Nick Hinton – Sirmoor Rifles Association

From The Daily Telegraph August 1997:

Major PH ‘Val’ Meadows, who died aged 78 in July 1997, was awarded an MC when serving behind Japanese lines in Burma, and was also twice mentioned in despatches.

The citation for Meadow’s MC recorded that ‘with great personal courage and endurance he led small parties deep into enemy territory, and his many and daring exploits caused bewilderment, uneasiness and numerous casualties among the Japanese’.

After the war, Meadows joined the Malayan Civil Service, and when Malaya became independent he stayed on to become Permanent Secretary (Special Duties) in the office of the Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew. In 1963 Meadows became chairman of the War Committee when the Brunei rebellion broke out. He ended his career as Director of Far East Levingston Ship Building in Singapore.

Percival (Val) Herbert Meadows was born on May 15 1919 and qualified in Tropical Horticulture at Wye College, where he was captain of boxing. His first overseas appointment was on a coffee plantation in Kenya, from which he moved to tea-planting in Ceylon. On the outbreak of the Second World War he returned to England to enlist in the Lincolnshire Regiment, and soon afterwards won the Combined Service Boxing Championship at Welterweight.
In 1941 he was posted to India where, after initial training, he was commissioned into the 12″ Frontier Force Regiment, joining the 8th Battalion. After active service on the North-West Frontier he was selected for Intelligence duties and sent on a short course at Karachi. Here he also gained his pilot’s licence in a ‘Gypsy Moth’.

Meadows served as Intelligence Officer in the Arakan, mostly behind enemy lines, from 1943. He established a rapport with the local villagers which raised their morale and also brought in valuable and varied information. On one occasion he paddled upstream in a dug-out canoe, ducking enemy fire to rescue a Gurkha who had been left behind. Once he hid in the jungle with two Gurkhas when a whole platoon of Japanese passed within 50 feet. On examining the bodies of dead Japanese he noticed they all carried poems.

In 1945 he transferred to the 2nd Gurkhas, and as part of his duties had to depose the Japanese puppet governor of Perlis (Malaya) and install in his place the rightful Rajah, who then dubbed him ‘Prince of the Southern Seas’.

After the war, Meadows joined the Colonial Administrative Service, and after taking courses at Magdalene College, Cambridge and then the School of Oriental and African Studies, he was assigned to Malaya. However, at the beginning of the Emergency there, when Communist terrorists tried to take over the country, he volunteered for active service, and his previous experience of jungle warfare i Burma proved extremely useful.

In 1949 he was selected to study Cantonese in Macao, a colourful world of gambling casinos, gold smuggling, opium dens and Chinese ‘taxi dancers – girls who could be bought with a ticket for a dance.

For two years, as honorary British Consul, Meadows sent back intelligence reports to London on the Chinese Revolution, then in full swing, and learned the basic 2,500 characters required to read a Chinese newspaper, as well as mastering the art of Chinese brush strokes.

His next posting was to Singapore, but soon afterwards he was sent to Kuantan. In Pahang (famous for its tigers, black panther and deep jungle), which at that time was a flourishing base for guerillas. The chances of an ambush on the remote roads were considerable, but he survived unscathed by driving flat out in his MG sports car.

In the run-up to Independence, Meadows held a number of important administrative posts. He was variously director of Social Welfare (which included the protection of women and girls, some of the youngest of whom were employed in opium dens), chairman of the Rural Board, and Secretary of the ministries of Local Government, of Lands and Housing, and of Internal Security.

After Independence, Meadows’ tasks included the integration of cities and district the Port of Singapore Authority with appropriate legislation. When Lee Kuan Yew’s People’s Action Party had come to power under the ticket of ‘Sweep the British into the Sea’, Meadows recognised this as an election ploy and said “I always understood his game plan’. Meadows was a good friend and loyal supporter o the Prime Minister, a feeling which was reciprocated and his steadying hand calmed the fears of the commercial world and the Eurasian community. The successive stability of post independence Singapore owed much to Meadows. He promoted private enterprise in the development o Singapore and supervised the rapid establishment of television.

When the Brunei Rebellion broke out, at the request of Lord Selkirk, Commissioner General for South East Asia, Meadows agreed to go instantly to Brunei as Acting High Commissioner. As Chairman of the War Committee (Brunei, Sabah, Sarawak) his principal task was to co-ordinate the Armed Services, Police and Civil Service and give policy direction on the conduct of operations. At the outbreak of the rebellion the Residency had been captured and the Sultan, for his safety, was secured in a strong room under Gurkha guard.

Brunei then had no oil millions. The people were poor and aggrieved and one of the first acts of the new High Commissioner was to bring water to their villages by standpipes. In such a little way was their trust regained. Brunei was stabilised, but the rebellion led to Indonesian Confrontation.

