Lieutenant Colonel Peter Kemmis Betty MC 1916-2016
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0 http://www.2ndgoorkhas.com Lieutenant Colonel Peter Kemmis Betty MC 1916-2016 Kemmis Betty when he was commanding the 2nd Battalion: his 'cool judgment, calm orders and cheerful bearing…inspired his exhausted men’. See obituary p22. http://www.2ndgoorkhas.com CONTENTS President’s Foreword 3 Chairman’s Letter 5 Editorial 7 Honorary Secretary’s Notes − Membership 8 − 2GR Website 9 − Diary 11 − Notices 12 The Sirmoor Register − Deaths 12 − Obituaries 14 Sirmoor Club News 29 Sirmoor Club Activities − Sirmoor Piscatorial Society 42 − Sirmoor Golf Society 43 − Sirmoor Yacht Squadron 48 − Sirmoor Shooting 51 − Sirmoor Armchair Battlefield Tours 53 Articles − Remembering Gurkhas in the Highlands 54 − Earthquake Relief in Nepal 56 − Unveiling of the Gurkha Statue at Church Crookham 58 − Some Interesting Factual Snippets from the Chairman of the SRA (UK Sathies) 60 − 50th Anniversary of the Ending of Hostilities in Borneo 63 Books 64 Property and PRI 65 Trustees of the 2nd Goorkhas Regimental Trust 66 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. http://www.2ndgoorkhas.com PRESIDENT’S FOREWORD Dear Sirmooris, I have sadly been unable to share time with you recently as I eventually ended up completing just short of 15 months in Afghanistan, arriving back at three o’clock in the morning, on Christmas Eve 2016. Even for the RAF, that was certainly cutting it tight! I am glad that I will now be able to spend more time on Sirmoor matters and events through our Chairman, William, and catch up with old friends. I am also happy to report that the modern Brigade continues to achieve quite excellent results and keep the spirit of the Gurkhas alive. For eight months of my recent tour I had the pleasure of working alongside the Battalion I commanded, 2 RGR. They were quite superb and earned the respect and admiration of our NATO Allies and Afghan hosts under their CO, Jamie Murray. They won the military skills competitions and most of the sports events but, most importantly, their innate professionalism shone through at all times. My team of Australians, New Zealanders and Danes, rated them above all of the other units they worked closely with. My point in stating this is not to aggrandize the Brigade of Gurkhas, but to let you know that our reputation remains in exceptional hands, and that the RGR in particular really cares about its Regimental heritage, especially the antecedent Regiments. I believe that it is vitally important that, as our Regimental Association continues to thrive, we must embrace the RGR and cement their and our legacy. We can also provide them with some form of continuity through our experience and knowledge as we continue to pass on the baton from old to new. They are desperately keen to maintain the relevant parts of our kaida, while adjusting other parts to meet the demands of the 21st Century. We all have a role in this. Indeed, our continued success and comradeship in the wider Sirmoor family is a superb example of true Regimental spirit - and long may it continue. http://www.2ndgoorkhas.com With this in mind our Chairman, William Shuttlewood, and the Trustees, will work hard to continue to develop further the agenda set by Bruce Jackman and our last President, General Sir Peter Duffell, as we move forward over the next few decades of the 21st Century. We all see no reason why we should not continue to be a strong Association with our own particular brand and ethos for as long as we collectively wish to. William has some excellent ideas and we will consult and keep you informed over time as these are developed further. After the euphoria of our bi-centenary in 2015, which was both a recognition of 200 years of service to the British Crown, but also a reset for the modern Brigade, the GBA, the GWT and the Gurkha Museum as we march forward confidently into the 21st Century, it is easy to overlook the other momentous occasions beyond, notably the 200th anniversaries of the signing of the Treaty of Segauli, the date that the FCO uses as the start of true international relations with Nepal, and the formation of 6GR. I would like to extend our warm best wishes to our friends and brothers in arms in 6GR for their bi- centenary celebrations. 