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British expedition to Tibet [Younghusband Expedition]
by Wikipedia
Accessed: 2/1/20

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British invasion of Tibet
British and Tibetan officers negotiating
Date December 1903 – September 1904
Location: Tibet
26°05′20″N 89°16′37″ECoordinates: 26°05′20″N 89°16′37″E
Result: British Indian victory; Treaty of Lhasa; Return to status quo ante bellum, occupation of Chumbi valley until 1908 for Chinese payment of indemnities

The British expedition to Tibet, also known as the British invasion of Tibet or the Younghusband expedition to Tibet began in December 1903 and lasted until September 1904. The expedition was effectively a temporary invasion by British Indian forces under the auspices of the Tibet Frontier Commission, whose purported mission was to establish diplomatic relations and resolve the dispute over the border between Tibet and Sikkim.[2] In the nineteenth century, the British conquered Burma and Sikkim, occupying the whole southern flank of Tibet. The Tibetan Ganden Phodrang regime, which was then under administrative rule of the Qing dynasty, remained the only Himalayan state free of British influence.

The expedition was intended to counter Russia's perceived ambitions in the East and was initiated largely by Lord Curzon, the head of the British India government. Curzon had long obsessed over Russia's advance into Central Asia and now feared a Russian invasion of British India.[3] In April 1903, the British received clear assurances from the Russian government that it had no interest in Tibet. "In spite, however, of the Russian assurances, Lord Curzon continued to press for the dispatch of a mission to Tibet", a high level British political officer noted.[4]

The expedition fought its way to Gyantse and eventually reached Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, in August 1904. The Dalai Lama had fled to safety, first in Mongolia and later in China, but thousands of Tibetans armed with antiquated muzzle-loaders and swords had been mown down by modern rifles and Maxim machine guns while attempting to block the British advance. At Lhasa, the Commission forced remaining Tibetan officials to sign the Treaty of Lhasa (1904), before withdrawing to Sikkim in September, with the understanding the Chinese government would not permit any other country to interfere with the administration of Tibet.[5]


The mission was recognized as a military expedition by the British Indian government, which issued a campaign medal, the Tibet Medal, to all those who took part.[6][7]

Background

Main article: The Great Game

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Col. Francis Younghusband

The causes of the conflict are obscure; historian Charles Allen considered the official reasons for the invasion "almost entirely bogus".[8] It seems to have been provoked primarily by rumours circulating amongst the Calcutta-based British administration that the Chinese government (which nominally ruled Tibet) was intending to give the province to the Russians, thus providing Russia with a direct route to British India, breaking the chain of quasi-autonomous buffer-states which separated India from the Russian Empire to the north. These rumours were supported by the Russian exploration of Tibet; Russian explorer Gombojab Tsybikov was the first photographer of Lhasa, residing there during 1900–1901 with the aid of the thirteenth Dalai Lama's Russian courtier Agvan Dorjiyev [Agvan Dorzhiev]. The Dalai Lama declined to have dealings with the British government in India, and sent Dorjiyev as emissary to the court of Czar Nicholas II with an appeal for Russian protection in 1900. Dorjiyev was warmly received at the Peterhof, and a year later at the Czar's palace in Yalta.

These events reinforced Curzon's belief that the Dalai Lama intended to place Tibet firmly within a sphere of Russian influence and end its neutrality.[9] In 1903, Lord Curzon sent a request to the governments of China and Tibet for negotiations, to be held at Khampa Dzong, a tiny Tibetan village north of Sikkim to establish trade agreements. The Chinese were willing, and ordered the thirteenth Dalai Lama to attend. However, the Dalai Lama refused, and also refused to provide transport to enable the amban, You Tai, to attend. Curzon concluded that China had no power or authority to compel the Tibetan government, and gained approval from London to send the Tibet Frontier Commission, led by Colonel Francis Younghusband
with John Claude White and E.C. Wilson as Deputy Commissioners, to Khampa Dzong.[10][11] However, it is not known whether the Balfour government was fully aware of the difficulty of the operation, or of the Tibetan intention to resist it.

On 19 July 1903, Younghusband arrived at Gangtok, the capital city of the Indian state of Sikkim, where John Claude White was Political Officer, to prepare for his mission. White was unhappy with his secondment to the expeditionary force and, to Younghusband's displeasure, had done everything in his power to have the appointment cancelled. He failed and Younghusband had his revenge for White's insubordination when he later left him in the leech-infested jungles of Sikkim to arrange mule and coolie transport to Tibet.[11]

Meanwhile, a letter from the under-secretary to the government of India to Younghusband on 26 July 1903 stated that "In the event of your meeting the Dalai Lama, the government of India authorizes you to give him the assurance which you suggest in your letter." From August 1903, Younghusband and his escort commander at Khampa Dzong, Lt-Col Herbert Brander, tried to provoke the Tibetans into a confrontation.[12] The British took a few months to prepare for the expedition which pressed into Tibetan territories in early December 1903 following an act of "Tibetan hostility", which was afterwards established by the British resident in Nepal to have been the herding of some trespassing Nepalese yaks and their drovers back across the border.[13] When Younghusband telegrammed the Viceroy, in an attempt to strengthen the British Cabinet's support of the invasion, that intelligence indicated Russian arms had entered Tibet, Curzon privately silenced him. "Remember that in the eyes of HMG we are advancing not because of Dorjyev, or Russian rifles in Lhasa, but because of our Convention shamelessly violated, our frontier trespassed upon, our subjects arrested, our mission flouted, our representations ignored."[14]

About two months after the return of the party I went out on a short trip on horseback to a place about fifty miles north-east of Lhasa. While I was there I saw two hundred camels fully loaded arrive from the north-east. The load consisted of small boxes, two packed on each camel. Every load was covered with skin, and so I could not even guess what it contained. The smallness of the boxes however arrested my attention, and I came to the conclusion that some Mongolians must have been bringing ingots of silver as a present to the Dalai Lama. I asked some of the drivers about the contents of the boxes, but they could not tell me anything. They were hired at some intermediate station, and so knew nothing about the contents. However they believed that the boxes contained silver, but they knew for certain that these boxes did not come from China. They had been informed by somebody that they came from some unknown place.

When I returned to the house of my host, the Minister of Finance came in and informed him that on that day a[506] heavy load had arrived from Russia. On my host inquiring what were the contents of the load, the Minister replied that this was a secret. I took a hint from this talk of the Minister and left the room. I had however by good chance discovered that the load came from Russia, and though I could not as yet form any idea about the contents, I tried to get some reliable information.

Now I knew one Government officer who was one of the worst repositories imaginable for any secret; he was such a gossip that it was easy to worm out anything from him. One day I met him and gradually the trend of our conversation was turned to the last caravan. I found him quite communicative as usual, and so I asked him about the contents of the load. The gentleman was so far obliging, that he told me (confidentially, he said) that another caravan of three hundred camels had arrived some time before, and that the load brought by so many camels consisted of small fire-arms, bullets, and other interesting objects. He was quite elated with the weapons, saying that now for the first time Tibet was sufficiently armed to resist any attack which England might undertake against her, and could defiantly reject any improper request which that aggressive power, as the Tibetans believe her to be, might make to her.

I had the opportunity to inspect one of the guns sent by Russia. It was apparently one of modern pattern, but it did not impress me as possessing any long range nor seem to be quite fit for active service. The stock bore an inscription attesting that it was made in the United States of America. The Tibetans being ignorant of Roman letters and English firmly believed that all the weapons were made in Russia. It seems that about one-half of the load of the five hundred camels consisted of small arms and ammunition.

-- Three Years in Tibet, by Shramana Ekai Kawaguchi


The British force, which had taken on all the characteristics of an invading army, numbered over 3,000 fighting men complemented by 7,000 sherpas, porters, and camp followers. The British authorities, anticipating the problems of high altitude conflict, included many Gurkha and Pathan troops from mountainous regions such as Nepal; six companies of the 23rd Sikh Pioneers, four companies of the 8th Gurkhas in reserve at Gnatong in Sikkim, and two Gurkha companies guarding the British camp at Khamba Jong were involved.

The Tibetans were aware of the expedition; to avoid bloodshed, the Tibetan general at Yadong pledged that if the British made no attack upon the Tibetans, he would not attack the British. Colonel Younghusband replied, on 6 December 1903, that "we are not at war with Tibet and that, unless we are ourselves attacked, we shall not attack the Tibetans". When no Tibetan or Chinese officials met the British at Khampa Dzong, Younghusband advanced with some 1,150 soldiers, porters, labourers, and thousands of pack animals, to Tuna, 50 miles beyond the border. After waiting more months there, hoping in vain to be met by negotiators, the expedition received orders (in 1904) to continue toward Lhasa.[15]

The Tibet government, guided by the Dalai Lama, alarmed by a large acquisitive foreign power dispatching a military mission to its capital, began marshalling its armed forces.

Initial advance

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Major Francis Younghusband leading a British force to Lhasa in 1904

The British army that departed Gnathong in Sikkim on 11 December 1903 was well prepared for battle, having had long experience of Indian border wars. Its commander, Brigadier-General James Ronald Leslie Macdonald, wintered in the border country, using the time to train his troops near regular supplies of food and shelter before advancing in earnest in March, travelling over 50 miles (80 km) before encountering his first major obstacle at the pass of Guru, near Lake Bhan Tso on 31 March.

The massacre of Chumik Shenko

A military confrontation on 31 March 1904 became known as the Massacre of Chumik Shenko. Facing the vanguard of Macdonald's army and blocking the road was a Tibetan force of 3,000 armed with antiquated matchlock muskets, ensconced behind a 5-foot-high (1.5 m) rock wall. On the slope above, the Tibetans had placed seven or eight sangars.[16] The Commissioner, Younghusband, was asked to stop but replied that the advance must continue, and that he could not allow any Tibetan troops to remain on the road. The Tibetans would not fight, but nor would they vacate their positions. Younghusband and Macdonald agreed that "the only thing to do was to disarm them and let them go". This at least was the official version. The writer Charles Allen has also suggested that a dummy attack was played out in an effort to provoke the Tibetans into opening fire.[17]

It seems then that scuffles between the Sikhs and Tibetan guards grouped around Tibetan generals sparked an action of the Lhasa general: he fired a pistol hitting a Sikh in the jaw. British accounts insist that the Tibetan general became angry at the sight of the brawl developing and shot the Sikh soldier in the face, prompting a violent response from the soldier's comrades, which rapidly escalated the situation. Henry Newman, a reporter for Reuters, who described himself as an eye-witness, said that following this shot, the mass of Tibetans surged forward and their attack fell next on a correspondent for the Daily Mail, Edmund Candler, and that very soon after this, fire was directed from three sides on the Tibetans crowded behind the wall. In Doctor Austine Waddell's account, "they poured a withering fire into the enemy, which, with the quick firing Maxims, mowed down the Tibetans in a few minutes with a terrific slaughter."[18]
Second-hand accounts from the Tibetan side have asserted both that the British tricked the Tibetans into extinguishing the fuses for their matchlocks, and that the British opened fire without warning. However, no evidence exists to show such trickery took place and the likelihood is that the unwieldy weapons were of very limited use in the circumstances. Furthermore, the British, Sikh, and Gurkha soldiers closest to the Tibetans were nearly all protected by a high wall, and none were killed.[19]

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Tibetan Soldier at Target Practice

The Tibetans were mown down by the Maxim guns as they fled. "I got so sick of the slaughter that I ceased fire, though the general’s order was to make as big a bag as possible", wrote Lieutenant Arthur Hadow, commander of the Maxim guns detachment. "I hope I shall never again have to shoot down men walking away."[20]

Half a mile from the battlefield, the Tibetan forces reached shelter and were allowed to withdraw by Brigadier-General Macdonald. Behind them, they left between 600 and 700 dead and 168 wounded, 148 of whom survived in British field hospitals as prisoners. British casualties were 12 wounded.[21] During this battle and some to follow, the Tibetans wore amulets which their lamas had promised would magically protect them from any harm. After one battle, surviving Tibetans showed profound confusion over the ineffectiveness of these amulets.
[21] In a telegraph to his superior in India, the day after the massacre, Younghusband stated: "I trust the tremendous punishment they have received will prevent further fighting, and induce them at last to negotiate."

The advance continues to Gyantse

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Armoured Tibetan horseman

Past the first barrier and with increasing momentum, Macdonald's force crossed abandoned defences at Kangma a week later, and on 9 April attempted to pass through Red Idol Gorge, which had been fortified to prevent passage. Macdonald ordered his Gurkha troops to scale the steep hillsides of the gorge and drive out the Tibetan forces ensconced high on their cliffs. This they began, but soon were lost in a furious blizzard, which stopped all communications with the Gurkha force. Some hours later, exploratory probes down the pass encountered shooting and a desultory exchange continued till the storm ended around noon, which showed that the Gurkhas had by chance found their way to a position above the Tibetan troops. Thus faced with shooting from both sides as Sikh soldiers pushed up the hill, the Tibetans moved back, again coming under severe fire from British artillery and retreated in good order, leaving behind 200 dead. British losses were again negligible.

