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The Queen’s Truncheon at the 200th Anniversary Lunch (see story p.48)

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CONTENTS

President’s Foreword 3 Chairman’s Letter 5 Editorial 7 Honorary Secretary’s Notes  Membership 8  2GR Website 8  Diary of Forthcoming Events 9  Notices 10 The Sirmoor Register  Deaths 11  Obituaries 11 Sirmoor Club Members’ News 21 Sirmoor Club Activities - Sirmoor Golf Society 24 - Sirmoor Shooting 26 Royal Gurkha Rifles Newsletters 37 Articles  General Frederick Young 43  The Sirmoor Club 200th Anniversary Lunch 48  A Sirmoor Tale from Kohima 54  Gurkha Stamps 55 Books 56 Trustees of the 2nd Goorkhas (The Sirmoor Rifles) Regimental Trust 60 Property and PRI 61

Editor: Nick Hinton, 24 Gilpin Avenue, London SW14 8QY; Phone 0208 876 3136 or 07808 247861,

Email: [email protected].

All rights reserved. Contents of The Sirmooree may not be reproduced without prior permission of the Editor. Views expressed are not necessarily those of the Sirmoor Club or the Editor.

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PRESIDENT’S FOREWORD

Dear Sirmoorees,

This is my first foreword as the new President of the Sirmoor Club, having taken over the reins from Lieutenant General Sir Peter Duffell in September last year. I must therefore start with an apology, in that duty precludes me from being with you all physically until December this year. I am currently the Chief Mentor leading a team of British, Australian, New Zealand and Danish Mentors who are developing the Afghan National Army Officer Academy and training their instructors, at Qargha, Kabul on a 14 month tour. It is a beautiful location surrounded by hills and snow-covered mountains at 6000 feet. From a Regimental perspective, we are literally on the road that the then Major General Frederick Sleigh Roberts marched along with his column on his way from Kabul to Kandahar. It is not difficult to imagine soldiers of the 2nd Goorkhas picketing the high ground all around us.

It is a deep privilege and honour to be your President. I am a committed and dedicated 2nd Goorkha, RGR and Brigade officer and hope to be the bridge between the old and new Brigade within our Regimental community. Like most of us, the Brigade has been my life for the last 36 years and it will continue to be so. It is my avowed intent that we will flourish as a Regimental Association as the years go by. We have a rich heritage and a thriving membership and long may it continue.

We are a family, and friendships forged in peace and on operations and in the shared comradeship of being in a marvellous Regiment make us, like all other Regiments, unique in our own way. It is also the way of all Regiments that we learn from each other and pass our traditions on. I would like to publicly thank two of my mentors, Lieutenant General Sir Peter Duffell and Brigadier Bruce Jackman for their leadership of the Sirmoor Club and Regimental Association. 3 http://www.2ndgoorkhas.com

Sir Peter is a modest man, and I know that he is uncomfortable with praise or fuss, but he deserves our sincere thanks and admiration for the way he has led us over the last 10 years. As a Brigade officer, aside from his personal courage, he has had some of the most difficult duties to perform, not least the drawdown of the Brigade of Gurkhas when he was Major General Brigade of Gurkhas. As a RGR officer, I have nothing but the greatest admiration for his foresight in creating RGR and, as our first Regimental Colonel, steering us to develop the strong ethos we enjoy today. He has provided exactly the same guidance as our President, and he will be a tough act to follow. I am, however, sure that he will continue to be a source of wise and considered advice in the future, supported, as always, by Annie.

Brigadier Bruce has been the power behind the throne of the Sirmoor Club in various guises for most of the last 23 years, a remarkable and selfless achievement from a true son of the Regiment. His irrepressible humour, cheerfulness and dedication have been an example to us all and we could not have been better served. He deserves our deepest thanks and is in large part responsible for the fact that we are thriving, and for coordinating the intricacies of our 200th Anniversary last year. He is replaced by Colonel William Shuttlewood, another mentor of mine, and a deeply committed Regimental Officer. Between us we will continue to shape things so that we keep on moving forward.

I commend this edition of the Sirmooree to you, most ably compiled and edited by Nick Hinton. I am sure that you will enjoy it and that it will keep you both up to date with Brigade affairs, but also rekindle memories of people, places and our amazing Gurkha soldiers, the reason that we are who we are – proud officers and soldiers of a fine Regiment.

I will finish by saying simply this, the modern Brigade’s daily motto (taken from 5RGR): ‘Hami Jasto Kohi Chhaina’ – (There is nobody quite like us) – meaning that we are different and unique. We are all 2nd Goorkhas, and there is a definite uniqueness in that.

IAR

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CHAIRMAN’S LETTER

This will be my last 'Chairman's Letter' as I stand down from having been your Chairman for the last 13 years and Honorary Secretary for 10 years before that, just before the Regiment was amalgamated to form The Royal Gurkha Rifles.

Much has happened since then of which we can be very proud. We have always been very supportive of RGR, 'gifting' them our silver and Regimental chattels, the Queen’s Truncheon and lali. Without question the Sirmoor Rifles Association, which includes the whole Sirmoor 'family', has evolved as the leading Regimental Association in the Brigade, something recognised by the Gurkha Brigade Association (GBA). Indeed, we have instigated many ideas and initiatives taken up by the GBA. The Sirmoor Club has a large membership, maintaining its strength as sons and daughters join to fill the ranks of our veterans who pass on. Please encourage your offspring to continue the movement. We have an active ongoing programme of events, so much so that we attract officers from other Regimental Associations who join us in all of them. Long may these activities continue, but they will only do so if we have volunteers to organise them. Our finances, both in the Sirmoor Club and the 2GR Trust, are sound and healthy, witness how we were able to fund such an outstanding 200th Anniversary last year. Our website is the envy of other Regimental Associations and has led the way in improving communications across the Brigade and within the Sirmoor Rifles Association, thanks very largely to the skill and dedication of our Webmaster, Nigel St George. The website has now been developed into an inclusive Sirmoor Rifles Association website with the Sirmoor Club, Sirmoor Club Nepal and the Sirmoor Sathis having their own areas on the site and control of their own input. This recognises the value of modern-day IT social networks and bodes very well for future 'milap' across the Association.

In my last Chairman's Letter I mentioned that our then President, Lieutenant General Sir Peter Duffell, had decided to step down at the end of our 200th Anniversary Year after a very busy decade at the helm. He duly handed over to Brigadier Ian Rigden after the Sirmoor Sathis Delhi Day Reunion in September. As someone who commanded 2nd Battalion RGR from 2003 to 2006 including a tour in Afghanistan, for which he was made OBE, and was

5 http://www.2ndgoorkhas.com then subsequently Colonel Brigade of Gurkhas, our new President not only comes with a unique insight into the running of the Brigade but also provides an important link with our successors in RGR. The Army has posted Ian to run the Afghan National Army Officer Academy in Kabul for his last tour of duty in the Army. Modern technology means that he is able to stay in touch and carry out his duties for the Sirmoor Rifles Association and the Sirmoor Club, but his presence at meetings and Reunions may be difficult until he finally retires in 2017.

Now the new President is in place I feel it is the right time for me to hand over as Chairman and for a new generation to take over and guide us through the next era of our history. I am most grateful to Colonel William Shuttlewood for volunteering to relieve me sometime after our Reunion and AGM in May, which will be my last duties as Chairman. By that time he will have retired from his very successful tenure as Director of The Gurkha Welfare Trust. William was Commandant of 1/2GR when both Battalions amalgamated to form 2GR, and then became the first Commandant of the 2nd Goorkhas since 1886. What better qualification than that for assuming Chairmanship of the Sirmoor Rifles Association! William was made OBE for his time in command of both units and especially for his astute handling of a most successful amalgamation. Like our new President, William too held the appointment of Colonel Brigade of Gurkhas at one time so in having both of them at the helm of the Sirmoor Rifles Association we have a formidable amount of Gurkha knowledge and experience gained at the highest level in the Brigade. Also, having been Director of the leading Gurkha charity in the country for 11 years, William could not be better qualified to chair the Board of Trustees of the 2GR Trust, our Regimental charity. Thus I judge that the future Presidency and Chairmanship of the Sirmoor Rifles Association and Sirmoor Club could not be in better hands. We are indeed very fortunate.

Finally, thank you all very much indeed, especially those who have been with me on the Sirmoor Club Committee and Board of Trustees of the 2GR Trust, for all your support during the many years of fulfilment I have enjoyed in serving the Sirmoor Rifles Association and the Sirmoor Club. You have made it a great pleasure for me, a huge amount of fun, and a considerable honour.

Jai Sirmoor! BCJ 6 http://www.2ndgoorkhas.com

EDITORIAL

Since taking over as Editor I have been very pleased to find so much excellent, interesting copy coming my way, and there is a great deal more published on our website. Our webmaster, Nigel St George, has done a superb job updating it in the last few months so it now not only brings together all elements of the Sirmoor Rifles Association, making for a richer and more comprehensive browsing experience, but also provides a portal to many other sources of Regimental and Brigade information and news. I strongly commend it to you.

The web is able to report our activities with a scope, scale and timeliness that The Sirmooree finds hard to match, and at a fraction of the cost. We therefore need to keep a close eye on how the website and The Sirmooree together can best provide what members of the Sirmoor Club want and need. I shall be bringing forward some proposals to the Trustees this year about how we might take this forward, as I believe both The Sirmooree and the website can be managed in ways that play to the strengths and advantages of both. A Sirmooree published once a year, of about 100 pages instead of the current 60, might be a good way to go, particularly if it focuses on reportage and articles rather than administrative information about events and activities. Please let me know what you, the readership, think about all this.

In this edition you will find an account of the historic 200th Anniversary Lunch held last September, including the President’s address in full. John Harrop has kindly provided an account of the ceremony in Dublin marking the renovation of Frederick Young’s grave, an event all the more remarkable for being unexpected. As requested by many of you, I have published newsletters and some photos from 1RGR and 2RGR. I will continue these updates in future editions to maintain our close connection with the modern-day Brigade. Unusually, there is also an article on Gurkha philately from Major John Burlison – surely a first for The Sirmooree!

NJHH

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HONORARY SECRETARY’S NOTES

Membership

Category Numbers Totals Full 169 173 Full – GCO 4 Associate - Attached 34 Associate - Seconded 34 122 Assoc – Others 1 Assoc – Relative 53 Hon Widows 67 Hon Ordinary 14 82 Hon Ex Officio 1 Grand Total 377

There have been no new members or resignations since the last Sirmooree was published. 2GR Website

The 2GR Website (http://www.2ndgoorkhas.com) has been upgraded and is now an inclusive site for all members of the Sirmoor Rifles Associations. Key points:

 The revised Home Page has a new banner with the Regimental Cypher and Prince of Wales Plumes cap badge. ‘Sirmoor Rifles’ has been expanded to read the ‘Sirmoor Rifles Association (SRA)’.

 There is no change to your log-in details. However, if you have pages in the old website bookmarked these will no longer work.

 Members can go direct to the Sirmoor Club Secure Area at http://www.2ndgoorkhas.com/sra-members-secure-area/ and bookmark that link. To proceed further into the secure area you will be asked to sign-in and use your password as before.

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 The new website incorporates the three branches of Association in three sub-domains, each with its own editorial rights, namely:

- The Sirmoor Rifles Association (Nepal).

- The Sirmoor Rifles Association (UK), also known as the 2nd Gurkha Rifles Association UK (Sirmoor Sathies).

- The Sirmoor Rifles Association (Sirmoor Club), an Officers' Association open to all British and Gurkha ranks who served in the 2nd KEO Goorkhas who achieved commissioned rank at any stage in their career.

 Each Association will be able to provide its own material and edit existing material within their own domain. This will allow each association its own autonomy, but within a safe and centrally funded website.

Otherwise, the layout of the website remains similar but with some rearrangement of the menus and tabs. Please explore it at your leisure and let the Honorary Secretary or the Webmaster have any comments or feedback.