2016 has seen the loss of some very prominent Sirmoorees. In particular, I would single out the very special Peter Kemmis Betty. One of life’s true gentlemen, this kind, good-humoured and very brave Regimental officer died a few months after reaching his 100th birthday. He had an extraordinary life, not least being a survivor of Changi. He was among the very best of us and his example will be long-remembered. In fact, in 2012, I met a 93 year old 2/2GR pensioner in the Kaski Regimental home who had been in Peter’s company and was also interned at Changi. He rather sadly told me that all of his friends and his British Officers were now dead. I said, no, your company commander is still alive. I didn’t give a name, but he immediately replied: “Kemmis Betty Saheb is still alive? This is wonderful. He is a good man, a good man.” The smile and a few tears said it all as his mind went back to 1942. I told Peter this story and he was visibly moved, “they were very good men” was his immediate reply. One of those men, Captain Bhaktasing Pun MM, (father of Major Bishnu Pun MVO) also celebrated his 100th birthday in 2016. In another link to 2/2GR, 2016 saw the presentation of the MBE, 70 years after it should have been awarded to Subedar Major Kalusing Chhetri OBI, MBE, MC, to his grandson http://www.2ndgoorkhas.com WO2 Khadak Chhetri (who is still serving and was once my ORQMS). Kalusing was a Subedar when 2/2GR went into Changi. The Japanese systematically tortured the then Subedar Major, Harising Bohra IOM, over a 2 year period leading to his death. Kalusing took over the Battalion from Harising and survived similar bad treatment, but luckily survived and led the men brilliantly through the most terrible conditions. He was gazetted with the MBE but never knew. This has now thankfully been rectified. We have lost other good friends in UK and Nepal, including Patrick Covernton, who so bravely attended the 2015 Sirmoor Luncheon despite being very unwell, and Captain (QGO) Dalbahadur Rana. Our thoughts remain very much with their families and friends. They will not be forgotten. I will finish with the words of our good friend from 1GR and 7GR, JPX (John Cross): “Gurkhas are a product of the past. If they did not exist no one would invent them. They have survived by persuading people that they achieve standards higher than those that the modern world sets itself.” We have all had a part in creating those traditions and standards, and the serving Brigade continues to maintain our reputation, but we are the guardians of that tradition, and the mentors for those who come after us. The Brigade is a family, and the 2nd Goorkhas are the biggest family within it. We must stay together in friendship and shared memories, and help each other where appropriate. May I wish you all a very happy and eventful 2017. IAR CHAIRMAN’S LETTER There is a general agreement that our bi-centenary celebrations in 2015, both in UK and Nepal, were a huge success. There is however always the danger that the morning after the night before can be something of an anti- climax, that bonds of undying allegiance and friendship forged in the excitement of celebrating 200 years of service to the Crown might be diminished, that interest in and focus on Regimental affairs might rapidly decline. http://www.2ndgoorkhas.com It was therefore with some trepidation that in 2016 I agreed to relieve Bruce as the Club’s Chairman. This succession, following closely on the change of President, marked the passing of responsibility for Regimental affairs to a younger generation, potentially adding to the view that we might have had the last Regimental hurrah. My concerns were without foundation. My visit to the Sirmoor Club (Nepal) in April confirmed that those still living in the Regiment’s traditional recruiting areas remain as committed and enthusiastic to upholding the name and traditions of the 2nd Goorkhas as ever; the Delhi Day gathering of the Sirmoor Sathis in the rain at Aldershot, in front of the Queen’s Truncheon, underscored the spirit, fortitude and sense of history that are the bedrock of the Sirmoori; the large gathering of British Officers, their wives and guests for the annual Club lunch at the Travellers’ Club in London in May was reassurance that the Sirmoor sense of style was alive and well. We should all therefore be in no doubt that the Regiment and its three components will continue to endure for some time to come. I have to report this happy state of affairs is nothing to do with me and everything to do with my predecessor. It is only when you take up the reins that you realise just what an enormous contribution, much of it hidden, that Bruce has made to the Regiment and the Sirmoor Club over a very great number of years.