Following this fight at the "Red Idol Gorge", as the British later called it, the British military pressed on to Gyantse, reaching it on 11 April.[22] The town's gates were opened before Macdonald's forces, the garrison having already departed. Francis Younghusband wrote to his father; "As I have always said, the Tibetans are nothing but sheep."
The townspeople continued with their business and the Westerners took a look at the monastic complex, the Palkor Chode. The central feature was the Temple of One Hundred Thousand Deities, a nine-storey stupa, modelled on the Mahabodhi Temple at Bodhgaya, the spot where Gautama Buddha first achieved enlightenment.[23] Statuettes and scrolls were shared out between officers. Younghusband's Mission Staff and Escort were billeted in the country mansion and farmyard of a Tibetan noble family named Changlo, and 'Changlo Manor' became the Mission Headquarters where Younghusband could hold his durbars and meet representatives of the Dalai Lama. In the words of historian Charles Allen, they now entered 'a halcyon period', even planting a vegetable garden at the Manor while officers explored the town unescorted, or went fishing and shooting. The Commission's medical officer, the philanthropic Captain Herbert Walton, attended to the needs of the local populace, notably performing operations to correct cleft palates, a particularly common affliction in Tibet.[24] Five days after he arrived at Gyantse, and deeming the defences of Changlo Manor secure, Macdonald ordered the main force to begin the march back to New Chumbi to protect the supply line.[25]

Younghusband wanted to move the Mission to Lhasa and telegraphed London for an opinion but got no reply. Reaction in Britain to the massacre at Chumik Shenko had been one of "shock [and] growing disquiet". The Spectator and Punch magazines had expressed views critical of a spectacle that included "half-armed men" being wiped out "with the irresistible weapons of science". In Whitehall, the Cabinet "kept its collective head down". Meanwhile, intelligence reached Younghusband that Tibetan troops had gathered at Karo La, 45 miles east of Gyantse.[26]

Lt. Colonel Herbert Brander, Commander of the Mission Escort at Changlo Manor, decided to strike against the Tibetan force assembling at Karo La without consulting Brigadier-General Macdonald, who was two days' riding away. Brander consulted Younghusband instead, who declared himself in favour of the action.
Perceval Landon, correspondent of The Times who had sat in on the discussions, observed that it was "injudicious" to attack the Tibetans, and that it was "quite out of keeping with the studious way in which we have hitherto kept ourselves in the right." Brander's telegram setting out his plans reached Macdonald at New Chumbi on 3 May and he sought to reverse the action, but it was too late.[27] The battle at Karo La on 5–6 May is possibly the highest altitude action in history, won by Gurkha riflemen of the 8th Gurkhas and sepoys of the 32nd Sikh Pioneers who had climbed and then fought at an altitude in excess of 5,700 m.[28]

The Mission under siege

Meanwhile, an estimated 800 Tibetans attacked the Chang Lo garrison. The Tibetan war whoops gave the Mission staff time to form ranks and repulse the assailants, who lost 160 dead; three men of the Mission garrison were killed.

I may call the Sword Festival a sort of Tibetan military review. At any rate the regulars in and about Lhasa participated in it, and also the special soldiers temporarily organised for the occasion. They were all mounted, and numbered altogether perhaps two thousand five hundred men. They were quaintly accoutred, and seemed to be divided according to the colors of the pieces of cloth attached to the back of their helmets and hanging down behind. I saw a party of about five hundred troopers distinguished by white cloths, then another with purple cloths, while there was a third which used cloths of variegated dyes. But irrespective of the different colors, they were all clad in a sort of armor and carried small flags also of different colors. Some were armed with bows and arrows and others with guns, and the procession of the gaily attired soldiery was not unlike the rows of decorated May dolls arranged for sale in Tokyo on the eve of the Boys’ Festival in Japan.

The proceedings began with a signal gun. As the booming sound subsided the procession of soldiery made its appearance and each division went past the Grand Lama’s seat constructed on an elevated stand to the west of the Hall. With the termination of this march-past a party of about three hundred priests, carrying a flat drum each with a long handle and with the figure of a dragon inscribed upon its face, came out of the main edifice. Each of them carried in his right hand a crooked drum-stick. This party took its stand in a circle in front of the Hall. Next marched out the second party of priests all gorgeously attired in glittering coats and brocade tunics, each carrying a metallic bowl used in religious services. I must mention that the function demands of the soldiery and priests the washing of their bodies with warm water on the preceding evening, and so on that particular occasion those Tibetans, careless and negligent of bodily cleanliness at other times, are for the first time in the year almost decently clean.

The metallic-bowl party was arranged in a row around the drum party, and soon the signal for the service was given by one of the bowl-men who was apparently a leader. It was a peculiar signal, and consisted in striking on the bowl and starting a strange dancing movement. On this the two parties beat their drums and bowls in some sort of tune. After this had gone on for some time the whole party burst out into a chorus of ominous howls, not unlike the roar of the tiger. As the thousand priests composing the two parties all howled to the fullest extent of their throats, the noise made was sufficiently loud.

After the howling parties had completed their part in this ceremony, out marched a party of Nechung priests, those oracle-mongers of Tibet to whom reference has been made more than once already. The oracle-mongers’ party was heralded by a number of sacred-sword-bearers[547] in two rows, about a dozen in each. The sword carried measured about four feet in length and was set off with pieces of silk cloth of five different colors. The sword-bearers were followed by the bearers of golden censers and other sacred caskets or vessels. Then followed the oracle-monger, dressed cap-à-pie in all the glittering fashion which Tibetan ingenuity alone could devise. He was clad in gold brocade and wore head-gear of the same cloth. He behaved like a man stricken with palsy, was supported right and left by an assistant, and his eyes were shut. Gasping like a fish out of water and walking with a tottering gait not unlike that of a man who has lost his power of locomotion through too much liquor, the Nechung slowly emerged from the Hall. By the ignorant populace he was greeted as an object of veneration, but there were seen not a small number of priests and laymen who looked upon this peculiar appearance of the Nechung with eyes of undisguised disgust.

The part assigned to this Lama fanatic is one of semi-divine character, he being required to act as a guardian angel, to prevent any mishaps occurring during the ceremony of the ‘Sword Festival’.

Last of all slowly marched forth the procession of the Ganden Ti Rinpoche. I saw him under a capacious and highly decorated awning which is the same sort of umbrella as that of the Grand Lama. He was attired in the ceremonial robe befitting his rank of Ti Rinpoche. His appearance was highly impressive and even those priests who had viewed the oracle-mongers with well-deserved scorn were seen in attitudes of sincere respect. That was also my sentiment as my eyes met him; for he truly impressed me as a living Buḍḍha. To the Ti Rinpoche was entrusted the most important function in this ceremony, the hurling of the sacred sword in order to avert any evil spirits that may obstruct the prosperous reign of the[548] Chinese Emperor. With this sword-hurling the ceremony was brought to a close.

-- Three Years in Tibet, by Shramana Ekai Kawaguchi


An extravagant account of the attack, written by Lieutenant Leonard Bethell while faraway at New Chumbi, extolled Younghusband's heroism; in fact, Younghusband's own account revealed that he had fled to the Redoubt, where he remained under cover. The Gurkhas' light mountain guns and Maxims which would have been extremely useful in defending the fort, now back in Tibetan hands, had been requisitioned by Brander's Karo La party. Younghusband sent a message to Brander telling him to complete his attack on Karo, and only then to return to relieve the garrison. The unprovoked attack on the Mission and the Tibetans' reoccupation of the Gyantse Jong,[29] though a shock, did in fact serve Younghusband's purpose. He wrote privately to Lord Curzon: "The Tibetans as usual have played into our hands." To Lord Ampthill in Simla he wrote that "His Majesty's Government must see that the necessity for going to Lhasa has now been proved beyond all doubt."[30]

Following the 5 May attack, the Mission and its garrison remained under constant fire from the Jong. The Tibetans' weapons may have been inefficient and primitive but they kept up a constant pressure and fatalities were an irregular but nagging reality; a fatality on 6 May was followed by another eleven in the seven weeks after the surprise attack on Changlo Manor. The garrison responded with its own attacks; some of the Mounted Infantry returned from Karo La, armed with new standard-issue Lee–Enfield rifles, and pursued Tibetan horsemen, and one of the Maxims was stationed on the roof and short bursts of machine-gun fire met targets as they appeared on the walls of the Jong.[31]

The attack on Changlo Manor seemed to spur the British and Indian Governments to renewed efforts, and reinforcements were duly despatched. British troops stationed at Lebong, the 1st battalion of the Royal Fusiliers, the nearest British infantry available, were sent, as well as six companies of Indian troops from the 40th Pathans, a party from the 1st Battalion, the Royal Irish Rifles with two Maxim guns, a British Army Mountain Battery with four ten-pounder guns, and Murree Mountain Battery, as well as two Field Hospitals. Setting out on 24 May 1904, the Royal Fusiliers joined up with Macdonald at New Chumbi, the base depot of the Tibet Mission, in the first days of June.[32]

Alarms and politics at Gyantse, and beyond

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Native troops on the expedition

Significant alarms and actions during this period included fighting on 18–19 May when attempts were made to take a building away from the Tibetans between the Jong and the Mission post, which were successful. About 50 Tibetans were gunned down and the building was renamed the Gurkha House. On 21 May Brander's fighters set out for the village of Naini, where the monastery and a small fort were occupied by the Tibetans; they were involved in significant fighting but were required to break off to return to defend the Mission which was under concerted attack from the Jong – an attack stifled by Ottley's Mounted Infantry. It was the last serious attempt by Dapon Tailing (the Tibetan commander of the garrison at Gyantse Jong) to take Changlo Manor. On 24 May a company of the 32nd Sikh pioneers arrived and Captain Seymour Shepard, DSO, 'a legend in the Indian Army' reached Gyantse, commanding a group of sappers, which lifted British morale. On 28 May he was involved in an attack on Palla Manor, 1,000 yards east of Changlo Manor. 400 Tibetans were killed or wounded. No more assaults were contemplated at this point until Macdonald returned with more troops and Brander concentrated on strengthening the 3 positions: the Manor, the Gurka House, and Palla Manor; he also reopened the line of communication with New Chumbi.

By now the Commander-in-Chief in India, Lord Kitchener, was determined to see that Brigadier-General Macdonald should henceforth be in charge of the Mission at all times. The feeling in Simla was that Younghusband was unduly eager to head straight for Lhasa. Younghusband set out for New Chumbi on 6 June and telegraphed Louis Dane, the head of Curzon's Foreign Department, telling him that "we are now fighting the Russians, not the Tibetans. Since Karo La we are dealing with Russia." He further sent off a stream of letters and telegrams claiming there was overwhelming evidence of the Tibetans relying on Russian support and that they were receiving a very substantial amount of it. These were claims with no foundation. Younghusband was ordered by Lord Ampthill, as acting Viceroy, to re-open negotiations and try again to communicate with the Dalai Lama. Reluctantly Younghusband did deliver an ultimatum in two letters, one addressed to the Dalai Lama and one to the Chinese amban, Manchu Resident in Lhasa, Yu-t'ai, though, as he wrote to his sister, he was against this course of action for he saw it as "giving them another chance of negotiating". On 10 June Younghusband arrived at New Chumbi. Macdonald and Younghusband discussed their differences, and on 12 June the Tibet Field Force marched out of New Chumbi.

Once the obstacle of Gyantse Dong was cleared, the road to Lhasa would be open. Gyantse Dzong was, however, too strong for a small raiding force to capture, and as it overlooked British supply routes, it became the primary target of Macdonald's army. On 26 June, a fortified monastery at Naini which covered the approach was taken in house-to-house fighting by the Gurkhas and 40th Pathan soldiers. Further, Tibetan forces in two forts in the village were caught "between two fires" as the garrison at Changlo Manor joined the fight.[33] On 28 June a final obstacle to assaulting Gyantse Jong was overcome when the Tsechen monastery, to the north-west, and the fortress that guarded its rear were cleared by two companies of Gurkhas, the 40th Pathans and two waves of infantry. Since the monastery had offered resistance it was considered fit to loot – several old and valuable thankas duly surfaced at Christie's later in the summer and were sold for high prices.[34]

Tibetan responses to the invasion so far had comprised almost entirely static defences and sniping from the mountains at the passing column, neither tactic proving effective. Apart from the failed assault on Chang Lo two months previously, the Tibetans had not made any sallies against British positions. This attitude was born of a mix of justifiable fear of the Maxim Guns, and faith in the solid rock of their defences, yet in every battle they were disappointed, primarily by their poor weaponry and inexperienced officers.

On 3 July, a formal durbar was held at the Mission and the Tibetan delegation told by Younghusband to clear out of the Jong in 36 hours. Younghusband made no effort to negotiate, though why talks could not take place while the Tibetans held the Jong was not clear. The more patient General Macdonald, meanwhile, was subject to a campaign that sought to undermine his authority; Captain O'Connor wrote to Helen Younghusband on 3 July that "He should be removed & another & better man -- a fighting general -- substituted".

Storming of Gyantse Dzong

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The Gyantse Dzong today

The Gyantse Dzong was a massively protected fortress; defended by the best Tibetan troops and the country's only artillery, it commanded a forbidding position high over the valley below. Macdonald engaged in a 'demonstration', a feint directed mainly against the western edges of Gyantse Jong which would draw Tibetan soldiers away from the southern side of the Jong which was to be the main object of the attack to come. An artillery bombardment with mountain guns would then create a breach, which would be stormed immediately by his main force. The ancient monastic complex at Tsechen, dating from the fourteenth century, was torched, to prevent its re-occupation by the Tibetans.

The eventual assault on 6 July did not happen as planned, as the Tibetan walls were stronger than expected. General Macdonald's plan was for the infantry to advance in three columns, from the south-west, the south, and south-east. Yet at the opening of the attack there was a near disaster when two columns blundered into each other in the dark. It took eleven hours to break through. The breach was not completed until 4:00 pm, by which time the assault had little time to succeed before nightfall. As Gurkhas and Royal Fusiliers charged the broken wall, they came under heavy fire and suffered some casualties. Gurkha troops climbed the rock directly under the upper ramparts, scaling the rock face as rocks rained down on them and misdirected fire from one of the Maxims hit more of these Gurkhas than Tibetan defenders above them.[35] After several failed attempts to gain the walls, two soldiers broke through a bottleneck under fire despite both being wounded. They gained a foothold which the following troops exploited, enabling the walls to be taken. The Tibetans retreated in good order, allowing the British control of the road to Lhasa, but denying Macdonald a route and thus remaining a constant threat (although never a serious problem) in the British rear for the remainder of the campaign.

The two soldiers who broke the wall at Gyantse Jong were both well rewarded. Lieutenant John Duncan Grant was given the only Victoria Cross awarded during the expedition, whilst Havildar Pun received the Indian Order of Merit first class (equivalent to the VC as Indian soldiers were not eligible for VCs until the First World War). Major Wimberley, one of the Medical Officers to the Mission, wrote that though he had seen the Gordons at Dargai he considered "the storming of the breach at Gyantse Jong by the Gurkhas a far finer performance."

Considerable pillaging took place at Palkor Chode, Dongtse and other monasteries after the fall of Gyantse Jong.[36] Whatever General Orders and the Hague Convention of 1899 may have dictated, looting seemed acceptable if the army felt it had been opposed in any way. According to Major William Beynon, in a letter to his wife of 7 July, some of the looting was officially approved –- claims by Dr Waddell, Brigadier-General Macdonald and his chief of staff, Major Iggulden that monastic sites were "most religiously respected" look hollow.[37]

Entry to Lhasa

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The Potala Palace

On 12 July the sappers pulled down the Tsechen monastery and fort and on 14 July Macdonald's force marched east on the Lhasa road.