In 1963 he was appointed CBE and for his services in Brunei was awarded a Loyalty to Brunei medal. In 1967 he became Chairman of the Singapore Tourist Promotions Board.~

Finally, as Chairman and Managing Director of Levingston Ship Building, he was engaged in the construction of some of the most technologically advanced vessels of the offshore industry.

In spite of his talents and achievements, Val Meadows remained modest and unaffected. But he had the ability to inspire people of all races, creeds and customs. He had a dry sense of humour and a concealed sense of mischief. In a life of notable achievements he thought less of accolades than the generation of ideas from which others might benefit.

He had true nobility of spirit and a spontaneously generous nature. A man of great charisma, in his encounters with others he gave something special to each.
He is survived by his wife, Mary.

Editor’s Note:
What is not mentioned in the obituary is that Val’s first encounter with the Regiment, was, when as Brigade Intelligence Officer in ’44 ,he accompanied a 3rd Battalion patrol led by the then Capt D F Neill which resulted in the killing of 34 Japanese Infantrymen and the capture of another. It was no doubt with some irony that he next served alongside the Regiment as Acting High Commissioner during the Brunei rebellion!

The Gough family has produced many distinguished soldiers. In March 2012, The Daily Mail published an article entitled Britain’s Bravest Family which described the three of its members who had been awarded the Victoria Cross. General Sir Charles Gough VC GCB, was serving with Hodson’s Horse at the Siege of Lucknow when on 15 August 1857 he was awarded the Victoria Cross for saving the life of his brother Hugh,. General Sir Hugh Gough VC GCB, when a Lieutenant in the 1st Bengal European Light Cavalry, was awarded the Victoria Cross on 25 February 1858 for seizing two enemy guns near Alumbagh, and later for his inspirational leadership in attacking enemy guns near Jellalabad. The third recipient was General Sir Charles Gough’s son, Brigadier General Sir John Gough VC CMG KCB, was awarded the Victoria Cross on 22 April 1904 when a Major in the Rifle Brigade, for his bravery in helping to save a mortally wounded officer under fire during the Somaliland Expedition.

Two members of the Gough family served in the 2nd Goorkhas: Lieutenant Colonel Hugh Augustus Kepple Gough CIE (1871-1950 ) and his nephew Brigadier William George Hugh Gough MC ( 1897-1948 ).

Lieutenant Colonel Hugh Gough was the third son of General Sir Hugh Gough, nephew of General Sir Charles Gough, and first cousin of General Sir Hubert Gough and Major General Sir John Gough. He was also the uncle of Brigadier William Gough. He was educated at Wellington College and in June 1890 was gazetted to the Wiltshire Regiment, transferring to the 2nd Battalion 2nd Goorkhas in June 1892, officiating as a Wing Officer on probation until 1894 when he was appointed to special duties at Gilgit as Assistant Political Officer. He left the Regiment in 1898 to join the Political Department and served in the Punjab, Baluchistan, Central Provinces, Persia and Zhob.

In 1914, he was recalled to military service and rejoined the 2nd Goorkhas. He commanded the 2nd Battalion Depot in Dehra Dun until 1916, when he returned to the Political Department until his retirement in 1923. In an obituary written in 1950 by Major General Godfray Hind, he was described as ‘one of the kindest and keenest officers of the Regiment. Known to few of the present generation, he always kept up his interest in the Regiment.’

Brigadier William Gough, known as ‘ Bill ‘, was the son of Lieutenant Colonel Charles Gough, late Bengal Lancers, a nephew of Lieutenant Colonel Hugh Gough and grandson of General Sir Hugh Gough. Educated at Haileybury and the Royal Military College Sandhurst. He arrived in India in 1915 and joined the 1st Battalion, 2nd Goorkhas. He became Company Commander No 1 Double Company in Mesopotamia and was awarded a Military Cross in the assault on the Dujaila Redoubt. He was accidentally wounded, receiving no less than 27 wounds, a broken arm and leg and subsequent loss of an eye.

In 1918 Bill Gough took part in the Marri operations and in 1919 was a company commander in Waziristan. He was fined Rs 100 for burning a village in British territory, but the fine was never paid. He held various Staff appointments throughout the 1920s and 30s until he rejoined the 1st Battalion as 21C. The following year, he commanded the Regimental Contingent in the UK at the Coronation of King George VI. He took part in further operations in Waziristan before being appointed Commandant 2nd Battalion in 1938. He was described in the Regimental History as ‘one of the most aggressive and dynamic officers of the Regiment. He was a forward thinker who foresaw the possibilities of specialist training and welcomed with avidity the experiments of his colleague, Colonel Tuker.’ He qualified as a parachutist in the UK and on his return to India in 1941 raised the first Indian Parachute Brigade, designated the 50th. He retired in 1947 and was killed in an air crash in South Africa in 1948.

