'A Grandfather's Tale: Memoirs being mainly concerned with service in the Indian Army and the Indian Political Service in India and the Persian Gulf from 1932-1947' [‎30v] (60/118)

the Hotel to discover that all the flasks of boiling water, carefully
prepared for Christopher’s feeds for the next 36 hours, had been left
behind. Nothing daunted Steve telegraphed all the main stations en route
to produce boiling water for the memsahib, and so every two hours or so
throughout the journey there was an urgent hammering on the door of the
carriage and loud cries of ’’phuta pani, memsahib” and enough water supplied
to boil the baby, let alone feed him.
On the whole we had enjoyed our time in Dehra Dun, apart from Jane's
illness at the end, and I realized that the Doctor, Captain Virgin, had
done his best according to his lights. All the same he was an odd fish, a
Plymouth Brother from Winnipeg with absolutely no sense of humour, and all
mishaps were put down to the Almighty. His name was pronounced in the
orthodox manner yet they christened their daughter ’’Mary”, and on their
bedspread was embroidered "God give us strength". He and his wife were
rabid teetotallers and, at a formal dinner party where sherry trifle was
served, Mrs. Virgin shrieked down the table to her husband "Don't touch it
Jim, it's got alc'h in it". I hope that in the end they got safely back to
Winnipeg. They somehow seemed out of place in India.
I wrote in September to Colonel John Fulton, the new C.O. of the
2nd/lst Gurkhas, to ask if he would have me relieved from my present job
as I very much wanted to return to Regimental duty. He did his best to get
me back but the request was turned down, though I found it hard to believe
that my job with the Nepalese was all that important. In Dargai we were
concentrating on teaching them Mountain Warfare in company, battalion and
brigade strength, with a view to their taking over duties from Regular
Gurkha battalions on the Frontier so that the latter could be freed to go
overseas. At that time a battalion of the 6 th Gurkhas was in the Malakand
with one company on detachment at Chakdara on the far side of the Pass, and
not very long after it was, in fact, relieved by our battalion. There was
a small force of mounted tribal levies in the Malakand Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. , under the
orders of the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. , and while the 6 th Gurkhas were still there
we were able to borrow the levy ponies and play polo at Khar, halfway
between Malakand and Chakdara. Oddly enough there is a record of officers
from these two garrisons having played polo in the same place in 1897 , when
Winston Churchill was attached to the Malakand Field Force.
When Jane arrived with Christopher I met them in Nowshera and we
drove up to the Malakand the next day. Thejfe,we established ourselves in
No..'! Bungalow. There were four small bungalows in a row on the side of
a hill within the Fort perimeter, with the most glorious view. The other
inhabitants were the Peacocks, who had been with us with the Shere Regiment
since the beginning, Colonel and Mrs. Duncan and their teenage daughter,
and Colonel and Mrs. Irwin. Colonel Duncan had taken over from Colonel
Owen as Senior Supervising Officer with the Shere Regiment, while Colonel
Irwin was S.S.O. of the Mohindradal Regiment. Both were 8 th Gurkhas. The
only other families up there were the Mallams ( Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. ) and the
Colbecks (Doctor) A month later, on the 19th December 19^-0, when the