'A Grandfather's Tale: Memoirs being mainly concerned with service in the Indian Army and the Indian Political Service in India and the Persian Gulf from 1932-1947' [‎6v] (12/118)

- 4 -
1 cannot remernber exactly when I first decided I wanted to 50 into
the Army but it must have been when I was about 14 or 15 . I also had an
intense^desire to go to India. It is difficult to account for this as we
had no lamixy connections with that country, either Ranee or Cole, and no
recent connection with the Regular Army. My mother»s father had an uncle
Jonn Cole (b .1779 - d. 1825 ) who was a surgeon during the Peninsular War
and at Waterloo, and his son John AmherstCole (b.l 8 l 1 died unmarried
m 1091) served in the 15th Foot and eventually bec&me a General, but as
a ooy I Knew nothing about this bit of family history and could not have
influenced by it. Christ’s Hospital was not an Army School, though
it had a long-standing connection with the Navy through th^ Roval
Mathematioai Soho o1 , founded by Charles II. My Headmaster Mr." (later Sir
wiXiam, Hamilton ryie suggested I should try for the Navy, or perhaos the
as Febr^4 W 1Qtn e e ^ asainst S oin S into the Army and wrote as late
T d t“ ^ 930 1 t ° nlotner ai -Suing against it. However, later that year
t ^Army nnorance exam, and passed in 6 th out of 120 odd to the
if-P; °® ndh y st ’ and won an °P en prize-cadetship, which had the happy
efiect OI halving the fees. In those days one went to the 2.MC. for L-e
long terms, lasting altogether about 18 months, and I joined in lusust 1 c.v C
ost new cadets had gone down to Camberley by an earlier train but"f"ve of
us caught a tram arriving at about 4.30 p.m. and we shared a till to tr»
mvsei e flnclud4 e afvo We rP rOPPed ' at . th * Buildin S aad then two morej
rnyseii nclud.d at No. 4 Company m the Cld Building. Mv comrarinn w-c,
but n in e the SreW and f ° Und ourselves not only to be in the same platoon
greatest^riends^ever^since 0013 ^ d ° OT " ^ betn
in on e .s“^f T “ :f a ir^f^f a r? 4 nd r 3it:
C ommandan t he then” t h e^ oy s 4 eal 1 18 * Gurkha8 "- He a ^ed tL °
and the Commanda'nt said "No’- However W “^it evert^n f this T sta Se,"
given the right answer. On the~whole I enloved i 7 ° ar ^ ea I had
looking back I may have taken it l f immensely, though on
clayed a lot of ru^»r at Comrv^-r i S ° 0 seriousl y» I worked hard but
s-”’
“-H's