on the west bank of the river.

When the Japanese arrived, the two Gurkha companies were surrounded and their lines of communication cut. On the night of May 12, Rifleman Gurung was manning the forward post of his platoon almost 100 yards ahead of the main company.

At 1.20am, more than 200 Japanese attacked the company position. The brunt of the assault fell on Gurung’s section and, in particular, on his post, which dominated a jungle track leading up to his platoon’s position. Had the enemy been able to overrun it and occupy Gurung’s trench, they would have secured control over the whole of the field before them.

One grenade fell on the lip of Gurung’s trench. He quickly grabbed it and hurled it back at the enemy. Almost immediately another grenade came over. This one fell directly inside the trench. Again Gurung snatched it up and threw it back.

A third grenade landed just in front of the trench. Gurung attempted to throw it back, but it exploded in his hand, blowing off his fingers, shattering his right arm and severely wounding him in the face, body and right leg. His two comrades were also badly wounded and lay helpless in the bottom of the trench.

The enemy, screaming and yelling, now formed up shoulder to shoulder and attempted to rush the position by sheer weight of numbers. Gurung, regardless of his wounds, loaded and fired his rifle with his left hand and kept up a steady rate of fire.

The attacks came in wave after wave, but the Japanese were beaten back with heavy losses. For four hours Gurung remained alone at his post, calmly waiting for each new onslaught, firing into his attackers at point blank range, determined not to yield an inch of ground. His comrades could hear him shouting: “Come and fight a Gurkha!”

The following morning, of the 87 enemy dead found in the company’s immediate locality, 31 lay in front of Gurung’s section. The Japanese made repeated attempts to break through, but the 4th/8th held out until May 15, when they were relieved.

Gurung later said: “I had to fight because there was no other way. I felt I was going to die anyway, so I might as well die standing on my feet. All I knew was that I had to go on and hold them back. I am glad that helped the other soldiers in my platoon, but they would have all done the same thing.”

Gurung was invested with the Victoria Cross by Lord Louis Mountbatten at a parade at the Red Fort in Delhi on December 19 1945. The citation declared: “This Rifleman, by his magnificent example, so inspired his comrades to resist the enemy to the last that, although surrounded and cut off for three days and two nights, they held and smashed every attack. His outstanding gallantry and extreme devotion to duty, in the face of almost overwhelming odds, were the main factors in the defeat of the enemy.” Partiman Gurung, Lachhiman’s father, then aged about 74, was carried for 11 days from his village in Nepal to witness his son being decorated.

Lachhiman Gurung was born on December 30 1917 at Dakhani village in the Tanhu district of Nepal. He enlisted in December 1940 and after completing basic training was recruited into the 8th Gurkha Rifles. Of small build (he stood just 4ft 11in tall), he was under the minimum height and would not have been accepted in peacetime.

After the action in which he won the Victoria Cross, Gurung was evacuated to hospital, but lost his right hand and the use of his right eye. He continued to serve with the 8th Gurkha Rifles but transferred to the Indian Army after Independence in 1947. He retired in the rank of havildar (the equivalent of sergeant) in the same year.

Gurung married soon afterwards and had two sons and a daughter. Later, after the death of his wife, he had two sons from a second marriage.

He farmed a two-acre plot and owned several buffalo, oxen, goats and cows. In 1995 the VC and GC Association provided the Gurkha Welfare Trust with £2,000 donated by the Armourers and Brasiers’ Livery Company, and these funds were used to build a new house for Gurung and his family near the Gurkha Welfare Centre at Chitwan.

In August 1995 Gurung was received at 10 Downing Street by the Prime Minister, John Major, who presented him with a cheque for £100,500 for the Gurkha Welfare Trust.

In 2008 Gurung became closely involved in the campaign to allow Gurkhas to settle in Britain. The British government had refused entry to the 2,000 Gurkhas who had retired before July 1997, the date when their base was moved to the UK from Hong Kong.

