ISSUE 75 : Mar/Apr - 1989 - Australian Defence Force Journal

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30 DEFENCE FORCE JOURNAL No. 75 March/April 89Karachi Railway Station 1956, awaiting Bolan Mail.On the small porch of a large faded concrete,earthquake-proof house sat another British instructor'swife, turning up the hems of ourcurtains. She had collected and installed ourArmy issue furniture and fittings and engagedthe staff: Dost the Sweeper was polishing thered concrete floors inside; Subhan Khan, theCook, stood awaiting my instructions.Astrakhan cap on head, eyes gleamingthrough black-rimmed spectacles, he burst out,'Me first-class English cook, Memsahib. Roastdinner, caramel custard, cheese souffles. Verygood cook Mem. I am going bazaar Mem. Youtell me. 1 buy meat, eggs, vegetable.' What didwe need? Elspeth rescued me by suggesting asimple menu for that night and inviting us forlunch with her.Later we unpacked the crates. I stared bewilderedat the mounting pile of toilet paper,vegemite, tinned cheese ... 1 could open ashop. 'Mem must lock these all away. No goodmen otherwise use all up. And Mem is lockingup tea and flour rations from quartermaster'sstore. Each day, Mem is giving out enough . ..' The wisdom of Mohamed.There was a general shortage of food, barelyenough for the local population. We wouldsoon tire of stringy chickens, tough mutton orwater buffalo steak and butter, but we werecomparatively well off.Next the Dhobi boy arrived and 1 was sortingout some washing for him. Mohamed drew upa chair. 'Mem is sitting down and making list.I am finding dirty clothes.'•Bolan mail passes through Sind Desert. BolanPass ahead.
RLMNANTS OF THE RAJ }].J!,:*.Wood wallahs with hooded donkeys deliver wood at Australian quarter, 22 William Rd, Quetta.A band of AH Baba's decendants appeared— the wood wallahs. Their small donkeys, almostbuckling under their loads, were blindfolded,whilst Mohamed supervised the weighingof the wood, piece by piece, on hand scalesand argued the cost with the swarthy desperadoleader. A Staff College truck delivered our coalration and by evening, coal fires were warmingsome of the house.We sat down to hot soup served meticulouslyby the Bearer; the table laid with our best silver.Finally crawling exhausted into a small hardbed, my toes touched a hot water bottle.Mohamed, that 'seedy, grubby fellow', was indeeda Bearer beyond price.Next day, David signed on at the Quetta StaffCollege which was modelled on Camberley inEngland and provided a post-graduate year forCaptains and Majors 'on the way up'. Australia,Canada and India had similar Collegesand they all exchanged students. Some Britishinstructors remained, but they were rapidlybeing replaced by Pakistanis. That year, twoBritish, a Canadian, an American, Turk andIraqi made up the other foreign students. Onthe plaque listing students for 1911, CaptainT.A. Blarney's name had a star to show he'dreach Field Marshal. Australia's first studentat Quetta had made his mark.The Deputy Commandant, Brigadier ShahabzadarYaqub Khan' addressed the studentson the importance of maintaining high standardsof work and warned against cheating. Headvised that required reading for current affairswould be American Time and Dawn, Pakistan'smain English language daily.Two weeks later, Dawn's editorial thunderedagainst a proposed routine visit to Pakistan ofFirst Sea Lord Mountbatten, 'this principal instrumentof the rape of Kashmir and of themisery of millions'. Dawn reminded readersthat from March 23rd Pakistan would be aRepublic, that the Navy would no longer beRoyal and therefore Britain's First Sea Lord'nobody to it'. The Pakistanis blamed Mountbatten,last Viceroy of India, for all the troubleswhich followed the Partition of India in 1947.Pakistan still remained in the Commonwealth,but the British were on the way out.How would we colonials be accepted? Currentaffairs for David might be tricky.Each morning he hurried off early to meetwith the ten men of his Syndicate. Very often,they returned to our house to work together onan Appreciation of a Military Situation in whichAIDNI was the enemy. (I didn't have to be acryptic crossword fan to work out who thatwas.) Whilst they planned, I remained on stand
Page 1 and 2: %.«*«iftV4y ,.iJ», AUSTRALIA .£
Page 3 and 4: DEFENCEFORCEJOURNALNo.75 March/Apri
Page 5 and 6: Letters to the EditorDivided Loyalt
Page 7 and 8: Defending Freedom and Pursuing Peac
Page 9 and 10: DEFENDING FREEDOM AND PURSUING PEAC
Page 11 and 12: The Case for Establishing a Retired
Page 13 and 14: THE CASE FOR ESTABLISHING A RETIRED
Page 15 and 16: The RAAF Writes its DoctrineBy Wing
Page 17 and 18: THE RAAF WRITES ITS DOCTRINE 15ing
Page 19 and 20: THE RAAF WRITES ITS DOCTRINErServic
Page 21 and 22: Army Recruit Training Injuries "Ind
Page 23 and 24: ARMY RECRUIT TRAINING INJURIES "IND
Page 31: Remnants of the Rajby Judy ThomsonF
Page 35 and 36: REMNANTS OF THE RAJI was budgetting
Page 37 and 38: REMNANTS OF THE RAJ 35fe4ft%*utJSt'
Page 39 and 40: KI \|\ WIS ()1 IHI R VIVa precipice
Page 41 and 42: AUSTRALIAN PUBLIC OPINIONS OF DEFEN
Page 43 and 44: AUSTRALIAN PUBLIC OPINIONS OF DEFEN
Page 45 and 46: The Rt Hon Sir George Foster Pearce
Page 47 and 48: THE RT HON SIR GEORGE FOSTER PEARCE
Page 58 and 59: Mobility for Infantry Engaged in Lo
Page 60 and 61: 58 DEFENCE FORCE JOURNAL No. 75 Mar
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ISSUE 75 : Mar/Apr - 1989 - Australian Defence Force Journal

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