Bill Gough gets a mention in Major General Farrar-Hockley’s biography of General Sir Hubert Gough ‘Goughie’. The book recounts that in 1921, at the age of 24, Bill Gough and his cousins (the General’s daughters) became involved in a practical joke. They made a hole in an egg with a needle and pushed in horse hair, which went in with ease, and when boiled, the hole closed. The egg in question was duly given to the unsuspecting General for his breakfast, who, on close inspection and not finding the hole, suspected the hen had some terrible disease. After it happened again, he informed the local branch of the Farmers’ Union, which closely examined the eggs but came to no conclusion. Eventually a governess discovered horse hair in the schoolroom and showed it to the General. Bill Gough had returned to the 2nd Goorkhas but his daughters were forced to own up. After a flash of anger their father’s sense of the ridiculous asserted itself and he was relieved that more experienced men than himself had fallen for what was apparently an old country joke.

I have to declare a personal interest in the Goughs because I married Miss Rosaleen Gough, the younger daughter of Lieutenant Johnny Gough, late Irish Guards, who at 101 is the oldest surviving Mick from the Second World War and in 1944 took part in the breakout from Normandy and the subsequent pursuit across France, Belgium, Holland and into Germany.

JRH

‘Gurkhas: Warriors from the Himalayas’ is by Gordon Elsden, who served alongside Gurkhas when with the Royal Hong Kong Police in 1979-2019, latterly becoming a Senior Inspector. It is a handsome two-volume compendium of stories and reminiscences collected from 28 retired Gurkhas and three Gurkha ladies. Most of the material is consequently about the Gurkha experience of the last 50 years although some of the family histories hark back to the early 20th and even late 19th centuries. Two of the most prominent testimonies from Sirmooris are by Major Rambahadur Gurung and Major(QGO) Hitman Gurung.

The book gives a voice to Gurkhas in a way that few other books have done (one exception is Lieutenant Colonel JP Cross’s 2007 book ‘Gurkhas at War’). As such Elsden’s book deserves to be fêted. It contains very little supplementary material explaining context which gives a welcome prominence to the personal accounts. I found the many anecdotes and insights fascinating, mainly because they provide such a different perspective on the Gurkha experience to the many factual histories and the plethora of glossy coffee-table books about Gurkhas. The contents also remind us of the rich Nepali hinterland behind the details of British military service. There are many stories about jhankri, bhut and bokshi (witch doctors, ghosts and witches). Several accounts reminisce happily about rodhi, the (to western ears and eyes) rather innocent gatherings of young Nepali boys and girls. Several recount at length the experience of finding a wife and getting married.

The concept of the book means it is necessarily new material. As such it is an important historical record in a similar way to Studs Terkel’s verbal histories and the ‘Forgotten Voices’ series. It has only a few passing accounts of warfighting, and even those are not particularly detailed or evocative. The book is consequently less a history of wartime events in the way these other verbal histories are, and more a series of personal accounts of the complete Gurkha experience. Much of that has been and will continue to be peacetime soldiering, and so it is perhaps unsurprising that the contents of the book reflect this.

The book is copiously illustrated, with many previously-unseen photographs provided by the Gurkhas who were interviewed. There is also much humour. I enjoyed the story of the 7GR CQMS who, on the way to the Falklands, got lost for 24 hours on the QE2, not having sufficiently good English to find his way back to where he was supposed to be and having to be rescued ‘embarrassed and extremely hungry’ by a kindly British NCO. Major(QGO) Judbahdur Gurung of the Queen’s Gurkha Engineers tells the story of how they fixed small explosive charges to a Figure 11 target at which (the then) General Sir Edwin Bramall was shooting in order to ensure he got a good grouping – and which he had the good grace to disown, stating that he had always been a ‘lousy shot’!

‘Gurkhas: Warriors from the Himalayas’ is an almost entirely British-free zone, although there are a few passing mentions of individuals. The story of Krishna Bahadur Gurung, latterly Gurkha Major of the Queen’s Own Gurkha Transport Regiment, includes a photograph of him when he was (then Brigadier) John Chapple’s driver in 48 Gurkha Infantry Brigade. The much-respected WRVS lady of 2/2GR, Eileen McEvoy, gets a couple of mentions. Three or four unnamed British Officers (but who you may recognise) make an appearance in group photographs. There is a short paragraph in one account about training British subalterns. That’s about it. Far from finding this disappointing, I felt it is probably an accurate account of lives in which most of Gurkhas’ experience is coloured by their fellow-countrymen and we British play a fairly distant role.