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Amban Yu-t'ai with Col. Younghusband at Lhasa

At the Karo La, the Wide-Mouthed Pass that had been the scene of fighting two and a half months earlier, the Gurkhas skirmished with a determined group of Tibetan fighters on the heights to the left and right. Essentially however resistance faded before the advance and a policy of scorched earth was adopted – the Tibetans removed what food and fodder they could and emptied villages. Nevertheless, troops could fish in the lakes, where there were also plenty of gulls and redshanks. They passed along the shores of the Yamdok Tso, and reached the fortress of Nakartse, unoccupied except for a party of delegates from Lhasa. Macdonald urged Younghusband to settle the business but Younghusband would negotiate only at Lhasa. By 22 July, the troops camped under the wall of another fortress, Peté Jong, deserted and in ruins, while Mounted Infantry pushed on ahead to seize the crossing at Chushul Chakzam, the Iron Bridge. On 25 July, the army began to cross the Tsangpo in the wake of the Mounted Infantry, a feat that took four days to achieve.

The force arrived in Lhasa on 3 August 1904 to discover that the thirteenth Dalai Lama had fled to Urga, the capital of Outer Mongolia. The Amban escorted the British into the city with his personal guard, but informed them that he had no authority to negotiate with them. The Tibetans told them that only the absent Dalai Lama had authority to sign any accord. The Amban advised the Chinese emperor to depose the Dalai Lama. The Tibetan Council of Ministers and the General Assembly began to submit to pressure on the terms as August progressed, except on the matter of the indemnity which they believed impossibly high for a poor country.[38] Eventually however Younghusband intimidated the regent, Ganden Tri Rinpoche, and the Tsongdu (Tibetan National Assembly), into signing a treaty on 7 September 1904, drafted by himself, known subsequently as the Treaty of Lhasa. It was signed, again at Younghusband's insistence, at the Potala Palace. He wrote gleefully to his wife that he had been able to "ram the whole treaty down their throats".[39]

The Anglo-Tibetan Treaty of Lhasa (1904)

Main article: Treaty of Lhasa

The salient points of the Treaty of Lhasa of 1904 were as follows:

• The British allowed to trade in Yadong, Gyantse, and Gartok.
• Tibet to pay a large indemnity (7,500,000 rupees, later reduced by two-thirds; the Chumbi Valley to be ceded to Britain until paid).
• Recognition of the Sikkim-Tibet border.
• Tibet to have no relations with any other foreign powers (effectively converting Tibet into a British protectorate).[40]

The size of the indemnity had been the hardest factor to accept for the Tibetan negotiators. The Secretary of State for India, St John Brodrick, had in fact expressed the need for it to be "within the power of the Tibetans to pay" and given Younghusband a free hand to be "guided by circumstances in this matter". Younghusband raised the indemnity demanded from 5,900,000 to 7,500,000 rupees, and further demanded the right for a British trade agent, based at Gyantse, to visit Lhasa "for consultations".
It seems that he was still following Lord Curzon's geo-political agenda to extend British influence in Tibet by securing the Chumbi Valley for Britain. Younghusband wanted the payment to be met by yearly instalments; it would have taken about 75 years for the Tibetans to clear their debt, and since British occupation of the Chumbi valley was surety until payment was completed, the valley would remain in British hands.[41] Younghusband wrote to his wife immediately after the signing; "I have got Chumbi for 75 years. I have got Russia out for ever".[42] The regent commented that "When one has known the scorpion [meaning China] the frog [meaning Britain] is divine".

The Amban later publicly repudiated the treaty, while Britain announced that it still accepted Chinese claims of authority over Tibet. Acting Viceroy Lord Ampthill reduced the indemnity by two-thirds and considerably eased the terms in other ways. The provisions of this 1904 treaty were revised in the Anglo-Chinese Convention of 1906.[43] The British, for a fee from the Qing court, also agreed "not to annex Tibetan territory or to interfere in the administration of Tibet", while China engaged "not to permit any other foreign state to interfere with the territory or internal administration of Tibet".[44][45][46]

Conclusion of the campaign

The British mission departed in late September 1904, after a ceremonial presentation of gifts. Britain had "won" and had received the agreements it desired, but without actually receiving any tangible results. The Tibetans had lost the war but had seen China humbled by its failure to defend its client state from foreign incursion, and had pacified the invader by signing an unenforceable and largely irrelevant treaty. Captured Tibetan troops were released without condition upon the war's conclusion, many after receiving medical treatment.

It was in fact the reaction in London which was fiercest in condemnation of the war. By the Edwardian period, colonial wars had become increasingly unpopular, and public and political opinion were unhappy about waging war for such minor reasons as those provided by Curzon, and about the beginning battle, which was described in Britain as a deliberate massacre of unarmed men. It was only because of support from King Edward VII that Younghusband, Macdonald, Grant and others were praised for the war. The British lost just 202 men to the enemy and 411 to other causes. Tibetan casualties have been estimated at between 2,000-3,000 killed or fatally wounded.[47]

Though Younghusband, through Curzon's patronage, ascended to the Residency of Kashmir following the campaign, his judgment was no longer trusted, and political decisions on Kashmir and the princely states were made without him. Once Curzon's protection was gone, Younghusband had no future in the Indian political service. In 1908, the position he wanted, that of Chief Commissioner of the North-West Frontier Province, was handed to George Roos-Keppel, a man whose interactions with the people of the border regions was based on respect, rather than the contempt which marked Younghusband's attitudes toward "lesser breeds without the law".[48]

Force composition

The composition of the opposing armies explains a lot about the outcome of the ensuing conflict. The Tibetan soldiers were almost all rapidly impressed peasants, who lacked organisation, discipline, training and motivation. Only a handful of their most devoted units, comprising monks armed usually with swords and jingals, proved to be effective, but they were in such small numbers as to be unable to reverse the tide of battle. This problem was exacerbated by their generals, who seemed in awe of the British and refused to make any aggressive moves against the small and often dispersed column. They also failed conspicuously to properly defend their natural barriers, frequently offering battle in relatively open ground, where Maxim guns and rifle volleys caused great numbers of casualties.

By contrast, the British and Indian troops were experienced veterans of mountainous border warfare on the North-West Frontier, as was their commanding officer. Amongst the units at his disposal in his 3,000 strong force were elements of the 8th Gurkhas, 40th Pathans, 23rd and 32nd Sikh Pioneers, 19th Punjab Infantry and the Royal Fusiliers, as well as mountain artillery, engineers, Maxim gun detachments from four regiments and thousands of porters recruited from Nepal and Sikkim. With their combination of experienced officers, well-maintained modern equipment and strong morale, they were able to defeat the Tibetan armies at every encounter.

Aftermath

The Tibetans were not just unwilling to fulfil the treaty; they were also unable to perform many of its stipulations. Tibet did not have any substantial international trade commodities, and already accepted the borders with its neighbours. Nevertheless, the provisions of the 1904 treaty were confirmed by the 1906 Anglo-Chinese Convention signed between Britain and China. The British, for a fee from the Qing court, also agreed "not to annex Tibetan territory or to interfere in the administration of Tibet", while China engaged "not to permit any other foreign state to interfere with the territory or internal administration of Tibet".[44][45]

The British invasion was one of the triggers for the 1905 Tibetan Rebellion at Batang monastery, when anti-foreign Tibetan lamas massacred French missionaries, Manchu and Han Qing officials, and Christian converts before the Qing crushed the revolt.[49][50]

No. 10. Despatch from Consul-General Wilkinson to Sir E. Satow, dated Yünnan-fu, 28th April, 1905. (Received in London 14th June, 1905.) Pere Maire, the Provicaire of the Roman Catholic Mission here, called this morning to show me a telegram which he had just received from a native priest of his Mission at Tali. The telegram, which is in Latin, is dated Tali, the 24th April, and is to the effect that the lamas of Batang have killed PP. Musset and Soulie, together with, it is believed, 200 converts. The chapel at Atentse has been burnt down, and the lamas hold the road to Tachien-lu. Pere Bourdonnec (another member of the French Tibet Mission) begs that Pere Maire will take action. Pere Maire has accordingly written to M. Leduc, my French colleague, who will doubtless communicate with the Governor-General. The Provicaire is of opinion that the missionaries were attacked by orders of the ex-Dalai Lama, as the nearest Europeans on whom he could avenge his disgrace. He is good enough to say that he will give me any further information which he may receive. I am telegraphing to you the news of the massacre.

I have, &c., (Signed) W. H. WILKINSON. East India (Tibet): Papers Relating to Tibet [and Further Papers ...], Issues 2–4, Great Britain. Foreign Office, p. 12.[51][52]


Contemporary documents show that the British continued the physical occupation of Chumbi Valley until 8 February 1908, after having received the full payment from China.[53]

In early 1910, Qing China sent a military expedition of its own to Tibet for direct rule. However, the Qing dynasty was overthrown in the Xinhai Revolution, which began in October 1911. Although the Chinese forces departed once more in 1913, the First World War and the Russian Revolution isolated the now independent Tibet, reducing Western influence and interest. Ineffectual regents ruled during the 14th Dalai Lama's infancy and China began to reassert its control, a process that culminated in 1950–1951 with the Chinese invasion of Tibet by a newly-formed Communist China.[54]

The position of British Trade Agent at Gyangzê was occupied from 1904 until 1944. It was not until 1937, with the creation of the position of "Head of British Mission Lhasa", that a British officer had a permanent posting in Lhasa itself.[55]

The British seem to have misread the military and diplomatic situation, for the Russians did not have the designs on India that the British imagined, and the campaign was politically redundant before it began. Russian arms in Tibet amounted to no more than thirty Russian government rifles, and the whole narrative of Russian influence, and the Czar's ambitions, was dropped. The defeats the Russians experienced in the Russo-Japanese war that began in February 1904 further altered perceptions of the balance of power in Asia, and the Russian threat. However, it has been argued that the campaign had "a profound effect upon Tibet, changing it forever, and for the worse at that, doing much to contribute to Tibet's loss of innocence."[56]

Subsequent interpretations

Chinese historians write of Tibetans heroically opposing the British out of loyalty not to Tibet, but to China. They assert that the British troops looted and burned, and that the British interest in trade relations was a pretext for annexing Tibet, a step toward the ultimate goal of annexing all of China. They assert also that the Tibetans destroyed the British forces, and that Younghusband escaped only with a small retinue.[57] The Chinese government has turned Gyantze Dzong into a "Resistance Against the British Museum", promoting these views, as well as other themes such as the brutal life endured by Tibetan serfs who fiercely loved their motherland.[58] China also treats the invasion as part of its "century of humiliation" at the hands of Western and Japanese powers and the defence as a Chinese resistance, while many Tibetans look back to it as an exercise of Tibetan self-defence and an act of independence from the Qing dynasty as the dynasty was falling apart.[59]

The historian Charles Allen, while disputed, has apologetically remarked that, although the Younghusband Mission did inflict "considerable material damage on Tibet and its people", it was damage that paled into insignificance when compared "to the invasion of Tibet by the Chinese People's Liberation Army in 1951 and the genocidal Cultural Revolution of 1966–1967".[60]

See also

• Tibetan Expedition of Islamic Bengal
• Tibet under Qing rule
• Chinese expedition to Tibet (1720)
• Chinese expedition to Tibet (1910)
• The Great Game
• Perceval Landon
• John Duncan Grant
• Sikkim Expedition
• Red River Valley, a 1997 Chinese movie about the events of the British expedition to Tibet
• Category:British military personnel of the British expedition to Tibet

References

Citations


1. Charles Allen, p. 299.
2. Landon, P. (1905). The Opening of Tibet Doubleday, Page & Co., New York.
3. Charles Allen, Duel in the Snows, John Murray 2004, p. 1.
4. Bell, Charles (1992). Tibet Past and Present. CUP Motilal Banarsidass Publ. p. 66. ISBN 81-208-1048-1. Archived from the original on 3 June 2016. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
5. "Convention Between Great Britain and Tibet (1904)". Archived from the original on 10 June 2011. Retrieved 29 June 2011.
6. Charles, Bell (1992). Tibet Past and Present. CUP Motilal Banarsidass Publ. p. 68. ISBN 81-208-1048-1. Archived from the original on 3 June 2016. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
7. Joslin, Litherland and Simpkin. British Battles and Medals. pp. 217–8. Published Spink, London. 1988.
8. Duel in the Snows, Charles Allen, p.1
9. Charles Allen, Duel in the Snows, p. 2. John Murray, 2004.
10. John Powers (2004) History as Propaganda: Tibetan exiles versus the People's Republic of China. Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-517426-7, p. 80.
11. French, Patrick (2011). Younghusband: The Last Great Imperial Adventurer. Penguin Books Limited. p. 269. ISBN 978-0-14-196430-0. Archived from the original on 4 January 2016. Retrieved 15 November2015.
12. Charles Allen, Duel in the Snows, p. 28.
13. Charles Allen, p. 31.
14. Allen, p. 33.
15. Powers (2004), p. 80.
16. Fleming (1961); p. 146.
17. Charles Allen, p. 113.
18. Charles Allen, Duel in the Snows'. pp. 111–120.
19. Charles Allen, p. 120.
20. Virtual Tibet: Searching for Shangri-La from the Himalayas to Hollywood, p. 195.
21. Powers (2004), p. 81.
22. Allen, p. 137.
23. Allen, p. 141.
24. Plarr, V. (1938). Plarr's Lives of the Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. Vol. 3, p. 815. Royal College of Surgeons, London.
25. Allen, p. 149.
26. Charles Allen, p.156
27. Charles Allen, pp. 157–159.
28. Charles Allen, p. 176.
29. Charles Allen, p. 163.
30. Charles Allen, p. 177.
31. Charles Allen, p. 186.
32. Charles Allen, p.185
33. Charles Allen, p. 201.
34. Charles Allen, p. 209.
35. Charles Allen, p. 221.
36. Carrington, 2003, "Officers, Gentlemen and Thieves"
37. Charles Allen, pp. 225–226.
38. Charles Alen pp. 272–273.
39. Charles Allen, Duel in the Snows, p. 284.
40. Powers 2004, p. 82.
41. Charles Allen, p. 278.
42. Charles Allen, p. 284.
43. "Anglo-Chinese Convention". Archived from the original on 11 August 2009. Retrieved 15 August2009.
44. "Convention Between Great Britain and China Respecting Tibet (1906)". Archived from the originalon 11 August 2009. Retrieved 8 August 2009.
45. Bell, 1924, p. 288.
46. Powers 2004, pp. 82–83.
47. Charles Allen , p. 299.
48. Charles Allen, p. 302.
49. Bray, John (2011). "Sacred Words and Earthly Powers: Christian Missionary Engagement with Tibet". The Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan. fifth series. Tokyo: John Bray & The Asian Society of Japan (3): 93–118. Archived from the original on 1 July 2014. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
50. Tuttle, Gray (2005). Tibetan Buddhists in the Making of Modern China (illustrated, reprint ed.). Columbia University Press. p. 45. ISBN 0231134460. Archived from the original on 19 March 2015. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
51. Great Britain. Foreign Office (1904). East India (Tibet): Papers Relating to Tibet [and Further Papers ...], Issues 2-4. Contributors India. Foreign and Political Dept, India. Governor-General. H.M. Stationery Office. p. 12. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
52. East India (Tibet): Papers Relating to Tibet [and Further Papers ...]. H.M. Stationery Office. 1897. pp. 5–.
53. East India (Tibet): Papers Relating to Tibet [and Further Papers ..., Issues 2-4,p. 143
54. Charles Allen, p. 311.
55. McKay, 1997, pp. 230–1.
56. Martin Booth, review of Charles Allen, Duel in the Snows, The Sunday Times.
57. Powers 2004, pp. 84-9
58. Powers 2004, pg. 93
59. "China Seizes on a Dark Chapter for Tibet" Archived 18 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine, by Edward Wong, The New York Times, 9 August 2010 (10 August 2010 p. A6 of NY ed.). Retrieved 10 August 2010.
60. Charles Allen, p. 310.

