Lt Gen J F R Jacob’s Gentleman Cadet days at OTS Mhow.

Lt Gen J F R Jacob’s Gentleman Cadet days at OTS Mhow.

 Lt Gen AAK Niazi of Pakistan signing the instrument of surrender. Next to him is Lt Gen J S Aurora the GOC-in-C of India's Eastern Command. Lt Gen JFR Jacob (then a Major General and Chief of Staff of the Eastern Command) is standing behind Lt Gen Niazi. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 India License
Author Indian Navy

Army Day celebrations on 15 Jan were tinged with  sadness this year as  the nation had  lost the highly respected and loved Lt Gen JFR Jacob (Retd) on Jan 13. Jacob  was  one of the architects of the resounding victory over Pakistan  in the Eastern sector which led to the creation of Bangladesh in 1971. Jacob Farj Rafael Jacob was born in Calcutta in 1923 in a Baghdadi Jewish family. After completing his schooling he decided to join the British Indian Army as he was traumatised by the cruel treatment meted out to Jews in Europe by Hitler and the Nazis.

Not many know that Jacob joined  Officers’ Training School (OTS) Mhow for his cadet  training and he was commissioned into the Regiment of Artillery though he wanted to join the infantry. OTS Mhow was one of many  training schools set up in India during World War II for churning out officers for the war machine. One of Jacob’s  batchmates at OTS Mhow was T N Raina who later became the Chief of Army Staff.  In his memoirs An Odyssey in War and Peace (Roli Books, 2011, Rs 350) Jacob briefly describes his short stay at Mhow. He praises the terrain around Mhow for being appropriate for military training. He mentions that though the training schedule was tough and demanding the gentlemen cadets were treated as officers in their off hours and were provided comfortable accommodation and even personal servants – a luxury for cadets!

Jacob’s description of how he ended up in the artillery is hilarious. He had done well during cadet training and was confident of being commissioned in the infantry – his first choice. But he was called to the company office and told that he had volunteered for the artillery.  He then proceeded to Deolali, against his wishes, for his pre-commission training for the artillery. He describes the quality of cadet life in Deolali to be much inferior to that in Mhow. Four cadets had to share a tent and they had no electricity. Even off hours were devoted to training activities. Of the  28 cadets in his course only 21 could complete the course. They were commissioned as Second Lieutenants without any fanfare or a  passing out parade on 7 June, 1942.  Thus began a glorious career which culminated in his retiring as GOC-in-C Eastern Command in 1978.

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Links
The Wikipedia page on General Jacob. Click here
An Israeli journalist pays tribute to General Jacob. Click hereRediff dot com's chat with General Jacob in 2006. Click here
Who was Lt Gen JFR Jacob (India Today) Click here.

Pipes and Drums Band of 4/1 Gorkha Rifles Mesmerises Indore on I Day

Independence Day, 15 August 2015

Location: Regal Square Indore.

It was a solemn moment when Mrs Tripta Thapar  mother of Kargil martyr Captain Vijayant Thapar (Vir Chakra) unfurled the national flag at the above venue as part of the  69th Independence Day celebrations. This function was being conducted by 'Apna Samooh,'  a local NGO.  The presence of an Indian Army band in sparkling white uniform was noticed by all even before the function commenced.  This was the 'Pipes and Drums'  band of the 4th battalion of the First Gorkha Rifles also known as 4/1 GR and nicknamed 'Fore One.' 

The audience comprising of students, NCC cadets, ex-Servicemen and local gentry,  was  treated to the tunes of many national and martial songs. The smartly turned out Gorkha soldiers impressed one and all by playing the national anthem, the popular patriotic song 'Saare Jahan Se Achha Hindustan Hamara' and many more patriotic and martial tunes. The fifteen strong band is led by  band major Havaldar Chandra Bahadur Gurung. It comprises of nine pipers, three buglers cum side drummers also called snare drummers, two tenor drummers and one bass drummer.

In a Pipes and Drums band the entire drum section is known as the drum corps. The tenor drummers and bass drummer are known as the 'bass section.'

All regiments and infantry battalions of the Indian Army have their own bands. The ‘Pipes and Drums’ or ‘Brass Bands’ are the official bands. Many battalions and regiments also have a jazz band which plays light music on social occasions.

Bandsmen in  the Indian Army bands are soldiers first and they have other responsibilities too,  in battle they also play the role of medical assistants and help in treatment and evacuation of casualties. All Indian Army bands are trained at the Military School of Music in the picturesque hill station cantonment town of Pachmarhi in Madhya Pradesh. This school is part of the Army Education Corps (AEC) Training College and Centre, Pachmarhi. The 4/1 GR Pipes and Drums has the distinction of having played at Rashtrapati Bhavan and the Republic Day Parade at Rajpath, New Delhi.   

Royalty is Royalty....

04 March 2014, Tuesday

Army Despatch Rider's Royal Enfield Motorbike in Malwa Market Mhow