Photographs. Please note that during 2016 the Sirmoor Club photographs (http://www.2ndgoorkhas.com/sirmoor_club_photos.html) will be moved from the secure area to the Durbar Photo and video tab which will be in the public domain. If you would prefer past photographs of you or your family not to be moved outside the secure area, please tell the Honorary Secretary.

Forthcoming Events

Sirmoor Calendar 2016. The Sirmoor Programme for 2016 is enclosed and on the website. GBA Calendar 2016. The GBA Calendar is at http://www.gurkhabde.com.

Events & Booking Forms 2016. Copies of booking forms are enclosed and are also at http://2ndgoorkhas.com/sra-sirmoor-club-events-page/.

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GBA Visit to Sir Harold Hillier Gardens. Sunday 1st May 2016. Amongst the Gardens many outstanding features is the Gurkha Memorial Chautara. The Garden Curator, Mr Wolfgang Bopp will conduct us on a personalised tour to show-off the Gardens at their best. Cost: Two course lunch and entry ticket £30 pp, or for a three course lunch and entry ticket, £35.

Sirmoor Club Reunion. The Sirmoor Club Reunion will take place at the Travellers Club on Saturday 14th May 2016.

GBA Memorial Service and Reunion. Saturday 4th June 2016. RMAS Royal Memorial Chapel and Indian Army Memorial Room. Cost £30 per person. Returns by 6th May 2016 please.

GBA UK Bhela All Ranks Reunion and Sounding Retreat. Saturday 9th July 2016. Free Entry. The GBA UK Bhela will include a Fun Fair, the Kathmandu Cup (Veterans Cup), The Gurkha Band display, free fall parachuting display (TBC), food stalls, the Nepal Cup (Serving Units) concluding with a Nepali Cultural evening. All food and funfair tickets can be purchased on the day. Returns by 1st July 2016 please.

Sirmoor ‘Sathi’ Delhi Day. The Sirmoor Sathis will hold their annual Delhi Day Reunion on Saturday 19th September 2016, location to be confirmed. Returns by 1st September 2016 (note that as at 9th April the booking proforma is not yet available). Payment (£10) will be collected at the door.

GBA Officers Dinner. Thursday 10th November 2016, Army & Navy Club, London. Cost is now £60 per person. It will be preceded by a presentation given by Colonel BG to update those attending on issues affecting the Brigade of Gurkhas. Returns by 1st November 2016 please. Notices

Sirmoor Club AGM Minutes 2015. The minutes of the Sirmoor Club e-AGM held on 12th September 2015 are on the website. Copies for members not on the internet will be forwarded on request.

2GR Property Auction. The auction of returned 2GR property took place in late 2015 and generated £3,711 for the 2GR Trust. Those with successful

10 http://www.2ndgoorkhas.com bids have been informed. There are some unsold items which may be of interest to the Gurkha Museum or the Gurkha Memorial Museum.

Membership of London Clubs. Please see details of preferential offers to join the Oriental Club and the Army and Navy Club (‘The Rag’) on the 2GR website .

Kukri Journal. The Kukri Journal 2015 covering Gurkha 200 will be distributed in May 2016. If you are not a subscriber but would like a copy, please complete the booking form and standing order and return them to the Brigade Secretary. The cost including postage is £22 for UK, £25 for Europe and £35 for the Rest of World. THE SIRMOOR REGISTER Deaths Captain Chinbahadur Gurung (1st Bn) - 28th November 2015.

Lieutenant Colonel E T 'Slim' Horsford MBE MC (8GR; 2nd Bn 2GR 1947-61; 6GR 1961–68) – 4th November 2015.

Major Manbahadur Gurung Shrestha MVO (GM 1st Bn 1987-90) – 28th December 2015.

Captain H M C Scrimgeour RAMC (RMO 2nd Bn 1958-60) – 6th January 2016.

Brigadier A G Taggart MC (2/3GR; 1st Bn 2GR 1947-50; 2/6GR; 2/10GR) – 26th January 2016. Obituary in next edition of the Sirmooree.

Major J E G Vivian MC and bar (8GR & 2nd Bn 2GR 1947-59) – 8th July 2015. Obituaries

Lady Avril Bramall

The following address was given by Nicholas Bramall, son of Field Marshal and Lady Bramall, at a Thanksgiving Service for her life in August 2015:

The last reading from the letter to the Corinthians, on the importance of

11 http://www.2ndgoorkhas.com love, is an appropriate place for me to start when talking about my dear mother because love for her husband and family were central to her life.

She died at the age of 93 and her life spanned interesting and historic times.

She was born 4 years after the end of the Great War, in 1922. She was christened and always known as Avril (being born in April) but her first name was actually Dorothy, a name she didn't use and clearly didn't much like.

There was a reason for her being named Dorothy; her maiden name was Vernon, originally De Vernon, originating from Vernon on the Seine, north- west of Paris. Two of the 100 knights who came over with William the Conqueror in 1066 were Vernons. They were rewarded with lands on which they built fortified castles or halls, in Vernon's case the very famous Haddon Hall in Derbyshire. Later in the reign of Henry VIII the only daughter of that line of the family eloped with one John Manners, brother of the first Earl of Rutland. She was known as Sweet Dorothy of Haddon Hall and ever since Vernon girls have tended to have Dorothy in their name.

I hope you will excuse this historical digression, I mention it only to show that her family are steeped in the rich tapestry of English History.

Her own background was rather simpler and more austere. Her Father was a retired army officer. Her Mother, known as Bundy, to whom she was devoted and who actually died on the same day as my mother, July 22nd, had strong Indian Army connections. They came to live near Maidstone in Kent in 1939.

Mum was at school at Westonbirt in Gloucestershire, but in Kent found herself unwittingly in the very front line with the outbreak of the Second World War and the unfolding struggle with Hitler and Nazism.

It must have been a traumatic experience for a young girl with the Battle of Britain raging overhead, the threat of invasion imminent, the horrors of doodle bugs and V rockets, rationing and all the other privations of wartime Britain. It was an experience that undoubtedly shaped her future life.

As soon as she was old enough she joined the V.A.D. at Leeds Castle where in June 1944 she helped tend the wounded and dying as they returned from

12 http://www.2ndgoorkhas.com the Normandy Beaches. She was later to become an active member of the Red Cross.

Avril's brother, Dick Vernon, himself a distinguished war and peacetime soldier (who, incidentally had actually signed the Operational Orders on behalf of Field Marshall Montgomery to launch 7 divisions on to the

Normandy Beaches) served in the same Regiment as my father, the 60th Rifles, Kings Royal Rifle Corps. He, with his wife Hazel, a contemporary of my mother's at Westonbirt, were instrumental in their first meeting. Parties at the Vernon's, hunt balls in Hampshire, dinners and lunches in London brought romance, although I believe not immediately. They were married amidst the Norman splendour of Winchester Cathedral in 1949 and the outcome was a deep lasting bond that I think could be said to have most successfully stood the test of time – 66 years.

She was of course first and foremost a wonderfully loyal and loving wife to Dwin and devoted mother to Sara and me. I remember when I first arrived at my prep school in Elstree I received a letter from her every day for the first week. It got rather embarrassing! I had to write back “Dear Mater, please stop!”

She saw both Sara and me through tricky adolescences in the late sixties and in my case most of the seventies! She was usually patient, always supportive, if not a little perplexed by the changing times and in my case long hair, Afghan coats and Hendrix!

She was also Grandmother to Alexander and Charlotte and great grandmother to Harrison, Harry, Honey and Oakley.

Her greatest attribute and I saw it demonstrated often was a unique ability to put people from all walks of life at their ease, so that even the most junior subaltern and his most nervous of wives were made to feel completely at home as though they were the only people in the room who really mattered. She was a Taurean and at times stubborn, determined definitely, fiercely loyal and despite a chronic back problem possessed considerable stamina. She had need of all these qualities during her married life.

Lengthy separations, and numerous moves: Tripoli, Camberley, Berlin, Penang, Verden, Hong Kong, London and many more. During that frantic 13 http://www.2ndgoorkhas.com criss-crossing of the globe she entertained (with some help) literally thousands of people from Riflemen to Royalty; sat outside countless Officers messes, with only “I'll just be a minute darling” to sustain her; gave prizes; drew raffles; chaired SSAFA meetings; launched a ship, H.M.S. Swallow; organised households with a myriad of staff; and provided support and guidance to a multitude of army wives. She did it all without fluster, with grace, charm, elegance and with considerable modesty. She might have surrendered some personal ambition, goals and dreams unexplored, but I'm not sure about that. What I am certain of is that she had an extraordinarily colourful, exciting and wonderfully varied life.

She was loved and greatly respected in her own right and made a unique but understated contribution as one half and vial component to a winning combination. “Dwin and Avril” trips off the tongue as easily as, if you'll excuse the cricketing analogy, as Lindwall and Miller or Truman and Statham! Her latter days were spent in Crondall at Bathurst House, although there were still duties to perform in London as the wife of the Lord Lieutenant and Chairman of the Dorchester Hotel. She loved the house, the village, ham, egg and chips, a glass of Chardonnay and a chocolate brownie at the Plume of Feathers. She bore her relentless decline with dignity and without a murmur; Mum would have been amazed to see so many people here today.

We will all miss her.

Captain Chin Bahadur Gurung

Captain Chin Bahadur Gurung was born in Dangsing Mohoria village, Kaski, Nepal in 1931. He enlisted into the Brigade of Gurkhas in Kunara Chat, India in 1949. On completion of his recruit training in Sungei Patani, Malaya he joined the lst Battalion 2nd King Edward Vii’s Own Goorkhas (The Sirmoor Rifles).

During his 28 years distinguished Army career, Captain Chin Bahadur served in many countries around the world, and saw action in the Malayan Emergency (1948 - 60) and Borneo Confrontation (1962 - 66). He retired from the British Army in 1976 and served as a Gurkha Area Recruiting Officer (ARO) in Paklihawa and Pokhara for four years. In 1979, he successfully led the Royal Security Protection Team for the visit of His Royal Highness, The

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Prince of Wales to Pokhara, in conjunction with the Nepali Army.

Captain Chin Bahadur was a kind and big-hearted man who gave generously to the poor and helpless in the society throughout his lifetime. On his 84th birthday recently, he set up a scholarship fund for the poor and underprivlleged children at his village school (Bire Thanti Secondary School) and donated a large sums of money for the upkeep of the school premises. On retirement from the Army in 1976, he, together with his close friend Major Surendraman Gurung, another ‘Sirmoori legend’, established the ‘Sirmoor Lines’ in Pokhara. Sirmoor Lines is a unique and beautiful residential settlement consisting of some ten identical houses and is a ‘must- see’ enclave for any Sirmooris who visit the area. It is no surprise that its residents are all ‘Sirmooris’ or their descendants.

Captain Chin Bahadur was a hugely admired and respected figure across the brigade and within his local community in Pokhara. Above all, he was a fiercely proud Sirmoori, loving husband, father and grand-father. He had a great passion for outdoor activities such as hunting, fishing and walking, and he was happiest when he had his children and grand-children around him. His departure leaves a huge void in the lives of his family, friends and all who knew him; he will be missed terribly, but he will never be forgotten and will live in their hearts forever.

Captain Chin Bahadur Gurung passed away peacefully surrounded by his family on Saturday 28 November 2015 at his house in Woking. He leaves behind his wife Pyari, two sons, three daughters and eight grandchildren.

Lieutenant Colonel E T Horsford MBE MC

Lieutenant Colonel Elliott Horsford, who has died aged 94, was awarded an MC in Burma in 1945.

In February 1945, Horsford was in command of a company of 3rd Battalion 8th Gurkha Rifles (3/8GR). Myinmu, on the northern bank of the River Irrawaddy, where it turns south to meet the Chindwin, became the main front of 20th Indian Infantry Division. In one of the decisive battles on the Irrawaddy, the Division aimed to establish a bridgehead before forcing a 15 http://www.2ndgoorkhas.com crossing of the river and breaking through to the Mandalay road.

Myinmu was occupied after a sharp engagement in which the enemy lost heavily in stores and equipment and during the siege they made several desperate attempts to escape across the river. On one moonlit night, the Gurkhas watched as 24 Japanese soldiers jumped into the water. Weighed down by weapons and equipment they perished one after the other.