Each individual is given a chapter in the book. These are loosely grouped together into ‘Chronicles’. For example the input from several family members of Subedar Buddhi Bahadur Limbu of 10GR are combined under ‘The Legacy of Buddhi’, and the accounts of seven westerners are grouped under ‘Tales from the West’ (although there are accounts from other westerners elsewhere in the book). This structure gives prominence to the personal stories – which was perhaps the intention – but it does not provide a logical sequence to the narrative and, as there is a great deal of commonality in the experiences of those interviewed, leads to much repetition. Common themes include family background, recruitment, training, service in the various garrisons where Gurkhas were based, operational service in Cyprus, the Gulf, the Balkans and Afghanistan, marriage and retirement. Grouping the material around these would have provided a more progressive storyline and made the book easier to read. Many individual accounts are also incomplete or disjointed, but that is of course how we remember our past. Nevertheless, combining them in a thematic treatment might have created a more comprehensive and coherent picture.

I would also observe that the majority of the accounts are from senior Gurkha officers. Only 8 out of the 28 stories from Gurkha men come from those below the rank of Captain, and only 3 from those below the rank of Sergeant. This does not necessarily detract from the accuracy of the overall picture as the officers all came up through the ranks and are therefore able to reflect that experience, but it does mean we are mainly hearing from the relatively small number of the most capable and successful Gurkhas rather than the much greater majority whose careers did not progress beyond junior rank.

In summary, I am glad I bought the book. It provides a different view of what life in the Brigade is like for Gurkhas in a way that has not been done before. As such it is a valuable historical record. Its structure and its length (833 pages) means it is not an easy book to read in a conventional way, but it is well-indexed and lends itself to being read by individual chapters. ‘Try dipping in and out of it’ is perhaps the best advice I can offer other than recommending that you buy or borrow a copy to enjoy it for yourself.

One afternoon in December 2008 I arrived at Headley Court Military Rehabilitation Hospital in Epsom to give a Christmas present of bespoke shirts to seriously injured young service personnel returning from Afghanistan, as a gift of gratitude and in recognition of their courage serving our country. I was met by Peter Haslam, who ran the non-medical side of the hospital and had devoted over 15 years of his life to our injured, and is now a great friend. A nurse took me to the Complex Trauma Unit where the patients were having their supper. She gave me the invaluable advice that I should talk to them about their injuries and how they were sustained as they are very proud of their service and it is good for their psychological recovery to talk about it. As I drove home I knew I could not just walk away from these young servicemen and women, and had to keep visiting.

Over 10 years of visits I gathered a personal address book of over 500 injured servicemen and women, and subsequently their wives, mothers, partners and children. I realised that after being discharged they faced colossal challenges when beginning new lives and jobs, particularly as many of them were very young. I realised it would greatly help them to have smart clothes for interviews and work. Through my business contacts I arranged for Marks & Spencer and Reiss to donate over 1000 suits, for Russell and Bromley to give them smart leather brogues, and for Lock’s to give hats to those with head injuries (one young man was never without his bowler hat at Headley Court!). In addition I designed a black ebony walking stick for those who needed one, with a silver band engraved with their initials and regiment, making it appear as a smart fashion accessory rather than a medical aid.

Hari Budha Magar being kitted out with a smart Reiss suit.

Style for Soldiers has sponsored 10 injured veterans into new careers. We have funding degrees at University, put on an exhibition of their powerful poetry, paintings and performances in three cities called ‘Art in the Aftermath’ and used our contacts to make introductions that in many cases have led to very beneficial opportunities for them.

I met many Gurkhas at Headley Court, including the astonishing Hari Budha Magar, who greeted me with that dazzling smile and humbling gratitude for his bespoke shirt. I told him that my father Michael Willis had served with the 1st Battalion 2nd Gurkhas in Singapore as a young man and had raised over £100,000 for the Gurkha Welfare Trust. I had been brought up surrounded by Gurkha items including china figures on our dining room table, Gurkha portraits in my father’s dressing room, and Gurkha table mats. Hari and his wife Urmila have become great friends of my father and I over the years. A few years ago they invited him for tea on his birthday and Urmila made the most beautiful cake decorated with a Gurkha cap badge.

We receive many moving letters, emails and messages from patients, often hand-written and sometimes in careful capitals rather than joined-up writing, as well as thanks from several mothers, all of which I have kept. I remember one patient writing that he was going to propose in his shirt and the engagement ring was ‘burning a hole in his pocket.’

As these young people, predominantly men, started to go out in to the world they missed each other and the company of like-minded former colleagues who had experienced things that we civilians will never know or be able to imagine. I learnt that loneliness can be the trigger for PTSD, depression or addiction, which is not at all surprising, so began arranging reunions which are now the most important things we do. e hold the largest reunions in the country for injured service personnel and their families, including a summer dinner in Gloucestershire and a big Christmas Dinner at The Savoy in London. We also organise two Family Days, one at Woburn Safari Park kindly given for over 10 years now by His Grace The Duke of Bedford and the other at Cotswold Wildlife Park given by owner Reggie Heyworth. The charity provides hotel accommodation for everyone at these events. We always have the pleasure of welcoming several Gurkhas, their wives and children at our reunions.

