The 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 obit
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