In the first critical days after the establishment of a western bridgehead, Horsford’s men had to cross and recross the river three times under heavy shellfire and resist many determined counter-attacks by the Japanese. During the difficult operation to relieve the garrison, he was given the task of attacking strongly held enemy positions thus drawing all the enemy reserves and shelling upon himself.

The citation for the award of an MC stated that, “He showed such magnificent courage and cool leadership exposed, as he was, to very heavy fire and in full view of the enemy, that he not only achieved his object and ensured the success of the whole operation, but also inflicted grievous loss on the enemy.”

Elliot Thomond Horsford was born at Lingfleld, Surrey, on June 5 1921 and educated at Clifton College. Known to his Army comrades as “Slim’ he attended the short course at RMC Sandhurst and, after being commissioned in 1939, he was posted to 2nd Battalion 8th Gurkha Rifles at Shillong, India.

A transfer to the newly formed 3rd Bn (3/8GR) was followed by a spell as an instructor at OTS Bangalore, and then, in 1943, he accompanied the battalion to Ranchi, India, and from there to the Eabaw Valley,in Burma.

In April, during the pursuit southwards from Thungdwingyi, he again distinguished himself when his company surprised a column of the enemy in the small hours of the morning. They killed 13 and wounded 30. When his CO was killed and the second-in-command was wounded he commanded 3/8GR until the end of the campaign in Burma.

In November 1947, after Independence, Horsford transferred to 2nd King Edward VII’s Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles) (2GR) in Malaya at the beginning of the “Emergency”. Three years of operations against the

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Chinese Communists were followed by a move to Lehra on India’s border with Nepal where he was involved in recruiting.

A staff appointment with 17 Gurkha Division was followed by a return to regimental duties with 2/2 GR and from 1960 to 1963 he commanded 2nd Bn 6th Queen Eiizabeth’s Own Gurkha Rifles. After a spell as Brigade of Gurkhas Liaison Officer at the MOD and a year at the NATO Defence College, Paris, he moved to Oslo as a member of the NATO staff (1966-69).

Horsford retired from Army in 1969 and served as Assistant Defence Secretary in the Sultan of Oman from 1970 to 1973. For the next 13 years, he was Assistant General Secretary of the Royal UK Beneficent Association. He was appointed MBE in l956. In retirement, he enjoyed golf and watching cricket.

Be married first, in 1953, Averil Tarrant (née Inglis), who predeceased him. He married secondly, in 1996, Carole Hendey who survives him with two sons of his first marriage and two stepsons.

(Obituary reprinted by kind permission of The Daily Telegraph)

Paul Pettigrew 6GR wrote:

Slim took over as Commanding Officer of the 2/6th Gurkha Rifles in 1961 In Hong Kong. In 1962 he had to deal with a large influx of refugees across the border, and the after effects of Typhoon Wanda, which did much damage.

In January 1963 Indonesia set up training camps for irregular volunteers close to the border with Borneo. On 12th April one group attacked and seized a police station in the 1st Division of Sarawak. This was the start of what was known as Indonesian Confrontation, and It was against this background in May 1963 that 2/6GR flew to Borneo at the end of June.

This was a demanding assignment for Slim as half the Battalion was in 99 Gurkha Infantry Brigade commanded by Pat Patterson, and was spread in platoon packets in the 5th Division of Sarawak and Brunei. The other half of the Battalion led by Geoff Walsh was under 3 Commando Brigade and based in Sibu. An operational front of some 400 miles!

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The main tasks were to deal with cross border incursions, the “Hearts and Minds” campaign, and the training of Border Scouts. However the deployment was highlighted by a serious incursion on the 11th of August on the Indonesian Border, which sadly resulted in the death of Lt Hugh Wallace.

The consequence of this incursion was that 1/2GR arrived in Sibu on 19th August to take over from Walsh Force. The Battalion then returned to Hong Kong in September where in 1964 he handed over to Lt Col “Tich” Harvey.

Major Grahame Vivian MC and bar

Major Grahame Vivian, who has died aged 95, was awarded two Military Crosses, the first in Burma in 1944 and the second in Malaya in 1956.

On January 9th 1944 Vivian, commanding a company of 4th Battalion 8th Gurkha Rifles (4/8 GR) in the Arakan, Burma, was ordered to infiltrate a feature known as Dhobi Hill which was reported to be lightly defended. When he got close to the hill, however, he found that it was occupied by the enemy in strength and decided to attack.

During the assault, he was knocked over by a mortar shell and wounded in the chest, stomach and in the arm. Despite his injuries and the fact that the Japanese were rapidly reinforcing their positions, he refused any medical attention and ordered his company to dig in and hold every inch of the ground gained.

Though in great pain, he set about organising the defences until he was overcome by the effects of his wounds. Two of his surviving men made a stretcher from their rifles and carried him for three days back to the regimental base where he was not expected to survive.

The citation for the award of his first MC stated that “His actions throughout the operation were outstanding for resolution, leadership, conspicuous bravery and total disregard for his personal safety.

John Edgar Grahame Vivian was born on October 28 1919 at Camborne, Cornwall, and educated at Repton, Derbyshire, where he excelled at boxing, football and cricket. His family subsequently moved to Burma and Thailand 18 http://www.2ndgoorkhas.com

(then Siam), where his father was managing mining companies. Grahame went to Camborne School of Mines but the outbreak of war prevented him from completing his studies.

He enlisted in the Army and into the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry but to his annoyance was posted close to home. He therefore volunteered for the Indian Army and, in December 1942, joined 4/8 GR in India. The Battalion was moved at the end of 1943 to Ranchi and then into the Arakan area of Burma.

After the action for which he was awarded his first MC, Vivian was in military hospitals at Ranchi and Poona for several weeks. In 1945 he was evacuated to England and spent a year at the Princess Elizabeth Orthopaedic Hospital, Exeter, where he underwent numerous painful operations to correct the damage done by the mortar, especially to his right hand.

In February 1946, he left hospital and rejoined 4/8 GR at Quetta. After the partition of India, in late 1947 he transferred to the 2nd Goorkhas and the following year he went to Malaya with the 2nd Battalion. After two years in Hong Kong, in 1956 he accompanied the Battalion to Malaya where he commanded A Company 2/2 GR which was engaged in a series of anti- bandit operations in the Kuala Pilah District of Negri Sembilan.

On September 28, in a mission code-named Operation Googly, he accompanied a police officer who was to meet a terrorist at night at a remote jungle rendezvous. Three of these meetings took place, as a result of which it was learned that an important conference had been arranged between a number of high-ranking Chinese Terrorists (CTs) including the second most senior figure in the insurgency. On 2nd October Vivian led an attack on a camp which resulted in four CTs being captured.

Four days later, Vivian and two police officers led an assault party to within 60 yards of the main terrorist camp. They had to lie low for eight hours and at two o’clock the next morning, after a nerve-racking approach march of 40 minutes in total darkness through dense jungle, Vivian got his party into the camp. The CTs opened fire with shotguns and automatic weapons but were quickly silenced and two of them were killed. The second most wanted terrorist escaped but was eliminated three days later. Vivian was awarded a Bar to his Military Cross. 19 http://www.2ndgoorkhas.com

He returned to England in 1959 and retired from the British Army the following year. After a spell in Cornwall working for English China Clays, he moved to the Sultanate of Oman as an officer in the Sultan’s Armed Forces.

He was Deputy Commander of the Oman Gendarmerie until 1965, and then Commander Coastal Patrol until 1966. In 1973, he was appointed Djebel Liaison Officer, a political appointment, and was stationed at Saiq in the Djebel Al Akhdar mountain range, reporting to Sayyid Fahr bin Taimur Al Said, the uncle of the Sultan and the Defence Minister.

Vivian spoke Urdu, Gurkhali and Arabic fluently. Nicknamed Abu Primus (Father Primus Stove), he had a quick temper and, like a primus stove, it could suddenly flare up. On retiring from the service in 1985, he was awarded the Sultan’s Distinguished Service Medal.

Vivian returned to Cornwall and spent the next two years caring for his ailing wife, who died in 1987. For the following nine years he lived at the family home in Lostwithiel and then, having remarried, settled in Golant. He was a member of the Regimental Association and a long time contributor to the Gurkha Welfare Trust.

Grahame Vivian married first, in 1945, Gwen Caswell, his fiancée of six years. She predeceased him and in 1996 he married Lorna Kirby. She survives him with two sons and a daughter from his first marriage and three stepdaughters from his second.

(Obituary reprinted by kind permission of The Daily Telegraph)

Major Manbahadur Gurung Shrestha MVO

Peter Duffell wrote: "I was sad to hear that he has gone. I knew him well and last saw him in Pokhara at the Durbar where we had some talk about old times. He was not looking well and was a shadow of his former self having suffered some cancer. He was enlisted in 1961, part of a very large Galla that I helped recruit and then train at the Sungei Patani Depot."

Christopher Lavender added: "If my memory serves, he was commissioned in the field by the Prince of Wales at Stanford Training Area while Peter Duffell was in command. I saw quite a lot of him while he was in charge of G4S

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Ground Operations in Hong Kong and we would meet from time to time for curry in one of the many Nepali restaurants in Kowloon. I am sure he would have been so happy to have at least seen his many friends at our memorable gathering in Pokhara." SIRMOOR CLUB MEMBERS’ NEWS

Last year we bade farewell to our President, Lt Gen Sir Peter Duffell. In appreciation of his service to the Sirmoor Club and the Sirmoor Rifles Association during his 10 year tenure he was presented with a silver beaker to add to his collection, each of which marks a special occasion. This one was engraved “Sirmoor Battalion 1815”.

John Burlison stood down at the end of 2014 after 19 years as Editor of the Sirmooree. The Sirmoor Club presented him with a 200th Anniversary Peter Hicks Statuette engraved “Major John Burlison. Editor The Sirmooree 1996 – 2015. From the Sirmoor Club”.

The Gurkha Museum recently acquired the wartime diaries of Maj Gen O de T Lovett, late 2GR. They contain many fascinating insights into regimental life at that time and are a very important primary source for the historical record. The story of their acquisition is no less interesting, relying as it did on the help and initiative of three 7GR officers. Peter Quantrill in South Africa was handed the diary by a member of the public in South Africa who knew of his Gurkha connections. Peter in turn contacted David Morgan and then Martin Brooks. Martin happened to be visiting South Africa, and returned the bulky diary to the Museum by hand via St Helena, Ascension Island and Brize Norton. Unfortunately the previous history of the diary is unknown: any information would be most welcome.

Maj Gen Craig Lawrence, late 2GR, is to retire from the British Army in June 2016 and was dined out at Folkestone on 25th February. He handed over as Colonel RGR to Brig Gez Strickland on 1st February 2016. (See photo p.34)

Lt Col Peter Kemmis-Betty was interviewed on BBC Radio 4, ‘The World Tonight’, at 10pm on Wednesday 18 November 2015. He was featured in an interview with Nick Higham relating to the arrival on 18 November 1945 of

21 http://www.2ndgoorkhas.com two ships at Southampton, full of prisoners of war held by Japan (FEPOWs). Although Peter returned to the UK at a later date, he was interviewed for a good hour on all things to do with POW life.

130 computer engineers in Chandigarh recently joined Nick Hinton’s worldwide team. He visited them in February and took the opportunity to go to nearby Dehra Dun and inspect the Lal Gate. As many Sirmooris will know, it is on a roundabout in the Garhi cantonment, but accessible in spite of numerous military guards and barriers. It is very well maintained, neatly tended, with a fresh coat of paint and ‘2015’ recently added to the dates ‘1815’ and ‘1915’. It is still definitively a 2nd Goorkhas monument with the original marble name-lists in Roman and Nagri scripts and some 2GR badges still in place. The only sign of age is that the Regimental name on the pediment, where the silhouette of King Edward VII used to be, now reads ‘2nd KEO Oorkhas (Sirmoor)’, the ‘G’ having not survived. See photos pps 31-32.