Hari Budha Magar and his wife Umilla at the S4S Christmas Party 2025.

Gurkha ex-servicemen at one of the other ‘Style for Soldiers’ events in 2024.

The reunions are joyful events. In 2016, the then Prince of Wales attended our Style for Soldiers Christmas Party at Spencer House. His Royal Highness had discreetly visited Headley Court many, many times, and I heard how many young service personnel had awoken from their operation to see the face of their future King, as well as enjoying wonderful conversations at their bedsides. The Prince of Wales met and talked to over 100 injured service personnel and then spoke to all our 250 guests, an encounter which we will of course treasure for all our lifetimes.

The charity’s events also introduce wives, partners and children, creating a strong network that I hope will last independently of Style for Soldiers well into the future, for the rest of their lives. Their physical and psychological injuries will never go away. I have noticed what a vital role the wives and partners so often play in supporting our injured, and it is a great pleasure to be able to include them too in our parties and family days. I feel honoured and privileged to have met and got to know very well so many of our brave armed forces personnel and their families over the years, and now understand very well my father’s passion throughout his life to support them as best we can.

His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales (now King Charles III) meeting injured Gurkhas and their families at the 2016 reunion event. Emma Willis is on the right of the picture.

More about the charity and details of how to donate to it can be found on its website: https://www.styleforsoldiers.com/. Style for Soldiers is holding a fundraising event in London on 8^th April. Hari Budha Magar will discuss with Frank Gardner, the BBC correspondent, his extraordinary expedition in which he made mountaineering history by becoming the first above-knee double amputee to summit the highest peaks of the seven continents, including Mount Everest. To book tickets please see https://www.styleforsoldiers.com/products/an-evening-with-frank-gardner-obe-and-hari-budha-magar-mbe-8th-april-2026

Hari Budha Magar on the summit of Mt Vinson, Antarctica

This apochryphal story appeared in an unauthorised history of the XIth Gurkha Rifles by Lieutenant Colonel H R K Gibbs, late 6GR

Funny things ties. Jolly useful for holding up the odd pyjama, though I hear the subalterns all wear lungis these days . Saw a Yankee fellow wearing an MCC tie the other day ..turned out to have bought it at Tiffany’s in New Amsterdam and didn’t know a googly from a bar of soap. Now, when I was in the Regiment, we didn’t worry too much about ties, far too busy dodging the wily Pathans and the Bhunia with his bills and with damned little chance to wear mufti anyway except when we went poodle faking to the club when the staff wallahs in New Delhi sent their mems up to the hills. Goings on aplenty then, I can tell you, but I won’t – never did hold with telling tales out of mess.

Can’t really remember exactly what the Regimental tie looked like in those days, except that it had to be in colours that came from whatever it was that the planters grew locally – red, green and black I think, or was that the cocktail the griffins had to drink when they were dined in? Anyhow, now that I am retired so to speak. I do wear a tie a bit more often nowadays, old school, club that sort of thing and something that some scoundrel sold me years ago as the tie of the Regiment.

Anyway, one day, a few weeks ago, I trekked down to Hampshire to have a few snorts with old Bletherskite. Bit of a cad, Bletherskite, got posted to the South Waziristan Scouts for slapping the bum of some pretty young wench in Mhow once too often – turned she’d come out with the fishing fleet to marry some Brigadier General in the Jam Stealers. Walking down the street in Fleet, minding my own business, I ran into some fellow whom I had never seen before in my life . Dressed up like a Madrassi remount wallah with a black pullover and one of those hats like the Congress babus used to wear long after my time. Claimed to be an officer of the Regiment, did this chap and asked me where I’d got my tie. Well, after I had damned his eyes for his impertinence, he had the blasted cheek to tell me it was the wrong pattern! Apparently, mine goes left to right, and it should go right to left or some other damned fool nonsense.

Reminds me of the time in Kabul when young Belchworthy of the Bengal Staff Corps wanted to get a cushy posting to Calcutta, so he took to wearing his new-fangled Sam Browne belt ( invented by some counter-jumping wallah ) upside down so they would all think he was mad. Well, all the Generals in Afghanistan were barking anyway, so Belchers had to stay. His next wheeze was to send his Havildar Major up to Dargai to fetch him a black woman. The Haviladar obliged, and Belchers produced a damned toothsome Ghilzai tart at the Resident’s Ball next month. He got his posting all right, but the bibi married a Colonel of the Guides, became Lady Snipefoggers and wife of the Lord Lieutenant of Devonshire. Nobody minded much then, after all, Wheeler married a black Maharani.

