'Memoirs and Recollections of An Officer of the Indian Political Service' [‎14r] (27/156)

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and the military dispositions of the Ethiopians. At the time, there were small Belgian
and Swedish military missions training the Emperor's Imperial Guard and advising him
on military strategy. But, unlike the British and the Americans, the Italian and
French Legations had properly accredited Military Attaches whom I found friendly and
helpful, though deeply suspicious of the use to which the Indian military contingent
was to be put when they arrived. For anyone interested in the really chaotic conditions
prevailing in Addis Ababa during these months, I can commend Evelyn Waugh's two books
"Waugh in Abyssinia" and "Scoop".
Finally, early in September 1935, the "Jehangir" arrived in Djibouti, and disembarked
our contingent and the massive stores and military equipment they had brought with
OU ^/’1ji r i£2i5 e S entS cornprised 140 officers, NCO's and men of-a-
famous Indian Army Regiment witfi an impressive list of battle honours gained in
many campaigns. They were commanded by Major W. F. Charter, M.C. of the same regi
ment: his company officers were Captain G. A. E. Keene of the 3rd/16th Punjabis
and Lt. R. A. Pearson of the Frontier Force Regiment. The Medical Officer was
Captain T. E. Palmer, I.M.S. Mr. Trapman, the British Vice Consul at the Legation, was
sent down to Djibouti to assist in the disembarkation and the entrainment of the troops.
The Foreign Office had suggested that I should attend to this myself, but the Minister
required me to remain in Addis Ababa to superintend the arrival. The French authorities
at Djibouti and the French General Manager of the Railway proved extremely co-operative.
But, despite all our efforts to maintain secrecy, as the Emperor had enjoined on us, the
journalists in Addis Ababa had been alerted from Djibouti. They were however prevented
from buying tickets to travel to the Red Sea port, and instead they took up strategic
positions at various points along the railway line close to Addis Ababa. At Djibouti
the Indian troops were confined as long as possible to their ship, and they entrained
in great secrecy by night. As it was still the rainy season, the train moved only
during the day - all windows were shuttered and no unnecessary halts were allowed.
Only at night were the troops allowed to alight and cook their meals at the side of
the track.
The problem still remained of how to get them into Addis Ababa and thence through the
city on their seven mile journey by road to the Legation. The Emperor, who was fearful
of the reactions of the local population if they saw foreign troops arriving in the
capital - for all he knew they might mistake the soldiers for Italians - was insistent
that nobody should see them as they passed through the city. We at the Legation
examined the merits of the different ways of effecting their entry, including stopping
the train short of the city and then bringing them in by road. But there were no
suitable motorable roads, nor for that matter any vehicles capable of surmounting the
flooded tracks. Eventually, at my suggestion, we hit on the solution. We decided to