John Brewer reported that about 150 former members of the 2nd Battalion had a very enjoyable get-together at Woolwich on 19th March. This has become a regular annual event and next year will take place on 18th March. British Officers are particularly encouraged to attend.

Peter Leathart, son of Scott Leathart, sent this report about a visit to the Gurkha Contingent of the Singapore Police Force:

‘Fiona and I had planned a trip to Australia to visit second cousins and friends, so this necessitated a stopover in Singapore. I contacted Ross Forman, OC Gurkha Contingent, Singapore Police Force [and late 2GR – Ed] to see if we could visit them and if it might be possible to stay at the Senior Police Officers’ Mess, which is where my parents, Scott & Betty, held their wedding reception in 1956 and where we and they stayed in 1999 for the 50th anniversary celebrations of the founding of the GC. This was kindly arranged and Ross asked me if I would formally open their latest building, named ‘Leathart Lines’.

The building has been in service for over five years. It houses emergency services vehicles and equipment together with offices and is for the ‘Special Action Group’. It has proved a valuable addition to the Contingent’s capabilities. 22 http://www.2ndgoorkhas.com

We arrived in Singapore on 29th October and had been invited to the opening ceremony on the evening of the following day. We were collected from the SPOM and greeted warmly at the GC, Mount Vernon, by Ross and his wife Elaine and by the British and Gurkha Officers and wives over drinks in their Mess. We all duly assembled outside Leathart Lines, and new recruits joined us for the ceremony. Ross introduced the occasion and I said a few words about my experience of memorable visits to the Contingent over the years and particularly the 50th anniversary one, and how it had been such a great satisfaction to my father that it had expanded so much since he had started it in 1949 and built it up over ten years. I unveiled a curtain in front of a shining brass plaque which read:

THIS PLAQUE COMMEMORATES THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF LEATHART LINES ON 30th OCTOBER 2014 BY MR PETER LEATHART SON OF THE FIRST OFFICER COMMANDING GC MAJOR SCOTT LEATHART MBE

We returned to the Mess for a splendid Nepalese curry supper. It had been a great honour to be asked to perform the opening, and we were so grateful for the kind welcome and generous hospitality that we received.’

As reported in the last Sirmooree Ed and Sarah Mackaness took part in Trailwalker to raise money for GWT, together with Bishnu Singh, late 2/2GR, and Simon Coffey. However, it was only after it had gone to press that we learned they had raised £30,306.74, a very impressive sum.

Field Marshal Sir John Chapple gave a speech about Gurkhas at Brooks’s on Monday 16th November at the invitation of John Robins, the Chairman of Brooks’s and ex-10GR. In the audience of about 50 were James Birch (6GR), Bob Couldrey (7GR) and Kit Maunsell (10GR). A copy of the talk and the maps which accompanied it have been posted on the 2GR website.

Chris Darnell has published ‘The Contract’, the third in his series about the character Paul Stanton. Based in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, and set against a background of murder, corruption, politics and the illegal trade in diamonds ‘the true British dark hero must balance the requirements of deniability with the need to exact justifiable vengeance on those who threaten him and those important to him.’

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Christopher Lavender reported a good gathering of Sirmooris at the GBA dinner in the Rag on 5th November – see photo p.32. He said “All were in excellent form including our Chindit veteran Bill Smyly, now in his nimble 90s. He was interviewed by the BBC for VJ Day and came over very well, with enormous modesty. The dinner was also notable for hosting William Shuttlewood’s last briefing on GWT matters before retiring as Director, and John Anderson's last dinner as President of the GBA.”

SIRMOOR CLUB ACTIVITIES Sirmoor Golf Society (SGS)

21 September 2015 - GBA Golf Meeting – Army GS, Aldershot

This year's GBA Meeting was hosted by QOGLR and organised by Tony Skipper. There was a good turnout of 42 players from all Regiments, including 14 Gurkha Officers. The Sirmoor Club had the largest turnout (9) of any Regiment and was represented by Steve Clifton, Norman & Alison Corbett, Rambahadur Gurung, David Harrison, Bruce Jackman, Mark Pettigrew, William Shuttlewood and Chin Thapa.

The format for the day was a Team Match with 14 mixed teams of three players randomly drawn from serial numbers on cards, playing Stableford with all scores to count to the team total. There were individual prizes for best Stableford score, best Lady Stableford score, nearest the pin on the 8th, and nearest the centre line on the 11th fairway.

The Sirmooris performed well. David Harrison won the best Individual Stableford Score (40 points). Alison Corbett won the Best Lady (28 points). The Winning Team, with 103 points, also included David Harrison and Alison Corbett as well as Mike Roe (10GR) who plays golf with the Sirmoor Club throughout the year. Mark Pettigrew was in the Second Team (98 points), and Steve Clifton was in the Third Team (95 points).

BCJ

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15/16 October 2015 – Sirmoor 'Devon Dunes Classic'

This was our last fixture of the season. (The previous two, at Swinley Forest and Corhampton, were covered in the Summer edition of the Sirmooree). One of the aims of the SGS is to end our season with a flourish. This year was no exception and we had a wonderful two days on two of the best golf courses in England, the Royal North Devon (RND) Golf Club, Westward Ho!, on 15 October, and Saunton Golf Club on the other side of Bideford/ Barnstaple Bay on the 16th. The tournament has been named the Devon Dunes Classic and we hope to hold it every year.

The event was well organised again by Steve Clifton. Richard Kemmis Betty provided the Devon Dunes Classic trophy for the best individual combined Stableford score over the two days. There were also individual prizes for the best Stapleford score on each day, and the longest drives and nearest the pins on both courses. That meant at least six out of the nine players could win a prize in the two days, especially as no player was allowed to win more than one prize (a standard rule in SGS). Also Richard, our golf guru, built a team competition into the tournament. Sadly only a handful of Sirmoor players were available this year so numbers were made up with friends/guests to provide three teams of three: Team A - Steve Clifton, Rosie Harrop, Anita Morley. Team B – Alan Bennett-Brown, Steven Sherry, Rob Wallace. Team C – Richard Kemmis Betty, Mike Roe, Nick Cook.

The courses lived up to their reputations, challenging but fair, and we were blessed with almost glorious summer weather. Another of the SGS aims is to match the golf with good food with great company and so each day was rounded off with a delicious two course curry meal. Talk about getting value for money: two rounds of golf, two lovely meals, and a multitude of prizes all for just £90 or less.

The results were:

15th October

RND – Nearest the Pin (5th). Mike Roe.

RND – Longest Drive (18th). Rob Wallace.

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RND – Best Stableford Score. Alan Bennett-Brown with 36 points.

16th October

Saunton – Nearest the Pin (5th). Rosie Harrop.

Saunton – Longest Drive (12th). Nick Cooke.

Saunton – Best Stableford Score. Steven Sherry with 28 points on count back.

Devon Dunes Classic Trophy. Steve Clifton with 67 combined points.

The Team prize was won by Team C with a combined score of 84 points over two days.

The Seve Prize is awarded at every meeting for the most audacious shot that has a result i.e. in the character of Seve Ballesteros. Sometimes there isn't a contender so the prize is awarded to the most deserving case. This year was one of those. Anita Morley had two memorable but flukey shots (she plays off a handicap of 12 so is not used to flukey shots!). On day one at RND, with just 140 yards to go to the 18th green, she miss-hit the ball which pitched just short of the river running in front of the green, whereupon the ball skipped over the river and ran up to finish 12 feet from the pin. On day two (Saunton) on a short par 3 with a high raised tee box, Anita had hoped to float the ball over the front bunker onto the green. However she thinned the ball badly off the raised tee box whereupon it descended rapidly, just clearing the rough, before it ran all the way along the ground and somehow skirted the bunker, ending up on the green for her to putt out for a par. Seve would have been livid with the shot but delighted with the outcome!

BCJ Sirmoor Shooting

8 September 2015 – Baydon Simulated Game Day

For the second year running, we took a day's simulated game shoot run by Barbury Shooting School in the beautiful Ramsbury valley near Marlborough. We had 14 guns including two guests: Nick Adams (guest), Charles Corbett 26 http://www.2ndgoorkhas.com with father Norman acting as loader, Sean & Sammie Crane, Peter Duffell, Richard & Penny Firth, Andrew Gregg (guest), Bruce Jackman, Andrew Johnston, David Thomas with Joanna as loader, Val Urquhart with John as loader, Charlie Ward and Michael Willis. Guns were paired on 7 pegs over 5 drives – each gun shooting half the drive on each peg before changing over.

We assembled at The Bell Inn, Ramsbury, for a Full English breakfast included in the cost of the day – 5 drives and about 5,000 clays, plus a pub lunch and tea in the field all for £200 per gun. After the breakfast briefing and drawing pegs we set off in our fleet of cars for the first drive. All the drives were exceptionally well organised as per a proper game shoot . The 'birds' (clays) were put over the guns to replicate the characteristics of partridge and pheasant, coming in ones and twos and small groups, clusters, and large flushes, with specially adapted traps that projected the clays so realistically that they didn't slow down as the crossed the gun line. Each peg experienced about the same number of birds on each drive coming from various directions with some traversing more than one gun – and of course there was the inevitable poaching of birds over neighbouring pegs! One drive was a competition shoot with teams shooting in turn thereby providing a different perspective and some competitive edge. Great fun.

Once again, just as last year, we all agreed that it was a really super day's shooting at the beginning of the season, as realistic as it could be, and very good value for money – so much so that we immediately booked the same day in 2016 - Tuesday 13 September 2016.

BCJ

5 December 2015 – Eastleach, Gloucestershire

Andrew Johnston has succeeded John Urquhart as OIC Sirmoor Shikar (by default). This season he arranged a shoot on 5th December at Macaroni Farm, Eastleach, near Lechlade.

Forecast: Storm 'Desmond' – force 7 and rising. Undaunted the shooting party assembled at The Swan Hotel, Bibury, on the evening of the 4th for a pre-shoot dinner. The guns were Bruce Jackman, Andrew Johnston, John

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Lieutenant General Sir Peter Duffell and Field Marshal Sir John Chapple with the Queen’s Gurkha Orderly Officers by the Gurkha Memorial, Remembrance Day, 8th November 2015.

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The 200th Anniversary Lunch (see article p.48)

The Dining Room

Ian Rigden and John Harrop The Honorary Secretary enjoying his lunch 29 http://www.2ndgoorkhas.com

Rededication of General Frederick Young’s Grave (See article p.43)

Sirmoori attendees

The President of the Sirmoor Club

The renovated grave 30 http://www.2ndgoorkhas.com

The Lal Gate, Dehra Dun (see ‘Members’ News’ p.22)

The Regimental Band marches through the Lal Gate in c1942. The photograph was taken by Major Alexander Irving of 3/2GR when training in Dehra Dun.

The Lal Gate, 5th February 2016. Note the addition of ‘2015’ above the arch to mark the bicentenary. 31 http://www.2ndgoorkhas.com

A Sirmoor badge and one of the panels on the Lal Gate

A gathering of Sirmooris at the Gurkha Brigade Association Dinner, 5th November 2016. See story p.24.

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1RGR and 2RGR: see newsletters p.37

Rfn Bhim Gurung, Major Ralph Roylance and Captain Premkaji Gurung of 1RGR train Malian troops in Mali

G200 celebrations in Brunei: Warrant Officers and SNCOs of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces with the Queen’s Truncheon 33 http://www.2ndgoorkhas.com

Captain Jon Armstrong and Corporal Arjun Limbu of 2RGR after their 93-day, 1,000-mile expedition around Ellesmere Island during which they raised over £10,000 for the Gurkha Welfare Trust.

