The following report was submitted by Christopher Lavender on 30 August 2024:
Sirmoor croquet 2024The obituary below, written by Harold James, appeared in the 1991 Sirmooree and is reproduced here as a reminder of the extraordinary bravery and suffering experienced by Machorton, James and others during the First Chindit Expedition.
Ian Machorton joined the 8th Gurkha Rifles in 1942 and was seconded to the 3rd Battalion of the 2nd Goorkhas for the Chindit Expedition in January 1943. He served as OC Mortars and Medium Machine Guns in No 2 Column. Ambushed near Yindaik the Column dispersed, and Machorton and some colleagues eventually joined No 1 Column. Badly wounded in the thigh he was left behind to die, but survived thanks to local villagers and after an epic journey made his way back to India. He subsequently served with 3/8GR in Burma and was again wounded. After the war he served with the Cameronians, retiring from the Army in 1957 because of his wounds. He was a prolific author, including his autobiography ‘Safer than a Known Way’. He died in 1990.
Machorton obitMajor Arthur Stamberg, known as ‘Boy’ in the Regiment, read modern languages at Exeter College, Oxford, before serving with the 1st Battalion in Dehra Dun and on the North West Frontier from 1929-1934. He contracted a debilitating illness and resigned his commission in 1935. He subsequently became a Clerk, and later Chief Clerk, at Buckingham Palace, serving four successive monarchs and being awarded the LVO in 1958. He was a fluent French and German speaker and during the Second World War was employed on intelligence duties in the UK, Egypt and Mauritius. He retired from royal service in 1961 and worked in the Aliens Office in Jersey. His autobiography, ‘Footsteps on a Winding Road’ was published in 1998. He died in 2001.
The article below with his reminiscences of life on the North West Frontier appeared in ‘The Sirmooree’ in Summer 1998.
Stamberg articleThe attached article about Dickie Clarke, written by Denis Wood, appeared in the August 2024 edition of the Military Historical Society Bulletin.
Dickie had a most varied and exciting career. As a young officer he took part in the first Chindit operation in Burma with the 3rd Battalion. He subsequently commanded a company in the Arakan and at the Battle of Tamandu. He commanded A Company of the 2nd Battalion in Malaya. Transferring to the King’s Shropshire Light Infantry he fought as a company second-in-command in Korea. Later he served on operations as a Ground Liaison Officer with the RAF in Cyprus and Aden, and as a company commander in 1 KSLI in Germany. No less impressive than his record of operational service was the fact that he and his wife Edda had eight children!
Dicky Clarke article by Denis Wood Aug 2024
Click here to download this article. It was published in the Sirmooree in Summer 1999. It covers the 3rd Battalion’s operations in Burma in late 1944/early 1945. Although the editor said a follow-up article on the battle of Tamandu would be published in the next edition, it did not appear!