Sources

• Allen, Charles (2004) Duel in the Snows: The True Story of the Younghusband Mission to Lhasa; J.Murray
• Bell, Charles Alfred (1924) Tibet: Past & present Oxford University Press; Humphrey Milford.
• Candler, Edmund (1905) The Unveiling of Lhasa. New York; London: Longmans, Green, & Co; E. Arnold
• Carrington, Michael (2003) "Officers, Gentlemen and Thieves: the looting of monasteries during the 1903/4 Younghusband Mission to Tibet", in: Modern Asian Studies; 37, 1 (2003), pp. 81–109
• Fleming, Peter (1961) Bayonets to Lhasa London: Rupert Hart-Davis (reprinted by Oxford U.P., Hong Kong, 1984, ISBN 0-19-583862-9)
• French, Patrick (1994) Younghusband: the Last Great Imperial Adventurer. London: HarperCollins. ISBN 0-00-637601-0.
• Herbert, Edwin (2003) Small Wars and Skirmishes, 1902-18: early twentieth-century colonial campaigns in Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Nottingham: Foundry Books. ISBN 1-901543-05-6.
• Hopkirk, Peter (1990) The Great Game: On Secret Service in High Asia. London: Murray (Reprinted by Kodansha International, New York, 1992 ISBN 1-56836-022-3; as: The Great Game: the struggle for empire in central Asia)
• McKay, Alex (1997). Tibet and the British Raj: The Frontier Cadre 1904–1947. London: Curzon. ISBN 0-7007-0627-5.
• Powers, John (2004) History as Propaganda: Tibetan exiles versus the People's Republic of China. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-517426-7.
• Gordon T. Stewart (2009) Journeys to Empire: Enlightenment, Imperialism, and the British Encounter with Tibet 1774-1904. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-73568-1.
• Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Tibet" . Encyclopædia Britannica. 12 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 916–928.

External links

• "No. 27743". The London Gazette (Supplement). 13 December 1904. pp. 8529–8536. Macdonald's official report
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Re: Freda Bedi, by Wikipedia

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John Claude White
by Wikipedia
Accessed: 2/2/20

Image
John Claude White around 1908

John Claude White (1 October 1853 – 1918) CIE was an engineer, photographer, author and civil servant in British India.

Early life

The son of army surgeon John White (1871-1920) and Louise Henriette (Claude) Pfeffer White, he was born in Calcutta (now Kolkata), India. His education included a period at Rugby School for six months in 1868. White later studied at the Royal Indian Engineering College in Cooper's Hill, Surrey before joining the Bengal Public Works Department as Assistant Engineer in 1876.[1]

India and Sikkim

White originally worked in Bengal, Nepal and Darjeeling. In 1883, he was assigned to the British Residency in Kathmandu, Nepal where he photographed the architecture and monuments.[2] He was appointed Political Officer in the north east Indian Kingdom of Sikkim in 1889.[1] He became chairman of the council that advised Sikkim's Chogyal Thutob Namgyal whereafter he reorganised Sikkim's administration before going on to order land and mineral surveys and develop unused wasteland. He also established a forestry department and the first police post in Aritar as well as introduced English apple cultivation in the northern towns of Lachung and Lachen.[3]

Following the 1890-1893 Convention of Calcutta signed by Britain and Qing dynasty China, White was despatched to Yatong at the foot of the Chumbi Valley in Tibet to assess the trade situation at the new outpost. He subsequently reported that although the Chinese were friendly towards him, they "had no authority whatever" and were unable to control the Tibetans. White concluded that "China was suzerain over Tibet only in name".[4]

In 1903, under orders from Viceroy of India Lord Curzon, White became Deputy Commissioner of the Tibet Frontier Commission under Francis Younghusband, a Political Officer on secondment to the British Army,[5] which led the 1903-04 British expedition to Tibet. The putative aim of the expedition was to settle disputes over the Sikkim-Tibet border but in reality it became (by exceeding instructions from London) a de facto invasion of Tibet. White was unhappy with his secondment to the mission as he would lose the benefits of his current role and went so far as to cable Viceroy Lord Curzon and Indian Army Commander-in-Chief Lord Kitchener to have the order cancelled. Younghusband saw this as insubordination, as did his masters in Shimla, and the appointment was confirmed. Younghusband would have his revenge for White's truculence when he later left him in the leech-infested jungles of Sikkim to arrange mule and coolie transport to Tibet.[5]

White is claimed to have been the only member of the Tibet expedition permitted to photograph Lhasa's monasteries.[2]

He made five trips to Bhutan and in 1907 photographed the coronation of the country's first king.[2]

Personal life

On 12 September 1876, before departing for India, White married his distant cousin Jessie Georgina Ranken at All Saints Church in Kensington, London. They had a daughter, Beryl born in Bengal in 1877.[1]

Photography

White created a rich and detailed photographic account of the culture and scenery of the Himalayas during his travels through the region. John Falconer, curator of photographs at the British Library’s Oriental and India Office Collections described White's work as "probably one of the last, and certainly among the most impressive products of a tradition of quasi-amateur photography which had flourished among administrators and military personnel in India since the 1850’s."[6]

The 2005 book In the Shadow of the Himalayas: Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal, Sikkim : a Photographic Record by John Claude White, 1883-1908 contains an anthology of Himalayan photos taken by White.

Works

• Sikhim & Bhutan: Twenty-one years on the North East Frontier 1887-1908. London: Edward Arnold. 1909.

See also

• History of Sikkim

References

1. "John Claude White - career". King's College London. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
2. Hannavy, John (2013). Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-Century Photography. Routledge. p. 1496. ISBN 978-1-135-87327-1.
3. Rajiv Rai (2015). The State in the Colonial Periphery: A Study on Sikkim’s Relation with Great Britain. Partridge Publishing India. ISBN 978-1-4828-4871-7.
4. Younghusband 1910, p. 54.
5. Patrick French (2011). Younghusband: The Last Great Imperial Adventurer. Penguin Books Limited. p. 269. ISBN 978-0-14-196430-0.
6. "John Claude White - politics". King's College London. Retrieved 19 August 2015.

Bibliography

• Younghusband, Francis (1910). India and Tibet: a history of the relations which have subsisted between the two countries from the time of Warren Hastings to 1910; with a particular account of the mission to Lhasa of 1904. London: John Murray.

Further reading

• Meyer, Kurt; Meyer, Pamela Deuel (2005). In the Shadow of the Himalayas: Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal, Sikkim : a Photographic Record by John Claude White, 1883-1908. Mapin. ISBN 978-1-89-020661-1.

External links

• Media related to John Claude White at Wikimedia Commons
• Works written by or about John Claude White at Wikisource
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Re: Freda Bedi, by Wikipedia

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Sir James Ronald Leslie Macdonald (British Army officer)
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Accessed: 2/2/20

Image
Sir James Ronald Leslie Macdonald
KCSI, KCIE, CB
Commissioner of Uganda (acting)
In office
30 May 1893 – 4 November 1893
Preceded by Gerald Herbert Portal
Succeeded by Henry Edward Colville
Personal details
Born: 8 February 1862, Rajamundry, Madras, India [1][2]
Died: 27 June 1927 (aged 65), Bournemouth, Hampshire, England
Profession: Soldier, engineer

Sir James Ronald Leslie Macdonald KCSI KCIE CB DL (8 February 1862 – 27 June 1927) was a Scottish engineer, explorer and cartographer. He served as a British Army engineer, rose to the rank of Brigadier-General and was knighted. A balloon observer as a young man, he surveyed for railways in India and East Africa, explored the upper Nile region, commanded balloon sections during wars in South Africa and China and led a major expedition into Tibet in 1903–1904.

Early career

Macdonald was born on 8 February 1862 in Rajahmundry in the Madras Presidency, India, the son of Surgeon-Major James Macdonald (1828–1906) of Aberdeen and Margaret Helen Leslie née Collie (1841-1876); his younger sister was the Egyptologist and archaeologist Nora Griffith. He was educated at Aberdeen Grammar School and the University of Aberdeen.[3] He passed through the Royal Military Academy and was gazetted to the Royal Engineers in 1882.[4]

As a lieutenant, on 15 May 1885 Macdonald was appointed to the corps of Bengal Sappers and Miners, Torpedo service, Calcutta on special duty as a balloon photographer.[5] He served in the Hazara campaign of 1888, and also working in the Indian railway organization.[4] Macdonald had spent seven years in service in India and was in Bombay in 1891 ready to embark for England on leave when he was offered the job of Chief Engineer of "the proposed railway survey from Mombasa to the Victoria Nyanza". He accepted, and continued to England to find out what would be involved.[6]

Uganda railway

The Imperial British East Africa Company (IBEA Co) commission was to survey a railway route from Mombasa on the Indian Ocean to Port Florence on the shores of Lake Victoria, roughly following the existing caravan route.[7] The Survey began in December 1891, and took more than a year.[8] Macdonald encountered many difficulties in his survey of 27,000 miles of possible route for the railway including sickness, attacks by ants, bees, lions and elephants, formidable physical obstacles and hostile Africans. All these took their toll on his carriers and other followers.[9]

The survey's findings confirmed that the caravan route to the Great Rift Valley was the best path for the line, followed by the easiest gradient to be found over the Mau Escarpment and down to Lake Victoria. Macdonald and John Wallace Pringle, his second in command, recommended construction of a three-foot six inch gauge railway. They suggested that Kikuyuland would be a suitable place for whites to live, and their civilizing effect would drive out slavery, but the railway was needed to give access to the new colony.[10] The IBEA Co did not have enough money to undertake construction before handing over the protectorate to the British government in 1895.[7] Construction of the line began in 1895 under the direction of George Whitehouse, a young English engineer.[11]

Image
British East Africa 1895–1896. The Nile runs northwest from Lake Victoria to Lake Albert, then north into Sudan

While conducting the survey, Macdonald had been favorably impressed by the intelligent and sophisticated Baganda people living to the north of the lake.[12] In May 1893 Macdonald was appointed Acting British Commissioner of the Uganda Protectorate by General Gerald Herbert Portal with directions to stay away from the internal affairs of Buganda.[13] He accordingly withdrew all the Sudanese troops from the west of the country.[14] In 1894 he was chief Staff Officer of an expedition to the neighboring kingdom of Bunyoro, now in northern Uganda.[15] Later he was posted back to India.[4]

Nile expedition

In 1897 Macdonald was in London when he was appointed leader of another expedition to Uganda, ostensibly to review the northern boundaries.[15] Although Uganda had been declared a British Protectorate the British were concerned that France or Italy would claim some of the unoccupied territory.[16] General Herbert Kitchener was advancing up the Nile towards Khartoum, which he would capture at the Battle of Omdurman on 2 September 1898. However, a French column under Jean-Baptiste Marchand was striking across Africa from Senegal to Fashoda, south of Khartoum on the Nile, and would get there well before Kitchener. Macdonald`s instructions were to reach Fashoda first.[17]

The expedition's officers reached Mombasa in July 1897. After moving inland to a base camp at Ngara Nyuki, in September the force was divided into three columns. Captain Herbert H. Austin would lead 300 men north to uncover the source of the Juba River, thought to be connected with Lake Rudolph. The second column, under Macdonald, would go northwest to the Nile and then downstream to Fashoda, arriving there before the French. A third column would supply the first two. However these plans were thrown into disarray when the escort of Nubian troops from Sudan deserted and fled to Lake Victoria.[18]

The Nubian troops had been the Egyptian garrison of Equatoria in the south of Sudan under the leadership of Emin Pasha. In 1885 they were threatened by the forces of Muhammad Ahmad, the self-proclaimed Mahdi whom Kitchener was now preparing to attack, and retreated south to Lake Albert. Emin was "rescued" in 1888 by Henry Morton Stanley. With nowhere else to go, the Nubians had accepted the offer of Captain Frederick Lugard to sign up with the British in 1891, but over the years they had accumulated many grievances.[17] Macdonald spent the next seven months trying to suppress their mutiny, finally handing over responsibility for this task in May 1898 to troops that had been dispatched from India.[19]After the mutiny was put down, Macdonald recommended retaining a force of Indians in the country on the basis that the Sudanese troops could be useful, but only if there was an independent body of sepoys.[20]

By the end of May 1898, Macdonald decided he did not have enough people or supplies to reach his original objective of Fashoda. Instead, his column would aim for Lado, further south on the Nile, while Austin's column would pursue its original objective of exploring around Lake Rudolf.[19] On the route to Lado Macdonald's column passed through Lotuko country in what is now the Eastern Equatoria state of South Sudan, where he was given a friendly reception by the Lotuko chief Lomoro Xujang.[21] Macdonald saw a resemblance between the Maasai people and the Lotuko, and for this reason later recommended incorporation of the Lotuko lands into Uganda.[22]

