Adux
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LOOKING BACK : BRITISH TROOPS LEAVING INDIA
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16:3 IST
The second battalion, the Royal Norfolk Regiment was the first British Army unit to leave Indian soil after the country achieved independence. The departure on August 17, 1947 from Mumbai witnessed a ceremonial function in which the Governor General Lord Louis Mountbatten delivered an emotional address to the troops. We reproduce here an article titled Mountbattens Good-bye to British Troops published in the oldest Defence Journal of the country Fauji Akhbar dated September 06, 1947 along with a backgrounder on the British Troops titled Withdrawal of British Troops published in the same issue. We also reproduce a message given by the Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to the troops and which was delivered to them a short while before the ship sailed. This is the third article, which is attached.
ARTICLE NO. 1
MOUNTBATTENS GOOD-BYE TO BRITISH TROOPS
Lord Louis Mountbatten, addressing the first contingent of British Troops which left Bombay for England, said:-
I have come down to Bombay today to say good-bye to the first contingent of the British Forces in India to leave India after the transfer of power.
I want to talk to you today in three different capacities: first of all as the constitutional Governor-General India, asked to fill that post by the (Indians themselves. I speak to you on behalf of the Government of India who charged me to say good-bye to you and wish you all the best of luck.
The Prime Minister, Pandit Nehru, has himself sent you message which Major-General Cariappa, the senior Indian Officer, will deliver to you just before the ship sails.
HISTORIC DAY
This is a very historic day; because with the departure of the British forces, the outward and visible sign of British rule in India disappears. And its place is taken by something very much more valuablea really great friendship between the British and the Indians,
The second capacity I want to talk to you in is as the ex-Viceroy of the whole of India, which post I held up to two days ago. I want to thank all the British forces for the part that they have played in establishing good relations in this country.
When I came out here my instructions were to- transfer power in a manner that would ensure a close and lasting basis of friendship between the British and the Indians. There could have been no better Ambassadors than the troops. You have all played a very valuable part in bringing about the transfer of power, not only in looking after lives and property during, times of trouble, but by your friendly good behaviour, I want to say how grateful Jam to you.
And completed it has been; because both in Karachi on the 14th and in Delhi on the 15th of August, and even in the rain here in Bombay, we have had a most wonderful reception from the Indian people. A reception which in some respects was so magnificent that it could not have been more encouraging if it had been coming from the British themselves.
FRIENDLY SLOGANS
The crowds have been really enthusiastic-and friendly in every possible way, and amid cries of Mahatma Gandhi Ki Jai and Pandit Nehru Ki Jai, I was flattered to hear an occasional Pandit Mountbatten Ki Jai.
I asked Pandit Nehru to come down here today, and had he been able to come I am not sure that one of you,; chaps would not have said What cheer Admiral Nehru. But Pandit Nehru had to go with the Prime Minister of Pakistan for a conference at Ambala to settle the difficulties of the Punjab
BURMA EXPLOITS RECALLED
The third and last capacity in which I want to talk to you today is that of the ex-Supreme Commander of South East Asia, from 1943 to 1946. There were upwards of a million men in Burma of many nationalities.. Among these the majority were British and Indian troops who fought together to defend Indiaparticularly at the battle of Kohima, where you Norfolks did so well in the Second Division. This was the first time when British and Indian Troops fought together on Indian soil to protect India.
I gather there are not many of you left here who had any share in those exploits7 officers and it men of the Norfolks-but I dare say that from time to time one or other of the old soldiers had told you of the hardships that were successfully overcome in Burma and of how may they licked the Japs. You may have thought they were shooting a line.
WONDERFUL JOB
I can assure you the fighting in Burma was tough and the forces there really did a wonderful job. We inflicted the biggest single defeat upon the Japanese on land; and we killed over 1,90,000 Japs in the process.
In case you think I am shooting a bit of line now, let me tell you a true story that was well-known at that time.
A day or two after the surrender of the Japanese, I got a telegram from General Kimura who commanded the three Japanese armies in Burma. This telegram was a most polite telegram you have no idea how polite the Japanese became after the surrender. It read I beg to inform Your Excellency that I have this day passed the order to cease fire to all the Japanese armies in Burma except for certain units.
Then came paragraph 2. If your Excellency will kindly inform me of the whereabouts of the remainder of my forces I will try and pass the order to them as well.
TROOPS THANKED
I came down here with the new- Supreme Commander, your late Commander-in-Chief, Field Marshal Auchinleck; and on his behalf; on my own; as well as on behalf of everybody in India I want to say, thank you for the job you have done.
Good luck to you; a pleasant trip home; and I hope you find everybody in good heart when you go back
Good-bye and good luck
ARTICLE NO. 2
WITHDRAWAL OF BRITISH TROOPS
The 2nd Battalion, the Royal Norfolk Regiment, was the second British Army Unit to leave India under the scheme for withdrawal of British Troops. The first unit to leave was the 1st Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, who sailed for the Far East from Madras on August 07, 1947. Second Battalion, the Royal Norfolk Regiment, left on 17 August, 1947, from Bombay and was given a send off by His Excellency Lord Louis Mountbatten, Governor-General of India. His Excellency Field Marshal Sir, Claude Auchinleck, Supreme Commander, and senior officers of the three services.