Returning to ties …I went to the Reunion a few months ago – didn’t know anybody but had a good shufti around. It’s all different now. They don’t send the inlying piquet into the Ghussalkhana at first light anymore. In my day, there would have been a damned great Kabuli with a Khyber knife ready to whip your whatsits off if you neglected that sort of elementary precaution. We had a talk at the AGM by some whippersnapper dressed up like a French dancing master who said that most of our ties were the wrong pattern. In my day, the lad would have known that his seniors are always right and he would have nipped off and bought one of the same as ours sharpish. I didn’t really follow the story, but it seems that some archaeological excavation in Salisbury or somewhere had opened up a long barrow and found four empty bottles of rum, a losing betting ticket for the 1818 Derby and a skeleton clutching a Weobley and wearing a Regimental tie. Apparently, this was the mortal remains of young Crutchley, who had gone on long leave ( once every seven years if you can raise the price of a P&O ticket ) and never came back. We always thought the young blighter had shipped on a West Indiaman and was living the life of Riley on a sugar plantation with half the darzhis of Calcutta bemoaning unpaid bills. The truth apparently was that he‘d had a tip from some mountebank in the Life Guards for a three-legged congenital no-hoper in the Derby and had stuck the family silver and his younger sister’s dowry on it. When the uneducated dwarf riding the beast had failed to oblige, Crutchley did the decent thing and blew his brains out, but without first removing his Regimental tie – which just shows that you can never trust an Old Marburian.

The point of all this is that young Crutchley’s tie is the oldest known specimen of the thing, and the black and green stripes are three-quarters of an inch wide, and the red is one-tenth. Apparently, we old buffers are all going to have to buy new ties and allow the box wallah who makes the damned things to light up another fat cheroot . Shan’t bother myself . Funny things ties.

MAJOR JOHN HERRICK

A Sirmoori and First World War veteran who enlisted in Canada and lost his life in Iraq in 1920, and has been commemorated on four memorials.

Major John Riversdale Warren Herrick was born on 22 May 1893, the eldest son of Dr Robert and Mrs Edith Herrick of 30 Regent Street, Nottingham. His younger brother, Captain Robert Lysle Warren Herrick, served in the 29th Lancers Regiment ( Deccan Horse ) and was awarded the DSO for an action against the Turks that took place on 21 August 1918 in the vicinity of Wadi Nimrin, a bridgehead over the River Jordan.

John Herrick was educated at Nottingham High School and, on leaving school in 1910, aged 17, he worked as a bank clerk in Nottingham. He represented the Old Boys in the first-ever competitive rugby match played by Nottingham High School on Boxing Day 1913.

At some stage during 1914, he went out to Canada. After the start of the First World War, and in response to a call to arms by the Dominions, he enlisted on 23 September 1914 at Valcartier, Quebec, as No 260 Private Herrick in the 8th Battalion, Canadian Infantry ( later to become 90th Regiment Winnipeg Rifles ) of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. His attestation papers described him as being 5ft 11ins tall and his occupation as a storeman. He sailed to England with the Battalion on 3 October 1914 in the SS Franconia.

However, John Herrick must have impressed his superiors, because very soon after having returned to England, he was discharged from the Canadian Infantry on 15 November 1914 to join The Territorial Force for ‘a commission in the Imperial Army ‘. This was confirmed by a notification in The London Gazette dated 4 December as his being gazetted as a Second Lieutenant in the Nottinghamshire Yeomanry ( Sherwood Rangers ). His name appeared subsequently in The Army List in the 2nd Sherwood Rangers, which was a Second-Line mounted regiment ( 2/1st Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry ) of The Territorial Force responsible for home defence. In August 1917, the regiment converted to a cyclist unit and, in early 1918, was located in Canterbury.

Around this time, John Herrick, by now an acting Captain, and presumably having avoided being sent to the Western Front, was transferred on 12 January 1918 to the Indian Army on probation, but forfeiting nine months’ seniority under Indian Army Order 511/1917. He was posted to the 3rd Battalion 2nd Goorkhas, who were stationed in Peshawar on the North West Frontier. This was a testing time for this newly formed battalion, not least for the reasons described in the Regimental History Volume II:

‘It cannot be said that the 3/2GR had the appearance of an old Battalion, as many changes had a naturally disturbing effect. Although the number of officers had been considerably increased by officers on probation for the Indian Army, they had had no previous experience with Indian troops and were ignorant of the language, and their value to the newly raised Battalion was at first not great.’

Indeed, John Herrick was soon to find himself promoted to Acting Major and appointed as Battalion Second-in-Command until August 1918. The 3rd Battalion was bitterly disappointed by not being deployed to fight in the Third Afghan War (May – August 1919 ). Instead, it was ordered to remain in Peshawar on internal security duties until February 1920, after which the Battalion returned to Dehra Dun before its disbandment later that year.