Both of Macdonald's columns managed to return to Mombasa by December 1898, having completed their revised tasks, and the force was disbanded early in 1899.[19] This was one of the last incidents in the Scramble for Africa, in which almost the entire continent was brought under European rule.[16] He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the 1900 New Year Honours list on 1 January 1900[23] (the order was gazetted on 16 January 1900),[24] and invested by Queen Victoria at Windsor Castle on 1 March 1900.[25]

Interlude

Image
British artillery during Boer War – 4.7 inch field guns

Macdonald had become a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society in 1891, and gave an account of his African Expedition to the society at a meeting in June 1899.[4] He was next posted to South Africa, where he was responsible for introducing most of the new sections of balloon observers, which made a significant contribution to British progress in the Second Boer War.[26] In this war, the British required over 450,000 men to subdue settlers of Dutch origin who were seeking to preserve their independence. The Boer forces never numbered more than 60,000.[27] The war introduced innovations such as the field telephone, searchlights and barbed wire. Creeping artillery barrages supported infantry advances against entrenched opponents armed with rifles and machine guns, a technique later developed to the extreme during the First World War.[28]

Macdonald left in August 1900 to take up the command of the fourth Balloon section with the British imperial troops fighting the Boxer Rebellion in China.[26] He was then appointed Director of Railways for the China expeditionary force.[3] The fighting in China was the result of growing assertiveness by European powers in China over trade, religion and control of territory during the dying days of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, aggravated by poverty due to harvest failures. A widespread popular uprising led to a siege of Europeans in Beijing. The European colonial powers cooperated in military action to suppress the uprising and imposed harsh indemnities and conditions.[29] From China, Macdonald was posted to Mauritius as general officer commanding later in 1900.[3]

Tibet expedition

Image
Francis Younghusband

In 1903 the British were suspicious of the intentions of the Russian Empire in the lands bordering India. As a demonstration of strength, the British determined to send a diplomatic and trade mission to Tibet under Colonel Francis Younghusband. Originally peaceful, the project was transformed into an armed invasion when the Tibetans refused to accept the mission.[30] In October 1903 the strength of the mission's escort was brought up to a brigade with about 2,500 British and Indian troops under Macdonald, who had been temporarily promoted from Colonel to Brigadier-General. He was instructed to avoid aggression and act in a strictly defensive role as the mission advanced into Tibet to Gyantse and occupied the Chumbi valley.[31] 10,000 unskilled laborers were attached to the expedition.[32]

The British army left Sikkim on 11 December 1903, and occupied Phari at the northern end of the 60-mile long Chumbi Valley on 22 December. They reached Tuna in mid-January and remained there until the end of March hoping to negotiate with the Tibetans.[33] On 31 March the force advanced, soon coming in contact with a force of about 3,000 Tibetans armed with antique matchlock muskets defending the Guru (or Gura) Pass on the road to Gyantse, about 15,000 feet (4,600 m) above sea level. Macdonald insisted that the Tibetans surrender their arms, a brawl broke out, the British opened fire and the Tibetans were forced to retreat leaving 600–700 dead. The British-led troops had superior discipline and greatly superior weapons including machine guns. The engagement was completely one-sided and the British themselves expressed disgust with the slaughter of their helpless opponents. About 200 Tibetan wounded were carried to makeshift hospitals. Many had been shot in the back.[34]


The advance continued, reaching the original destination of Gyantse on 12 April 1904. Macdonald then took half the force back 150 miles to New Chumbi to check communications and arrangements for supply, earning the nickname "Retiring Mac".[35] There may have been tensions between MacDonald as military leader, backed by Herbert Kitchener, and the younger and more junior Younghusband as political leader, backed by George Curzon. One of the officers in the expedition thought that Macdonald was much more timid than his reputation had led him to expect, perhaps due to illness.[36] Younghusband was so exasperated by Macdonald's cautious approach that he twice threatened to resign. However, caution may have been justified by the extremely challenging terrain and climate, with logistical problems increasing exponentially as the supply chain lengthened.[37] According to one account, 40,000 pounds (18,000 kg) of supplies were needed daily.[32]

Image
The Gyantse Dzong today

In Macdonald's absence, Younghusband authorized more aggressive action. He achieved some tactical successes, but the situation remained confused. On the grounds of having exceeded his authority, Younghusband was made subordinate to Macdonald, returning to New Chumbi to report to Macdonald on 10 June 1904. The reinforced escort advanced again, reaching the powerful fortress of Gyantse Dzong by 24 June 1904.[35] On 6 July a breach was made in the fortress walls and troops stormed in, forcing the Tibetans to abandon the position. Macdonald had succeeded in his mission of clearing the road, and handed over command to Younghusband for the advance to Lhasa.[38] He received a K.C.I.E. (Knight Commander of the Indian Empire) decoration for his services in Tibet.[4]

Later life

Macdonald was the general officer commanding in Mauritius from 1900 until he retired from active service in 1912.[3][4] On 22 July 1908 the University of Aberdeen conferred an honorary decree in the Faculty of Law on Macdonald.[39] Macdonald died on 27 June 1927 in Bournemouth, Hampshire, England at the age of 65.[40]

Bibliography

• Macdonald, James Ronald Leslie (1892). East Central African customs.
• Macdonald, James Ronald Leslie (1897). Soldiering and surveying in British East Africa, 1891–1894. Dawsons of Pall Mall. p. 333.
• Macdonald, James Ronald Leslie (1899). Journeys to the north of Uganda. Royal Geographical Society, London.

See also

• Scramble for Africa
• Fashoda incident
• Second Boer War
• Boxer Rebellion
• The Great Game
• British Expedition to Tibet

References

1. "India Births and baptisms 1786-1947". India, Births and Baptisms, 1786-1947," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FG4B-KZB : accessed 27 Jan 2013), James Ronald Leslie Macdonald, 08 Feb 1862; citing reference v 43 p 18, FHL microfilm 521852. Familysearch. Retrieved 27 January 2013. External link in |work= (help)
2. "Source Citation: Parish: New Machar; ED: 4; Page: 5; Line: 3; Roll: CSSCT1871_41. Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1871 Scotland Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. Original data: Scotland. 1871 Scotland Census. Reels 1-191. General Register Office for Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland". Missing or empty |url= (help)
3. Macdonald & Pringle 1892.
4. Geographical Journal 1927.
5. India Office 1888.
6. NY Times 1897.
7. Maina, Oboka & Makong'o 2004, pp. 78.
8. Nicholls 2005, pp. 17–18.
9. Gann & Duignan 1978, pp. 326.
10. Nicholls 2005, pp. 18.
11. Ellis 2001, pp. 69.
12. Mozer.
13. Okoth 2006, pp. 188.
14. Ingham 1975, pp. 77.
15. Sharf 2005, pp. 13.
16. Naval & Military Press.
17. Collins 1996, pp. 59.
18. Sharf 2005, pp. 16.
19. Sharf 2005, pp. 17.
20. Metcalf 2008, pp. 212.
21. Hill 1967, pp. 216.
22. Simonse 1992, pp. 83.
23. "New Year Honours". The Times (36027). London. 1 January 1900. p. 9.
24. "No. 27154". The London Gazette. 16 January 1900. p. 285.
25. "Court Circular". The Times (36079). London. 2 March 1900. p. 6.
26. Driver 1997, pp. 177.
27. Fremont-Barnes 2003, pp. 7.
28. Fremont-Barnes 2003, pp. 8–9.
29. Bodin 1979, pp. 1ff.
30. Waddell 2007, pp. 55–56.
31. Waddell 2007, pp. 58–59.
32. Grunfeld 1996, pp. 56.
33. Raugh 2004, pp. 321.
34. Waddell 2007, pp. 154ff.
35. Raugh 2004, pp. 322.
36. Gould 1999, pp. 169.
37. Meyer & Brysac 2006, pp. 298.
38. Waddell 2007, pp. 265ff.
39. British Medical Journal 1908.
40. Encyclopædia Britannica.

Sources

• Bodin, Lynn (1979). The Boxer Rebellion. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-0-85045-335-5.
• "Aberdeen". British Medical Journal. 1 August 1908. Retrieved 8 July 2011.
• Carrington, Michael. Officers Gentlemen and Thieves: The Looting of Monasteries during the 1903/4 Younghusband Mission to Tibet, Modern Asian Studies 37, 1 (2003), PP 81–109.
• Collins, Robert O. (1996). The waters of the Nile: hydropolitics and the Joglei Canal, 1900–1988. Markus Wiener Publishers. ISBN 978-1-55876-099-8.
• Driver, Hugh (1997). The birth of military aviation: Britain, 1903–1914. Boydell & Brewer Ltd. ISBN 978-0-86193-234-4.
• Ellis, Reuben J. (2001). Vertical margins: mountaineering and the landscapes of neoimperialism. Univ of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 978-0-299-17004-2.
• Encyclopædia Britannica. "Sir James Ronald Leslie Macdonald". Retrieved 8 July 2011.
• Fremont-Barnes, Gregory (2003). The Boer War 1899–1902. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84176-396-5.
• Gann, Lewis H.; Duignan, Peter (1978). The rulers of British Africa, 1870–1914. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-85664-771-0.
• Gregory, J. W. (November 1927). "Major-General Sir J.R.L. Macdonald". Geographical Journal. Royal Geographical Society. 70 (5): 509–511. doi:10.2307/1783519. JSTOR 1783519.
• Gould, Tony (1999). Imperial warriors: Britain and the Gurkhas. Granta Books. ISBN 978-1-86207-365-4.
• Grunfeld, A. Tom (1996). The making of modern Tibet. M.E. Sharpe. ISBN 978-1-56324-714-9.
• Hill, Richard Leslie (1967). A biographical dictionary of the Sudan. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-7146-1037-5.
• India Office (1888). The India office and Burma office list.
• Ingham, Kenneth (1975). The kingdom of Toro in Uganda. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-0-416-80210-8.
• Macdonald, James Ronald Leslie; Pringle, John Wallace (1892). "Uganda Railway Survey Diaries". Janus. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
• Maina, Ephalina; Oboka, Wycliffe; Makong'o, Julius (2004). History and Government Form 2. East African Publishers. ISBN 978-9966-25-333-0.
• Metcalf, Thomas R. (2008). Imperial Connections: India in the Indian Ocean Arena, 1860–1920. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-25805-1.
• Meyer, Karl Ernest; Brysac, Shareen Blair (2006). Tournament of Shadows: The Great Game and the Race for Empire in Central Asia. Basic Books. ISBN 978-0-465-04576-1.
• Mozer, David. "Uganda: Bicycle Tour Travel Guide". International Bicycle Fund. Retrieved 8 July 2011.
• Naval & Military Press. "WITH MACDONALD IN UGANDA A Narrative Account of the Uganda Mutiny and Macdonald Expedition in the Uganda Protectorate and Territories to the North". Retrieved 8 July 2011.
• Nicholls, Christine Stephanie (2005). Red strangers: the white tribe of Kenya. Timewell Press. ISBN 978-1-85725-206-4.
• "Africa: Surveying and fighting in that country in recent years" (PDF). The New York Times. 24 April 1897. Retrieved 8 July 2011.
• Okoth, Assa (2006). A History of Africa: African societies and the establishment of colonial rule, 1800–1915. East African Publishers. ISBN 978-9966-25-357-6.
• Raugh, Harold E. (2004). The Victorians at war, 1815–1914: an encyclopedia of British military history. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-57607-925-6.
• Sharf, Frederic A. (2005). Expedition from Uganda to Abyssinia (1898): the diary of Lieutenant R.G.T. Bright with annotations and introductory text. Tsehai Publishers. ISBN 978-1-59907-007-0.
• Simonse, Simon (1992). Kings of disaster: dualism, centralism, and the scapegoat king in southeastern Sudan. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-09560-1.
• Waddell, Laurence A. (2007). Lhasa and Its Mysteries: With a Record of the Expedition of 1903–1904. Cosimo. ISBN 978-1-60206-724-0.

Further reading

• Austin, Herbert Henry 1868–1937 (1903). With Macdonald in Uganda]: a narrative account of the Uganda mutiny and Macdonald expedition in the Uganda Protectorate and the territories to the north. Edward Arnold, London. p. 314.
• William John Ottley (Brevet-Major 34th Sikh Pioneers): With mounted infantry in Tibet. Publisher: Smith, Elder & Co. London, 1906
• Sir Francis Edward Younghusband: India and Tibet; a history of the relations which have subsisted between the two countries from the time of Warren Hastings to 1910; with a particular account of the mission to Lhasa of 1904. Publisher: J. Murray London, 1910
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Re: Freda Bedi, by Wikipedia

Postby admin » Sun Feb 02, 2020 9:16 am

Gerard Mackworth Young
by Wikipedia
Accessed: 2/2/20

The founding members [of the Himalayan Club] were:[2]

• Mr. G. Mackworth Young, Army Secretary


-- The Himalayan Club, by Wikipedia


Gerard Mackworth Young CIE (1884–1965) was director of the British School at Athens from 1936 to 1946.[1]

He was the eldest of four sons of Sir William Mackworth Young (1840–1924), KCSI, JP, of the Indian Civil Service, who was Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab from 1897 to 1902, and his second wife Frances Mary, daughter of Sir Robert Eyles Egerton, KCSI, JP, Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab from 1877 to 1882.[2][3] Sir Robert Egerton was nephew of the 8th and 9th Grey Egerton baronets.[4] Gerard's paternal grandfather was Sir George Young, 2nd Baronet; the name 'Mackworth' came from his paternal grandmother, Susan, daughter of William Mackworth-Praed, Serjeant-at-law, of that gentry family of Mickleham, Surrey.[5][6]

Gerard Mackworth Young assumed the surname of Mackworth-Young by deed poll in 1947. In 1916, he married Natalie Leila Margaret, daughter of Rt Hon Sir Walter Francis Hely Hutchinson, GCMG, PC, Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief, Cape of Good Hope from 1901 to 1910, son of the 4th Earl of Donoughmore. The elder of their two sons (there being also two daughters) was the royal librarian Sir Robin Mackworth-Young.[7]

His brothers Sir Hubert Winthrop Young, KCMG and Sir Mark Aitchison Young, GCMG were also colonial administrators.


