
In 1954, during the Emergency in Malaya, my father, a Regular Army Captain was posted to Singapore and I joined him in early 1955. He travelled with his unit widely throughout Malaya and I attended the Slim School, Cameron Highlands, as a boarder. It was here that I met a number of Gurkha lads, all destined to become Officers in Gurkha Regiments, and I became lifelong friends with one Jogindra Sing Gurung, better known to everyone as 'Jogin'. All the Gurkha lads were great characters, good sportsmen and you couldn't do better than to have one of them as a personal friend! I was occasionally able to visit Jogin during the school holidays when he was back with his battalion and my father was with them. We remained friends throughout my time in Malaya until we returned home to England in September 1957. I kept in touch with him until we lost contact some years later. I was at sea in the Merchant Navy and he was busy with the Gurkhas elsewhere and it was not until 2012, that we finally regained contact. We were able to exchange our life stories and it was pleasing to know that his education at Slim School had enabled him to do well, but he had not been selected, along with Kulraj Limbu, to attend Sandhurst. His determination to succeed was not, to me, surprising and he joined the Gurkha Engineers Regiment. Unbeknown to both of us, he had twice attended courses in military engineering at Chatham, Kent, when I had been at home on leave in Whitstable, not far away, but we had unfortunately missed each other. Jogin earned professional awards and an M.B.E. as a result of his technical abilities and leadership and retired as a Captain. Kulraj Limbu retired as a Major, and Phatteh Bahahdur Limbu retired as a Lt. General. All live in Kathmandu. Not bad achievements for those with a British Forces schooling background, but, lets face it, they are Gurkhas! This is not a story of mutual combat experience, but one of lasting friendship and respect for the Gurkhas. I and many other ex Slim School students have never forgotten our time at school with them. The last time I spoke to Jogin was on hearing of the devastating earthquake in Nepal. I phoned him,but I forgot the time difference and a lasting memory will always be - "You do know it's three o'clock in the morning here, don't you?" Communication with Nepal is very poor. Letters aren't delivered, the phones and email don't work and, sadly, I have lost all contact with him again. If I learned one thing from him it was to keep trying.