Five claimants — including a Falklands veteran, Lance-Corporal Gyanendra Rai; a Gulf War veteran, Birendra Man; and a Gurkha widow — launched a legal challenge, supported by Lachhiman Gurung and a fellow winner of the VC, Honorary Lieutenant Tul Bahadur Pun, then aged 87. Both men had been told that they would not be allowed to settle here because they had failed to “demonstrate strong ties” to the UK.

In the High Court in September 2008, however, Mr Justice Blake said that the policy should be reviewed, referring to the “Military Covenant undertaken by every British soldier by which, in return for their pledge to make the ultimate sacrifice, they are promised value and respect”. He added: “Rewarding distinguished service by the grant of residence in the country for which the service was performed would be a vindication of this covenant.” As the judge rose after his ruling, Gurkhas and their supporters shouted their battle cry “Ayo gorkhali”.

In May 2009 the government announced that all Gurkha veterans who retired before 1997 with at least four years’ service would be allowed to settle in Britain. Even as this victory was secured, however, Gurung was appealing to the Queen and the Prime Minister for his 20-year-old granddaughter, Amrita, who had been facing deportation, to be allowed to stay in Britain to care for him.

“I have paid a great price for Britain,” Gurung said, “but I do not complain as I love this country as much as I love my family. However, in my last days I ask Her Majesty the Queen to help by allowing my granddaughter to be with me and at my side.” The Home Office relented, and granted her permission to stay.

In 2008 Gurung had settled at Hounslow, to which he was formally welcomed at a ceremony led by the mayor and the council; he was later made a Freeman of the Borough. He attended many functions of the Nepalese communities in Hounslow and elsewhere, and was honorary vice-president of the Chiswick branch of the Royal British Legion. He had recently moved into the Chiswick War Memorial Homes.

Lachhiman Gurung attended this year’s Remembrance Sunday ceremony at the Centotaph, and was also present at last month’s VC and GC Association reunion in the presence of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh.

One of Gurung’s sons subsequently became an officer in the 8th Gurkha Rifles. His second wife, Manmaya, survives him with his five children.
Havildar Lachhiman Gurung, VC

GRAVESEND: Indian RAF war hero to publish life story

9:00am Sunday 21st February 2010
Squadron Leader Mahinder Singh Pujji joined the RAF in 1940 looking for an adventure. Now aged 91, he tells DAVID MILLS how he became the eyes of the army.

WHEN 22-year-old Mahinder Singh Pujji spotted an Indian newspaper advert calling on pilots to join the RAF in 1940, he eagerly volunteered.

But the Shell Oil refuelling superintendent had not heard much about Hitler, nor did he know much about the war.

Sqn Ldr Pujji always wanted to fly and his dream was realised when he got his pilot licence in 1937 after serving an apprenticeship with Himalayan Airlines.

His employers gladly released him to join the RAF, stating he could have his job back, if he returned alive.

Sqn Ldr Pujji went on to fly 25 different types of aircraft, including Spitfires, Hurricanes and Tomahawks.

He had more than one dice with death and his military achievements led him to meet world leaders such as Winston Churchill, Gandhi, King Farouk of Egypt, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II.

Sqn Ldr Pujji, who lives in sheltered housing in The Grove, Gravesend, has written a book about his experiences during the war called For King and Another Country, due to be published later this year.

His father, one of the few Indian senior officers in government during the Raj, did not agree with his son’s choice to join the RAF.
Read the full article:
GRAVESEND: Indian RAF war hero to publish life story

Why not a Railway Link from Delhi to Cambodia?

Can we match our neighbours in Rail Links stretching beyond our boundaries?

