Please see attached three photos of me laying a 2GR wreath at the Commando Memorial, Spean Bridge, on 11 November 2023.
Please see the attached photos of this year’s Remembrance Parade in Glasgow that I attended to represent the Brigade of Gurkhas and the 2nd Goorkhas.
John Harrop came across the picture and poem below in ‘Animal Stories’ by Rudyard Kipling, published in 1932. The illustration is by Stuart Tresillian and appears to show a 2nd Goorkha Rifleman (with dicing on his Kilmarnock hat) looking anxiously at the elephant gun team lumbering up behind him.
This extract about the elephants of the gun-teams is one of several verses giving a voice to animals in military service, and is complemented by a Kipling short story ‘Her Majesty’s Servants’ in which the author, whose tent has been blown down, takes shelter under a gun and hears the animals talking in this way. The rest of the poem and more information about it and the story are on the Kipling Society website.
Another illustration of the elephant guns from the same book:
Penny Little has kindly shared this summary of Peter Little’s time in the Army, notes which she wrote as input to a farewell speech given when he was dined out of the Inner Temple in 2005:
Peter was bom in Knebworth, Herts in 1943. His father was at that time serving in the RAF. The family moved around a bit before settling just outside Tunbridge Wells. After prep school he was sent to Tonbridge where he excelled in sport, gaining his colours in rugby, hockey and rowing. Academically he achieved good results at ‘A’ levels in Latin, Greek and Ancient History (!).
Leaving school he took a gap year and through the British Council took a teaching job at a boys public school in Chittagong, East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and it was during the holidays when he travelled extensively through the Indian sub-continent that he first came in contact with Gurkhas.
His entrance into Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, was greatly eased by the fact that they badly needed a hockey goal keeper and Peter fitted the bill. On admission he promptly took up rowing. For the first two years he studied law (Part I of the Tripos) with a view to becoming a barrister. However he soon realised that his studies were getting in the way of serious rowing and being Captain of Boats for two years running for his college, adversely affected his chances of achieving a decent law degree, he therefore switched to Archaeology and Anthropology and gained a creditable ‘rowing’ third. In the final year they got to the finals of the visitor’s cup at Henley and he was a Trial Cap and for a short time rowed in Goldie. During the vacations he worked variously as a taxi driver and in a wine merchants from where his enthusiasm and interest in good wines stemmed.
Afler University he was commissioned into the 2nd King Edward VII’s Own Goorkhas (The Sirmoor Rifles) the oldest of the Gurkha regiments, raised in 1815 by Colonel Frederick Young. Whereupon he was despatched, complete with a suitcase full of ‘Jungle Drawers, Cellular; Officers for the use of’ – truly hideous khaki coloured aertex which reached to the knees. No doubt they served the dual purpose of acting as a complete turn-off to all the mosquitoes, leeches and poisonous snakes that lurked in the undergrowth. In those far-off days graduates were not required to attend Sandhurst and so it was that he arrived in the jungles of Borneo completely untrained. To quote from a friend and fellow officer who wrote an excellent book called ‘Journeys Hazardous’ (by Christopher Bullock) – ‘I felt very much for Lieutenant Peter Little who was accompanying us on this operation. Only a few weeks before he had been at university as a carefree undergraduate. Now he was plunged into filthy swamp jungle in wildest Indonesia; never dry, beset by mosquitoes and leeches (which even the underpants had failed to deter) and served by quite the worst Gurkha orderly I had ever clapped eyes on’.
Leave between tours of duty were spent back in the fleshpots of Singapore and it was during this time in 1968 that he was to meet his bride-to-be. They were duly married in 1969. At the age of 27 he was promoted to major. In 1971 the withdrawal of British troops from Singapore began and his battalion was relocated to Hong Kong and this move was achieved by sea on an LSL (Landing Ship Logistics). On her previous voyage the ship was caught up in a typhoon and the first officer, in a somewhat inebriated state, found himself trapped when his bunk snapped shut on him, and broke his leg. He was only found two days later. However nothing of that nature occurred on this voyage.
In Hong Kong the main role of the Gurkhas was in holding back the hordes of Chinese from the mainland who would have engulfed tiny Hong Kong. After capture they would be given a good breakfast and bussed back over the border. Overseas exercises took up a good part of the battalion’s time and these took place in the jungles of Australia, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands (where Peter was able to help disentangle the High Commissioners rather complicated lovelife) to name but a few. He was also sent on duty treks to Nepal to hand out pensions and to award scholarships and finally together with his Gurkha Major he spent five weeks on his commanding oficer’s trek visiting the Western areas from where the soldiers in his regiment were recruited.