Meanwhile, in June 1920, and in response to the Arab Rebellion which had broken out in Iraq ( formerly known as Mesopotamia ), the 1st and 2nd Battalion 11th Gurkha Rifles were hurriedly sent out to the British-occupied area of Iraq, which was where they had originally been formed in 1918. The 11th Gurkha Rifles had been raised as an ad hoc unit in 1918 in Mesopotamia with troops and officers being drawn from other Gurkha regiments, and it comprised four battalions. All had fought in Mesopotamia, and at the end of hostilities, they were deployed to the North West Frontier and took part in the Third Afghan War before their eventual disbandment in late 1920.

Sometime after July 1920, John Herrick was seconded from the 3rd Battalion 2nd Goorkhas to the 1st Battalion 11th Gurkha Rifles, now located in Iraq, where he was to experience some fierce fighting against the rebel forces led by Sheikh Mahmud Barzanji. The campaign was to be short-lived, and both Battalions were to soon return to India for disbandment, but not before John Herrick had tragically died of wounds on 24 October 1920, allegedly caused by being hit by a spent bullet during operations in British-occupied Iraq.

He is buried in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Basra War Cemetery, Iraq. Plot II, Row K, Grave 14.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission memorial at Basra

He is also commemorated on three other memorials, but curiously not on the 2nd Goorkhas First World War brass plaque, which was originally dedicated in St Thomas’ Church, Dehra Dun.

● Nottingham High School – War Memorial. The memorial is a statue of a life-size figure in bronze of a young second lieutenant in service dress uniform leading his platoon in the attack. The names of those who died are inscribed on two bronze panels. The sculptor was Henry Poole ARA.

Nottingham High School Memorial

● St Peter’s Church, Nottingham. The memorial, which was originally dedicated in St James’ Church, Nottingham, was transferred to St Peter’s Church in 1933. The names are inscribed in red on a white marble tablet below the naked body of a young man who is lying on his back. Behind him is a Cross and two angels. The memorial was designed and executed by Robert Wilson, who was a teacher at the Nottingham School of Art.

The Memorial in St Peter’s Church, Nottingham

Close-up of the inscription on the memorial

● Transcona Cenotaph, Memorial Circle Park, Winnipeg, Canada. The memorial comprises a roughly finished grey granite obelisk, 14 feet in height, and is placed over a smoothly polished granite base inscribed with 62 names. It was made by the Memorial Marble and Tile Company of Winnipeg and was erected in 1931. The memorial was relocated to its present site in 2001.

The Transcona War Memorial

John Herrick had the following medals: British War Medal 1914 – 20, Victory Medal 1914 – 19, General Service Medal 1918 – 1962 with clasp IRAQ.

He never married.

JRH

As an alternative asset class in a year when the FTSE 100 was up 21.5%, medals and military-themed art with a Gurkha connection held up reasonably well, but failed to deliver the remarkable returns enjoyed by silver ( + 150 % ) or gold ( + 65 %). Please note that this article does not refer to those items which were available for sale through dealers or via the internet.

Medals

Amongst campaign medals sold at auction last year, which were awarded to soldiers of the 2nd Goorkhas, there was an example of an Indian General Service Medal 1854 – 95 Clasp N E FRONTIER to a Jemedar ( name illegible ) and an Indian General Service Medal 1908 – 1935 Clasp ABOR 1911 -12 to Naik Surbir Gurung 1/2GR. However, the standout group was that which included an immediate award of the Military Medal to Naik Krishanbahdur Gurung 1/2GR at the Battle of Monte Cassino on 18 February 1944. He was later promoted to Halvidar, but sadly died on active service in Italy on 9 September 1944.
( Hammer price £1200 ). Extracts from his citation:

‘ On the night of 18th February 1944, while forming up his section in difficult conditions, several enemy automatics opened up over a very short range, and grenades were thrown. Every man in the section was either killed or badly wounded, Naik Krishanbahdur Gurung himself receiving a severe wound in the face. Despite this, he fired his Tommy gun and threw grenades, which silenced the enemy fire. He then joined his platoon commander – also wounded – and with a handful of survivors advanced under heavy fire. When the order to consolidate came, and although in great pain, he assisted the platoon commander in organising stretcher parties. He refused to be evacuated himself until ordered by his platoon commander about 5 hours after being wounded. His determination to advance and destroy the enemy was an inspiration to all, and his cool courage under heavy fire was unsurpassed.’

