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| The Railway Station, Ipoh. |
The next day it was train again, 3 hours north up to Ipoh ( 1st class this time. With my 50% reduction the ticket cost RM24, £6 equivalent! ). This was where the Regimental HQ and HQ Squadron were based from 1954-57.
Left: The Ist Class compartment. Perfectly civilised and plenty of space. I won't show you any more insides of trains for ages...promise!
Arriving at lunchtime I made a bee-line for the Royal Ipoh Club, which is close to the station anyway. This place has been going since 1895 and, I was told, featured prominently in off-duty officers’ social life. I dread to think what went on! By chance I met there a delightful ex-rubber planter, John Black, who had been in the King’s African Rifles during national service in Kenya at the time of the Mau-Mau uprising. He had emigrated to Malaya in 1963 and only gave up his last interest in rubber trees in 2009. He was one of the top-dog rubber planters in his day. He also played cricket, a batsman, for the State of Perak when they beat Singapore in 196....something; the cricket ground is in front of the Club. We had a good chinwag over a much appreciated Tiger beer. I learnt a lot about Malaya in olden days from him. Because I expressed an interest in military matters during the ‘emergency’, I was then invited to the house of a gentleman, Dato ( that’s a title ) R Thambipillay ( call me Pillay ), for tea and cake. He had been a Superintendant of Police ( CID ) in the 60s and 70s, and is one of the local high ranking dignitaries. He is also the Liaison Officer for the National Malaya & Borneo Veterans Association UK. He has been awarded lots of gongs, including the MBE presented to him by the Queen on a visit to Malaya. He and his wife generously entertained me. I am most impressed by the hospitality and unwarranted kindness I have been shown by all the Malaysians I have met so far. Even the taxi drivers have been good value; always jolly and informative!
Right: The front door of the Royal Ipoh Club (Est. 1895). Don't suppose it's changed much.
Left: The Ist Class compartment. Perfectly civilised and plenty of space. I won't show you any more insides of trains for ages...promise!
Arriving at lunchtime I made a bee-line for the Royal Ipoh Club, which is close to the station anyway. This place has been going since 1895 and, I was told, featured prominently in off-duty officers’ social life. I dread to think what went on! By chance I met there a delightful ex-rubber planter, John Black, who had been in the King’s African Rifles during national service in Kenya at the time of the Mau-Mau uprising. He had emigrated to Malaya in 1963 and only gave up his last interest in rubber trees in 2009. He was one of the top-dog rubber planters in his day. He also played cricket, a batsman, for the State of Perak when they beat Singapore in 196....something; the cricket ground is in front of the Club. We had a good chinwag over a much appreciated Tiger beer. I learnt a lot about Malaya in olden days from him. Because I expressed an interest in military matters during the ‘emergency’, I was then invited to the house of a gentleman, Dato ( that’s a title ) R Thambipillay ( call me Pillay ), for tea and cake. He had been a Superintendant of Police ( CID ) in the 60s and 70s, and is one of the local high ranking dignitaries. He is also the Liaison Officer for the National Malaya & Borneo Veterans Association UK. He has been awarded lots of gongs, including the MBE presented to him by the Queen on a visit to Malaya. He and his wife generously entertained me. I am most impressed by the hospitality and unwarranted kindness I have been shown by all the Malaysians I have met so far. Even the taxi drivers have been good value; always jolly and informative!
Right: The front door of the Royal Ipoh Club (Est. 1895). Don't suppose it's changed much.
Left: ....and the committee; I suspect this has changed quite a bit. I was interested to see, on the notice board nearby, many people 'listed' as being banned or persona-non-grata!
I didn't recognise any of them. At least I don't think any of them were hang-overs from 1957.
Right: The dining room. The menus consisted of much beautifully old fashioned, long forgotten ( in UK anyway ) and delicious British fare including steak and kidney pudding, shepherd's pie, jam roly-poly and, of course, spotted dick. Curry puffs were 'on special' on the day I took this photo.
Left: The side of the Club looking out over the cricket ground.
Right:.......which is still in reasonable nick. Rather a slow outfield with some longish spongy grass. Artificial wicket. The flag is that of the State of Perak.
I tried to find the old barracks in which the Regiment was based, but the place on what was then known as Ashby Road is now a large collection of Malaysian army establishments, so not possible for me to identify any in particular. Knowledge of someone who had been there at the time was needed. This photo ( left ), looking over the fence at one of the older looking parts of a military camp, might be recognisable by someone.
I stayed at the Syuen Hotel; good value and, unlike in some Muslim countries, hotels here have bars selling alcoholic refreshments.
Right: The war memorial outside the railway station dedicated to those who were killed in WW2. I think the venerable Superintendant ( Retd ) R Thambipillay had a hand in the construction of this. He was keen that I should take a photo of it.
