The
Queen’s were stationed at Poona during the Regiment’s
first year in India in 1825, and it was from there that 2nd Queen’s
departed from India in 1947. It was, and still is, a city of considerable
importance in Western India. In the early 19th century it was
the capital of the Peshwa, the Ruler of the Maharatta Confederacy,
and it was there that his army was finally defeated by the much
smaller East India Company force at the battle of Kirkee in 1817.
The Queen’s first arrived there in December 1825 glad to
be rid of the humidity of Bombay where they had suffered much
sickness, and the Regiment soon returned to good health on the
crisp upland plains of Poona. It was there that the Regiment maintained
a depot for its families and the reception of drafts from England
during its long absence during the First Afghan War, and it was
from there that it took part in operations during the Southern
Maharatta Campaign in 1844.
The Regiment returned there just over one hundred years later
when 2nd Queen’s arrived from Ranchi near Calcutta in June
1945 where the battalion had been reforming after its Chindit
operations in North East Burma. There were then a large number
of units and installations in the Poona area including the depot
of the Indian Army Bombay Sappers and Miners and the arsenal at
Kirkee a couple of miles from the city, an RAF station, the Signals
School, and the Southern Command Education Centre at the Deccan
College. In the early years of World War Two the college had been
taken over by the Indian Army Tactical School which taught armoured
warfare. The role changed to teaching jungle warfare after the
Japanese entry into the war. But trees were in short supply on
the plains around Poona. The nearest patch of jungle was at the
Mahabeleshwar hill station 80 miles to the south. Consequently
the Tactical School soon moved to the jungle ranges west of Dehra
Dun in north-east India.
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A
Platoon of 2nd Battalion The Queen's Royal Regiment marching
past at Bombay.
Click
to enlarge |
The
Queen’s were stationed initially at Uruli, seventeen miles
from Poona, before moving in September after the war with Japan
was over to a mainly tented camp on the Pashan Plain four miles
to the west of the city. Due to the loss of nearly all its Chindit
veterans through repatriation (Operation Python) it was a very
different battalion from 1944. It had an artillery commanding
officer, Lieutenant Colonel H.G.de Jacobi du Vallon DSO, MC, who
had taken over when it absorbed another Chindit unit, 60th Regiment
RA, and it had been further made up to strength by Royal Welch
Fusiliers and six Australian Forces officers. Additional mixed
drafts continued to be received as the process of release of those
who had served in the war gathered momentum. The battalion became
part of 72nd Brigade which also included the 2nd Leicesters, 1st
Essex, 2nd Borders, 2nd Manchesters, 146 Regiment Royal Armoured
Corps (Duke of Wellington’s) and the Maharatta Light Infantry.
There was plenty of opportunity for games at Pashan Camp. Inter-company
competitions were held at football, hockey and athletics and the
battalion teams distinguished themselves at Poona Area level at
these sports. Cricket, and later rugger, were also played with
success against other units. Internal security had become the
primary operational role, and drills for crowd dispersal were
much practised. In October 1945 the battalion moved briefly to
Bombay to quell communal riots, but was employed in guarding vital
points and was not called into action.
In February 1946 2nd Queen’s returned to Bombay with the
rest of 72nd Brigade. The occasion was the Royal Indian Navy mutiny
which led to major rioting in the city which lasted for three
days. This time the battalion was heavily engaged. It returned
to Poona on 12th March after which 72nd Brigade broke up, and
the battalion said farewell to 2nd Leicesters which had been its
companion throughout the war. Later the battalion also said goodbye
to its six Australian officers who returned to their own country.
In July Pashan Camp was taken over by the 4th Indian Division
and 2nd Queen’s moved to Kharakavasla South Camp on the
shores of Lake Fife twelve miles from Poona. During the war the
lake had been used for combined operations training. Kharakavasla
is now the home of the Indian Military Academy. In 1946 the accommodation
consisted of Nissen huts and bamboo bashas built on a series of
levels on the hill side above the lake. Fortunately the move into
more rain-resistant accommodation than tents had been completed
before the arrival of the monsoon. The surrounding country was
better suited for training than Pashan, but the local facilities
for entertainment were virtually non-existent and games were restricted
by there being level ground for only one football field. However
each company was able to spend one week at the Poona Holiday Home,
and some soldiers were able to take leave at the Colaba Holiday
Camp outside Bombay. Moreover as the weather improved the advantages
of a camp on the shores of the lake became more apparent and the
excellent facilities for swimming and sailing were much enjoyed.
In November 1946 as political unrest increased in expectation
of independence it became necessary to detach one company to the
Mahad area some hundred miles from Poona where communal rioting
had broken out, but it was back in time for Christmas which was
celebrated in style with the battalion concert party providing
several first class shows.
The New Year dawned with the news that the battalion was to return
to England and from there to move to West Germany to join the
British Army of the Rhine. Prior to their departure the Warrant
Officers and Sergeants received a present of a silver salver from
their opposite numbers in the Bombay Sappers and Miners with whom
they had established a close relationship. On the 17th January
the battalion sailed from Bombay in H.T. Highland Princess. An
officer who was with the battalion has recalled the final scenes:
“The evident bewilderment of the faithful camp followers,
the char-wallahs, the dhobis, the dharzis and many others, that
the British Army was actually going.
The Highland Princess carrying ourselves and the 3rd Dragoon Guards,
the Carbineers, sailed away out to the ocean past the Gateway
of India. I don’t think we were oppressed by being the end
of a line - perhaps we were too young - but it had been a wonderful
experience.
The arrival at the London Docks at Tilbury was on a cold damp
evening in February. There on the dockside to greet us were four
straight figures lined up with caps square down and greatcoats
buttoned to the neck, one of them our new Commanding Officer,
Lieutenant Colonel L.C. East DSO, OBE. We were home to be converted
into a proper Queen’s regular battalion, but even so we
felt that what had been done in the Regiment’s last tour
in India was not unworthy of our predecessors.”
Following disembarkation 2nd Queen’s moved to a hutted camp
at Crowborough in Sussex, arriving there with two inches of snow
on the ground. Poona was already a dream, and for many their only
experience of India, but one to savour for many years to come.
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