ROYAL INDIAN NAVY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25851, 23 May 1945, Page 9

ROYAL INDIAN NAVY

A VALUABLE FORCE many dangerous tasks Since the last war’, world interest has centred round the fighting forces of India. Of these, the Indian Army has been by far the most prominent, despite the fact that India’s oldest service is her navy. The sons of India, especially those in the north-west, are a martial race, and people such as the Rajputs and and also the famous Gurkhas from Nepal, can boast a military history of which any country has reason to be proud. The beginning of the Royal Indian Navy dates back as far as 1612, when the Honourable Company of the Merchants, trading to the East Indies, sent out a squadron of fighting ships to defend their interests against the Portuguese and the pirates of the west coast. From this stage until 1910 the history of the Indian Marine was a long and interesting one of skirmishes against pirates in the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean, and from 1909 to 1914 it was engaged in continuous operations in the Persian Gulf for the suppression of gun running. Defensive Role ffi 1892 the Royal Indian Navy was officially termed the Royal Indian Marine, and in 1934 became known as the Royal Indian Navy, and its role principally is for the defence of India's extensive coastline. For this reason the largest ships are of the Jamna and Suttledge class, both of which have operated in this war in British home waters, the Mediterranean, and the Indian Ocean, and as far south as Australia. The remaining forces are largely coastal, which, for the last three years, have done invaluable work

bombarding Japanese strongholds on the Arakan coast. Unless one has experienced Burma, particularly the Arakan with its grim and forbidding coastline, treacherous bars and tidal rivers, it is difficult to appreciate the arduousness of this role, particularly river patrols into enemy-occupied territory, always open to ambush, and at the least always expectant of enemy artillery barrages from well-concealed positions ashore. The officers and Indian ratings who man these little ships are performing a most difficult and hazardous task, especially when, as often as not, their night patrols and river skirmishes are against highly mobile enemy forces, and they carry out their role- more “ by guess and by God ’’ than by knowledge of intelligence information. The Combined Operations wing of the Royal Indian Navy is one of its newest branches, and made its debut in the landings on Akyab and Ramree Island. The latter landing was not .an easy qperation, particularly as the Japanese had the beaches well guarded with under-water defences, but the landing craft were rammed on' to the shore with considerable dash and skill, putting the army safely ashore and displaying a quality of seamanship of the highest order. Source of Recruits The original recruiting of the Royal Indian Navy is from the fishermen of the Ratnigiri coast, roughly 200 miles south of Bombay. These men are a tough seafaring folk, and are excellent seamen. In the latter part of the Mogul wars they were the people who manned the ships of the Mahratta Navy, which participated in landing troops along the coast behind the Mogul front line and played an important part in the final defeat of the Mogul Empire at the hands of the Mahratta chiefs. In recent years, a great deal of recruiting has been done from the Punjab, and even the North-West Frontier Province, and also from the Mahratta country itself. The majority of these recruits have never seen the sea before they join the navy, and it is remarkable how soon they can adapt themselves to a sea-going life, and ft is more remarkable still what fine seamen they make. I have seen squads of Indian ratings undergoing courses in gunnery at the H.M.I.S. Himalaya, the Royal Indian Navy gunnery school, and their keenness and ultimate efficiency leave nothing to be desired. The majority of the officers of the Royal Indian Navy are British officers who must know their job even more thoroughly than their Royal Navy contemporaries. To begin with, they must speak Urdu, and instruct their ratings in that language, and they must spend many hours in studying the various customs and religions of the different ratings under their command. A lot *is expected of these officers, and that lot is neatly summarised as follows: “Tolerance, sympathy, and patience, combined with firmness,- humour and dignity should be the order of the day at all times; most of gll when you don’t feel like it. Nothing is gained by arrogance, whilst much can be won by grace.” Historical Incidents There are two incidents in the history of the Royal Indian Navy worthy of mention and of particular interest to New Zealand. The first was the participation of the Indian Marine in the Maori Wars from 1854 to 1856, when the H.C. Sloop Elphinstone was actively engaged in operations against the Maori chiefs Heki and Kewiti. The second was in 1910, when Lieutenant Bowers, Royal Indian Marine, had the high honour of being chosen for Captain Scott’s Antarctic Expedition, and was later one of the five who made the gallant dash to be the first to discover the South Pole. A piece of the flag which Scott hoisted at the pole was later sent, at his reauest written in his diary before he died, to Queen Alexandra and to King Edward VII. The third piece is in the Royal Indian Navy officers’ mess in Bombay with the cups and spoons Bowers carried with him on his last journey and which were found near his dead body in the last camp. In recent years, tremendous efforts have been made to make India navyminded. with excellent results, and we now find the Ro-al Indian Navy carving itself a bigger niche in the rolls of honour of India’s proud service records Much more will be heard of the Royal Indian Navv in the coming months.