References

1. Dilys Powell, "Young, Gerard Mackworth- (1884–1965)", rev. Katherine Prior, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2012.
2. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th edition, vol. 1, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 2003, p. 1164
3. Dilys Powell, "Young, Gerard Mackworth- (1884–1965)", rev. Katherine Prior, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2012.
4. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th edition, vol. 2, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 2003, p. 1674
5. Burke's Landed Gentry 18th edition, vol. 2, ed. Peter Townend, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1969, p.505
6. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th edition, vol. 3, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 2003, p. 4274
7. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th edition, vol. 1, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 2003, pp. 1163-1164
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Re: Freda Bedi, by Wikipedia

Postby admin » Sun Feb 02, 2020 9:33 am

List of governors of Punjab (British India)
by Wikipedia
Accessed: 2/2/20

The Governor of the Punjab was head of the British administration in the province of the Punjab. In 1849 the East India Company defeated the Sikh Empire and annexed the Punjab region. The Governor-General of India, Lord Dalhousie implemented a three-member Board of Administration to govern the province.[1] The Board of Administration was abolished in 1853 and replaced by the office of Chief Commissioner.[2] Following the liquidation of the East India Company and the transfer of its assets to the British Crown, the office of lieutenant-governor was instituted in 1859. This lasted until it was replaced by the office of governor in the aftermath of the Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms.

In 1947, the British Raj came to an end and the countries of India and Pakistan were created. The Punjab was partitioned into West Punjab and East Punjab, with the former joining Pakistan and the latter India. In Pakistan, the first governor of West Punjab was Sir Francis Mudie. In 1955, West Punjab was dissolved, and became Punjab province. In 1956 East Punjab was divided into the present-day Indian states of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab.

List of Heads of the Punjab (1849-1947)

# / Namen(birth–death) / Took office / Left office / Notes


President of the Board of Administration

1 / Sir Henry Montgomery Lawrence (1806-1857) / 1 Apr 1849 / 1853 / Assisted by John Lawrence and Charles Grenville Mansel; Creation of the Punjab Irregular Force

Chief Commissioners

1 / John Laird Mair Lawrence (1811-1879) / 1853 / 31 Dec 1858 / Creation of the Punjab Railway; Indian Mutiny of 1857; Government of India Act 1858

Lieutenant-Governors

1 / Sir John Laird Mair Lawrence, Bt(1811-1879) / 1 Jan 1859 / 25 Feb 1859 / Delhi transferred from the North-Western; Provinces to the Punjab

2 / Robert Montgomery (1809-1887) / 25 Feb 1859 / 10 Jan 1865 / Upper Doab famine of 1860–61; Establishment of Lawrence College, Murree, King Edward Medical University, Government College University, Lahore, Glancy Medical College and Forman Christian College; Founding of the town of Montgomery

3 / Donald Friell McLeod (1810-1872) / 10 Jan 1865 / 1 Jun 1870 / Establishment of the Lahore Museum; Punjab Murderous Outrages Act 1867

4 / Sir Henry Marion Durand (1812-1871) / 1 Jun 1870 / 20 Jan 1871 / --

5 / Robert Henry Davies (1824-1902) / 20 Jan 1871 / 2 Apr 1877 / Murree made summer capital in 1873; Singh Sabha Movement ; Etablishment of the Mayo School of Industrial Arts; Opening of Lahore Zoo; Simla made summer capital in 1876; Delhi Durbar of 1877

6 / Robert Eyles Egerton (1857-1912) / 2 Apr 1877 / 3 Apr 1882 / --

7 / Sir Charles Umpherston Aitchinson (1832-1896) / 3 Apr 1882 / 2 Apr 1887 / Commencement of the Sidhnai and Sohag Para Colonies; Establishment of Aitchison College, University of the Punjab and University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences; Creation of the Lahore Bar Association; Opening of the Punjab Public Library

8 / James Broadwood Lyall (1845-1920) / 2 Apr 1887 / 5 Mar 1892 / Commencement of the Chenab Colony; Founding of Lyallpur; Ahmadiyya movement

9 / Sir Dennis Fitzpatrick (1827-1920) / 5 Mar 1892 / 6 Mar 1897 / Commencement of the Chunian Colony; Establishment of Khalsa College, Amritsar and School of Medicine for Christian Women

10 / William Mackworth Young (1840-1924) / 6 Mar 1897 / 6 Mar 1902 / Punjab Land Alienation Act, 1900; Frontier districts transferred to newly created North-West Frontier Province; Commencement of the Jhelum Colony

11 / Sir Charles Montgomery Rivaz (1845-1926) / 6 Mar 1902 / 36 Mar 1907 / Delhi Durbar of 1903; Founding of Sargodha; Establishment of the Punjab Agricultural College and Research Institute; Colonisation Bill, 1906; 1907 Punjab unrest

12 / Sir Denzil Charles Jelf Ibbetson (1847-1908) / 6 Mar 1907 / 26 May 1907 / --

- / Thomas Gordon Walker (1849-1917) / 26 May 1907 / 12 Aug 1907 / Acting Lieutenant-Governor

12 / Sir Denzil Charles Jelf Ibbetson (1847-1908) / 12 Aug 1907 / 22 Jan 1908 / Creation of the Punjab Muslim League

- / Thomas Gordon Walkern(1849-1917) / 22 Jan 1908 / 25 May 1908 / Acting Lieutenant-Governor

13 / Sir Louis William Dane (1856-1948) / 25 May 1908 / 28 Apr 1911 / Anand Marriage Act, 1909

- / James McCrone Douie (1854-1935) / 28 Apr 1911 / 4 Aug 1911 / Acting Lieutenant-Governor

13 Sir Louis William Dane (1856-1948) / 4 Aug 1911 / 26 May 1913 / Delhi Durbar of 1911; Delhi transferred from the Punjab and designated the capital of British India; Establishment of Kinnaird College for Women; Colonisation of Government Lands Act, 1912

14 / Sir Michael Francis O'Dwyer (1864-1940) / 26 May 1913 / 26 May 1919 / First World War; Commencement of the Lower Bari Doab, Upper Chenab, Upper Jhelum, Nili Bar Colonies; Lahore Conspiracy Case trial; Government of India Act, 1919; Rowlatt Act; Jallianwala Bagh massacre

15 / Sir Edward Douglas Maclagan (1864-1952) / 26 May 1919 / 3 Jan 1921 / Akali movement

Governors

1 / Sir Edward Douglas Maclagan (1864-1952) / 3 Jan 1921 / 31 May 1924 / Nankana massacre; Creation of the Unionist Party; Establishment of Maclagan Engineering College and Lahore College for Women University; Members of Executive Council: John Maynard (Finance), Sundar Singh Majithia (Revenue)[3]; Ministers: Fazl-i-Hussain (Education, Health and Local government), Lala Harkishan Lal (Agriculture)[4]

2 / Sir William Malcolm Hailey (1872-1969) / 31 May 1924 / 9 Aug 1928 / Ministers: Manohar Lal (Education) (1927-1930), Joginder Singh (Agriculture) (1927-1930), Feroz Khan Noon (Local Self-government) (1927-1930)

3 Sir Geoffrey Fitzhervey de Montmorency (1876-1955) / 9 Aug 1928 / 19 Jul 1932 / Birth of Lollywood; Execution of Bhagat Singh; Khaksar movement

- / Sikandar Hayat Khan (1892-1942) / 19 Jul 1932 / 19 Oct 1932 / Acting Governor

3 Sir Geoffrey Fitzhervey de Montmorency (1876-1955) / 19 Oct 1932 / 12 Apr 1933 / --

4 / Sir Herbert William Emerson (1881-1962) / 12 Apr 1933 / 1 Feb 1934 / --

- / Sir Sikandar Hayat Khan (1892-1942) / 15 Feb 1934 / 9 Jun 1934 / Acting Governor

4 / Sir Herbert William Emerson (1881-1962) / 9 Jun 1934 / 4 Apr 1938 / Government of India Act, 1935; 1937 Indian provincial elections

5 / Sir Henry Duffield Craik, Bt (1876-1955) / 4 Apr 1938 / 7 Apr 1941 / Lahore Resolution

6 / Sir Bertrand James Glancy (1882-1953) / 7 Apr 1941 / 8 Apr 1946 / Simla Conference; 1946 Indian provincial elections

7 / Sir Evan Meredith Jenkins (1896-1985) / 8 Apr 1946 / 15 Aug 1947 / Partition of India


See also

• Governor of Punjab, Pakistan
• List of governors of Punjab (India)
• List of governors-general of India

References

1. Col. H. C. Wylly, History of the 5th Battalion 13th Frontier Force Rifles: 1849–1926, Andrews UK Limited, 20 Dec 2011, p.1
2. K. M. Sarkar, The Grand Trunk Road in the Punjab: 1849-1886, Atlantic Publishers & Distri, 1927, p.13
3. Nijjar, Bakshish Singh. History of the United Panjab, Volume 1.
4. Singh, Virinder. Dyarchy In Punjab. National Book Organisation.
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Re: Freda Bedi, by Wikipedia

Postby admin » Sun Feb 02, 2020 9:47 am

Sir James Glasgow Acheson
by Who's Who
1948

The founding members [of the Himalayan Club] were:[2]

• Mr. James Glasgow Acheson, Deputy Foreign Secretary


-- The Himalayan Club, by Wikipedia


Image

ACHESON, James Glasgow, C.I.E., born 1889, son of John Acheson, J.P. Portadown, Co. Armagh, N. Ireland. [Carrickblacker Road, Portadown, Armagh, Ireland]

Educated: St Andrews College and Trinity College, Dublin.

Married 1917 in Meerut, St John, Bengal, India, to Violet Catherine French Field. Two sons, two daughters. [Father of Janet Mary (Acheson) Ironside, James Glasgow Irwin Acheson, and Catherine Acheson]

Entered Indian Civil Service, 1913; posted to United Provinces in 1917; transferred to Political Service in 1921; Political Agent, North Waziristan 1924-26; Deputy Secretary to Government of India in the Foreign Department on Deputation to Imperial Defence College, 1929-30. Deputy Commissioner, Peshawar, 1932-34; Resident (in this case 'Resident' meaning the senior political official for the British Government) in Waziristan, 1935-37; Political Resident on the North West Frontier, 1937-39; Revenue and Judicial Commissioner in Baluchistan, 1939-42; Adviser to the Governor, North West Frontier Province, 1942; Resident in Kashmir 1942-45. Control Commission for Germany Schleswig-Holstein (Kiel), 1946.

Partner in fruit farm in Herefordshire, 1949-73.

Died 1973.

His granddaughter stated that family legend had it he was an excellent sportsman both at school and college. He was also a linguist speaking German and later, Urdu/Hindustani.

-- VELVET 1908 - 09 TRINITY COLLEGE CAP, UNIVERSITY OF DUBLIN., by sportantiques.co.uk


James Glasgow Acheson
Born 1889 in Carrickblacker Road, Portadown, Armagh, Ireland
Died 1973 [location unknown]
Son of [father unknown] and [mother unknown]
[sibling(s) unknown]
Husband of Violet Catherine French (Field) Acheson — married 1917 in Meerut, St John, Bengal, India.
Father of Janet Mary (Acheson) Ironside, James Glasgow Irwin Acheson and Catherine Acheson

Biography

Entered Indian Civil Service aged 21.

Became Governor of Agra Gaol at age 22

Deputy Foreign Secretary (Indian Service) in 1951 ...living New Delhi

Sources

p.8-9 "Janey & Me" by Virginia Ironside
The Ironside Dictionary by Mike Kay & James Sanderson

-- James Glasgow Acheson (1889-1973), by WikiTree


Member Sworn: Mr. James Glasgow Acheson, C.I.E., M.L.A. (Foreign Secretary)

-- Legislative Assembly Debates, Thursday, 22nd January, 1931, Official Report, Delhi, Government of India Press
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Re: Freda Bedi, by Wikipedia

Postby admin » Sun Feb 02, 2020 10:34 am

Brigadier Sir Edward Oliver Wheeler MC
by Wikipedia
Accessed: 2/2/20

The founding members [of the Himalayan Club] were:[2]

• Major Edward Oliver Wheeler of the Survey of India


-- The Himalayan Club, by Wikipedia


Edward Oliver Wheeler
Born: April 18, 1890, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Died: March 19, 1962 (aged 71), Vernon, British Columbia, Canada
Allegiance: Canada
Service/branch: Corps of the Royal Engineers
Rank: Brigadier
Awards: He was Knighted in 1943, Military Cross, Croix de Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur
Relations: Arthur Oliver Wheeler, father,
John Oliver Wheeler, son
Other work: mountain climber, surveyor

Brigadier Sir Edward Oliver Wheeler MC (April 18, 1890 – March 19, 1962) was a Canadian surveyor, mountain climber and soldier. Wheeler participated in the first topographical survey of Mount Everest in 1921.[1] As a Brigadier in the British Army he was appointed Surveyor General of India in 1941. He was knighted for the work he did surveying India. He was an accomplished mountain climber and on the 1921 expedition was one of the team to reach the 7000-metre North Col.

Early life

Edward Oliver Wheeler was the son of a surveyor and renowned alpinist, Arthur Oliver Wheeler a Dominion Land Surveyor, who co-founded the Alpine Club of Canada and mapped British Columbia’s Selkirk Mountains and the British Columbia-Alberta border.[2] His mother was Clara (née Macoun), daughter of Canadian botanist John Macoun. While still a teenager, he accompanied his father to the Selkirk Mountains and learned both how to climb and the Canadian method of photo-topography developed by Dr. Edouard Deville[3]. As a founding member of the Alpine Club of Canada, he guided new members on the initial climbs in the Rockies[4].

Education

He attended Trinity College School where he was chosen Head Boy. Having finished first on the admission exams to the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario, he attended that university for three years from 1907-1910[5]. He finished first of his class in all three years at RMC[6][7][8]. In his graduating year he was the Battalion Sergeant Major, the highest rank attainable by a Gentleman Cadet. He was given a choice of commissions in the British Army. He became a Royal Engineer and attended the School of Military Engineering in Chatham, UK[9]. Upon this graduation he was posted to the 1st King George V's Own Bengal Sappers and Miners.

Career

During the First World War he served with 1st King George V's Own Bengal Sappers and Miners as part of the Indian Expedition Forces in 1914 and with the same forces in Mesopotamia campaign 1916-19. He was Mentioned in Despatches 7 times for actions both in France and Mesopotamia[10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. He was awarded the Military Cross[17] and a Croix de Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur[18].

