SBP, I stand corrected...though when I served alongside them in Borneo (2/2 GR) they didn't have a Pipe Band...and later when I visited them at Church Crookham in the mid 1970s they didn't have one there either.
I am not aware of the history of the dicing on their Kilmarnocks I shall have to do some research.
Grand photo BTW.
If there was one event which the CTs Were not going to prevent, it was the Centenary celebrations of the the Regiment’s most prized battle honour: Delhi.
Delhi Day fell on Saturday, 14 September, 1957. It recalled the Great occasion in 1857 when Major Charles Reid led his gallant Sirmoor Battalion (as the 2nd Goorkhas were then called) from
Dehra Dun to Delhi at the time of the Indian Mutiny, and held the Main Piquet on the Ridge. It was a fight which, in General Tuker’s words, “raged for three scorching months from June to September with hardly a day’s remission, at odds of ten, twenty, thirty to one, against an army well equipped and well trained by
ourselves—no savage horde—it may also be one of the decisive battles of the world, If the Main Piquet had fallen, the Ridge would have gone, and, as likely as not, the Bombay and Madras armies and the Punjab would have blown into blazes. India would have relapsed into the morass from which Britain had raised her. The
Main Piquet at Delhi stood firm for more than the people of Britain realized in 1857 or, even now, in 1957.”
HQ Malaya Command had agreed to let the 1st Battalion take its retraining period from August to October; later the 2nd Battalion was also released—from 5 to 18 September. The proximity of both battalions to each other and to Singapore was a stroke of luck, for it was clear that Slim Barracks and the availability of a suitable
parade ground made the Island the ideal venue. A keystone to the plans was the presence of Major-General L. H. O. Pugh, Colonel of the Regiment.
The Centenary Parade was planned for 14 September. Among the guests invited were Captain Tikajit Pun, MBE, Captain Ramparsad Khattri, MBE; Honorary Capt Kalusing Chhettri, Sirdar Bahadur, OBI MC; and the two VCs, Lalbahadur and Bhanbahagta. Kalusing, as the senior pensioner, was picked to hold the Queen’s Truncheon during the march past. An alert and sprightly veteran of 61, this was a worthy reward for the years
he had spent in captivity in the country he was revisiting after twelve years.
For most of the Regiment, the day began well before daybreak. Reception parties and guides had to be in place to receive the Spectators from an early hour, while those taking part in the Parade
had to leave barracks at dawn. The morning was sunlit but cool, the grass on the parade ground
wet with dew. Behind the Saluting Base, an embankment formed a grandstand for some two thousand spectators. At the far end of the ground the Gurkha families sat in colourful array. Among the
VIPs, who sat on either side of the Saluting Base, were the Commanders in Chief of the Services, Mr Duncan Sandys and the Commissioner General of South-East Asia. To the right and left of the seat reserved for HE The Governor, sat the two Gurkha VCs.
At 0740, the Regiment marched on parade, the two battalions abreast in column of threes, preceded by the Band and Bugles playing the Centenary March, composed for the occasion by Major Bailey. At the Saluting Base, the Regiment wheeled left towards the centre of the ground, and on reaching the forming up
line the battalions separated in a left and right wheel to form Regimental Line.
General Pugh, Colonel of the Regiment, took over the parade at 0750 from the two Commandants, and at once gave the order for the Queen’s Truncheon to be marched on parade to take its place, to a Royal Salute, in the centre of the line.
Promptly at 0800, His Excellency the Governor arrived, mounted the Saluting Dais and received a Royal Salute as the Union Jack was struck alongside the Regimental Flag. General Pugh rode up on
his bay charger to report his Regiment on parade. His Excellency, accompanied by two Gurkha Orderly Officers, then mounted a Land-Rover to inspect the Regiment. On his return to the Dais,
two orderlies set a table before him, on which were laid the Centenary Bugles and the two Bugle Majors’ staffs presented by the Adjutants. The selected buglers marched forward to take up their new bugles, four at a time. Reforming, they marched back to their places, playing a bugle march, the first occasion on which
these bugles had been heard in public.
The Regiment then advanced in review order and gave a Royal Salute, His Excellency’s main part in the parade was now over, and he moved from the Dais to take his seat between the two VCs.
