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'AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR HERBERT TODD, C.I.E. 1893-1977' [24r] (47/498)
The record is made up of 1 file (247 folios). It was created in 1976-1978. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
22
the Turks retreated leaving us in possession of the country we had to
consider setting up an administration. Volunteer officers were appointed
to the civil administration and their task was to establish a District HQrs.
and set up the whole paraphernalia of government - magisterial, police,
excise, customs, etc. The head of the political administration in my time
was, first, Mr. E.B. Howell, an experienced officer of the Indian Civil
Service and later, Arnold Wilson, an officer of the
Indian Political Service
The branch of the British Government of India with responsibility for managing political relations between British-ruled India and its surrounding states, and by extension the Gulf, during the period 1937-47.
who had spent most of his service as a Political Officer in the Gulf of
Persia as Deputy to the well known Sir Percy Cox, who was then engaged in
conducting relations between Persia and the Russians along the frontier
north of MESHED. It was planned that the Russian Army would link up with
our Expeditionary Force in Mespot, and actually a Russian contingent pushed
its way south of AZERBAIJAN and made contact with our right flank. But
then came the Bolshevik revolution in Russia and their contact with us
was withdrawn. Before their withdrawal the British authorities in Mespot
had persuaded the Armenian residents in eastern Turkey near Lake VAN, to
rise and revolt against their Turkish masters and join the expected Russian
forces. With the sudden collapse of the Russians in the Bolshevik Revo
lution, the poor Armenians were left unprotected from the Turks, who in
revenge for their attempted disaffection set upon them. Probyn’s Horse
had to send up a column through Persia, north, to extricate the Armenians,
men, women and children with their cattle, goods and chattels from the
pursuing Turks. I shall never forget meeting these retreating Armenians,
(JELUS, they were called) as they slowly wound their way down south and then
west into Mespot near the river DIALAH. They were accommodated in a refugee
camp near BAQUBA near where we were then encamped at Shahraban.
It was here at Shahraban that the Armistice of 1918 found us. We were
then withdrawn to an Army Assembly Camp near Baghdad.
Now, with the war over, I had to consider my future. I did not want to
return to Burma as I had come to the conclusion from my prewar service
there that it was too easy-going and demoralising. The country itself,
of course, was very attractive, but the Burman - and particularly the
Burmese women! - were very easy-going and seductive. It was always said,
with much truth, that the Burman was too lazy and addicted to gambling to
worry about cultivating his land. The Madrasi
coolie
A term used to describe labourers from a number of Asian countries, now considered derogatory.
came over and
ploughed his fields and sowed his paddy and then came back to harvest the
The Burmese women ran the local markets and saw to the sale of the
crop.
About this item
- Content
Memoirs of Sir Herbert Todd (1893-1985) of the Indian Political Service The branch of the British Government of India with responsibility for managing political relations between British-ruled India and its surrounding states, and by extension the Gulf, during the period 1937-47. , later of the Iraq Petroleum Company. Written during the years 1976-78, the memoirs begin by recounting Todd's childhood on his family's farm in Kent, his education and entrance into the Home Civil Service in 1912, and his entrance into the Indian Political Service The branch of the British Government of India with responsibility for managing political relations between British-ruled India and its surrounding states, and by extension the Gulf, during the period 1937-47. in 1913. Roughly half of the memoirs (ff 10-137) covers Todd's career up to 1947, which can be summarised as follows:
- Posted to the Indian Police, Burma [Myanmar], 1913-17 (ff 10-22)
- Served in the 11th Bengal Lancers (Probyn's Horse), Indian Army, in Mesopotamia [Iraq], 1917-19 (ff 22-24)
- Remained in Baghdad as Assistant Commissioner of Police, Baghdad East Subdivision, 1919-20 (ff 25-31)
- Transferred to Indian Political Service The branch of the British Government of India with responsibility for managing political relations between British-ruled India and its surrounding states, and by extension the Gulf, during the period 1937-47. , holding positions in Baluchistan, 1921; Gilgit, 1927; Quetta, 1931; Bharatpur, 1936-39 (ff 31-67)
- Served in the Home Guard during extended leave (1939-40), first in Canfield, Essex, and later in Blackheath, London (ff 68-72), followed by a spell as an air warden while awaiting re-posting to India (ff 72-78)
- First attempt at passage to India abandoned when the ship he was travelling on, SS Simla , was torpedoed, September 1940 (ff 79-88)
- Returned to India, holding positions at Udaipur, 1940 (ff 93-97); Baluchistan, 1941 (ff 97-101); Cochin [Kochi] and Travancore, 1943 (ff 101-111); and Calcutta [Kolkata] and the Eastern States, 1944-47 (ff 111-134)
- Returned to London on leave, April 1947; career brought to an abrupt end in June 1947 with the announcement of the handing over of power and Indian independence (ff 135-137).
The last hundred or so folios relate to Todd's employment in the Iraq Petroleum Company (IPC), 1948-59 (ff 138-227), and his subsequent retirement in Oxted, Surrey, 1959-78 (ff 227-248). As Chief Representative of the IPC, Todd and his wife spent much of their time in Baghdad. The memoirs document Todd's relations with prominent Iraqi politicians, diplomats, and visiting British MPs, as well as Todd's visits to Beirut, Damascus, Palestine, Jordan, Kuwait, Persia [Iran] and the United States. Also included are Todd's thoughts on the Suez Crisis and the 1958 revolution in Iraq (Todd was holidaying in Austria at the time and never returned to Baghdad).
Aside from his career, Todd writes about his hobbies (polo and hunting) and comments on UK and world events, such as the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, the death of Winston Churchill, and the first moon landing in July 1969; he also mentions in passing meeting Professor Max Mallowan and Agatha Christie at the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud (Iraq) in April 1955.
The text is typewritten with annotations and crossings out in pencil and ink. It includes some offensive terms and language in its descriptions of members of colonised populations.
- Extent and format
- 1 file (247 folios)
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 249; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. The file also contains an original printed foliation sequence. It should be noted that number 13 in the original foliation sequence is missing (in between folios 14 and 15).
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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- Reference
- Mss Eur F226/30
- Title
- 'AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR HERBERT TODD, C.I.E. 1893-1977'
- Pages
- 2r:248v
- Author
- Todd, Sir Herbert John
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- The copyright status is unknown. Please contact [email protected] with any information you have regarding this item.