The Royal Norfolk Regiment first appeared in India in 1835, one hundred and fifty years after their formation in Gloucester as the 9th Regiment of Foot. The 1st Battalion saw service in the First Afghan War, and were present at the storming of the Khyber Pass, Mammu Khel and Tezeen in 1843.
BATTLE HONOURS
Two years later, marching 150 miles from Ambala to Mookdee, in 6 days, the Regiment was again engaged, this time against the Sikhs at Mookdee. The 9th of Foot have Ferozeshah and Sabraon as battle honouds. In 1847 they returned to England.
Their next tour of duty in India was not until 1874 when the 2nd Battalion arrived in Bombay in time to take part in the Second Afghan War. The Regimental Colours were carried in action for the last time in their history during this campaign.
Henceforward, until 1905, when the claims of the South African War withdrew them, a battalion of the Regiment was permanently in India, and the Royal Norfolk Regiment was seen in nearly every station in the country.
In 1919 the 2nd Battalion reformed after the losses of the great war, returned to India for an eight-year term, and was followed by the 1st Battalion in 1929. They spent the decade before the present war on internal security duties, and in 1935 the Regiment was granted the honour of the designation Royal H.M. King George VI is now the Colonel of the Regiment.
The outbreak of the World War found the 2nd Battalion in Bordon. It served as part of the B.E.F. in France, where Captain F.P. Barclay won the first M.C. of the war, it took part in the retreat, where C.S.M. Gristock earned the first V.C. for gallantry in a rear guard action; and finally it turned and stood at Lacon near Bethune. This blocked one of the German approaches to the coast, and a grimly determined stand did much to assist the evacuation of the B.E.F., very few of the battalion got away themselves.
IN BURMA
It was a newly formed 2nd Battalion the Royal Norfolk Regiment that arrived at Bombay in 1942. They had nearly two years to wait before their next task of action. After a long period of intensive training at Poona, Ahmednagar, Belgaum and Bangalore, and combined operations exercises near Bombay, the Battalion moved in early 1944 to Burma. Here in May, 1944, as part of the, British 2nd Division, the Battalion took part in the defence of Kohima. Bitter fighting in bad conditions and on short rations held and flung back a dangerous Japanese thrust. Typical of the nature of this battle was the action of Captain Randie, flinging himself over the machine-gun slit of an enemy bunker while his company charged the position, to win another of the 5 V.Cs. won by the Regiment during the war.
From then on, the Battalion forced its way down the road to Imphal, passed triumphantly through and on to the Irrawady crossings, after fighting through Viswema, Kalewa, Shwebo and Saye near Mandalay.
FLOWN TO INDIA
Towards the end of the campaign, the battalion was flown back to India, where the majority of the officers and men, due for demobilization and leave, left for England.
Reformed in Secunderabad in November, 1945, from drafts from England, the battalion has been stationed since then, in Ramgarh (Bihar) where it was called out in aid of the civil power in Calcutta in August 1946; the battalion then moved to Sialkot, and thence to Rawalpindi just in time to settle into their new home before being called out in aid of the civil power in the Rawalpindi riots. Their forbearance and good temper has won them many friends in their dealings with civil population, while the citizens of both Calcutta and Rawalpindi owe a large debt of gratitude to their firm handling of the recent troubles.
ARTICLE NO. 3
PANDIT NEHRUS FAREWELL
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Prime Minister of the Indian Dominion, in his farewell message to the first contingent of British troops which left Bombay for England by s.s. Georgic said
During the last few days vital changes have taken place in the relationship between India and England. The bonds that tied India to England against the wishes of her people have been removed, resulting in a fax more friendly feeling in: India towards England than at any time previously. That unnatural relationship is giving place gradually to a normal and natural relationship between two countries who desire to co-operate for their mutual advantage and the common good.
Few things are more significant of this change than the withdrawal of British Troops from India. Foreign armies are the most obvious symbols of foreign rule. They are essentially armies of occupation, and as such their presence must inevitably be resented.
No soldier likes this business, for its is neither war nor peace, but a continuing tension and living in a hostile atmosphere. I am sure that sensitive British Officers and men must have disliked being placed in this abnormal position.
It is good, therefore, for all concerned their dealings with the civil population are being withdrawn, and are going home to serve their country in other ways. As a Indian, I have long demanded the withdrawal of British Forces from India, for they were symbol to us of much that we disliked. But I had no grievance against them as individuals, and I liked and admired many whom I came across. What we disliked was the system which invitably brought ill-will in its main apart from other consequences.
I know the good qualities of the British soldier and I should like our own army to develop those qualities. On the occasion of the departure of the first contingent of British troops from India, I wish them Godspeed and trust that between them and the soldiers and people of India there will be goodwill and friendship which can only subsist between equals, who do not fear each other. We have nothing to fear from each other in the future, and there are many things in which we can cooperate together.
It is rare in history that such a parting takes place not only peacefully but also with goodwill. We are fortunate that this should have happened in India. That is good augury for the future.
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SK/ RAJ
http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=29759
