| Summary: |
Audio recording of oral history interview with Brigadier Rathy Sawhney, covering the period 1917-1947.
Cassette side OA1/59/1: Brief biographical review. Recollections of preparatory school, Bishop Cotton School and Colonel Brown's School: teachers; ethnic mixes; discipline; prevailing values. Passing into Government College, Lahore: preparing for Indian Military Academy, Dehra Dun; influential British teachers. Reasons for wanting to join army. Entrance exam for IMA 1937. Description of IMA: curriculum priorities; poor calibre of some instructors.
Cassette side OA1/59/2: British instructors' bungalows. Posting to 4th Battalion 12th Frontier Force Regiment. Description of Pindi cantonment. Typical mess life and officers' daily routine. Domestic arrangements of British officers: servants; eating and drinking habits. Clubs' attitudes to Indian officers. Stories illustrating prejudice against Indian officers in mess. Relationship between Indian officers and British; observance of festivals. Military parades; expression of competitiveness. British officer's knowledge of his Indian troops.
Cassette side OA1/59/3: Indian civilians' attitude to Indian Army. Segregation of troops' cantonment. Efficient organisation of unit moves. Life under canvas. British officers' hobbies; eccentricities; game shooting. British and Indian cultural exchanges. Indian hospitality. Contacts between British and Indian women. British grasp of divisions in Indian society hardly recognised by Indians. Highlights and horrors of military service. Mess life under canvas.
Cassette side OA1/59/4: Relationships between British and Indian officers; improvement on posting to 3rd Battalion. Moral standards of British officers. Recognition of role as member of privileged class within Raj; contrasts in acceptance as officer by British. Family spirit of Frontier Force. British role in Indian Army. Determination to equal or surpass British officers. Assessment of British role in Indian Army.
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| Main author: |
Sawhney; Rathy (fl 1917-1972); Indian Army officer |
| Other authors: |
Allen; Charles (b 1940); historian and interviewer |
| Extent: |
1 hr. 50 min.
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| Admin history: |
Indian major in Indian Army in Frontier Force in interwar period. |
| Access status: |
Closed
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| Access conditions: |
Access to sound recording of this interview is currently unavailable at SOAS Library. The transcript can be consulted. Researchers can access a copy of this sound recording at the British Library Listening & Viewing Service. Reference: C1510/59/01-04. For more details see www.bl.uk/listening or contact listening@bl.uk / 020 7412 7418.
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| Copyright: |
Copyright held by British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) |
| User restrictions: |
Private study only. For publication or broadcast please refer to Archivist |
| Language: |
English
|
| Copies: |
Copy available at British Library Listening & Viewing Service. Reference: C1510/59/01-04
Copy available at Imperial War Museum. Reference: 004958/04 |
| Related material: |
Transcript available at SOAS Library. Reference: OA1/59/T |
| Format: |
Archive
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