Maj Gen Craig Lawrence, late 2GR and at the time Colonel RGR, visiting 1RGR on Exercise Kancha Keta in Brunei. 34 http://www.2ndgoorkhas.com

Gurkha Stamps celebrating the bicentenary – see story p.55

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Nott, John Swanston, Peter Taylor, David Thomas, Charlie Ward, and Michael Willis – supported by memsahebs Anne Johnston, Julie Taylor, Joanna Thomas and Audrey Willis. It was a lovely mini-reunion with delicious food and plenty of wine. All but Audrey and Michael Willis were accommodated for the night at the Johnston's mansion, The Walled Garden, Bibury, for nightcaps before a comfortable night and a 'full English' breakfast the following morning. We departed promptly at 9.00am in a fleet of cars destined for Macaroni Farm. Unusually for the Sirmoor Club, convoy discipline was maintained throughout and we all arrived as one and on time. Maybe this had something to do with Andrew's time as MTO in 2nd Battalion – clearly a very beneficial experience that has at last been put to good use!

Charles Phillips, the owner of Macaroni Farm and the Shoot Captain for the day ably assisted by his son Sam, greeted us with his wife Janie for coffee and Sloe Gin in the conservatory of their lovely house where we drew pegs. It was a good start to what was billed as a '150 bird day'. Each gun paid £10 into the kitty to determine how many shots would be fired in the day – interesting! Half the proceeds would go to charity and half to the person with the nearest estimate. Peter Taylor was the winner and received £40 – but read on. (Pretty easy maths really - ratio of shots to kills at say 4:1 = 600).

The shoot was over some lovely Gloucestershire countryside with the gun lines in the bottom of valleys for each of five drives. The birds therefore were always driven off the top of a ridge, which provided wonderfully high birds – mainly partridge followed by a few pheasant. The beaters were very well disciplined, keeping in a controlled line under the watchful direction of Paul Spredbury, the Head Keeper. ‘Desmond’ was to prove a challenge for both management and guns. Nevertheless the beaters worked tirelessly and managed to put the birds over the guns so that all had good shooting throughout – no mean feat given the conditions.

The guns however were not so successful in their endeavour to shoot such fast moving targets. At the height they were coming, partridges looked as small as starlings and pheasants no bigger than magpies – all travelling at great speed and curling on the wind so it was difficult to predict which gun/s they would overfly. Some traversed the entire line and still escaped unscathed. It was fantastic shooting – not many of us had experienced 36 http://www.2ndgoorkhas.com anything like it and the elation from hitting a bird was manifest. The dogs and pickers-up had to recover shot birds from up to 200 yards behind the guns – such was their momentum on the wind.

Total bag achieved: only 33 pheasant and 27 partridge (just 40% of the intended bag)! Number of shots: 536. Ratio of shots to kills - 9:1! Our performance was summed up by a comment overheard from the beaters’ shed “Thank goodness the Gurkhas have knives ‘coz they can’t f…ing shoot”! It has to be acknowledged that as a group of guns we aren't bad and normally achieve the bag, or near to it, at an average of about 4:1 shots to kills. Our host very generously under-charged us for the day and, having acknowledged us as the Sirmoor Game Conservation Society, said we were very welcome to come back next season if we so wished. We all agreed unanimously. After all we have a point to prove. Sirmoor honour is at stake here! BCJ/ASCJ

ROYAL GURKHA RIFLES NEWSLETTERS First Battalion

As the Brunei Resident Infantry Battalion, 1RGR continued to fulfil its role as the UK’s jungle warfare specialists while promoting Defence Engagement across South-East Asia. The role of RGR in Brunei was secured for a further five years in February with the signing of a new Defence Co-operation Agreement by His Majesty the Sultan. Our links with Brunei continue to strengthen and 2015 has seen a number of developments in the way in which we work alongside our RBAF counterparts including joint training and participation in each other’s exercises.

The year began with the hand over between Major Rambahadur Pun and the new Gurkha Major, Chandrabahadur Pun. Ram Sahib deployed immediately on a 9-month tour as a mentor and advisor in the Afghan National Officer Academy in Qharga outside Kabul and will return to the UK to take up the post of OC Gurkha Company (Sittang).

During Christmas leave a small team deployed on Ex FROSTED BLADE; the

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British Army’s Alpine Ski Race Training Camp and Championships. Despite extremely limited experience, the team were soon able to hold their own and performed extremely well gaining 18th position. Team captain Lt Charlie Collins then headed almost straight from five weeks in Val D’Isere to French Guiana for ‘Stage Jaguar International’, the French Foreign Legion’s jungle warfare course, where he survived a gruelling nine weeks to become one of only 13 students on the course to pass.

The early part of the year saw the battalion rekindling old alliances and working closely with our ANZAC counterparts. First up was the annual Ex PACIFIC KUKRI OTX for which A (Delhi) Company and Support (Medicina) Company deployed to Australia for six weeks. The exercise included a live- firing package, two weeks training for major combat operations and adventure training. The group was also in Brisbane for ANZAC Day, where they attended a dawn service and paraded through the city centre.

Remembrance was also the focus of Ex ANZAC REFLECT where B (Sari Bair) Company and elements of the Pipes and Drums visited New Zealand, both North and South Islands, representing the battalion at no fewer than six parades and ceremonies. The CO and GM were also present in Singapore for the day, and the battalion was able to send a small detachment from B (Sari Rair) Company to 2 RGR’s battlefield tour to Gallipoli.

At the same time C (Mogaung) Company were in the jungle with the RBAF on Ex SEMANGAT WAJA. This is the RBAF’s largest exercise and takes place across the whole country with three nationalities exercising for the full spectrum of potential contlicts. Needless to say C Company performed well and not only did some excellent training but established lasting relationships with their RBAF counterparts.

Following April’s devastating earthquake in Nepal the battalion quickly became involved in the relief efforts, ultimately sending a small team to help the Gurkha Welfare Service manage the crisis and rebuilding efforts. In Brunei, BFBS and the public, under the GM’s direction and encouragement, managed to collect 400 boxes of clothes and goods and a further £10,000 in donations which continue to aid the ongoing relief efforts.

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At the beginning of the summer the battalion’s contribution to G200 began with a team sent to augment the Brigade’s public duties contingent. After a spectacular parade down the Mall to rededicate the Gurkha statue next to the MOD, the public duties contingent formed the Queen’s Guard and carried out their duties at Buckingham Palace, St James’ Palace and the Tower of London. 1 RGR were also very well represented at the G200 Pageant despite the significant amount of travelling involved.

1 RGR followed their success at Public Duties with a series of other trips to the UK, which began with the shooting team winning the Bisley Operational Shooting Championship and the Methuen Cup as part of a combined RGR team. LCpl Dhan Ghale narrowly missed out on the Queen’s Medal to win second place in the individual Combat Rifle Championship.

For the second year in a row Trailwalker was won by the running team, led by Major Shaun Chandler, who beat their nearest rivals by 45 minutes. The football team continued the winning streak and worked hard throughout the Nepal Cup to defeat last year’s champions, QGE, 4-1 in the final. In June the inaugural Brigade of Gurkhas Golf Tournament was held, giving 1 RGR’s top golfers a chance to demonstrate the skills perfected on the greens at Panaga. Captain Mahendra Phagami. who led 1 RGR to victory, was also the overall individual winner.

In the summer BHQ deployed to Singapore on Ex SUMAN WARRIOR for a Five Powers’ Defence Agreement planning exercise with Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and Singapore. The exercise, which took place over two weeks, used traditional and computer planning techniques and simulations to allow the five powers to test their interoperability and gain crucial experience of one another’s approach to planning.

Concurrently a 25-man Short Term Training Team deployed to Op NEWCOMBE in Mali. They made a strong impression on the other EU nations taking part, and in true Gurkha style, are making friends wherever they go, as well as being commended tor their professionalism. A relief in place will occur with a second team from the battalion in January.

Back in Brunei the battalion deployed on Ex TYPHOON KUKRI 2. The exercise

39 http://www.2ndgoorkhas.com took place over 10 days in which the full spectrum of training, from jungle warfare to non-combatant evacuation operations, took place. The NEO phase involved teams from the British High Commission and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London and it is hoped that the exercise will continue to grow in order to maintain our readiness for a natural disaster in SE Asia as well as providing a valuable training opportunity to our civilian partners. Following their work with C Company earlier in the year a platoon of RBAF was attached and integrated into B Company and performed well. Brunei remains a busy destination for visitors and our move into 11 Brigade has seen the separate visits of the Commander and Deputy Commander as well as a plethora of four, three, and two-starred visitors. Following a successful CCF visit last year, 1 RGR also hosted Ampleforth CCF for their two-week annual camp this summer.

Colonel Commandant and Colonel SO, along with the Band, visited us for the pinnacle of Brunei’s G200 celebrations. A parade was held in Bandar Seri Bagwan and involved units from across the garrison (including QGS, QGE, GSPS and QOGLR) as well as 350 troops from the 3rd Battalion Royal Brunei Land Forces. His Majesty the Sultan took the salute at a parade ground which was fought across by 2GR almost 53 years ago.

Recruit Intake 2015 arrived from Catterick just in time for Dashain and were immediately put to work as dancers, waiters, barmen and musicians. This year the intake was 60 strong which is a marked and welcome increase on recent years. Once the celebrations were over it was straight back to business as usual for the induction cadre run by A Company. This culminated in appropriate fashion with a challenging jungle exercise to give the new Riflemen an introduction to what was expected of them in battalion. Meanwhile, B Company had been preparing meticulously for the Junior Leadership Cadre and deployed to SITTANG CAMP for an arduous 10 weeks that would identify the next crop of JNCOs. The program contained a variety of challenging elements from jungle exercises to written tests and command tasks. JLC culminated in a 10-day FTX in both scrub and jungle environments. It was aimed at testing the junior commanders in a hybrid scenario against both a conventional and insurgent enemy. The cadre finished with a Battalion Parade where six Riflemen were promoted to Lance Corporal.

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On 30 November 2015, Battalion Headquarters and supporting elements deployed to Germany on the Command and Staff Trainer (CAST) for a five- day planning exercise. This saw the Commanding Officer being given missions from 11 Brigade and then putting the planning cycle into action. Crucially, this gave all elements a chance to practise and improve their SOPs before Ex ASKARI STORM. Overall the exercise was very successful with lots of good points brought out in the feedback session with some products, such as those developed by the Regimental Signals Officer, Captain Mukunda, selected by the CAST team to be taken forward as examples of best practice. A weekend of leave in Germany also gave everyone a chance to visit the Christmas markets in Paderborn and enjoy some German culture.

Finally, at the end of the year a team of 12 deployed to Nepal as a Short Term Training Team (STTT). The aim was to transfer the British Army’s updated platoon tactics to personnel of the Nepali Army. The four-week course, based on the ‘train the trainer’ model, trained 37 NCOs from across the Nepali Army in conventional platoon tactics. The team performed to a very high standard and was praised for their instructional techniques and professionalism throughout. It is hoped that 1 RGR has paved the way for future STTTs to be conducted in a similar manner in Nepal in the future.

In the background much of the battalion’s attention towards the end of the year has been focused on preparation for the upcoming deployment to Kenya early in 2016 for Ex ASKARI THUNDER. This exercise marks a crucial part of 1 RGR’s preparation for joining 16 Air Assault Brigade once they have completed the arms plot move back to the UK in 2017. The exercise will provide a perfect opportunity to refocus on conventional warfighting at Battle Group level. Jai RGR !

Second Battalion

In the last 12 months 2 RGR has faced multi-national exercises, individual deployments and Short Term Training Teams (SITTs) and of course a central role in the celebrations of 200 years of Gurkha Service to the British Crown. This has also been a year of change both in Battalion personnel and in 2RGR’s role, with the arrival of Commanding Officer Lieutenant Colonel Jamie Murray in August 2015 following Lieutenant Colonel Marcus 41 http://www.2ndgoorkhas.com

Reedman’s two and a half year command and the resubordination of the Battalion to 16 (Air) Assault Brigade on 1 June 2015.

From a military training perspective the Battalion has been exceptionally active, conducting conceptual and field based training to validate themselves as a deployable battle group, culminating in a two-month exercise in Kenya in mid-2014. Battalion HQ also deployed to Latvia and had a multi-national battlegroup under command including 2 RGR, US Airborne, Norwegian Rangers and a Finnish company to form the Viking Battlegroup, pitted against a Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian formation as part of their NATO validation. Since the resubordination to 16 (Air) Assault Brigade the rifle companies have been busy too. C Company deployed in the Battalion’s new role as part of the Air Manoeuvre Battle Group attached to 2 PARA on Exercise EAGLES AMARANTE in UK and A Company maintained the Battalion’s strong start to life in the Brigade with an exceptional performance as COEFOR for 3 PARA’s Exercise ASKARI STORM in Kenya.