To fast forward somewhat, in 1980 at the age of 37 he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and took command of his battalion (20 British officers, 40 Gurkha ofiicers and over 900 riflemen together with families, a hospital and two schools). And in 1983 the lotus eating days of lolling around in the sun, junk parties, water-skiing, racing at Happy Valley, amahs, orderlys and drivers came to an end and he was recalled back to England to become a Whitehall warrior. For 8 years he endured the daily battle of Waterloo with the commute from West Byflcet to London. However in between two jobs at MOD he was lucky enough to be selected for the Royal College of Defence Studies in Belgrave Square. A sort of glorified, laid back club where the day consisted of some rather interesting lectures, good lunches and dinners (good training for the Inner Temple) and trips abroad culminating in several weeks in the Middle East.
Afler that came his penultimate appointment, that of Director of Military Assistance Overseas which entailed responsibility for British Military training teams and liaising with foreign defence ministers, heads of state sometimes and High Commissioners, Ambassadors and Defence Attaches all over the world ‘Some of his visits were quite surreal such as the one he made to Sierra Leone where he spent an entire evening sitting in the pitch dark (no electricity in Freetown) with the High Commissioner while he (the H.C.) consumed large quantities of whisky brought to him in constant succession by his house-boy until completely comatose he was carried off to bed All rather “Heart of Darkness” stufi‘. He also had to get used to being greeted in some of the minor African states by honour guards and bands drawn up on the airport tarmac on his arrival. His wife, who was not entitled to accompany him on any of these trips became somewhat peeved when he complained of yet another visit to the Cairibbean.
He was awarded the CBE in 1992 for his efforts during the Kuwait invasion by Iraq, in extracting the military training team and their families from where they were having an horrific time, the men having been rounded up and used as human shields at installations, and the families in their compound harassed by Iraqi soldiers. Many of them were emotionally scarred by their experiences and Peter managed to arrange for Bagshot Park, then the HQ for army padres, to be used as a counselling centre for the families.
His final posting in 1992 was to the HQ British Forces of the Rhine where amongst other duties he was required to instigate budget cuts, some of which were less popular than others (re staff cars, including his own). This was also an opportunity for travel, mainly in Europe.
Then in 1994 he decided he should look for a ‘proper job’ and was delighted and amazed when he was picked for the position of Sub-Treasurer to the Inner Temple. This was the beginning of a very happy and fulfilling eleven years. (The rest is history!)
Captain Karnabahadur Thapa has informed me that a group of 16 Sirmooris, their wives and two affiliates have recently visited China, and has provided the photos shown below. They called themselves the ‘Leshan Sirmooris’, ‘Leshan’ meaning ‘Happy Mountain’ in Chinese. Their itinerary was:
Day 1. Kathmandu – Chengdu by Air China and welcome dinner.
Day 2. Day trip to Leshan, visit the Giant Buddha and a river cruise.
Day 3. Visit Panda breeding center, then fly to Shanghai.
Day 4. Visit Jade Buddha Temple, Xintiandi, Yu Garden Market and the Bund.
Day 5. Depart Shanghai by Fast train to Beijing. Visit the Tian’anmen Square and Jingshan Park overlooking the Forbidden City.
Peking Dinner
Day 6. Visit Badaling Great Wall (cable car ride), Bird Nest and Water Cube
Free shopping at Xiushui Street
Day 7. Fly from Beijing to Chengdu
Rest/ Farewell dinner
Day 8. Chengdu – Kathmandu by Air China
The following were in the group :
1. Capt & Mrs Ganesh Gurung
2. Capt Ajiman Gurung BEM and & Mrs Ajiman Gurung
3. Capt & Mrs Meghbahadur Gurung
4. Capt& Mrs Mekbahadur Gurung
5. Capt & Mrs Dudman Gurung
6. Capt & Mrs Karnabahadur Thapa
7. WO2 & Mrs Lachhuman Gurung
8. Mrs Krishnakumari Gurung (Capt Ajiman’s sister), and
9. Ms Poonam Subba midwife 2/2 GR
Since leaving the Army, Major Rambahadur Gurung has developed the Himalayan Golf Club near Pokhara. This challenging and spectacular course has been a great success, and was recently given the accolade of being in Golf magazine’s review of the top 100 courses in the Asia-Pacific region. Click here to download and read the article (the Himalayan Golf Course is mentioned on page 5).