In 1919, he was seconded to the Survey of India. During this time he was a member of the 1921 Everest reconnaissance expedition, using photographic surveying techniques.[19] His exploration of the East Rongbuk glacier led him on 3 August 1921 to realise that this provided the key to a viable route to the summit of Everest. He was one of the climbing team to reach the North Col.[20]


He married Dorothea Sophia Danielson in 1921. His son John Oliver Wheeler (1925–2015) was an award-winning Canadian geologist with the Geological Survey of Canada.

Edward came to Canada on sick leave in 1922 but returned to India in 1923. During this stay he toured Canada discussing his adventure on Everest including an Address to the Empire Club of Canada[21]. In 1925 further convalescing in Canada was necessary after another operation in London. He then returned to India. He rose through the positions of Superintendent (1927), Director (1939) and finally to Surveyor-General of India (1941–1947). He was knighted in 1943[22].

Personal life

Upon his retirement, he returned to Canada with his wife, and lived in Lavington, near Vernon. He was active with the Alpine Club of Canada. From 1950 to 1954, Wheeler served as President of the Alpine Club of Canada. He was a life membership of the Alpine Club (UK) and a member of the American Alpine Club.

Brigadier Sir Edward Oliver Wheeler died following a stroke.

Mountain Ascents of Note

Ascent / Year / Significance


Mount Hector and Observation Peak in Alberta, Canada / 1903 / --

Hungabee Mountain on the Alberta, British Columbia border, Canada / 1909 / with Val Fynn

Mount Babel in Alberta, Canada / 1910 / the first ascent

Mount Tupper and Mount Sir Donald in Glacier National Park in Canadian Rockies / 1910 / guideless climbs

Pyrenees Mountains and Lakes District in southwest Europe / 1911 / with his father, Arthur Oliver Wheeler

Strathcona Provincial Park on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada / 1912 / led the Expedition, first ascent of Elkhorn Mountain

Mount Assiniboine on the Alberta, British Columbia border/ 1920 / planned, erected, and directed base camp

Mount Everest, on the Nepal, Tibet border / 1921 / mapped possible mountain climbing routes (e.g. northern, eastern and western sides, Tibetan Plateau and East Rongbuk Glacier) under Colonel Charles Howard-Bury


Publications

• Wheeler, E.O. "Mt. Babel and Chimney Peak." The Canadian Alpine Journal, vol. 3, The Alpine Club of Canada. Banff, Alberta. 1911. p. 73-79.
• Wheeler, E.O. "Mount Elkhorn, Strathcona Park." The Canadian Alpine Journal, vol. 5, The Alpine Club of Canada. Banff, Alberta. 1913. p. 44-48.
• Wheeler, E.O. "Traverse of Terrapin and West Ridge of Magog." The Canadian Alpine Journal, vol. 12, The Alpine Club of Canada. Banff, Alberta. 1921-22. p. 53-55.
• Wheeler, E. O. "The Photographic Survey", Mount Everest the Reconnaissance, Edward Arnold, London, 1922. p. 329-337.
• Wheeler, E. O. "The "Canadian" Photo-topographical Method of Survey", The Royal Engineers Journal, vol. 35, The Institution of Royal Engineers, Chatham, UK , March 1922. p. 177-185.
• Wheeler, E.O. "Mt. Everest Expedition/1921." The Canadian Alpine Journal, vol. 13. The Alpine Club of Canada. Banff, Alberta. 1923. p. 1-25.
• Wheeler, E.O. "ACC Golden Jubilee." The Canadian Alpine Journal, vol. 39, The Alpine Club of Canada. Banff, Alberta. 1956. p. 3-24.
• Wheeler, E. O. The Survey of India during War and Early Reconstruction 1939-1946, The Surveyor General of India, Dehra Dun, India, 1955.

References

1. Canadian geographer conquered Mount Everest in ‘epic quest’ National Post (Canada) 13 Nov. 2011
2. Arthur Oliver Wheeler http://www.pc.gc.ca/docs/v-g/pm-mp/lhn- ... eler_e.asp
3. Wheeler, A. O. The Selkirk Range, Department of the Interior, Government Printing Bureau, Ottawa 1905,
4. Report of Chief Mountaineer, Canadian Alpine Journal, Vol. 1 No 2, pp 329-334
5. No. 758 Brigadier Sir Edward Oliver Wheeler, Kt MC, "Royal Military College of Canada Review, Log of the Stone Frigate", Kingston, Ontario,1963
6. Report of the Militia Council for the Dominion of Canada for the Fiscal Year Ending March 31 1908, Printed by Order of Parliament, Ottawa 1909
7. Report of the Militia Council for the Dominion of Canada for the Fiscal Year Ending March 31 1909, Printed by Order of Parliament, Ottawa 1909
8. Report of the Militia Council for the Dominion of Canada for the Fiscal Year Ending March 31 1910, Printed by Order of Parliament, Ottawa 1910
9. Recorded in The Gazette (London Gazette), issue 28409, 23 August 1910
10. Recorded in The Gazette (London Gazette), issue 29072, 16 February 1915
11. Recorded in The Gazette (London Gazette), issue 29200, 18 June 1915
12. Recorded in The Gazette (London Gazette), issue 29422, 31 December 1915
13. Recorded in The Gazette (London Gazette), issue 29789, 17 October 1916
14. Recorded in The Gazette (London Gazette), issue 30867, 23 August 1918
15. Recorded in The Gazette (London Gazette), issue 31195, 18 February 1919
16. Recorded in The Gazette (London Gazette), issue 31386, 3 June 1919
17. Recorded in The Gazette (London Gazette), issue 29438, 11 January 1916
18. Recorded in The Gazette (London Gazette), issue 29486, 24 February 1916
19. McMillan, Margaret, "Risk Taking", Massey Lecture Series, Victoria, British Columbia. broadcast on Ideas, August 15 3016,9:00 p.m. EST. CBC Radio
20. Wade Davis - Into the silence, Vintage Books, London, 2012.
21. http://speeches.empireclub.org/62546/data?n=1
22. Recorded in The Gazette (London Gazette), issue 35841, 1 January 1943

Further reading

• In Memoriam. The Canadian Alpine Journal. Vol. 45. The Alpine Club of Canada. Banff, Alberta. 1962. p. 160-163.
• Wheeler, A.O. "The Alpine Club of Canada in Strathcona Park." The Canadian Alpine Journal. Vol. 5. The Alpine Club of Canada. Banff, Alberta. 1913. p. 82-95.

**********************************************************

Sir Edward O. Wheeler
by Historic Camera
Accessed: 2/2/20

Image

Edward Oliver Wheeler was born to Arthur and Clara Macoun Wheeler on April 18, 1890 in Ottawa, Canada. His grandfather, John Macoun, was a respected botanist and his father was a surveyor and mountain-climbing enthusiast who founded the Alpine Club of Canada. His own passion for the mountains began when he accompanied his father to survey the Selkirk Range, and would spend subsequent school holidays as his father's assistant. He received his education in Ottawa's public school system, and attended Ontario's Trinity College. After graduating from Kingston's Royal Military Academy, Cadet Wheeler garnered the highest grades ever received by an officer in training, was awarded the Governor General's medal and the Sword of Honor. At the age of 20, he received a commission to the Royal Canadian Engineers, and was deployed to India in 1913. The young officer saw considerable action during World War I, serving with King George V's Bengal Sappers and Miners in 1915, and fought in Mesopotamia (now Iraq) from 1916-1918. For his efforts, he was awarded the Military Cross, and became a member of the French Legion of Honor.

After the war, he returned to India, working as a surveyor, and in 1921, married Dorothea Danielson. Their son John later became a celebrated geologist. Captain Wheeler's mountain-climbing prowess and skills as a map maker led to an invitation to join the first British Expedition to Mount Everest. Under the leadership of Colonel Charles Howard-Bury, Captain Wheeler, along with other experienced climbers like George Leigh Mallory (who would die tragically in 1924 on another Everest Expedition), investigated various routes to determine the most expedient approach, which Captain Wheeler's group determined to be the East Rongbuk Glacier that led to the North Col. He constructed the first map of Mount Everest and surrounding area, and also created a photographic record of the expedition. His daily travel kit included a cumbersome knapsack, which consisted of a camera, 11 glass plates, notebooks and pencils, weighing about 30 pounds; a tripod; disassembled theodolite telescope housed in a wooden box; along with spare plate holders, extra glass negatives, tape measures, and stone-filled bags to steady the tripod, tipped the scales at 100 pounds. Over the next five months, Captain Wheeler would capture and develop 240 images of the majestic Everest.

Image

Captain Wheeler made a triumphant returned to India, but was considerably weakened by illness, resulting from the high altitudes and drinking contaminated water. After regaining his health, he was named Deputy Superintendent of the Survey of India, promoted to Major, and eventually achieved the rank of Brigadier General. He was knighted in 1943, and though he was eligible for retirement two years' later, he stayed with the Survey of India, before finally retiring and returning to Canada in 1947. He and his wife settled in Lavington, British Columbia, where he resumed his mountain climbing activities, and served as President of the Alpine Club of Canada from 1950 until 1954. On March 18, 1962, 71-year-old Sir Edward Oliver Wheeler suffered a massive stroke, and died the next day. He is fondly remembered for his military service, as a mountain climber and surveyor, and for his landmark expedition photographs. Exhibiting a gift for understatement, Sir Wheeler once observed, "I was in this camp for five days; most of them spent huddled under rocks waiting for the clouds to lift. I had one beautiful day… and got some very nice photographs of Mount Everest and its West ridge." Those "very nice photographs" remain some of the most impressive and breathtaking panoramic views of Mount Everest well into the twenty-first century.

_______________

References

2006 Among the Great Hills: Three Generations of Wheelers by R.W. Sandford (Alberta, Canada: The Alpine Club of Canada), pp. 4, 20-21.

2004 Canada’s Everest? Rethinking the First Ascent of Mount Logan and the Politics of Nationhood, 1925 by Zac Robinson and PearlAnn Reichwein Sport History Review, Vol. XXXV, pp. 95-121.

2007 The Canadian Rockies: Pioneers, Legends and True Tales by Roger W. Patillo (Aldergrove, British Columbia: Amberlea Press), p. 285.

2001 Edward Oliver Wheeler (URL: http://www.beyondnootka.com/biographies/e_wheeler.html).

2009 West Rongbuk (URL: http://more.glacierworks.org/glacier/we ... uk-glacier).

2010 Yale University: Environment 360 (URL:
http://e360.yale.edu/content/images/071 ... -team.html).
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Re: Freda Bedi, by Wikipedia

Postby admin » Sun Feb 02, 2020 10:53 am

Charles Granville Bruce
by Wikipedia
Accessed: 2/2/20

The founding members [of the Himalayan Club] were:[2]

• Captain Charles Granville Bruce, 6th Gurkhas


-- The Himalayan Club, by Wikipedia


Image
Charles Granville Bruce
Bruce as leader of the 1922 Everest expedition
Born: 7 April 1866, London, England
Died: 12 July 1939 (aged 73), London, England
Allegiance: United Kingdom United Kingdom
Service/branch: British Indian Army
Rank: Brigadier-General
Commands held 1st Bn the 6th Gurkha Rifles
Battles/wars: World War I
Awards: Companion of the Order of the Bath
Member of the Royal Victorian Order

Brigadier-General The Honourable Charles Granville Bruce, CB, MVO (7 April 1866 – 12 July 1939) was a Himalayan veteran and leader of the second and third British expeditions to Mount Everest in 1922 and 1924. He was given a special prize at the end of the first ever Winter Olympics in France for mountaineering as the leader of the British expedition that tried to climb Mount Everest in 1922.

Background and early life

Charles Granville Bruce was the youngest of the fourteen children of Henry Bruce, 1st Baron Aberdare (1815–1895) and Norah Napier (1827–1897). His father was born at Duffryn, Aberdare, attended Swansea Grammar School, and trained as a barrister. In the 1830s, coal was discovered beneath the family's land, and with the development of the industry they became rich. Henry Bruce was stipendiary magistrate for Merthyr Tydfil, 1847 to 1854, Liberal member of parliament for Merthyr Tydfil, 1852 to 1869, and Home Secretary in Gladstone's government, 1868 to 1873. He was created first Baron Aberdare, of Duffryn, in 1873. His mother was youngest daughter of General Sir William Francis Patrick Napier.

Bruce was educated at Harrow and Repton. His early life alternated between the 'pompous formality' of Queen's Gate, London, the family home in Aberdare, and a Scottish estate.

In Wales, his mentor was a local farmer and inn-keeper, who in his youth had worked as a hunter in California and British Columbia. He taught the young Bruce how to hunt, find his way around the local hills, and drink. One of Bruce’s most notable achievements was running down a “rough crew” of local poachers. Half a century later he was proud to list their names in his memoirs; "Bill the Butcher, Shoni Kick-O-Top, Billie Blaen Llechau, Dick Shon Edwards & Dai Brass-Knocker". Bruce and the local game-keepers chased one poacher to the narrow alleyways and courts of Georgetown. The poacher was only caught when a furious husband found him snoring in his wife’s bed and threw him out on the street. The gang were duly punished, but gained revenge by returning to Bruce’s house and stealing all the weapons from his father’s gun-room.

After leaving school, Bruce entered military college. He had huge physical strength, was an enthusiastic boxer and 300 yard runner, and in the 1880s represented England against France in an international running meeting.

In 1894 he married Finetta Madelina Julia Campbell, daughter of Sir Edward Campbell, 2nd Baronet.

Career

In 1888, Bruce joined the Indian Army and became a career soldier serving with the 5th Gurkha Rifles from 1889 to 1920, rising to the rank of Brigadier-General. As a young lieutenant he was posted to Abbotabad, a British hill station in the Panjab, where he developed a passion for the locality, wrestling and climbing. Bruce had an akhara (wrestling pit) dug near his residence, where he practised on most days. Both the British and the Rajahs wagered thousands of rupees on professional wrestling matches and took pride in having the strongest sides. In the 1910s, Bruce was patron of the wrestler Rahim Sulaniwala, who went on to become a renowned champion (Summers 2000).