The next day, Sunday 13th, was Remembrance Day in UK. That I was here then is a complete quirk of coincidence. The intention was to visit the cemetery in Taiping, about 60 miles north, where another 15th/19th Hussars Squadron was based. It is also where eight of our soldiers who were killed between 1954-57 are buried. I set off by bus, the Ipoh-Taiping Express ( a slight exaggeration here ) and arrived in Taiping at 1020hrs.
Left: The Ipoh-Taiping Express.
Initially I was taken by another helpful taxi driver ( my opinion of taxi drivers is being reviewed ) to the British and Commonwealth Cemetery on Maxwell Hill ( now Bukit Larut ) shown here.
This is a beautifully maintained cemetery where those servicemen who were killed in or just after WW2 are buried, with a separate Indian Army plot over the road; but not our guys. I gave a quick salute and was then taken to the correct place......
.....The Christian Cemetery on Kamunting Road ( left ) arriving there, again by coincidence, just before 1100hrs.
In amongst a large, rather scruffy, weed infested graveyard are two neatly kept patches with smart uniform headstones; those of British soldiers killed during the emergency. I found ours; eight graves consisting of one officer ( 2/Lt J A Davies ), one SNCO ( Sgt Thompson ), one JNCO ( Cpl Wells ) and five Troopers; Bruce, Fitchett, Campbell, Jones, and Summers. I had my poppy with me which I left as my token wreath. Pity I didn’t bring a bugle, although those lying there would probably not have appreciated it much.
Left: The grave of one of them; Cpl Wells. I took photos of them all. Cpl Wells was only 20 years old when he died. He was a very young and undoubtedly talented JNCO. To think, if he had lived he would be nearly 76 now. It would be interesting to know what further success he would have made of his life and, of course, we never shall.
They are not forgotten.
Right: The Roll Call of those buried here. Whoever maintains this patch of earth holding our fallen soldiers deserves great credit ( War Graves Commission? ). I didn't find out.
Back to Ipoh and a quick trip up to what is now the Ipoh Flying Club to see if I could find any trace of the Army Air Corps Squadron ( 656 Sqn ) which was based there. Being Sunday the place was almost completely deserted. They obviously don’t go flying on Sundays, and I saw nothing that was recognisably British AAC but took a photo of an ancient looking hangar ( left ). I have been told subsequently that this is indeed a remnant of the AAC presence in Ipoh.
Just a couple more views of Ipoh for the benefit of those who were there in the 'old days'. This is one of the civic buildings opposite the railway station. A couple of traditionally dressed Malays were playing 'catch' with a bunch of flowers for the benefit of some cameras; maybe doing a publicity photo.
Left: The bridge over the river Kinta leading into the town centre. I suppose it has been there for ages.
So, that was my pilgrimage to Malaya. I must say, I expect those serving there in the 50s probably had a marvellous time on the whole. Any comments by surviving ‘old gits’ of the 15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars of that era would be much appreciated. Does Richard Renwick read this? His name has been mentioned as a subaltern from those days! I know Alan Bulman does. They will doubtless correct me on a few points
My last night in Ipoh I dined at a fantastic Chinese restaurant and got the train back to Singapore the next morning, again 1st Class because it is so cheap especially for us of a fairly senior age. OK, the fixtures and fittings are a bit tired and worn but it was comfortable enough. It was also running an hour and threequarters late which, I am told, is par for the course.
Incidentally, you may be aware that Malaysia is a constitutional Monarchy. What you may not know is the name of His Majesty the KIng. This, plus his ‘post-nominals’ as the RAF so quaintly call them, take a bit of remembering. He is Duli Yang Maha Mulia Sultan Pahang Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Al-Musta’in Billah Ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Abu Bakar Ri’Ayatuddin Al-Mu’adzam Shah DKP, DK, DKM, SSAP, SIMP, DMN, DK(Perak), DK(Johor), DK(Kelantan), DK(Terengganu), DK(Perlis), DK(Kedah), DKMB, DK(Brunei), DK(Negeri Sembilan), DK(Selangor), Qiladah Badr Al-Kubra(Saudi Arabia), Qiladah Al-Sheikh Mubarak Al-Kabir(Kuwait), Grand Order of the Mugunghwa(South Korea), Hon.D.Litt(Malaya), LLD.Hc.(Northrop USA), Hon.D.Sc.(Bedfordshire,UK), Hon.PhD.(Civil Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Pahang).
His friends call him Barry.
His friends call him Barry.
Matt, very moving and amusing posting. Your blog just seems to get better and better and I find myself eagerly awaiting each new posting.
ReplyDeleteHope you saw my response to your comment on mine. You can find Henry Lawson's poems on the internet as well as much about 'We of the Never Never' and Jeannie (Mrs Aeneas) Gunn. You can even watch the film on Youtube although, I would recommend that you read the book first, the prose themselves are unique. I couldn't put the book down and when I finished it I got the thousand yard stare and just drifted back to Northern Territories - you either love it or you hate, as I am sure you know.