Click here to see a very spectacular flyer for the course made by Major Rambahadur’s 12-year old grandson which includes links to videos and other information about it.
This image was uncovered by Captain Karnabahadur Thapa with the intention of including it in the 2023 Nepal Sirmooree. He at first thought it might have been taken at the 1956 Coronation of King Mahendra, but Lt Gen Sir Peter Duffell confirmed that it was in fact taken at some point when the Brigade of Gurkhas Band, which in that era wore the uniform of the 2nd Goorkhas, were playing at the Royal Tournament in London 14-31 July 1965 and several participants were presented to Her Majesty the Queen. The photo shows three Sirmooris (left to right): Captain DJ (Digby) Willoughby MC (later Commandant of the 1st Battalion), Captain (Dinty) E J H Moore MBE (Director of Music 1960-70) and Major (QGO) Pirthilal Pun MBE MC (Gurkha Major of the 1st Battalion 1959-65). A report on the Band’s UK Tour from 20 May to early October 1965 is in the Regimental Journal for 1965 pages 209-214.
SIRMOOR CROQUET – PART TWO
The third week of August saw Sirmooree Malleteers once again taking to the lawns at Hurlingham. Mark Pettigrew, Peter and Annie Duffell, John Swanston, David Santa-Olalla, Christopher and Griselda Lavender met up with David and Joanna Thomas for lunch on the Terrace. David and Joanna joined us in between moving flats. And Jo Santa-Ollala happily joined us for lunch and tea. Jon Aslett had discovered his car battery was dead that morning, and only after the AA had replaced this, at some cost, was he able to set off from his home in Roegate. He arrived, undaunted for a nonagenarian, with his daughter Sophie Graham, just as we took to the lawns.
Lunch on the Terrace – a respite for David and Joanna!
It was to be an occasionally showery afternoon – but with Sirmoor Umbrellas aloft we played three rounds of Golf Croquet with various combinations. The competency of all Sirmoorees was at an enviable level – as evidenced by four of the six games ending in 6-6 draws. There were many notable ‘runnings’ of the hoops, but without the roquets and croquets of Association Croquet no peeling of balls through the hoops. Perhaps the most surprising stroke of the afternoon – for Mark at least – was Griselda’ s masterful hit from the boundary line to knock Mark’s ball from the jaws of the second hoop!
What Sirmoor croquet should be all about….
Sirmoor Gathering!
A Family Affair
As usual it was as much the company of other Sirmoorees and catching up with tales new and old that was more of the attraction than whose ball ran the most hoops. But for the record Griselda tells me that Peter Duffell and David Santa Olalla dislodged the Champions of our first outing in July – Griselda and Mark- by 7 hoops to 5!
Cream tea and scones were taken by those whose onward travels were modest in duration, and Christopher was delighted to hear Jon reminiscing with tales of John Caruthers and Pat Carpenter – to name but a few. We lingered willingly for quite a while and then departure could no longer be delayed!
‘What book next Peter’?
Stylish Umbrellas to the fore!
Thus did the Sirmoor Croquet season arrive elegantly at its close. And hopefully for those returning to the Shires we shall not be pursued by Penalty Notices issued by Fulham and Hammersmith Borough Council!
The curious obsession that Hurlingham has with skeleton staff!
Colonel William Shuttlewood, Chairman of the Sirmoor Rifles Association and Sirmoor Club, represented the Regiment at the funeral of Captain Matt Moore at Portchester on 3 August 2023. Captain Moore was a wartime Emergency Commissioned Officer. He spent most of his 3 years’ service from 1945-48 with the 5th Battalion on the North West Frontier but latterly, for most of 1947, was Motor Transport Officer of the 1st Battalion at Santa Cruz, near Bombay, before being demobbed in early 1948. At the time of his death he was the oldest surviving British Officer and would have been 100 years old on 16 September 2023.
The following eulogy was given by a member of his family:
The Tribute to Mathias – Matt
For Kate, Ross and Leon and the family, they in a way inherited Great Uncle Matt as he stepped into the role as the patriarch of the family and became more involved with them. Matt was once described to me as the ‘glue holding the family together’ and whose support was outstanding, making endless visits to Noel and Sheila and just being there for the family.
