RAOC Gazette - page 18
Image details
| Corps | RAOC |
|---|---|
| Material type | Journals |
| Book page | |
| Chapter head | |
| Chapter key | |
| Chapter number | |
| Full title | RAOC Gazette |
| Page number | |
| Publication date | 1980 |
| Real page | |
| Colour | Yes |
| Grey | No |
| Early date | 1980 |
| Late date | 1980 |
| Transcription |
TO PAKISTAN BY BAGPIPE LAST WINTER was a severe reminder of the indignities and embarrassment which mother nature can cause to Officers of Ord. All this was thawed, however, when an unusually, querulous Commanding Officer rang me to say Buckingham Palace was likely to require my presence in Pakistan: — " Whilst I had often thought of it myself"; he said, " It seems odd that anyone should go to these extremes!" Wishing to appear all knowledgeable, I immediately replied that I knew someone at the palace and, indeed, that she was shortly to: ' marry one of the guard.' This failed to impress but despite this, the deal was eventually closed by raising a second mortgage on my quarter and consequently being able to persuade Thos Cook Esq, to transport my wife. Thus it was, with great alacrity, that we leapt from the Dulmen, mid-summer snows, onto an aircraft for sunnier climes. Pausing, en route, at Istanbul and Amman, we terminated our main flight in the sun at Rawalpindi. Fortunately there was someone there to meet us and help us transfer to a (relatively) pedestrian Fokker Friendship for the two hundred miie trip to Lahore. That ' someone' included Brigadier K. C. Came OBE, the Defence Attache; the Director of the Pakistan Military School of Music; a parachute Captain (whose sole job was to move Teresa and I between aircraft), plus sundry airport and customs officials. Somehow travellers problems were not ours as we sat and chatted in the VIP lounge. At least though, we had time to negotiate some of the details of the Duke of Edinburgh's Pipe Band Championships, on behalf of both whom and which I was there. Such a delight, a fortnight in Pakistan at the Duke's behest; (and music too, what a bonus). The competition took place in the charming Ayub Khan stadium in the outskirts of Lahore. It was opened by Brigadier Ahmed Kamal at an Inauguration Ceremony in which about half the bands, (some nine hundred men) took part. This con- sisted of entirely Pakistani military music played by both military and pipe bands, at which the first thing one noticed was the fierce, proud nature of the soldiers taking part. The regi- ments were of: Frontier Force; Punjabi and Baluchi origin. The moment the inauguration ended prompted the second ceremony, that of tea. By 11 am, this was finished and HRH's competition was under way with a performance by the 28th Battalion the Baluch Regiment. On the day went, through spirited performances by bands of many famous regiments, corps and arms (l'ke that of the Ordnance Centre) until at its end I found myself surrounded by a thousand or so musicians as: first the Senior Drum Major and I ' swopped' flourishes and then I played some simple, contemporary drum beatings. By the time this was finished one was far more than a represen- tative of His Royal Highness; one had started to belong. In the couple of days preceding the competition I had taken to sitting on the verandah wall to enjoy a post breakfast cigarette. As I did so the following day, this sense of ' belong- ing ' was underlined when lorry after open lorry went past our bungalow with the bands aboard, pipe or drum majors grinning and saluting as the rest of the bandsmen waved. The second day saw many of the best bands, including that of the Medical Centre (ie Depot), whose outstanding perform- ance eventually won them the competition two days later. It also saw the publication of the newspaper report which said: " Major Powell Queens Own Highlanders has arrived in Lahore from UK." I hastily checked, found that the ginger trousers had not been replaced by a MacKenzie Kilt and was thus able to continue! Towards the close of the band competition I asked if I might take a few snaps only to be told that to do so now would overtax me but any bands I wished to photograph would be paraded specially for that purpose. And so they did; happily! (Methinks British troops would at this juncture, have really shown their courage!) This day also saw the time that this particular judge had undertaken to play publicly. Thus it was, with Lieutenant Younis' bagpipe under my arm, we (the bagpipe and I), leapt off into sets of marches and dances; (for, in this game music is a two way traffic). At the end of this, tea appeared, yet