Exemplary Ettiquette on the Field of Battle.

[Pasha]

While researching another matter entirely, I stumbled upon these little gems. The first, is a brief correspondence between Indian and Pakistani officers during the 1971 war in the East Wing and is, I suppose, the inevitable result of Sandhurst graduates fighting each other!
The second, is a letter to the FO from the Moscow Embassy during WWII which was released under the FOI act a few years ago, and is quite simply brilliant!


1)
At Jamalpur, near Dhaka, the Indian Brigadier, Hardit Singh Kler, surrounded a Pakistani unit led by Lt Col Ahmed Sultan. On 10 December the two officers exchanged letters. The first, written by the Indian Brigadier, was taken across the frontline by an elderly man who delivered it by hand

"To,
The Commander Jamalpur Garrison

I am directed to inform you that your garrison has been cut off from all sides and you have no escape route available to you. One brigade with full compliment of artillery has already been built up and another will be striking by morning. In addition you have been given a foretaste of a small element of our air force with a lot more to come. The siituation as far as you are concerned is hopeless. your higher commanders have already ditched you.
I expect your reply before 6.30 p.m. today failing which I will be constrained to deliver the final blow for which purpose 40 sorties of MIGs have been alloted to me.
In this morning's action the prisoners captured by us have given your strength and dispositions, and are well looked after.
The treatment I expect to be given to the civil messenger should be according to a gentlemanly code of honour and no harm should come to him.
An immediate reply is solicited.

Brigadier HS Kler. Comd."


The reply was sent a few hours later:

"Dear Brig,
Hope this finds you in high spirits. Your letter asking us to surrender has been received. I want to tell you that the fighting you have seen so far is very little, in fact the fighting has not even started. So let us stop negotiating and start the fight.
40 sorties, I may point out, are inadequate. Ask for many more. Your point about treating your messenger well was superfluous. It shows how you under-estimate my boys. I hope he liked his tea.
Give my love to the Muktis [Mukti Bahini were the Bangladeshi guerrillas fighting against the Pakistan Army]. Let me see you with a sten in your hand next time instead of the pen you seem to have such mastery over.
Now get on and fight.

Yours sincerely

Commander Jamalppur Fortress.
(Lt. Colonel Ahmed Sultan)"




2)
H.M EMBASSY MOSCOW


Lord Pembroke
The Foreign Office
LONDON 6th April 1943




My Dear Reggie,

In these dark days man tends to look for little shafts of light that spill from Heaven. My days are probably darker than yours, and I need, my God I do, all the light I can get. But I am a decent fellow, and I do not want to be mean and selfish about what little brightness is shed upon me from time to time. So I propose to share with you a tiny flash that has illuminated my sombre life and tell you that God has given me a new Turkish colleague whose card tells me that he is called Mustapha Kunt.

We all feel like that, Reggie, now and then, especially when Spring is upon us, but few of us would care to put it on our cards. It takes a Turk to do that.

Sir Archibald Kerr,
H.M. Ambassador

[lew]

Hi your back, are you not going to prauge???

Sorry this is off topic...


lew

[Pasha]

Hello Lew,

Leaving Saturday morning mate. Both the RSM and CO have cornered me to take PR pics, though who they're hoping to impress I have no idea. Pity you're not tagging along Lew, as it seems to be a bit of a jolly.
Take care mate and best regards!

Pasha

[harry hackedoff]

Pasha, Mustapha Kunt, indeed
What can you mean
I shall recount that story with glee