At funerals, members of the family and friends of the person who has died often discover things about them that they never knew. Fortunately for Matt’s family, in the year 2000, he sat down to write, what he put in his own words was “ a few disconnected jottings of some of the things that have happened to me.” And “It does not pretend to be an autobiography. I wouldn’t dare saddle members of my family with such.” Matt refers to the title of the document: “Me by Me – So it has to be right – Right”. Matt wrote – “I bet that grabbed your attention.” And it did, and yes Matt, I was daft enough to read it!
The document contains many anecdotes of Matt’s long and interesting life and one of the first items you come across is his Curriculum Vitae, which makes impressive reading. I will touch upon it later.
Mathias Edward was born in Manchester to Edward Joseph and Mary (known as Molly); and he was educated in the city. Sadly, Matt’s father died in 1935 aged forty-three, on the day Matt took his scholarship exams, aged eleven. Matt had an older sister, Joan who was born in 1917.
Joan died on the 5th of March 1988 and his Mum died the following day.
Matt’s Dad was a very clever Electrical Engineer who went back to school in his 20s to study. So, was this in Matt’s genes?
Matt’s first job was with the Manchester Evening News as a Copy Boy – a ‘go for.’ He stayed there for a year and then embarked on an apprenticeship as an electrician. As an apprentice, Matt would leave home at 6.30am, work until 6pm and then attend night school three times a week from 7pm to 10pm.
Matt wrote about the early days of the war and the time when he installed an air raid shelter in the garden of the family home, which had to be covered in earth. Matt did this by digging a rather large hole in order to extract the earth. Once completed, Matt eventually got weary of sleeping in the shelter every night and so he took to sleeping in his bedroom. After one bombing raid there was a report of an unexploded bomb, but luckily the authorities found it – in the garden of Matt’s family home. They subsequently discovered the alleged bomb crater was the hole dug by Matt, so he was told off for that and then for sleeping in his bedroom during an air raid. There was another occasion when Matt was shot at by a German bomber and he found refuge by diving into a manhole.
World Wat Two interrupted Matt’s apprenticeship and after failed attempts to join the Merchant Navy and the Royal Navy, he enlisted in the RAF, but his dreams of being a fighter pilot were interrupted by a call up to the Army. As his Army career started Matt attended a talk given by a Brigadier in the Indian Army who was seeking recruits. It appealed to Matt as he had Indian connections – his Mum had Indian Students boarding with her – and after an aborted attempt to serve in the Indian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Matt served from 1941 to 1947 with the 2nd King Edward VII Own Goorkhas Rifles; with the rank of Captain.
Matt wrote: “Joining the Goorkhas was one of the best things that ever happened to me.” And “I don’t intend to write about actual warfare, as there is nothing anybody who has been through it would want to remember”.
Many of Matt’s tales are straight out of Boys Own and he was a part of living history. Here are some examples.
A local tribal leader in Northwest India had managed to obtain a piece of artillery and started bombarding the town where Matt was stationed. Luckily the leader ran out of ammunition. Also, in the area there was a tribe of Pathans who were very warlike. There was a local arrangement to keep roads open on certain days. But Matt wrote: “Very often as you were coming down one side of the mountain, the Pathans would be running up the other side, hoping to fire on you before you got away.”
While having a shave, using a truck’s wing mirror, Matt was shot at. Unfortunately, a donkey was killed. Matt wrote: “It’s surprising how quickly one can get a rush of adrenaline under such circumstances, causing one to move somewhat quicker than usual. The bigger the coward, the bigger the rush and the quicker the reaction. Nobody has ever seen anybody dive under truck as quickly as I did that day. So, you appreciate how innately brave I am.”
Matt celebrated VE Day in India, with the odd drink or two. Matt recalls ordering sixty double gins for himself and a Canadian colleague. Matt awoke in the early hours of the following day, feeling slightly unwell. For the next two weeks, every time he had a drink of water Matt would be drunk again. The men in Matt’s company who put him to bed claim Matt kept turning somersaults in mid-air, something he was never able to repeat. The Canadian ended up in hospital. This salutary lesson taught Matt to moderate his drinking in future.
When Matt was demobbed he flew in a Dakota from Bombay, sorry Mumbai, to Karachi and then by Sunderland Flying Boat to Basra and then onto Cairo, landing on the Nile, then to Sicily. On the way there was a fire in one engine and while flying the flight engineer crawled along the wing to put it out. It was then on to Marseilles and finally to Poole.
