Bertrand Evelyn Mellish Gurdon

Last updated
Bertrand Evelyn Mellish Gurdon
Lieutenant B.E.M. Gurdon.jpg
Born(1867-09-02)2 September 1867
Simla, Punjab, India
Died6 October 1949(1949-10-06) (aged 82)
Crowborough, Sussex, England
Allegiance Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom
Service/branchEnsign of the Royal Indian Army Service Corps.svg  British Indian Army
Years of service1886–1918
Rank Lieutenant-Colonel
Battles/wars Chitral Expedition

Lieutenant-Colonel Bertrand Evelyn Mellish Gurdon CIE DSO (2 September 1867 - 6 October 1949) was a British soldier [1] [2] [3] and administrator. [4] [5] [6] He gained prominence as an officer during the Siege of Chitral. [7] [8]

Contents

Life and career

Gurdon was born on 2 September 1867 at Simla, Punjab, India, [9] [10] the third son of Major-General Evelyn Pulteney Gurdon. [11] [12] He was the uncle of the university administrator Bertrand Hallward.

He received education and training from Haileybury Imperial Service College and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. [13] He was commissioned into the British Indian Army on 25 August 1886. [14] [15] His first posting was in the Foreign and Political Department of the British Indian Army. [16] In 1892 he was posted as Assistant to the British Agent at Gilgit. [17] As Lieutenant, in 1892, he was posted as Acting Assistant Political Agent in Chitral in the turbulent period following the death of Mehtar Aman ul-Mulk. He was serving in that capacity when the Siege of Chitral unfolded in 1895. [18] [19] [20]

He played an active role during the conflict, [21] [22] [23] and was subsequently decorated as Companion of the Distinguished Service Order. [24] [25] [26] Following the lifting of the siege Gurdon was stationed in Chitral as Assistant Political Officer of the state until late 1902. [27] In 1900 he was made a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire. [28] In 1903 he was appointed Political Agent of the Gilgit Agency and served there until 1906. [29] [30] In 1908 he was entrusted with the post of Political Agent Khyber Agency. [31] His next posting was as Political Agent Rajputana Agency. 1912 saw Gurdon being promoted as Ltieutenant Colonel. [32] [33] He later served as Political Agent of the Phulkian States Agency from 1913 to 1916. [34] He was scheduled for another promotion but owing to ill health sought leave and then premature retirement in 1918. [35]

Death

Gurdon died a natural death at the age of 82 in Crowborough, Sussex on 6 October 1949. [36] [37] [38]

Related Research Articles

The United Services College was an English boys' public school for the sons of military officers, located at Westward Ho! near Bideford in North Devon. Almost all boys were boarders. The school was founded to prepare pupils for a career as officers in the armed services, many of them going on to the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, or the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley</span>

John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley, known as the Lord Wodehouse from 1846 to 1866, was a British Liberal politician. He held office in every Liberal administration from 1852 to 1895, notably as Secretary of State for the Colonies and as Foreign Secretary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francis Aylmer Maxwell</span> British Indian Army general and recipient of the Victoria Cross

Brigadier-General Francis Aylmer Maxwell, was a British Army officer in the Second Boer War and First World War. He was also a recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Bertrand Leslie Hallward was a British educationalist who served as Headmaster of Clifton College and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Nottingham.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chitral</span> Town in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Chitral is situated on the Chitral River in northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It serves as the capital of the Chitral District and before that as the capital of Chitral princely state that encompassed the region until its direct incorporation into West Pakistan on 14 August 1947. It has a population of 49,780 per the 2017 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chitral (princely state)</span> Former princely state of British India and Pakistan

Chitral was a princely state in alliance with British India until 1947, then a princely state of Pakistan until 14 August 1947. The area of the state now forms the Chitral District of the Malakand Division, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.

