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'AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR HERBERT TODD, C.I.E. 1893-1977' [105r] (209/498)
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.
- 103 -
our armies’ victory in Tunis. Friday, 21st May 194-3, was celebrated by
a large public meeting at which we watched a march past by all the laoour
corps raised for, and awaiting despatch to, the Burma front. - addressed
them for nearly an hour - the public in Travancore were always interested
in news of the war as experienced in the "blitz’* of London.
And so down to the rather steamy heat of Cochin where we lunched at the
Malabar Hotel on the Cochin Enclave with some very nice friends - Major and
Mrs. P.- he in charge|of the Port.
On the King’s official birthday in June the Maharaja of Cochin was raised
to the G rank of the eminent order of the Indian Empire, G.C.I.r-,.
i
The distance of my headquarters in Trivandrum and Bolghotty in Cochin
was a hundred-and-forty-six miles, which generally took us about six nours
as we stopped half way at Quilon or Allepy for a meal with one of the British
Residents - usually a commercial man of one of the large trading companies,
such as Messrs. Harrison & Cros*field or Jardine Matheson. The question
of rationing and security became important with the Japs noj in control
of Burma. had to arrange patrols of scouts along the sea coast as
Jap submarines were lurking about the Indian Ocean. Travancore and v.oc hin
could not grow enough rice for home consumption and had always been dependent
on imports from Burma. Ata, as Indian flour was called, was imported from
north India, but the locals had no idea of how to make ata bread and had to
be taught. Instead of baking chapattis with it they would make a horrible
sort of gruel with it which caused them stomach upsets.
Wireless was now introduced and a radio centre was introduced into the
Cochin British enclave which, after some teething problems, got going satis—
fpctorily and brought us into closer and quicker contact with the outside
world. The rich, mineral sands of the Travancore coast were exploited.
The local inhabitants were very mystified to see sand from their seashore
shipped off for exploitation to America. The metals were mica, masonite
and hematite.
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).
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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.