Matt got home to Manchester at 6am in snow and saw his Mum through the window, in front of a coal fire, waiting up for him. Matt’s Mum had used up the last of her coal to provide a warm welcome for her son. Unfortunately, Matt was recalled to India after three weeks at home.
Matt was eventually demobbed, completed his apprenticeship and embarked upon his travels. Matt wrote: “There were many things I gave up, but there were things in return. Had I remained working in the UK, I would never have met and argued with presidents, nor negotiated on behalf of countries. Whatever I have done in my life, or whatever I have not done, I certainly cannot complain that my life has been dull.”
As an Electrical Engineer, Matt worked in Iraq, Pakistan, India, Hong Kong, East Pakistan, Thailand, Iran, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Egypt and Sri Lanka. Matt’s working life was the only part of his story to be in chronological order and it makes impressive reading. His service overseas often coincided with regime changes.
Here are some of Matt’s recollections of his working life.
At one point Matt directed a staff of over 4,000; and he had ultimate responsibility for the largest fleet of taxis in Hong Kong.
In the early 50s in Pakistan Matt’s role meant he became ‘the expert’ – often an expert in fields he had no knowledge of, so he would visit the local bookshop – there was no Google in those days.
The multi-millionaire owner of some factories cooked dinner for Matt and Matt wrote: ”It is very doubtful there are many of us who have had a meal cooked for them personally by one of the wealthiest men in the sub-continent and it must be said that for a meal cooked by a multi-millionaire with his own hands – it was truly awful.”
Matt once refused a large bribe in order to sweeten a contract.
Matt nearly burnt down a famous hotel in Peshawar, Pakistan. Matt wrote: “I the Chief Inspector for all the international insurance companies operating in Pakistan; the ‘expert’, advising most of the country how to avoid fire, nearly burned down part of one of history’s most famous hotels.”
In Punjab Matt woke up the Prime Minister in order to ask if he could sleep in the empty state palace as the local ruler was away.
Matt was a good speaker. In the Army Matt talked for forty-five minutes on a subject he knew nothing about but so convinced his fellow cadets he did. Much later, in West Bengal, Matt stopped a riot by 2,500 men with a stirring speech.
It must be said that many of Matt’s attitudes, that would make his family cringe, were of their time and of his generation – this was someone who was used to being called Sahib and had, when living in India, a staff of nine and witnessed a few tribal massacres including an occasion when a group of Sikhs indiscriminately killed Muslims on the train he was on.
I’ve talked about some of Matt’s close shaves and he clearly had the proverbial nine lives as these events from his working life prove.
Matt was once threatened on an airfield in Iran when the sentry, who had been told not to let anyone pass, loaded his rifle despite Matt’s valid pass. (The sentry was apparently illiterate.) At the same time a secret service officer nearly shot Matt; and there was a close shave at Karachi airport when the planes brakes failed. Matt knew how much runway was left as he had worked on its construction.
In the jungle in Sri Lanka Matt came across two Tamil Tiger terrorists. They raised their machetes; went left and so Matt went right – quickly!
Matt was once arrested in Thailand and bent his bail restrictions in order to keep working on projects!
There was clearly an edge to Matt’s character – he was not afraid to stand up for any injustice, especially when friends and family were involved – from assaulting a coal merchant during the war who shortchanged his Mum; to a passport official in Pakistan causing problems for his fiancée; to threatening to have the captain of a ship shot in Indonesia for failing to obey Matt’s orders.
Completely innocent encounters with red light districts and brothels feature in Matt’s jottings and having to be rescued by colleagues.
During his working life, Matt met heads of state. He knew the leaders of the burgeoning Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. Matt met Pandit Nehru – the future Prime Minister of India. Matt was an usher to Queen Elizabeth in India and he lent her his light from his bathroom mirror for her dressing table.
For that he was awarded the ‘Order of the Bathroom Electrics’. Matt prepared for the visit of the Indian President to a steel furnace plant and in Sri Lanka he negotiated with the President of the country.
Some more anecdotes caught my attention:
In Calcutta Matt was asked by a Scotsman if he was gay and he said ‘yes’, innocently unaware of what that meant.
In Hong Kong, when asked by an immigration official what he would do in the case of an emergency Matt replied: “Lead out the evacuees”.
Matt eventually retired in 1989. Matt never married. He was engaged to a Corinne Grey in Karachi but she decided not to marry him. Matt wrote: “So now you know why I have always been single. So near and yet….”
