My Father was commissioned into the Indian Army and served through the late 20s and 30s until 1939 when he resigned and joined the British Army ,
He waxed lyrical about his time in the Raj,
It was the 60s and I was on a train out of the Hooglii Station, Calcutta bound for Jogbani Junction on the Indian/ Nepal border where I was destined to join my detachment at the Ghurka Training base at Dharan Cantonment.
My feelings about my Country changed over the 36 hours of that train ride.
I shared the carriage with an Indian Doctor who without rancor or bitterness explained to a naive boy how he saw the British Raj from an Indians viewpoint,
I learnt a valuable lesson that has stood me in good stead ever since,
There is always at least two sides to any point of view and until you have heard each viewpoint it is foolish at best to take a particular side.
I have never ridden in a Jeep but I have driven many miles in an Austin Champ the layout of which is not dissimilar except it had fully independent suspension all round and an 8 speed all wheel drive transmission (4 forward and 4 Reverse),
Brilliant in the tropics awful in a Northern European Winter
Very, very nice!
Normandy is my plan, maybe within the next 5 years.
