Posted on 12/20/2013 2:25:43 PM PST by lowbridge
A "proud" former Sikh soldier who fought for the British Army in Burma, Malaya and Singapore – and took tea with Lord Mountbatten – has died, aged 98.
Bur Singh Johal's family said he was "charismatic and charming" – becoming heavily involved in Derby's Sikh community and supporting the county's Poppy Appeal efforts each year.
Originally from the Punjab, Mr Johal, of Goodale Street, Normanton, joined the British Army in 1933 and fought from 1939 to the end of the Second World War, first in Burma and then in Singapore and Malaya.
He went back to India in 1947 to tend his land in the Punjab and then becoming a driver for the Punjab Government.
Mr Johal's son, Charanjit Singh Johal, 59, said his father met Lord Mountbatten while in Burma.
He said: "He was very, very proud of being in the British Army and would often show people his medals.
"He had a cup of tea with Lord Mountbatten in Burma, who told my father he was very brave."
As an ex-serviceman, Mr Johal gained an employment voucher which enabled him to move to England with his family in 1964 and settle in Derby.
He became heavily involved with the city's Sikh community and was a foundry worker at Qualcast. He always attended the remembrance day services in Derby's Market Place and supported the Royal British Legion.
(Excerpt) Read more at derbytelegraph.co.uk ...
(Never, ever, confuse a Sikh with a Muslim.)
The Sikh Regiment in India is one of the most highly decorated units in the world, and has been around since 1846. They have 14 Victoria Crosses (pre-independence) and 21 Indian Order of Merits (the Indian equivalent of the VC) (post independence).
The 1st Sikh battalion, in 1979 was the British Commonwealth’s most decorated battalion (245 pre-independence and 82 post-independence gallantry awards), when it was transformed into the 4th mechanized infantry.
Advanced plans by the British Army to raise a UK Sikh infantry regiment were scrapped due to accusations by the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) (morons) that such a creation could be viewed as racist or sectarian.
Isn't it Myanmar now?
Man, between them and the Gurkhas! What a bunch of bad.., well, you know.
Myanmar Shave just doesn’t have a ring to it.
Good post.
RIP to a brave soldier.
I’ve always thought it odd that nobody makes fun of Sikh magic underpants. They’re very similar to the Mormon variety and serve much the same purpose.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kacchera
Although it possibly has something to do with the Sikh requirement to always go armed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirpan
I’ve always liked the Sikh version of non-violence. If are violent towards the innocent, they’ll kill you and thus bring an end to the violence.
RIP.
I would have loved to have tea with him just to hear some of his stories.
This is a wake up call, keep your allies close. And hang politicians.
The differences between them are also very interesting.
Gurkhas are indigenous people mainly from the mid-western, eastern Nepal and the Gorkhaland region of India. They are mountain people, on the shorter side, with lean and strong muscles. To belong to a Gurkha regiment is a matter of family pride, as is ferocity in battle, and their distinctive Kukri knife, which is really half knife and half sword, is handed down through their generations.
In the UK, their traditional training ground were the mountains of Scotland, where they do fun things like 20 mile mountain runs in freezing rains while carrying kits that weigh half or more of their weight.
The Sikhs are a religion, found in northern India and Pakistan, sometimes crudely described as “Half Hindu and half Muslim, but rejecting the stupider parts of both religions.”
They tend to be entrepreneurial-business oriented middle class, and as a really good idea, though they are egalitarian in their treatment of others, rejecting both racial and caste discrimination, theirs is a militant religion, being caught between Muslims and Hindus. One of their most respected social roles is as a soldier, in just about any honorable army. That is, their being a good soldier is literally part of their religion.
At the time of Indian independence, the Sikhs held almost all the leadership roles in the Indian army. So being non-commissioned and commissioned officers comes pretty naturally to them.
Their favored knife-sword, which is called a Kirpan, is required to be carried at all times, which at full size is a pretty impressive blade; but they are so moderate that they are allowed to carry a very small ceremonial equivalent, that you could put on a key chain, when it would be impolite or impractical to have a full sized knife.
They have a whole collection of traditional religious weapons, and even a classical fighting style that has somewhat fallen by the wayside as impractical these days; but again moderation rules their thinking—it is hard to find *any* weapon that at least some Sikhs have not mastered.
The one thing they will not be moderate about is their olive drab (or other color) military turban and their beard. Until the 1980s, there were lots of Sikhs in the US military, even Special Forces, but some twit in the Pentagon demanded they shave or leave. They left. Only in the last few years did the Pentagon end that stupid rule. The first Sikh back in uniform who went through a US Army training school became a national hero to US Sikhs.
Oddly enough they have a particular affinity for Airborne operations. They love the idea of parachuting right into the middle of the enemy forces.
About the only time Sikhs have run amok was when a radical, secessionist group of Sikhs took control of their most sacred temple in India. The Indian government overreacted against the secessionists, and ordered a Sikh general to invade the temple. This turned into a bloodbath, there were some mutinies by Sikhs in the Indian army, and just about every Indian involved, including the Indian president who ordered it, and this Sikh general, were eventually assassinated by Sikhs.
In the US, the Sikhs are a very quiet population of entrepreneurs and white collar professionals. They give a lot to charity to help the poor, and are agreeable and friendly folks to live around.
The Wisconsin Sikh Temple shooting in August of 2012 by a stupid white supremacist illustrates Sikh behavior. While shooting up the place, which had a lot of women and children preparing a meal, he was charged by the 65 year old founder of that temple, with his full sized Kirpan, who was shot to death along with the other victims.
A responding police officer was shot 15 times, including once in the neck, but survived, before the perp was shot in the stomach by another officer and killed himself. Sikhs from around the US donated some $110,000 to the injured police officer for his bravery.
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