Matt clearly made many friends during his working life and in 1996 he embarked on a world tour of nostalgia to meet up with various friends and relatives, and to revisit the places where he had worked.
Matt wrote: “I’m humbly very proud. To have so many truly good friends.”
Matt ended his jottings with:
“If you have been bored to death reading this, it’s entirely your own fault, as I warned you at the beginning that you would be daft to do so. In conclusion, I hope I haven’t offended anybody, but should I have done so, please accept my apologies also, except my assurance that it was completely unintentional. I would have left you in no doubt had it been intentional.”
Matt was described to me as stubborn. He had a ‘can do’ attitude which could be irritating at times but was possibly one of the reasons why he reached the age of ninety-nine. Matt had a wicked sense of humour; and was kind, loving and modest.
I have come to the end of the tribute to Matt and I am aware that I have not done true justice to him. I hope my observations have encapsulated the Matt you all knew far better than me and who you all loved.
The Sirmoor Croquet Season opened on 28th July – just a few days after Robert Fulford of England had won the Association Croquet (AC)World Championship at Hurlingham – surely a harbinger of excellence to come as the Sirmoor Malleteers took to the hallowed lawns.
Peter and Annie Duffell, Christopher and Griselda Lavender, Mark Pettigrew, Bruce Jackman, David Santa-Olalla and David Kemmis Betty made up the eight players, with Carol Jackman and Jo Santa-Olalla joining us for lunch and tea, and adding their support. The Hurlingham Club offered its traditional splendid hospitality, and despite a modest attempt at drizzle after lunch on the terrace, the weather improved and the sun emerged as we took to the lawns.
Deployment
The First Hoop
We played three rounds of Golf Croquet – a socially more enjoyable format than AC as each player played in succession with no roquets or croquets. With 12 hoops to ‘run’, once a pair had made 7 hoops the game was over. The pairings, which remained throughout the afternoon, pitted David KB / Peter Duffell v Griselda / Mark and Bruce/ David SA v Annie / Christopher. There was some whispering about the keen eyed ‘Cricketeers’ (Bruce and David SA) being paired together – but once positions were taken – combat ensued!
The Duffells started well with both Annie and Peter running the first hoop for their pair. Peter carried on as he started, and with David KB’s deft play vanquished Griselda and Mark by 7 hoops to 6. However, Annie despite a late come back, could not emulate this result and she and Christopher succumbed by 7 hoops to 4 to David SA and Bruce. The spectacular shots of this round were Annie’s hit from the boundary to push David SA’s ball out of the jaws of the second hoop, followed by David’s unerringly accurate 20 yard hit to run the 8th hoop.
Annie ‘on strike’
‘Go left young man.’
The second round saw Griselda/Mark prevail over Annie /Christopher by 7 hoops to 3 and Bruce and David SA prevail over David KB/Peter by 7 hoops to 5. The highlights of this round were Griselda hitting Annie’s ball away from the hoop and so deflecting her own ball to run the hoop. This was followed by Annie running the second hoop from 10 yards. No gender inequalities or discrimination in Sirmoor Croquet!
Sirmoor logistics
The third round saw Griselda/ Mark take on Bruce/ David SA in what would decide the winning pair, and Annie / Christopher attempt to secure a lone victory against David KB/ Peter. Needless to say no quarter was given as the sun beat down and the noisy aviation activity overhead (flights in and out of LHR and considerable ‘rotary’ activity) interrupted our light hearted Sirmoor banter!
There was no doubt of the highlights of this finale – with first Peter running the sixth hoop from the fifth and then Bruce doing exactly the same – looking to all like a ‘Centurion’ at the Oval (where England were labouring in the fourth Ashes Test) – with Mallet raised to the crowd!
The victors – Mark and Griselda – at play….
….and thinking what to do next! (PRD’s comment on this photo: ‘Is this a picture from an Edwardian garden party circa 1910 of two elegant socialites enjoying an afternoon game? I think it must be.)
Thus it was that Griselda and Mark triumphed over Bruce and David SA by 7 hoops to 5 (having run 20 hoops through the afternoon against Bruce and David’s 19). Annie and Christopher meanwhile prevailed by a similar score and so avoided a whitewash!
Sirmoor ‘Kaida’!
The afternoon came to a very pleasant end with well-earned scones and jam on the Terrace. Jai Sirmoor!