India to build rail line to Ladakh
KATHMANDU (AFP)– Apr 26, 2008— China has started to build a rail link between Tibet and Nepal that could drastically reduce Kathmandu's trade reliance on its giant southern neighbour India, officials said Saturday. Beijing is bringing the railway line from Lhasa -- the capital of troubled Chinese-controlled Tibet -- to Khasa, a town along the Nepal-China border, Aditya Baral, the Nepalese premier's foreign affairs adviser, told AFP.
China begins building Tibet-Nepal rail link
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A tribute to the unknown soldier

The Hindu: Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jun 26, 2009
Rahi Gaekwad
Armed forces film archives tell the story of the Indian Army role in World War II. About 62 short films, documentaries are being screened. The films laud the achievements of Indian regiments.
MUMBAI: Many will perhaps remember the nail-biting moments when a Sikh soldier bent precariously over a landmine in the Oscar-winning The English Patient, set partly in post-World War-II Italy.

A rich piece of history lies embodied in the character of the Indian soldier fighting in the Allied forces.

The Films Division in Mumbai opened a rare chapter in history on Thursday. About 62 short films and documentaries sourced from the archives of the Armed Forces Film and Photo Division (AFFPD) are being screened over the next two days as part of the World War II Film Festival.

The story of the Indian Army’s contribution in World War II is the story of the War itself. Whatever be India’s differences with Britain, this was India’s war. Independence Day 1947, India Strikes Back, A Day with the Indian Troops in Egypt, The Battle of Kohima, On the Road to Mandalay and The Madras Guards are some of the movies from the black-and-white collection on the list.

Made by British production houses and Bombay Talkies, among others, the films laud the achievements of the various Indian regiments sent to Burma, Italy, Malaya, Egypt, France, Singapore, Indonesia and other countries.

Indians volunteered in large numbers and were among the first to get the Victoria Cross, the equivalent of Param Vir Chakra.

There is intrigue and fascination, as the imperial lens captures the moments with the Indian Army. There is something awesome about the rustic Indian handling mechanised weapons with ease. And there is praise for the physical strength he uses to tame difficult terrain, the strength required to do farm work in India stands him in good stead.

In a way, the films are typical of colonial narratives.

Native food, sports, pleasures are a source of fascination, even amusement. So, the shape of the Indian bread, chapatti, is seen as “strange.”

“The Indian soldier is a very thrifty person. Every month he is able to send a [considerable] amount to his missus and the kiddies,” the narrator informs.

There are even compelling stories that bring home a very indigenous history, a poignant one being the Army’s efforts during the Bengal Famine of 1943. Truckloads of food, labelled ‘Food for the people,’ soldiers cooking and serving cadaverous men, women and children, bathing and treating them, show the humane side of the Army and India’s reality at once.

Major General (Retd.) D’Souza, 89, said to be the only surviving officer from the war period, inaugurated the festival. He highlighted the need for a national war memorial for the Indian soldiers. “Indian troops took part in every single theatre of World War II.” He also urged the youth to watch the films to get themselves acquainted with history and the conditions of the soldiers.
A tribute to the unknown soldier

Sam Manekshaw Man of destiny Adored by the public

Sam Manekshaw World's Finest Military Leader
Some historical events of far reaching consequences, though widely separated by time and space, have striking similarities. Manekshaw’s refusal to be hustled into attacking East Pakistan during April-May 1971 bears a marked parallel with the refusal by Marshal Kutuzov, the commander-in-chief of Russian armies, to defend Moscow against Napoleon’s march on that city in 1812. Both came under increasing pressure, one from his government, the other from the Czar and his entourage. One refused to defend and the other declined to attack! By refusing to defend Moscow, Kutuzov saved the Russian armies from destruction by Napoleon which eventually saved Russia. Manekshaw by declining to attack East Pakistan in April-May, preserved India’s honour. Both resolutely held on to their professional assessment of the military situation and nothing could make them budge from that position.

A whispering campaign of calumny was mounted against both of them. Manekshaw, they said, had no stomach for a fight and had developed cold feet: such was the refrain of the chattering classes of Delhi’s cock-tail circuit. Kutuzov’s detractors whispered of his senility: he was then in his late seventies. Both ignored such barbs. Manekshaw was faced with the prospect of a war on two fronts with the possibility of the opening up of the third front as well. It was a problem, more complex than what had been the bane of the German General Staff for more than half a century, across two World Wars. He wanted the Himalayan winter to set in so that threat from the North gets recessed, and redeploy troops from that front, against East Pakistan.

