NAM.2017-09-5-1

Filmed oral history interview with Alan and Keith Brunger by Kirsty Parsons and Jasdeep Singh on 27/06/2017. The interview focusses on their time serving in India during the time of the Partition of India. Associated with Partition, India (1945-1948) 1947. Alan says the brothers were born on the Isle of Sheppey. He did not enjoy his school days, much preferred spending time outdoors and building boats. He left school at fourteen and became an apprentice carpenter for five years after which, he was called up into the British Army, into an Infantry regiment. He served in Burma and towards the end of the campaign suffered from ‘jungle sores’ and was hospitalised. He was then sent out to India. He served in India for three years on ‘security duty’. Keith prefers to go by his middle name Frederick. Fred also left school at fourteen. His family were traders and craftsmen and his father was keen for both brothers to get apprenticeships, so Fred did his in the British Army. Alan was conscripted into the Army during the Second World War, he says he would have preferred the Navy and was not pleased to be called up to the Army. He’d spent three years in the Home Guard where he did his Basic Training, so when he was conscripted he knew how it all worked. He spent his first eight weeks in Blackpool, then the next thirteen weeks somewhere else. He got two weeks embarkation leave and was then taken by ship to Bombay, India. He was then sent to a hill station at Shillong to provide reinforcements. He praises Japanese soldiers for fighting hard, talks about casualties and malaria. Went to Rangoon, suffered from mosquito bites. The medication he was given had no effect so he was sent tot due to illness. After he recovered he was posted to a convalescent camp and then posted to Jhansi where there was a large railway depo. Christmas 1946 there was fighting between railway workers and the regiment, Fred felt the Anglo-Indians had a chip on their shoulder. Regiment moved to Jullundur where they were on riot duty. He also went to riots in Calcutta but didn’t get involved. Says main conflicts were between Hindus and Muslims. Alan talks about British involvement in partition violence. He says incidents were short and sharp and that they always seemed to get there when it was ending. He feels the Partition happened too fast. He feels British troops were not very well informed about the logistics of Partition - he’s pieced together the information afterwards. He talks about incident in a cinema in Bombay where audience started up a chant shouting ‘Pakistan! Pakistan!’ whilst the national anthem was being played. Fred was eighteen when the Second World War ended. He spent a year doing further technical training and went out to Kalyan, India in 1946. Waited for two months in Kalyan with an artillery regiment. He worked as a fitter, repairing broken parts on vehicles. Travelled by train from Bombay to Rawalpindi - remembers an injured monkey and buying two hardboiled eggs. Changed trains at Rawalpindi and shared chapattis with an ‘Indian gentleman’. Joined his regiment - they had nothing to do and were staying close to the border. Saw the Khyber Pass and a camel train. Describes pranks and sense of Wild West adventure. Both describe their first experiences of India. Both mention smell as main memory. Had very few interactions with the locals. Alan talks about role of magistrates in cases of violence - if violence broke out, magistrate to be found and they wold make the decision as to whether the British Army should act. Recalls patrols of back streets and how tourists only see the Taj Mahal and not the back streets. Fred came home to Britain in March 1947. Alan left after Partition. He remembers waiting in Bombay for the ship to take him home on Independence Day and he was told not to leave the city in case things ‘boiled over’. The last place Alan served was in Lucknow as part of a demonstration platoon, demonstrating actions for young soldiers. Went down to Bombay in July. Alan talks about time in Amritsar when he was a Guard Commander on the city gates and was ordered not to let anyone in who was carrying a weapon. The gates were next to a sugar cane field and when people tried to come through carrying sugar cane, Alan was unsure whether it was considered a weapon or not. Alan comments that they weren’t encouraged to mix with Indian soldiers and each were kept to separate messes. Both say this was different in Burma. Both talk about language - both recall Hindi words they learnt while serving in India.

World War Two, Far East (1941-1945)

Partition, 1947 (India 1945-1948)