As well as regular military training 2 RGR has been heavily involved with operational commitments, in UK and abroad. From December 2014 the Battalion took over as the United Kingdom Standby Battalion (UKSB) to supply Military Aid to the Civil Authority. Abroad, the battalion has enjoyed extensive opportunities to explore the concept of brigade regional alignment with a number of military activities in North Africa. In addition to individual deployments to Bangladesh, Egypt, Morocco and Sierra Leone, the Battalion has also deployed a STTT on a six-month deployment to Mali on Op NEWCOMBE, instructing the Malian Armed Forces in preparation for operations in the north of the country. This provided an excellent vehicle to showcase the Gurkha soldier’s natural ability to deploy alongside and develop endoring relationships with foreign forces, whilst ensuring that the appetite in the Battalion remains whetted for those who relish the opportunity to deliver operational excellence around the world. Following the catastrophic earthquakes in Nepal in April and May 2015 the Battalion deployed eleven officers and soldiers, and had a significant contingent stood by, as part of the UK’s Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Response, in the immediate aftermath of the disaster.

Finally, this year has been a wonderful opportunity for the Brigade of

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Gurkhas as a whole and 2 RGR in particular to commemorate the history and achievements of Gurkha Service to the British Crown. The soldiers have enjoyed the chance to conduct public duties in London, lay on a fitting pageant at the Royal Hospital Chelsea and take a more reflective moment during the rededication service of the Gurkha Statue outside the MOD. 2 RGR personnel took part in the G200 Everest Expedition and Capt Jon Armstrong and Cpl Arjunsamyu Limbu were the first British-Nepali team to attempt the circumnavigation of Ellesmere Island on Exercise ARCTIC GURKHA. At every stage our soldiers acted with the resolve, dignity and a desire to achieve professional excellence befittinq the celebration of 200 years of Gurkha Service.

Following such a busy year 2 RGR is now poised to switch focus back to operations in preparation for the deployment as part of the Kabul Security Force on Op TORAL in 2016. For many of our soldiers it is a return to the country for the fourth or fifth time, in a new and challenging role, fourteen years after their first deployment. As the Brigade of Gurkhas moves into its third century of service to the Crown Op TORAL provides 2 RGR with the opportunity to prove once again that Gurkha soldiers continue to form an integral part of the 16 (Air) Assault Brigade and the British Army.

ARTICLES

General Frederick Young

What do General Frederick Young, Lieutenant General Sir Eyre Coote , General Sir Bryan Mahon, and General Sir Alan Cunningham have in common? They were all Irishmen who reached high rank in the British Army. I have to confess that until recently my scant knowledge of General Young was limited to the fact that he was credited with raising the Sirmoor Battalion in 1815 . I knew nothing of his origins or his military career until on a glorious Sunday afternoon in November, I found myself together with about sixty others assembled at a cemetery in Dublin to commemorate the life of the founder of our Regiment .

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Deansgrange Cemetery is located in the south-east of Dublin, where under the auspices of the Supervisor Mr John McCann an initiative has been carried out to identify graves of notable Irishmen who have made a significant contribution to different walks of life ranging from botany to medicine. After having identified a person of this sort, arrangements are made to raise funds and restore the grave and then to invite both relatives and those associated with the deceased for a short service of remembrance. Having served with the Royal Irish Rangers the Supervisor maintains a particular interest in graves with military connections – indeed he discovered the neglected grave of Sgt Joseph Woodall who while serving with The Rifle Brigade was awarded the VC in 1918.

As a result of his research it became apparent that in this bicentenary year of Gurkha service to the British Crown the grave of General Young was worthy of such recognition. The imposing granite grave was duly cleaned, the iron railings re painted and a plaque incorporating the regimental cypher was fixed to the stonework with the following wording :

On the 200th Anniversary of the raising of the Sirmoor Battalion on the 24th April 1815 by General Fredrick Young The President and all Members of the Sirmoor Rifles Association 2nd King Edward VII’s Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles ) remember with pride the formation of our Regiment 1st November 2015

Eventually Headquarters Brigade of Gurkhas was notified and hence it came about that there was Sirmoor Club representation at the Service of Remembrance. The overall turnout was surprisingly high, being a combination of dignitaries, the Royal British Legion Ireland, the Irish Army as well as the Sirmoor Club, relatives and others. Those of us wearing poppies were reminded we had assembled in Ireland to remember an Irishman from Donegal who in 1800 had enlisted into the Honourable East India Company at the age of 15 and went on to have an illustrious career with the Indian Army before retiring to Ireland after more than fifty years of military service.

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The ceremony was attended by the British Ambassador Mr Dominick Chilcott accompanied by the military attaché Colonel Max Walker and political secretary Mr John Webster. Also present were Mr John McCann, Supervisor of the cemetery, Rev Arthur Young vicar of the local Kill O’ the Grange church, the Chairman of Dunlaoire Rathdown County Council, Mr Kevin Myers of The Sunday Times (Irish edition), military historians plus those who were there simply out of curiosity. The Royal British Legion Ireland was represented by their chairman Major General The O‘ Morchoe, The Royal Dublin Fusiliers and standard bearers including the Irish flag from The Organisation of National Ex Servicemen and the Irish UN Veterans Association and as well as a bugler. The Sirmoor Club was represented by Lieutenant General Sir Peter Duffell, Lieutenant Colonel Mark Scott, Major John Harrop, Major Nigel Wylie Carrick, Major Noel and Sally McAffrey and Mrs Rachel Magowan.

There was a remarkable turnout of no less than nine descendants of General Young including Rachel Magowan who had the honour of unveiling the plaque. According to Rachel most were descended from the General’s uncle. Unfortunately she was unable to locate descendants of the General’s own children. Rachel has produced a very informative booklet on her relative.

It was as if Deansgrange itself was aware of the significance of the occasion for while we stood and listened to the welcome, prayers, address and playing of The Last Post, we hoped that the General would have approved of his final resting place because the cemetery’s paths were marked by smart manicured rifle green yew trees covered in red berries. It was as if he was still being guarded by his lali paltan!

General Sir Peter’s address, as ever, captured the moment and for those who like me had not done their homework, he gave us a brief resume of General Young’s life and exploits of the regiment he had founded two hundred years ago. It is worth recording parts of his address:

‘At the age of 15 Frederick Young won a cadetship to the Honourable East India Company. Qualifying for such a position Latin ,Greek or Mathematics did not count for much. Straight shooting and good manners were much

45 http://www.2ndgoorkhas.com more highly regarded. Apparently at his interview he was asked two questions:

‘How old are you?’ ‘15 on November 30th last ‘ ‘Are you ready to die for King and Country?’ ‘I am ‘ ‘That will do ‘

Would that I could have joined the 2nd Gurkha Rifles quite as easily!

Frederick Young arrived in India in 1800 , was posted to a Native Infantry Battalion and was to serve there for some 44 years without a break. Early service saw him in action in the Mahratta Wars and then a three year expedition to Java where he was blown up and given up for lost. His character, charm and courage (so clear in the portrait which used to hang in the Mess, now in The Gurkha Museum) brought him to the attention of his commander in Java – the eminent General Rollo Gillespie and he was appointed as his ADC. He returned to India in 1813 and before long was in action against an aggressive Gorkha Army from Nepal attempting to expand into areas under the Company’s protection. On the staff of General Gillespie, who along with General Ochterlony was to play a prominent part in the war, Young was given command of a ragged irregular force that proved no match for the Gorkha Army. General Gillespie was killed in one assault on a Gorkha fort and died in Young’s arms. The ferocity of the Gorkha defence and the fate of his General made a deep impression on Young.

In a subsequent battle between Young’s irregulars and their formidable enemy, Young’s ill equipped plainsmen who were at a loss in the rugged hill terrain of Nepal deserted and Young was left alone surrounded by Gurkhas. ’You are brave‘ they are reputed to have said ‘Why did you not run away as well ?’ Young replied that he had come too far to run away. The Gorkhas supposedly responded by saying that they could serve under a man like him. Apocryphal this may have been in part, but Young was convinced that the Company’s Army needed the Gorkha hill men rather than irregular plainsmen who had failed him. Encouraged by General Ochterlony , at the end of the war camps. ‘I went in as one man’ said Young ’and came out with 3000’.

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In April 1815 three Gurkha units had been formed including Young’s Sirmoor Battalion at Dehra Dun. Six months later Young reported his Battalion was fit for active service. He was to command his Sirmoor Battalion for 28 years, building them into a loyal, formidable and disciplined fighting force. They won their spurs at Koonja in 1824 where after a forced march of 36 miles in 12 hours they overcame a vastly superior force of dacoits to win the day. Later the Battalion was to win its first Battle Honour at the siege of Bhurtpore and further honours followed at Aliwal and Sobraon.

In addition to his role as Commandant, Frederick Young developed Dehra Dun as a cantonment for his Battalion, building it into something of a paradise in the shadow of the magnificent Mussoorie Hills. Indeed his regiment was to be based at Dehra Dun for over 130 years until independence and the partition of India. Aside from soldiering Young was the first person to grow tea and potatoes in the Himalayas. He imported from England a pack of hounds that he formed into a regimental hunt that he regularly led around Dehra. In addition to commanding his battalion he was the Magistrate, Collector and Surveyor of Dehra Dun. And not least in 1825 he married Colonel Bird’s daughter and managed to sire eight children - so his time in Dehra Dun was far from idle.

In 1844, now a Colonel, Young finally left Dehra Dun for two years’ furlough in Ireland before returning to Calcutta on promotion to Brigadier General as the Commander 44 Brigade. Eventually in 1854 he retired back to Ireland at the age of 70 after 54 years’ service.’

General Sir Peter then went on to briefly describe further exploits of the regiment beginning with the Siege of Delhi, the two World Wars and the subsequent campaigns. He summarised General Young’s contribution as being his belief in the sterling qualities of the Gurkha soldier as a fighting man was more than fulfilled and his Regiment became one of the most formidable Corps to serve the British Crown. The Brigade of Gurkhas and indeed the Nation should be grateful to this distinguished Irish soldier for laying the solid foundations of the 2nd Goorkhas and the Brigade of Gurkhas and ensuing such valuable service to the British Crown over so many years.

JRH

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Sirmoor Club 200th Anniversary Lunch

The Sirmoor Club 200th Anniversary Lunch took place at the Travellers Club in Pall Mall on 12th September 2016. It was very well attended and we were privileged to have the Queen’s Truncheon present. Prior to lunch William Shuttlewood gave a briefing on the work of the Gurkha Welfare Trust in response to the Nepal earthquake and after a splendid meal the President, Lieutenant General Sir Peter Duffell, gave the following speech:

“Welcome to the Travellers for our 200th anniversary lunch. I hope you have found the occasion suitably convivial and agreeable, lunching again in the presence of the Queen’s Truncheon, with a new silver band recording Her Majesty’s inspection on 10th June this year and with our regimental silver very much in evidence.

We sent a message of loyal greetings to our former Colonel in Chief and we have received the following generous reply: ‘Thank you for your kind message of Loyal Greetings, sent on behalf of all members of the Sirmoor Club assembled today the Travellers Club for the 200th Anniversary Reunion Luncheon. As your former Colonel in Chief I was delighted to receive these Loyal Greetings and I do hope that the occasion is a highly enjoyable and memorable one for all present in this notable anniversary year.’