Had it been a lesser army chief than Manekshaw, the government would have stampeded him into going over to the offensive in April/ May as it so easily did in the 1962 war against China (recall the order from Nehru to ‘throw the Chinese out’ ), operation Blue Star, misadventure in Sri Lanka and the suicidal frontal attacks at Kargil. Undoubtedly, had India attacked East Pakistan in April-May 1971, without the essential logistics build-up etc, it would have been an unmitigated disaster for the country.

Indian troops won their last great victory against a foreign army of importance in 303 BC, when Chandragupta Maurya’s army defeated Seleucus Nicator: Alexander's general. Now after a period of twenty three hundred years of unremitting defeats for the armies of India against every invading army, Manekshaw made the country experience the glow of a stunning victory. It was a victory worthy to rank amongst the great victories and a campaign as brilliant as any in history.

Magnanimous and forgiving of nature, he exuded captivating charm and his quick wit, light hearted banter and inimitable style of command endeared him to the rank and file and others who came in contact with him. He took seven bullets in his stomach from a Japanese machine gun at the Sittang Bridge and in a critical state was put on the last ship to leave Singapore before it fell to the Japanese. Twice destiny had intervened to pull him from the jaws of death, perhaps for fulfilling a larger mission in life.

Marshal Kutuzov, at the battle of Borodino, had madean unsuccessful attempt to halt the invader’s advance into Russia and had barely managed to save the Russian armies from being destroyed by Napoleon. His strategy, aided by the Russian winter, finally brought about the decimation of Napoleon’s ‘Grand Army’ without a battle. On any working day in Moscow the queue for entry into the cyclorama, depicting the battle of Borodino is half a kilometer long. Marshal Kutuzov is a great national hero to this day. Compare this to the way we dealt with Manekshaw, who had won a stunning victory for India.

The passing away of Manekshaw, a few days ago, was mourned by the nation and the press but ignored by the Government of India, the political class and the chiefs of Air Force and Navy. Earlier he was honoured with the rank of Field Marshal (though opposed by the bureaucracy), in a rather slip-shod manner, where army HQ had to over-night deploy workmen in Chandni Chowk to make the badges of rank and baton of a Field Marshal. His privileges and place in the scheme of things not determined. His pay was fixed at the level of pension of service chief with Rs 500 as additinal allowance!

Though omitted from the government’s Warrant of Precedence, is believed to be just above the service chiefs! Amendment to WoP issued by the Home Ministry in October 2007, lifts chairperson of UPSC from Article 17 (position) to article 9-A placing him above the three service chiefs (so also a Field Marshal) who are at article 12 (12th place). What is chairperson UPSC! Earlier he ranked even below an officiating army chief of the rank of Lt Gen. A Field Marshal continues to skip the WoP!

This warrant of precedence is periodically revised by a committee of three secretaries which is rubber-stamped by the supreme commander of Indian armed forces, who has, not even once, raised a query as to why, this sustained assault on the status of his/her service chiefs and his officers, and why no place for a Field Marshal on this list!

The media which is now so much in praise of the Field Marshal would not, as late as last year, accept an article suggesting the award of Bharat Ratna to him. When high achievers from every walk of life have been honoured with this award why, in this dispensation, is there no place for one of the most eminent soldiers in Indian history. An award given to him in his life time is quite apart from one that may come to him posthumously. Why this total lack of grace, gratitude and decorum on the part of the Government of India; firstly during his life time and now on his passing away. Credit for the only decisive victory in India’s military history still belongs to him!

Lt Gen Harwant Singh (Retd)
Army to Hold Memorial Service on 15 July 2008 for Manekshaw
Sam H.F.J. Manekshaw Key to India's victory in 1971: The New York Times

Field Marshal Manekshaw dies