Captain Kalusing Chhettri, wearing Number 3 Dress, moved forward to the front of the Dais to receive the Queen’s Truncheon from the Truncheon Jemedar and Escort, and stood waiting in proud dignity.
Now, the Colonel of the Regiment dismounted and joined Lieutenant V. R. West and a sergeant of The 6oth Rifles opposite the Truncheon Escort. West placed a Truncheon Belt, a presentation from The 6oth Rifles, across the shoulders of the Truncheon
Next, the Colonel presented his own trophy, a ceremonial sword. The Escort, in its new embellishments, then took its place behind Captain Kalusing. The Colonel remounted and gave his command for the Regiment to march past by companies in line.
As the Band struck up "Lutzow’s Wild Hunt”, a third flag was broken at the saluting base, a replica of the Delhi Colour, green with the word DELHI written in English, Persian and Hindi.
With General Pugh at their head, the eight companies of the Regiment marched past the Queen’s Truncheon and the Colour which it had replaced. Closing at the far end of the ground, the Regiment turned about, marched past in close column to ““Wha’s a’ the Steer Kimmer” and reformed line. The Truncheon Escort
moved out to receive back the Queen’s Truncheon and, to a Royal Salute, was marched off parade. Finally, each battalion turned inward, and reforming column of threes abreast marched up to the Saluting Base, wheeled right and, followed by the Band and Bugles, left the parade ground.
Apart from the Parade, there were also five days of celebrations, including a nautch, memorial service, sporting events and dinner nights, culminating on 18 September with the Delhi Centenary
Ball held by the Officers of the Regiment in the Mess at Slim Barracks.
During the Memorial Service at St George’s Church, Tanglin, a plaque in memory of the officers, NCOs and men of the Regiment who had lost their lives during the Emergency in Malaya was dedicated by the Bishop of Singapore, the Right Reverend H. W. Baines. Bugles of the Regiment then sounded the Last Post and
Reveille.
Delhi Day was also celebrated at Winchester by the Regimental Association in combination with The 6oth Rifles (The Green Jackets). The Guides, the Indian (later Pakistan) Regiment which had fought alongside these two regiments at Delhi, were unable to attend.
The celebration included a ceremonial parade by the Green Jackets Depot, a dedication service, luncheon and a tree planting ceremony. Reid’s Diary, reproduced in full in a handsome edition
with hard cover and illustrations, and embellished with reproductions of the Queen’s Truncheon and badges of The 6oth, The Guides and 2nd Goorkhas, was printed to mark the occasion. Copies were presented, among others, to the Queen and Prince Charles.
The Parade was held on 14 September, the weather remaining fine. General Loftus-Tottenham took the salute, and later addressed the Parade. He presented a copy of the Diary of the Siege to the Colonels Commandant of The 6oth.
After the Parade, the spectators moved to the Garrison Church for a Dedication Service to commemorate the gallant deeds of the 2nd King Edward VII’s Own Goorkhas (The Sirmoor Rifles), not merely on the famous Delhi Ridge, but throughout its long history. Memorials were also dedicated to those members of the Regiment who were killed in the first Sikh War in 1846 and at Delhi in 1857, and to certain officers of the Regiment to whom no other memorial was known to exist (The Regimental Memorials brought from
Dehra Dun had already been erected in this Church).
“The simplicity and singleness of purpose of the service was something that went to the hearts of the whole congregation,” the Regimental Journal records.
Following the service, luncheon was taken at the Guildhall. After lunch, a tree was planted at St Cross Cricket Ground to commemorate 100 years of ever-growing friendship between The 6oth and the 2nd Goorkhas. In glorious sunshine, Sergeant C. Hotson of The 6oth, and Sergeant Karnabahadur Thapa of
the Regiment, shovelled earth round the roots of the Himalayan Cedar which had already been placed in position by nurserymen. The Chaplain-General then dedicated the tree. A plaque, inscribed
to mark the occasion, was placed in the Pavilion until such time as the tree was big enough to carry it.
“So ended a short and simple ceremony, but one which will
mark the occasion for many a year to come, for the tree will certainly
still be flourishing long after those who witnessed its planting have
gone.”
collection.nam.ac.uk