Another group was the medals of WO2 Tejbahadur Gurung 1/2GR which included a General Service Medal 1918 -1962 Clasps MALAYA and BRUNEI with MID awarded during the Malayan Emergency and a scarce Commander-in-Chief Commendation for the period up to 31 May 1954. The London Gazette dated 1 June 1953 states:

‘ In recognition of gallant and distinguished services in Malaya, during the period 1 July 1952 to 28 February 1953 ‘

Hammer price was £850.

Finally, the Gurkha Museum acquired, with the help of two generous donations via the 7th Gurkha Rifles Regimental Association, the pair of medals, including the Military Medal awarded to Cpl Bombahadur Limbu 1/7GR, who was a leading scout in a contact which took place on 18 March 1965 during the Borneo Confrontation. Hammer price was £4600.

Art

Paintings with a Gurkha or Indian Army association also commanded a modest premium, as can be seen from the following lots, which were sold last year:

• One of the two prints of an Assemblage of Gurkha Hillmen from James Fraser’s Views in the Himalaya Mountains ( Hammer price £800 ).

• Print Incident in the Subzee Mundee 1857 ( One of eleven prints) (Hammer price £1100 ).

• Portrait miniature of Major General Sir David Ochterlony Bt GCB by Robert Home ( 1752 – 1834 ) ( Hammer price £1100 ). The main portrait is in the National Army Museum’s collection.

• Watercolour signed and dated 1913 by Richard Simkin of the 2nd Goorkha Truncheon Jemadar ( Hammer price £600 ).

Accoutrements

There were almost daily offerings through various auction houses of kukris for sale, dating from WW1 to the present day . Although the Gurkha Museum did purchase one originally from the 153 Gurkha Independent Parachute Company. In addition, the 2GR cap badge, shoulder titles and chevrons, etc were often auctioned as part of individual collections. There was one item of particular interest, a leather Cross Belt with officers’ pouch belt plate 1953 – 1960 ( ie without WW2 Battle Honours ) ( Hammer price £420 ).

Porcelain

If precious metals delivered positive returns in 2025, then certain figurines by Michael Sutty, which were sold at auction in February 2025 in Florida, USA, fetched extraordinarily high prices, viz:

• 2GR Truncheon Jemadar US$2000

• HAC Pikeman US$1000

Although it was not the same for every figurine in that particular auction A statuette of a Grenadier Guards Officer only fetched US$200, a Royal Marines Bugler and two figurines of a 6th Gurkha and a 7th Gurkha ( estimate £150 – £200) on offer at an auction in Guernsey all failed to attract any bids – as if any proof was needed for the attractions of God’s Own!

Silver

Unique engraved silver ( hallmark Birmingham 1939 ) cigarette case with a naked lady surrounded by a snake with the cypher of 3rd Queen Alexandra’s Own Gurkha Rifles inscribed ‘V FOR ….’ ( Hammer price £160 ).

The cigarette case.

Summary

It is not just the Gurkha or other military museums which own artefacts and items associated with the Gurkha soldier, as evidenced by the continued interest shown by collectors of Gurkha militaria and the Indian Army of the Raj. There continued to be a paucity of medals awarded to Gurkhas being offered at auction, and those which came to the market invariably attracted a premium.

The auction market is global, and the days of possible good fortune by being present in person in the auction room, suitably armed with a paddle, are long gone. For example, last year Wimbledon Auctions sold a marvellous collection of original watercolours of various Indian Army uniforms by Brigadier General Alfred Lovett, which were all sold to a successful bidder who had ‘attended ‘ the online auction from New Delhi.

John Harrop

Please see this article from April 2025 about Memorials to 2GR officers.

Background

In 1903 King Edward VII was the Regiment’s Honorary Colonel ( he was to become our Colonel -In – Chief from 12 May 1904, an appointment which he held until his death on 6 May 1910 ) .

Apparently, HM The King would endlessly drive his beloved Daimler, whatever the weather. However, in 1903, Sir James Reid, GCVO, KCB, VD, who was the Royal Physician, became concerned about the monarch’s health . So, he called upon Berry Bros and Rudd for a solution – a high-strength liqueur which would warm and revive His Majesty.

The King’s Ginger

Thus it came about that a very special liqueur known as The King’s Ginger which had been crafted from ginger ( for centuries celebrated for its medicinal properties ) was created in 1903 by Berry Bros and Rudd.

The King’s Ginger is golden in colour and delightfully robust in flavour. A revitalising and warming spirit that brings people together etc .

A Sirmoor Liqueur?

It might be too late for a bottle to be placed in a Sirmoor Christmas stocking, but in view of the unique connection of this liqueur with the Regiment’s first Honorary Colonel and subsequent Colonel in Chief, I believe that this liqueur deserves a place in the cellar of any self-respecting officer of the 2nd Goorkhas .

NB It also makes a particularly good cocktail when mixed with champagne. See the Berry Bros & Rudd website for other recipes.