Sahibzada Mohammad Khurshid was the first Pakistani governor of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa of Pakistan and a former Chief Commissioner of Balochistan. Prior to the independence of Pakistan, the governor had been appointed by the government of British India. For almost two years after independence, Pakistan continued to have British governors until the appointment of Sahibzada Khurshid.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Scott Robertson</span>

Sir George Scott Robertson, was a British soldier, author, and administrator who was best known for his arduous journey to the remote and rugged region of Kafiristan in what is now northeastern Afghanistan and for his overall command of British Empire forces during the Siege of Chitral. He chronicled his Kafiristan experience in the book The Kafirs of the Hindu Kush. Some have suggested that Robertson's year-long expedition and subsequent book provided background and inspiration for Rudyard Kipling's short story "The Man Who Would Be King". However, Kipling's work was originally published in 1888, predating Robertson's travels to the region.

Lieutenant-Colonel Ralph Patteson Cobbold, later Ralph Patteson Sawle, was a British soldier and writer, who served in the 60th Rifles in India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chitral Expedition</span> 1895 British military expedition

The Chitral Expedition was a military expedition in 1895 sent by the British authorities to relieve the fort at Chitral, which was under siege after a local coup following the death of the old ruler. An intervening British force of about 400 men was besieged in the fort until it was relieved by two expeditions, a small one from Gilgit and a larger one from Peshawar.

Chitral Bodyguard or informally the Mehtar's Bodyguard, was a military force under the direct command of the Mehtar of the princely state of Chitral.

The Chitral Scouts (CS), also known as Chitral Levies, originally raised in 1903 as the militia of the princely state of Chitral, is now part of the Frontier Corps Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (North) of Pakistan. They are recruited mostly from the Chitral and Kalash Valleys areas along the western borders and are led by officers from the Pakistan Army. The Frontier Corps of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (North) falls under the control of the Ministry of the Interior. Its headquarters is at Chitral town, and it is commanded by a Colonel of the Pakistan Army.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shuja ul-Mulk</span> Mehtar of Chitral

His Highness Sir Shuja ul-Mulk KCIE was the Ruler of the State of Chitral, and reigned it for 41 years until his death in 1936. He belonged to the royal Katur dynasty, which ruled the state from 1571 to 1969, until the Princely State of Chitral was merged to form the Chitral District of the Provincially Administered Tribal Areas, Malakand Division, North West Frontier Province, Pakistan.

The Queen's Birthday Honours 1900 were announced on 23 May 1900 in celebration of the birthday of Queen Victoria. The list included appointments to various orders and honours of the United Kingdom and British India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aman ul-Mulk</span> The Mehtar of Chitral

Aman ul-Mulk was the Mehtar of Chitral, Ghizer, Yasen and Ishkoman and Suzerain of Kafiristan. He ruled the State of Chitral from 1857 to 1892. His rule saw Chitral reach its territorial peak, extending from Ishkamun in Gilgit Agency to Asmar in Afghanistan. His death lead to the Siege of Chitral, an instance of high drama which goes down in the annals of British India as an epic of enormous courage and determination.

His Highness Sir Nasir ul-Mulk KCIE was the eldest son of Mehtar Shuja ul-Mulk, who succeeded him in 1936. He ruled the princely state of Chitral from 1936 to 1943.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muzaffar ul-Mulk</span> The Mehtar of Chitral

His Highness Muzaffar ul-Mulk was the Mehtar of Chitral who reigned from 1943 to 1949. He took the important decision of Chitrals accession to Pakistan in 1947. He dispatched his army into Gilgit in August 1947, to help secure that territory for Pakistan.

Lieutenant-Colonel Evelyn Hey Cobb, OBE was an officer in the British Indian Army and served as political administrator in various capacities in North-West India. He started the tradition of holding a polo tournament at Shandur.

Chitral; the Story of a Minor Siege is a book written by Sir George Scott Robertson on the Siege of Chitral and published by Methuen Publishing in 1898.

