'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' [‎33v] (66/118)

of 1942 I suddenly heard that I was to be recalled to the Indian Political
Service. This seemed to me to be a nonsense at such a time and I protested
to the Commandant of the Staff College and said I would much rauher
continue as an active soldier while the War was on. But I got no change,
as the order had been approved by the Viceroy Lord Wavell himself and was
irreversible.
Quetta was hot and dry in the Summer, up to 115° F. although it was
4,000 ft above sea level. In the winter, on the other hand, it was extremely
cold, with sometimes a foot or more of snow. By December Sea View was
arctic, and our hut let in all the draughts of Asia. The wood in our outer
bathroom door was so swollen and warped that it could not be shut properly
and the only time the wind ceased to whistle through it was when it was
snowed up from outside. In the bedroom it was little better and the glass
of water by my bedside was often frozen solid by morning.
The ostensible reason for the recall of my batch of Politicals from
the Army was that it was still thought possible that the Germans might come
down through the Caucusus to attack India via Persia and Afghanistan, and
that Political Officers might be needed to go forward with the British
forces to administer any territory we might occupy to forestall the enemy.
For the time being, however, I was to be posted as 1st Political Assistant
for Mekran to the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. in Kalat; and ex-officio Commandant of
the Mekran Levy Corps. The Khan of Kalat, apart from Kalat State proper,
had suzerainty of Mekran, which was 20,000 square miles of hill and rocky
desert, bordering on Persia and the sea coast of Southern Baluchistan.
At the last minute, however, Sir Aubrey Metcalfe, the Resident in
Baluchistan, changed his mind and decided to retain me in Quetta as
Assistant Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. and sent Cranston, a bachelor, to Mekran instead,
"in view of your rather extensive family commitments 1 ’. As my family then
only consisted of Jane, Christopher and me this seemed rather a lame excuse,
but in many ways I was very happy to stay in Quetta. As well as being
Assistant Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. , I was Assistant Commissioner and Additional
District Magistrate, and soon found that I was spending a great deal of
time in Court as Woods-Ballard, the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. , delegated almost all
criminal cases to me. I had special powers, under the Criminal Procedure
Code, to impose imprisonment up to seven years. This also relieved the
District and Sessions Judge of a good deal of work, as normally he would
have had to deal with any cases carrying a maximum of over two years
imprisonment.
The first serious case I had to deal with concerned three alleged
gun-runners, who had been caught trying to smuggle arms from Afghanistan
to Kalat State. Whether the Khan of Kalat himself was in any way implicated
never came to light but the case against the three accused in Court was
proved conclusively and I gave them 3 years apiece. This was in January 1943 i
a few days after I had taken over as A. P. A. Weeks later the Resident
enquired what had happened to these gun-runners, and seemed amazed to hear
that their case had been dealt with so expeditiously.