again, quickly followed by more music but this time I played a side drum in accompaniment to Lieutenant Mohammed Younis. The gales of laughter following vulgar gestures from the rostrum confirmed that perhaps British Officers were not expected to be so frivolous. No matter, the next day saw the military bands com- petitions and the Queens Own Highlanders Cup Competition for solo pipers. This latter event being won by Havildar Allah Bakhsh (of the AMC Centre), whose band had also been victorious in the Duke of Edinburgh's Competition. That after- noon saw my wife and I set out for the medical barracks where the AMC band had undertaken to record some Pakistani Marches for me to bring home. I was unsure how welcome I was in barracks of this professionally security-conscious army but I was even less sure how popular would be the memsahib's arrival. What worry for nothing! The battalion had turned out to watch and the hospitality of our hosts was all legend would have us believe. As is customary in piping, I walked around the outside listening. Every time I stopped the Drum Major would shout "Chair for the Major Sahib! Chair here." (Recording was in progress). After three or four goes we persuaded him to whisper it; even so, when all was finished, the garden looked like a furniture battleground with chairs climbing trees, playing bag- pipes and doing handstands. No matter, all recovered swiftly in order that the Havildars and above could share a full tea with Teresa and I. The band had bought her a lovely Kashmiri shawl which was handed over with due ceremony along with the cassette just recorded and painstakingly written manuscripts of the music. I do confess that the heart began to twinge. The following day was free, so my conducting officer, Captain Shahzada Farrukh Zaman fixed a hire car for me and the three of us set out on a hair raising two hundred mile trip to Sialkot The only rule of the road was if coincidence allowed you to arrive safely. However, reach Sialkot we did and three quivering jellies oozed out of the closed doors of the car and into the premises of Hakim Din, Bagpipe Makers. Once the venerable' old manager was convinced of our interest: tea appeared; no stone of the factory was unturned and his family quite unexpectedly, yet typically generously, hastily prepared lunch for three extra. The eventual sight of Pakistani craftsmen turning bagpipe parts on toe-held lathes and grinning widely is a happy memory we shall carry for years. The big event of the Lahore social calendar is the annual Horse and Cattle show. We went to see the massed bands re- hearse for this and, arriving a little before the senior Pakistani officers were treated to a private performance by the bands. This was the first time: that this Officer of Ord had enjoyed the luxury of one thousand nine hundred bandsmen playing for him alone. ' Stereo,' suddenly became a whole new word! Towards the end of this morning's rehearsals one of the drum majors noticed my wife tapping her foot in time to the massed military bands (some five hundred strong) who were rehearsing a couple of fields away. " You like?" he asked, " I will fetch them and you can hear them better." Fortunately, they finished playing then and came over. It was about this time that all these men, many of whom we knew by now, gathered around this judge and his wife and, secure in the knowledge that nothing would please us more, put on an exciting display of Frontier, Punjab and Baluch Dances, to the accompaniment of the Engineer Band. The end of these dances was time for me to make a very sad goodbye to these one thousand nine hundred men to whom one had come so close quickly; yet this too was made more difficult when the massed pipes and drums presented me with a bagpipe. (Yes, it was made by Hakim Din). Early the following morning we packed to go, had breakfast and were then summoned immediately to a farewell party given by the host Brigade Commander and his staff. This we left at 0930-hrs and rushed to the airport, to be seen off by Lieutenant Colonel Ejaz Nazim AOC (Chairman of the Judges); the princi- pal of the School of Music and several drum and pipe majors. The following week was one of leave under the tutelage of the Defence Attache. Now, whilst one does not write about leave in this magazine surely you would not have me fail to mention our brief trip to the Khyber Pass, site of so much history? This hasty expedition (albeit very luxurious) was based upon an overnight stay in the tranquil Embassy Residence in — 245 — (Continued on page 263) |
| Book number | R0403a |