References

  1. ↑ The Alpine Journal. 1949. p. 409.
  2. ↑ Who was who: A Companion to Who's Who, Containing the Biographies of Those who Died. A. & C. Black. 2002. p. 346. ISBN   9780713661255.
  3. ↑ Harris, John (1975). Much sounding of bugles: the siege of Chitral, 1895. Hutchinson. p. 25.
  4. ↑ The Genealogical Magazine. 1901. p. 126.
  5. ↑ Defence, Great Britain Ministry of (1900). The Army List. H.M. Stationery Office. p. 1278.
  6. ↑ Who's who: An Annual Biographical Dictionary. A. & C. Black. 1908. p. 774.
  7. ↑ The London Gazette. Tho. Newcomb over against Baynards Castle in Thamse-street. 1895. p. 4021.
  8. ↑ The Himalayan Journal. Oxford University Press. 1946. p. 144.
  9. ↑ Kelly's Handbook to the Titled, Landed & Official Classes. Kelly's Directories. 1921. p. 764.
  10. ↑ Howard, Joseph Jackson (1902). Visitation of England and Wales. Priv. print. p. 96. Bertrand Evelyn Mellish Gurdon 1867.
  11. ↑ Who's who. A. & C. Black. 1919. p. 1048.
  12. ↑ College, Haileybury and Imperial Service (1900). Haileybury Register. p. 215.
  13. ↑ Howard, Joseph Jackson (1902). Visitation of England and Wales. Priv. print. p. 96. Bertrand Evelyn Mellish Gurdon Haileybury.
  14. ↑ "The India list and India Office list". Archives.
  15. ↑ Office, Great Britain India (1902). The India List and India Office List for ... Harrison and Sons. p. 157.
  16. ↑ The Lady's Who's who. Pallas Publishing Company. 1938. p. 181.
  17. ↑ "Page 57 - The-VC-and-DSO-Volume-II". Military Archives United Kingdom.
  18. ↑ Howard, Joseph Jackson (1902). Visitation of England and Wales. Priv. print. p. 96. Bertrand Evelyn Mellish Gurdon assistant.
  19. ↑ "Page 57 - The-VC-and-DSO-Volume-II". Military Archives United Kingdom.
  20. ↑ Commons, Great Britain Parliament House of (1898). Parliamentary Papers: 1850-1908. H.M. Stationery Office. p. 52.
  21. ↑ "In Memoriam" (PDF). Alpine Journal. 1950.
  22. ↑ Torrens-Spence, Johnny (2006). Historic Battlefields of Pakistan. Oxford University Press. p. 105. ISBN   9780195978971.
  23. ↑ "The Siege and Relief of Chitral 1895". British Battles.
  24. ↑ "Indian Staff Corps" (PDF). The London Gazette.
  25. ↑ Office, Great Britain India (1819). The India List and India Office List for ... Harrison and Sons. p. 148.
  26. ↑ Whitaker's Naval and Military Directory and Indian Army List. J. Whitaker & Sons. 1899. p. 185.
  27. ↑ "In Memoriam". The Himalayan Club Archive. Archived from the original on 2013-11-09.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  28. ↑ "Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire" (PDF). The Edinburgh Gazette. 1900.
  29. ↑ Cahoon, Ben. "Pakistan Princely States". World Statesmen.
  30. ↑ Weinreich, Matthias (2009). "We are here to stay": Pashtun migrants in the northern areas of Pakistan. Klaus Schwarz. p. 39. ISBN   9783879973569.
  31. ↑ The Alpine Journal. 1949. p. 407.
  32. ↑ The Himalayan Journal. Oxford University Press. 1946. p. 144.
  33. ↑ "Page 57 - The-VC-and-DSO-Volume-II". Military Archive United Kingdom.
  34. ↑ Cahoon, Ben. "Pakistan Princely States". World Statesmen.
  35. ↑ "Anglo Boer War: Lieutenant Gurdon". Anglo Boer War. Retrieved 2017-06-01.
  36. ↑ "Surname: Gurdon". Tribal Pages.
  37. ↑ "Alpine Journal - Contents 1950". Alpine Journal.
  38. ↑ "In Memoriam" (PDF). Alpine Journal.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.