We also received a most kind letter from General Sir Christopher Wallace, chairman of the Celer et Audax Club saying ‘We congratulate and celebrate with you 200 years of outstanding service to the British Crown by Gurkha Riflemen’. I asked General Christopher to be our guest at lunch today but sadly it is also the occasion of the 60th Delhi lunch so he has had to decline. But Tony Berry and Val West among others felt able to neglect the calls of their parent Regiment in favour of lunching with us and very welcome they are. And Dwin Bramall, the 60th Rifles most distinguished veteran and our former Colonel sends his apologies and regrets very much that he can’t be with us but increasing immobility and the recent sad passing of his elegant Avril after 66 years of marriage has, I fear, taken its toll. He sends his apologies and is most grateful for the many letters of condolence.

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The Travellers was founded in 1819 to provide a meeting place for Gentlemen who had travelled abroad so on both counts I suggest it serves as an appropriate rendezvous for us. Wellington himself was a member and over there you can see the fine painting by the Count D’Orsay which was the Iron Duke’s last and apparently his favourite portrait. So I must of course welcome some of the Club’s own many intrepid travellers including your former president, Field Marshal John Chapple together with his Annabel. This summer I hear they have been flying around the West Indies – those islands of soft breezes and hard liquor – searching for much that is of ornithogical interest – including the elusive West Indian Gray Trembler and the Pearly-Eyed Thrasher – names that when I mentioned them to Annie she thought I was referring to officers in her brothers’ Regiment.

And another intrepid traveller Sir John Nott with his Miloska is also with us – among the most loyal and generous of our supporters. John of course still carries great influence as a Privy Counsellor and former Secretary of State in the cabinet of Mrs Thatcher. This was apparent when many of the Club were stranded by bad weather at Kathmandu airport desperately trying to reach the Durbar at Pokhara. John with what I have heard described as a nonchalant and perfunctory wave of farewell to his fellow Sirmoorees, hitched a ride on CDS’s passing helicopter and persuaded the pilot to drop him 30 minutes later dry and comfortable at his Hotel in Pokhara while a set of bedraggled Sirmooree men, women and children were forced to the buses and a somewhat hazardous seven hour drive across Nepal. Good to see the Sirmoor system in operation!

I also want to welcome Slim Horsford, well into his nineties. Peter Kemmis Betty now in his 100th year had also hoped to be here but felt unable to attend at the last moment. On visiting the Gurkha Welfare residential home in Kaski during the Durbar to open the garden we had helped fund I met the one resident from the Regiment, 94 year old Rifleman Churman Gurung of the 2nd Battalion, a prisoner of war of the Japanese, and presented him with his commemorative medal. He muttered to me “Kemmis Betty, Kemmis Betty”. Peter had been his Company commander 75 years ago. I was able to reassure him that Peter was alive and well and on my return from Nepal I passed his salaams to Peter. And good to see Patrick Covernton who has been none too well also here with his Sarah.

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And two of our elegant Assistant Adjutants, Rachel O’Meara and Nicola Dawtry, are happily with us too. I particularly welcome Rachel because after a break in shooting her latest blockbuster movie she has flown in all the way from far flung Hollywood especially to have lunch with me!

Sadly some of our gallant members have gone. Among them you will have read of the exploits of Colonel Peter Jones, a most brave and dashing officer who won a DSO as a young officer in North Africa and was wounded several times in the process. His widow Pat was one of the most beautiful of all the girls working for the secret service in Singapore’s Braddell Rise several of whom caught the Regiment’s eye; – and Grahame Vivian with a pair of Military Crosses from Burma where he was badly wounded by mortar fire and in Malaya has also sadly died. Both officers came across to the Regiment at partition from the 9th and 8th Gurkhas respectively and how lucky we were to have them. So, good to see Graham’s daughter Marcia – always a strong supporter - with us today and The Telegraph and the Times gave generous space to their obituaries.

Happy memories of our Durbar linger on and bravo again to David Thomas and Yam and their teams. It really was a most wonderful occasion and Nick Hinton has crafted a splendid souvenir brochure to keep the spirit and freshness of it all alive. Nick has also produced his first edition of the Sirmooree which he hopes will find favour. We are extremely grateful to him for his efforts. The Commemorative Medal, too, was an inspired idea and seems to have been well received by all ranks and worn with much pride and pleasure. We shall be presenting over two thousand more at the Sathis gathering at Reading next week. When Bruce and I on your behalf and together with the hierarchy of the Royal Gurkha Rifles accompanied the Queen’s Truncheon to the Palace on 10th June I took the opportunity to present the Prince of Wales with his medal and he arrived a month later at the RGR Birthday Parade in Shorncliffe proudly wearing it pinned to his right lapel. And the medallion has also been as well received by our widows in the Sirmoor Club, as it was by the Regimental Widows in Nepal.

Throughout the summer anniversary activities have continued - the Brigade march through London from Wellington Barracks to the Gurkha Statue; a month of public duties in May – all this displaying sharp and exemplary Rifle

50 http://www.2ndgoorkhas.com drill as far as I could proudly see as well as much beguiling the public; the innovative Pageant at the Royal Hospital inspired by Ian Rigden, the Regiment’s own Danny Boyle, where the re-enactment of Bhanbhagta winning his VC was particularly memorable as bayonets and kukris cut their way through swathes of Japanese in a most realistic piece of military theatre noir, the whole affair administered by William Shuttlewood and his team - the glamorous fund raising dinner that followed found my wife sitting next to Michael Fallon where she managed to extract from the Secretary of State a promise of no more Gurkha cuts at least for five years – amazing what a whiff of Chanel No 5 can achieve - and the Brigade of Gurkhas Band has played its heart out at great sporting events at Lords, Wembley and Cardiff and a dozen other venues in aid of Earthquake fund raising all giving testament that the Regiment and the Brigade is in pretty good shape and well respected by the British public. If only the Band would stop performing that wretched kukri dance that has no cultural provenance and which for me at any rate sends quite the wrong message about the Gurkha character when understatement and subtlety are so much more effective. And wonderful postage stamps inspired by a suggestion from John Burlison. And Craig Lawrence has produced a splendid coffee table book “The Gurkhas” which I commend to you.

The BBC gave excellent coverage of the 70th anniversary of VJ Day a few weeks ago. Bill Smyly of our Third Battalion interviewed at The Rag spoke movingly about his harrowing experiences with the Chindits; a column from the Royal Gurkha Rifles was very evident during the parade on Horse Guards and Charles Dance recited Kipling’s evocative Mandalay: “I’ve a neater, sweeter maiden in a cleaner, greener land, on the road to Mandalay”. That I am sure struck a chord somewhere.

Our 200th anniversary surely deserves a moment’s reflection. Throughout my 55 years association with the Regiment I have always felt, as I am sure you have that there was something different and rather special about the 2nd Goorkhas that made us proud of our heritage and service and drew so many of us to celebrate our anniversary and stick together as an Association of all ranks. For me it goes way beyond the Lali and the peculiarity of our titles or indeed our seniority. It was never the custom for the Sirmoor Rifles to blaze their deeds abroad nor was there a need to – one sensed our Battle

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Honours and the way we did things surely spoke for that. And that faintly absurd title “God’s Own” seemed to me to be some sort of jibe of envy from those outside the Regiment rather than anything engendered from within. Much better to remind ourselves what Francis Tuker called the 2nd Goorkhas - one of the greatest fighting corps that ever served the British Crown - and his suggestion that the origins of this lay in the esprit de corps of the Regiment and its peculiar form of discipline known as the Sirmoor system that has endured through all successes and adversity. Of course we always had fine martial material with our gallant and light hearted Gurkha soldiers and the strong relationship we forged with them, sure in each other’s loyalty; but we have also been singularly lucky in the Officer corps who were there before us and built the Regiment’s character and reputation from the very beginning - Frederick Young and Charles Reid, Fisher, Macpherson VC and Macintyre, Wigram and Tuker, Lovett and Richardson, Showers and Neill to name but a few and saving the blushes of anyone present - a regimental cadre of officers who over the years set the style and the standards of the Sirmoor Rifles and made us the envy of others. Of course there was the occasional eccentric or misfit that most of us can probably recall; and as wise Denis Wood has written, every regiment and battalion has its ups and downs; life is not all glory; people do not behave impeccably all the time but I am struck forcibly by the high quality of service the Regiment gave over the years. Its low points were relatively few and usually short lived, its high achievements were many and prolonged – generally we can be proud that in our time we lead the way. I note that the Regimental Colonel of the Royal Gurkha Rifles and the splendid Gurkha Majors of both the current Battalions all began their soldiering with the 2nd Gurkha Rifles and this suggests to me that a strong part of the Sirmoor legacy and character along with its operational spirit, the Battle Honours, the Lali and the Truncheon have all in good part successfully passed to our lineal descendants.

Another more modest part of our legacy is of course recorded in the First Battalion’s Liar Book which has recently come my way courtesy of David Scotson which reveals the pungent wit, the intellectual depth of Regimental mess conversation: the book features the usual suspects – Mole, Willoughby, Ormsby, Meath Baker, Corfield to name but a few. Some repeatable entries have caught my eye:

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The RMO in the morning listening to the Bugler sound Reveille: “Don’t they know any other tunes?”

Officer to colleague: “Do you know a good English restaurant in town?” “Yes, Au Trou Normande”.

Newly joined officer: “Kaida – is that a Japanese martial art?

Officer overheard on the Mess telephone calling Kowloon: “Can I speak to the Madam please”.

David is editing a wider selection for The Sirmooree.

Your President now standing on the threshold of his senility has recently retired from paid employment. In the words of that old Spanish proverb – how sweet it is to do nothing and then have a rest. After some ten years clinging to office I have run my race and it is time to step down. Of course the sentiments of one departing may be different from those that remain but I have much enjoyed the privilege of serving the Association as your President and particularly presiding over our celebrations in this anniversary year. The President’s role is twofold: firstly to keep the Field Marshals on side; and secondly to summarise the decisions made by your Committee members and Trustees before any meeting begins and thus keep matters on an even course. In my place you have kindly agreed to appoint Brigadier Ian Rigden as your next President. Ian is still a serving officer and thus closely in touch with the Royal Gurkha Rifles; he commanded their Second Battalion in Afghanistan and was a highly successful Colonel Brigade of Gurkhas. He is a vigorous, imaginative and thinking senior officer of proven worth, holds the Sirmoor Rifles dear and has excellent milap with us, with the serving Regiment and with our pensioners. He will I know be an excellent President and I commend him to you. In addition Bruce will also be standing down after our reunion next May and handing over chairmanship to Colonel William Shuttlewood who is retiring in the Spring from the Gurkha Welfare Trust having been a most successful Director. Apart from his commitment to the Regiment William is absolutely up to date with Nepal and welfare matters both there and in the UK. So Rigden and Shuttlewood – youthful and vigorous - the dream team for the Sirmoor Rifles Association. In today’s

53 http://www.2ndgoorkhas.com management speak with which I know you will be familiar - a smart sizing of our core team. There will be time next year to pay tribute to Bruce’s most sterling efforts for the Club over so many years. His support to me along with Nigel Wylie Carrick and your Committee members and Trustees has been wonderfully generous and tolerant and I am most grateful to them all as you should be.

For the future we must continue to consider how best to keep in touch with The Royal Gurkha Rifles – and here perhaps the Regimental Colonel can help with us to encourage both sides to feel engaged not least on our part by including invitations to the RGR Association in all that we do; the UK Battalion incidentally now has a most prestigious role as part of the Air Assault Brigade alongside two battalions of the Parachute Regiment – absolutely in the van you might say and two companies set off for Afghanistan early next year.

And lastly and as the balance of our Association’s membership has swung to just about 50-50 in UK and Nepal we must consider how best to help with annual grants from the Trust through both interest and modest capital draw down while at the same time preserving our Trust capital for the long term so that in the most creative and responsible way possible it can benefit all members of the Sirmoor Rifles so long as we survive as an association and where it is sensible and fair and honourable to do so also for the benefit of the wider Gurkha institutions. On that note, 200 memorable years on, let us drink a toast to the Sirmoor Rifles.”

(See frontispiece to this Sirmooree and other photographs of this event on p.29 – Ed).