Bruce took a special interest in his Gurkha soldiers and became fluent in Nepali. He introduced hill racing to his Gurkha regiment and in 1891 took his champion runner Pabir Thapa to Zermatt, in Switzerland, to learn ice-climbing.
On the way there, the two stayed at Aberdare, where Thapa enjoyed “running down” poachers. Despite his poor English, he was very popular with the locals. He disappeared for the last three days of his visit and was found living it up with some coal miners in Tonypandy. Bruce went on to train the Gurkhas in mountain-warfare. In 1897 he equipped his troops on the Northern Frontier with shorts, and is widely credited with their introduction to the British Army.

Bruce’s climbing experience was impressive. He spent ten climbing seasons in the European Alps and took part in three of the earliest climbing expeditions to the Himalaya. In 1892, with a troop of Gurkha soldiers he accompanied Conway in his exploration of the Baltoro region of the Karakorum, visiting Muztagh Tower, Broad Peak and K2. In 1893 he was with Francis Younghusband on a mission to the Hindu Kush to bestow recognition on Nizam-uk-Mulk as Mehtar. He and Younghusband were probably the first to discuss mounting an expedition to climb Everest. In Himalayan Wanderer, Bruce says that it was Younghusband's idea. Younghusband says that it was Bruce's.[1] In 1895, Bruce joined Albert F. Mummery and Collie in their attempt on Nanga Parbat, but he had to leave early because his army leave was up. In 1906–1907, he and Longstaff took another troop of Gurkhas to the Nanda Devi group, visiting Dunagiri and Kanchenjunga, and climbing Trisul.

It is impossible to enumerate all the peaks seen, but when I state that in a country no greater than Carmarthenshire and Glamorgan, there are some 80 peaks all in the neighbourhood of 20,000 ft… it will give an idea… of that mighty range.


In 1915, Bruce went to Gallipoli, in command of the 1st Battalion the 6th Gurkha Rifles. After two months in the front line he was severely wounded and was transferred back to India.

He had perpetual good humour, enthusiasm, and love of alcohol, coupled with competence and shrewdness. He was a superb raconteur, and a fount of bawdy stories. Younghusband described him as "an extraordinary mixture of man and boy..... you never know which of them you are talking to".

Between 1923 and 1925 Bruce was president of the Alpine Club. Because of his experience in the Himalaya he was appointed leader of the 1922 British Mount Everest Expedition, the first attempt to summit Everest. He was skilful in bridging the cultural divide between Sahib and Sherpa, and had long advocated training Indians in mountain techniques, with a view to forming a body of porters and guides like those in the European Alps. He called his men porters rather than coolies. He was particularly liked by the local peoples, and for the 1922 expedition collected a cohort of local men, and enthused them with an esprit de corps. He later christened an elite group of high altitude porters the "Tigers". He was universally admired by the expedition team; George Mallory in particular, liked and trusted him. Bruce was wary of oxygen apparatus, nevertheless, George Finch and Geoffrey Bruce (Charles’s nephew) used oxygen to set a new altitude record of 27,300 feet on Everest, via the North Col.

Bruce was appointed leader of the next effort to summit Everest, the 1924 British Mount Everest expedition. Several stories of him survive the trip. On the trek to Tibet, two of his muleteers got drunk and bit a local Tibetan woman. As punishment he fined them, and made them carry the 36-kilogram (80 lb) "treasury" (double the normal load carried) on a three-day march. Arthur Hinks, the rather mean-spirited secretary of the expedition committee seated in London, was exasperated by the official correspondence reaching London from the Himalayas.

Captain Noel will be arriving in Darjeeling with a box forty foot long and I am currently scouring the country for an adequate mule.

Please note that I am doing my best for this expedition. I have interviewed the Viceroy, I have preached to Boy Scouts, and I have emptied the poes in a Dak Bungalow. This is the meaning of the term General. They are cheap at home, they are more expensive out here. Hurry up with that thousand [pounds] please.


Bruce contracted malaria while tiger shooting in India before the expedition, and had to be stretchered out of Tibet. Edward Felix Norton took on leadership, and would set a new height record of 8,570 m (28,120 ft) on the mountain, less than 280 m (920 ft) below the summit. Two days later Mallory and Andrew Irvine disappeared on their summit attempt, and it is still argued that they may have succeeded in completing Bruce's goal of having an expedition member reach the summit.

Bruce did not return to Everest. Between 1931 and 1936 he was Honorary Colonel of the 5th Royal Gurkha Rifles of the Indian Army. He died of a stroke in 1939.

Expeditions

Image
Charles Granville Bruce in 1910

• 1892: Karakoram, with William Martin Conway
• 1895: Nanga Parbat, with Albert F. Mummery
• 1907: Trisul, with Tom George Longstaff
• 1922: 1922 British Mount Everest expedition, with Edward Lisle Strutt
• 1924: 1924 British Mount Everest expedition

Works by Bruce

• Twenty Years in the Himalaya. London: Edward Arnold, 1910
• Kulu and Lahoul. An account of my latest climbing journeys in the Himalaya. London: Edward Arnold, 1914
• The Assault on Mount Everest 1922. London: Longmans, Green & Co, 1922
• Himalayan Wanderer. London: Alexander Maclehose & Co, 1934
• Bruce, C.G. (16 October 1922). "Darjeeling to the Rongbuk Glacier Base Camp" . The Geographical Journal. 60 (6): 385–394. doi:10.2307/1781075. JSTOR 1781075.

See also

• Timeline of climbing Mount Everest

References

1. Younghusband, Epic of Mount Everest, 1926
• Summers, J., Fearless on Everest (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2000)
• Younghusband, F., The Epic of Mount Everest (London: Arnold, 1926)

External links

• Works by Charles Granville Bruce at Project Gutenberg
• Kenneth Mason, ‘Bruce, Charles Granville (1866–1939)’, rev. Peter H. Hansen, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004
• The Peerage of Britain: Charles Granville Bruce
• Rees, Ioan Bowen. "Bruce, Charles Granville". Welsh Biography Online. The Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion. Retrieved 11 July 2014.
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Re: Freda Bedi, by Wikipedia

Postby admin » Sun Feb 02, 2020 11:16 am

Edward Aldborough Tandy (1871-1950)
Surveyor General of India, 1924-28

The founding members [of the Himalayan Club] were:[2]

• Brigadier Edward Aldborough Tandy, Surveyor General of India


-- The Himalayan Club, by Wikipedia
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Re: Freda Bedi, by Wikipedia

Postby admin » Mon Feb 03, 2020 9:10 am

T. E. T. Upton
Solicitor to the Government of India

The founding members [of the Himalayan Club] were:[2]

• Mr. T. E. T. Upton, Solicitor to the Government of India


-- The Himalayan Club, by Wikipedia


Minutes of the Ordinary Monthly meeting of the Council of the Agri-Horticultural Society of India held on the 27th June, 1913 at the Society's Gardens at 7:30 a.m.

Present:

Geo. Girard, Esq., I.S.O., F.R.H.S., in the Chair.

F.G. Clarke, Esq.
G.S.E. Colville, Esq.
F. Carter, Esq.
G.L. Sidey, Esq.
T.E.T. Upton, Esq.
E.A. Watson, Esq.

F.H. Abbott, Esq., Secretary
S. Percy-Lancaster, Esq., F.R.H.S., Asst. Secretary

-- Proceedings and Journal of the Agricultural and Horticultural Society of India for January-June, 1980. Founded 1820. Calcutta: Published by the Agri-Horticultural Society of India, 17 Alipur Road, Alipur.


The first ordinary general meeting of Thornycroft (India) Limited was held at Calcutta on Friday, the 27th August, Mr. S. Bergersen presiding. The Directors report and the audited accounts were passed unanimously. Mr. T.E.T. Upton was unanimously re-elected a director of the company, and Messrs. Pent and Co. auditors.

-- Pioneer Mail and Indian Weekly News, Volume 47, September 3, 1920


THORNYCROFT

The Thornycroft was the first successful commercial motor vehicle in 1896, and still leads on the merit of its 25 years' reputation. None other offers such an assurance of lasting and efficient service.

100 new vehicles for immediate delivery from stock in India. These vehicles are built to conform with Indian Government Subsidy requirements.

Thornycroft (India), Ltd.
7, Old Court House Street, Calcutta.

THORNYCROFT

-- Indian Motor News, November, 1920, Indian Industries and Power, Volume 18


Thornycroft
by Wikipedia
Accessed: 2/3/20

Image
Thornycroft
Preserved 1934 Thornycroft Handy dropside lorry
Former type
Manufacturing
Industry Road vehicles
Fate Taken over
Successor Scammell
Founded 1896; 124 years ago in Chiswick, England
Founder John Isaac Thornycroft
Defunct 1977

Thornycroft was a United Kingdom-based vehicle manufacturer which built coaches, buses, and trucks from 1896 until 1977.

History

Image
Thornycroft Steam Wagon of 1897 with tipper body to act as a dust-cart

Image
Thornycroft steam wagon of 1905

John Isaac Thornycroft, the naval engineer, also formed the Thornycroft Steam Carriage and Van Company which built its first steam van in 1896. This was exhibited at the Crystal Palace Show, and could carry a load of 1 ton. It was fitted with a Thornycroft marine launch-type boiler (Thornycroft announced a new boiler designed for their steam carriages in October 1897[1]). The engine was a twin-cylinder compound engine arranged so that high-pressure steam could be admitted to the low-pressure cylinder to give extra power for hill-climbing.[2] A modified version of the steam wagon with a 6-cubic-yard tipper body was developed for Chiswick council in 1896 and went into service as a very early self-propelled dust-cart. While the original 1896 wagon had front-wheel drive with rear-wheel steering, the tipper dust-cart had rear-wheel drive and front-wheel steering. The Thornycroft tipper was built by the Bristol Wagon and Carriage Company, though engined by Thornycroft.[3]

Thornycroft's first petrol vehicle was built in 1902,[4] and the company completed the move into internal combustion engine power in 1907.

First World War

Thornycroft's Basingstoke factory supplied nearly 5,000 motor vehicles for war purposes. They also provided "quite a large number of engines of various powers" to the Admiralty, the War Office and to other Government Departments at the beginning of the war and for the next two years. Thereafter they manufactured marine motors for the coastal motor-boats built at the Woolston, Southampton works. They also made the Thornycroft depth-charge thrower for anti-submarine warfare.[5]

From 1931, Thornycroft used names for their vehicle range – descriptive and colourful ones. During World War II the company designed the Terrapin[6] and other war-related vehicles.

In 1948, the company name was changed to Transport Equipment (Thornycroft) Ltd to prevent confusion with the shipbuilding Thornycroft company. The company was well known for providing fire-engine chassis, with multi-axle drive for uses such as airports. A limited number of 4x4 chassis were also provided to Worcester-based fire engine manufacturer, Carmichael for sale to civilian brigades in the 1950s.

They were taken over in 1961 by AEC parent Associated Commercial Vehicles Ltd,[7][8] and production was limited to Nubians, Big Bens and Antars, although the Thornycroft-designed six-speed constant mesh gearbox was used in AEC and later medium weight Leyland and Albion trucks. ACV was then taken over by Leyland in 1962. They already had a specialist vehicle unit in Scammell, another manufacturer of large haulage vehicles. Thornycroft's Basingstoke factory was closed in 1969[9] and specialist vehicles transferred to Scammell at Watford.

Models

Bus and coach


Image
Thornycroft Type J bus

• "Type J"
• Beautyride
• Boudicea
• Cygnet (Single Deck)
• Daring (Double Deck)
• Lightning
• Nippy
• Patrician

Lorry

Image
Thornycroft Nubian

Image
Thornycroft Big Ben

Image
Thornycroft Antar

Image
Thornycroft Swift

Image
Thornycroft Trident

• "Type J" 40 hp, 1913
• "Type K" 30 hp, 1913
• Hathi, 1924
four-wheel drive artillery tractor for the army
• A1 RSW / A3 RSW, an off-road capable rigid six-wheeler to an army specification, 1926[10]
• QC / Dreadnought, 1930
12 ton rigid six-wheel chassis.[11]
• Hardy
• Dandy
• Sturdy - 5/6 tonner
• Trusty - 8 ton forward control 4 wheeler
• Bullfinch
• Strenuous
• Mastiff
• Tartar 3-ton 6x4, both civilian & military versions and production (3,000 - 4,000) between 1938 and 1945.
(see Thornycroft Bison for an unusual variant)
• Taurus
• Iron Duke
• Amazon
• Stag
• Bulldog
• Jupiter - 6.5 ton
• Nubian
o 3-ton vehicle
o Available as 4 x 4, 6 x 4, 6 x 6
• Big Ben
• Antar
o 85-ton
o 6 x 4 pipeline and tank transporter
• Swift
• Trident

See also

• Terrapin - design only, built by Morris Commercial
• Nubian airport crash tender
• Thornycroft military vehicles
• Thornycroft Athletic F.C.

References

1. "Messrs Thornycroft's new Automotor boiler", The Automotor and Horseless Carriage Journal, October 1897, pp2-4
2. "Recent Developments in Mechanical Road Carriages", The Automotor and Horseless Vehicle Journal, Dec 1896, pp89-91
3. "An automobile dust-cart", The Automotor and Horseless Carriage Journal, Oct 1897, p24
4. Richard Twelvetrees (1946). Thornycroft Road Transport Golden Jubilee: 50 Years of Commercial and Military Vehicle Development by Private Enterprise. J.I. Thornycroft.
5. Chairman's report (John E Thornycroft) to Annual General Meeting of John I. Thornycroft & Co. (Limited). The Times, Saturday, Jun 14, 1919; pg. 20; Issue 42126
6. Chris Bishop (2002). The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II. Sterling Publishing Company, Inc. pp. 66–. ISBN 978-1-58663-762-0.
7. Commercial Motor Archives http://archive.commercialmotor.com/arti ... or-present
8. Passenger Transport. Ian Allan, Modern Transport Publishing Company. 1961.
9. John Carroll; Peter James Davies (2007). Complete Book Tractors and Trucks. Hermes House. ISBN 978-1-84309-689-4.
10. "Type A1 RSW". Hants gov, Thornycroft. Archived from the original on 29 May 2008.
11. "Type QC lorry". Hants gov, Thornycroft. Archived from the original on 13 March 2012.

External links

• 'Thornycroft of Basingstoke' - (Hampshire Cultural Trust) - extensive coverage of history and vehicles
• Thornycroft vehicle preservation group
• Thorneycroft Classic Motor History
• Youtube video of an existing Thorneycroft rifle in the Royal Armories in Leeds, England
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