A Sirmoor Tale from Kohima

While thoughtfully surveying the gravestones at the beautifully maintained Commonwealth War Cemetery at Kohima earlier this year I found the grave of Maj HG (Hugh) Lyons-Montgomery, probably the only 2nd Goorkha buried there. He was then serving as a Brigade Major, quite possibly with 50 Indian Parachute Brigade as his death on 4th March 1944 predates the siege and the relief of Kohima, and at that stage only 50 Brigade and the Assam Rifles

54 http://www.2ndgoorkhas.com were in action forward of the Kohima position.

When our battlefield tour group had recovered to Hong Kong a number of us decided to sponsor a Naga child to go to school through the offices of the Kohima Educational Trust (KET). Only £300 allows a Naga child to go to school for a year. The KET likes to link these sponsorships to someone who fought and died at the battle - and then the pupil is encouraged to go and visit the grave and understand a little about the huge upheaval that occurred in the lives of their grandparents. I chose to link my sponsorship to Maj HG Lyons-Montgomery. Apart from being the only 2nd Goorkha that I could find in the Cemetery, the Regimental Register records that he won the Sword of Honour at Sandhurst and was an exceptional sportsman. Denis Wood believes that he was a descendant of Sir Frederick Young. He died aged 31 - leaving a young wife and the possibility of a distinguished military career not realised. I have often pondered since finding his grave of the exact circumstances of his death - with that poignant epitaph on the 2nd Division Memorial very much in my thoughts.

CJPL Gurkha Stamps

Stanley Holloway was smiling as I licked the stamp bearing his jovial face, as part of the Royal Mail’s ‘Ealing Comedies’ commemorative issue. Gurkhas were about to commemorate 200 years so, I thought, why don’t we try and get our own commemorative issue of stamps?

I made contact with a Mr Howard of Royal Mail, the Stamp Programmes Manager at the Philatelic Department. His first reaction was: “Oh not Gurkhas again. They’ve featured several times over the years, the last being only a few years ago in ‘Famous Regiments’’. I made no comment. Mr Howard explained that he gets many hundreds of suggestions for an issue of stamps. Issuing special subject stamps is a commercial matter and only proceeds with those that will sell. However he said personally he would be happy to go beyond the hackneyed subjects like fifty years of the Ford ‘Capri’ or a hundred years of Arthur Ransome’s ‘Swallows and Amazons’ or ‘Bovril’. “It’s a long time since we had a bicentenary and Gurkhas are a very strong subject” he added. 55 http://www.2ndgoorkhas.com

I composed a letter and sent it off, adding that we had a fine and accessible museum full of pictures which would make excellent stamps. The reply said the concept was worthy of a formal application which should now be sent in. This, I felt, was now more than should be handled by a retired Major in East Sussex. I drafted letters from the Colonel Commandant and Colonel Brigade of Gurkhas to the Director General of the Royal Mail and sent them across. The matter was then taken up by HQBG and the Gurkha Museum.

On 20 August 2015 Royal Mail put on sale a very fine sheet of First Class stamps depicting Gurkhas, their origins, battles, history, traditions, culture and the GWT. Being a limited issue the sheets were only available in the larger Post Offices but the Gurkha Museum at Winchester sold them in their shop. This was not quite as I had hoped which was to have individual stamps of different denominations being sold to the public over Post Office counters, but it was something we could be proud of. It didn’t quite match Stanley Holloway – but then nothing ever did!

JJB

(The sheet of stamps John Burlison refers to can be purchased online at www.royalmail.com. Royal Mail did sell an over-the-counter stamp showing Rifleman Kulbir Thapa VC as one of their First World War series. India also produced stamps marking the bicentenary of the First and Third Gorkha Rifles. See pictures on p.35– Ed).

BOOKS

An Imperial Crisis in British India: The Manipur Uprising of 1891, by Caroline Keen

This book is a fascinating account of a little known incident which took place in 1891 in the princely state of Manipur between Assam and Burma, not far from the more familiar Second World War battlefields of Kohima and Imphal.

A reader looking for an important part played by the Sirmoor Rifles will be disappointed. Despite being eligible to wear the clasp N E Frontier 1891 to 56 http://www.2ndgoorkhas.com the Indian General Service Medal 1854, the First Battalion's involvement as part of the Manipur Field Force was limited: "the majority of the field force had not fired a shot in the whole campaign and more had died of cholera '. However, there are plenty of references to Gurkhas whose conduct was exemplary and courageous. It recounts the extraordinary story of Lieutenant Charles Grant of The Madras Staff Corps who commanded a detachment of the 43rd Gurkhas (later 2/8 GR) and was awarded a Victoria Cross while leading a force of Gurkhas and Punjabis of which every survivor received the Indian Order of Merit. Outnumbered, he tricked his opponents into thinking they faced a much larger force by wearing colonel’s badges of rank and sending messages purportedly from a ‘Colonel Howlett‘. One of his Gurkhas was quoted as saying “How could we be beaten under Lieutenant Grant ? He is a tiger in a fight. When hundreds of Manipuris were close, he just took 10 Gurkhas out to stop them and in a minute they had driven the enemy back “.

Boys Own stuff maybe, but then so is the remarkable escape of Ethel Grimwood, the wife of the murdered Political Agent. She led a small group of British Officers and loyal sepoys out of Manipur through the jungle to Assam and safety. Her exhausted party climbed as high as 3000 feet in the mountainous terrain before meeting a party of 43rd Gurkhas.

The real importance of Caroline Keen’s meticulously researched book is to highlight the political implications arising from this incident in a small hill state on the NE Frontier that stretched back to not only the Viceroy, but also to the Secretary of State in London. Thankfully the author supplements her account with several helpful and detailed appendices and none more so than the Maharaja’s complicated family tree. The story unfolds as a result of a palace coup, and against the advice of Frank Grimwood the Government of India refuses to recognise the new Maharaja. Its ponderous response was to arrange to have him arrested and replaced with his half brother. Whatever might have been the intention, the implementation was bungled resulting in the murder of the Chief Commissioner James Quinton and his Secretary William Cousins, plus Lieutenant Colonel Charles Skene (Commanding Officer 42nd Gurkhas (later 6GR) and Lieutenant Walter Simpson (43rd Gurkha Light Infantry). However, while the author does not spare the reader of the grisly account of their murder - hands cut off first, followed by feet and finally head - one has to wonder at the naive trust of these four who decided to

57 http://www.2ndgoorkhas.com negotiate without their side arms or even an escort - or perhaps it was simply a mistaken belief in Pax Britannica ?

And yet there is another sub-plot in this story because accompanying Mrs Grimwood as she escapes from the besieged Residency were two British Officers, Captain Louis Boileau (44th Gurkhas) and Captain George Butcher (42nd Gurkhas) who were subsequently deemed to have shown dereliction of duty by abandoning Gurkhas under their command in the confusion of the retreat.

In due course the Manipur Field Force, comprising three Columns, was raised to inflict retribution, and this presented a logistical challenge in itself with one column requiring at least 13000 pack animals. The field force eventually reached Manipur only to find that the capital was 'wrapped in silence' because the rebels had decided to evacuate the city. The field force then duly set about searching for and capturing the ringleaders which resulted in the exile of one of the princes and the execution of another. A Court of Enquiry was duly held which censured many of the key participants, but it did not challenge the Raj's belief that its policy of dealing with the Princely States was above criticism.

This excellent book is a welcome addition to those who might wish to broaden their knowledge of an extraordinary incident in India in the late 19th Century where Gurkha involvement was not inconsiderable.

JRH

A Face Like a Chicken’s Backside - An Unconventional Soldier in South East Asia 1948-1971, by J.P. Cross

‘A Face Like a Chicken’s Backside’ was originally published in 1996 and has just been reissued by The History Press. It recounts John Cross’s experiences over the period 1948 to 1971.

The first part of the book covers his time as a company commander in northern Perak and Kelantan, focused on eliminating the Communist leader Ah Soo Chye. The second describes his time in Borneo during Confrontation,

58 http://www.2ndgoorkhas.com where his main role was to set up the Border Scouts. The third and last section deals with his command of the Gurkha Independent Parachute Company and the Jungle Warfare School in Ulu Tiram.

The book is particularly good at highlighting the involvement of local people, whether these were the colourful Temiar he worked with, the Laos, Thais and Vietnamese he trained or the insurgents he fought. It is also very personal book and consequently not always a comfortable read. He is not afraid to pull his punches when telling his story and describing the people he worked with, and his strong emotions surface at times in the narrative. However, his deep knowledge and experience and the gripping nature of the stories he has to tell counterbalance any rawness of his passions, enthusiasms and frustrations to make for a very lively and absorbing story. I read the book from cover to cover in one sitting and strongly commend it to anyone interested in this period of the Gurkhas’ history, or to anyone who knows John Cross or of him.

NJHH

Empires of the Indus by Alice Albinia.

This is a history of the civilisations in and around the Indus valley, in the form of a travelogue as the author ascends its course. It covers an extraordinary variety of topics: the topography of the river itself; its ancient history, for example in the Rig Veda; the impact of Indian independence; the ‘river saints’ and their impact on the history and current condition of the area; the Sheedis, descendants of medieval Ethiopian slaves brought to Sindh by Muslim traders; Alexander the Great’s rampaging around; the impact of Buddhism; the origins and history of the Aryans in that part of the world; the extraordinary archaeological records; and the contemporary overlay of social, economic and cultural factors that make the area so rich, fascinating, chaotic and frustrating. She is erudite, writes very well and maintains a balanced perspective on the vast sweep of the area’s history. The British get a few mentions but without over-emphasising our impact or long-term importance on how the area has developed. She is also very intrepid, and if her account sometimes makes her sound foolhardy she manages to describe her tribulations and the extraordinary people she meets with compassion

59 http://www.2ndgoorkhas.com and great good humour. While focused on history, she also acknowledges the modern, for example in her account of ringing her husband in the UK on her mobile as she approaches Mount Kailash and the source of the Indus. Her book is a fascinating and very enjoyable read which pulls together many of the subjects that provide the wider context for Nepal and our soldiers.

NJHH

Trustees of the 2nd Goorkhas (The Sirmoor Rifles) Regimental Trust

President Brigadier I A Rigden OBE Chairman Brigadier B C Jackman OBE MC Chairman designate Colonel W F Shuttlewood OBE Honorary Secretary Major N D Wylie Carrick MBE SRA Treasurer Captain E C Mackaness Editor, The Sirmooree Colonel N J H Hinton MBE Elected Members Mr R J C Corfield Mr J A Coulson Major D L Thomas MBE Major Yambahadur Gurung BEM Major Lalbahadur Gurung Captain Bharat Sing Thapa Chhetri Secretary and Treasurer to the Mr M F H Adler TD 2GR Trust

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PROPERTY AND PRI

Blazer. The following tailor has been recommended by a Sirmoori: Strathcarron of Corby, Northants. [email protected], phone 01536 401536. The delivered cost is approximately £130.00 and the tailoring is good.

Lali dicing. Available for £6 by private purchase from Ian Kelly Militaria. (http://www.kellybadges.co.uk/8-cap-badges-army-other-ranks-cloth-cap- badges -oOo- Sirmoor Medal. If you have not received your Sirmoor Medal, please contact the Honorary Secretary. The following items can also be obtained from the Honorary Secretary: Hats Felt Gurkha (HFG). 5 x HFG are available at £31 each +p&p. Sizes: (1 x 59, 3 x 58, 2 x 57, 1 x 56). Black Buttons. Round buttons, flat buttons and cuff buttons are now available. Blazer button (round or flat) £1 each + p&p Cuff Button 0.75p each + p&p 1 x blazer set 6 x ball/flat, 8 x cuff. (£10 + p&p). Rams Head Tie. £5 + p&p. 2GR Public Duties Tie. £5 + p&p.

Durbar Souvenir Brochure This 100 page document includes messages from our Royal Patrons, numerous photographs and descriptions of the Durbar events, and 10 pages of historical Regimental photographs. Cost is £10 including p&p. If you would like a copy, please contact the Editor of The Sirmooree, Nick Hinton, 24 Gilpin Avenue, London SW14 8QY; Phone 0208 876 3136 or 07808 247861, email: [email protected].

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Pages from the Durbar Souvenir Brochure

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