Photograph Albums
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by Mr AW Rowlinson formerly The Life Guards
his short article, written by Arthur Rowlinson – a long time LG Regional Representative – explains how he started his photographic record of Household Cavalrymen of the 20th Century. During my army service I never ever had a camera and I don’t remember any mates having one either, but someone must have owned one because I came by photographs taken during the war with myself, and a number of comrades, on them. These were shoved, I say shoved, into an old wallet in my kit, and to some degree were forgotten because with the wartime service there were other things to think about; but then men went on leave at sometime and of course, with pride, I’m sure, went to a real photographer to pose for their photograph to give maybe to his girlfriend or mum and dad. After all many of these had been called up. After the war and finding so many loose photographs I decided to place them in an album, and along with the photos of mates, and knowing their names, wrote these down. Whilst serving in the late 1940s with the mounted regiment at Knightsbridge, there was an old photographer who wandered in and out of barracks and Whitehall taking pictures without the knowledge of any of us. So later many picked up photographs from him when he came into the barracks - and of course with the ceremonial uniforms men would want to pose for a picture - which, got swapped. On leaving the army I had so many photographs I had to buy larger albums. At that time I became Area
Representative for The Life Guards so, having addresses and telephone phone numbers, I gathered many photographs. I advertised in some newspapers, also Service Pals on TV, and these were a good help as some relatives of old Household Cavalrymen of the early 20th Century had photographs which they sent me. Because the two wartime regiments were composite there were also many Royal Horse Guards included on some pictures, so that’s the reason why the five albums became Household Cavalry. In 20 years I collected over 2,000 men on photograph and to make it easier for research, or for future families to seek out old members, all the names, with some detail, I placed in an alphabetical register. After a year of waiting for 175 promised photographs, which have never turned up, I decided it was time to present the five albums and alphabetical register to the Museum, which is where they are now for all to view.
Some of the really old photographs could have been lost forever; however, they can soldier on within the regiment. Editor. Very sadly, shortly after we received this article, Arthur died. He was a great correspondent, and stalwart supporter.
The Tigers of the Sungai - with C Squadron, The Life Guards in the Far East 1966 - 1968 by Richard Golding with photographs by Cliff Hales formerly The Life Guards
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he Regiment had been in the Far East for over two years, the majority of us had never been home. C Squadron had been in Sarawak, Malaya, Hong Kong and periods in Singapore, the Regimental HQ. Our base was Paroi Camp, Seremban, a medium sized town of no architectural significance some 40 miles south of Kuala Lumpur. The Squadron was a self-contained unit numbering around 130 which included an air squadron of Sioux helicopters. We were coming to the end of our stay in Malaya and would be going home in the autumn of 1968. We sometimes played rugby against a local team in Seremban and after
matches would have a drink in the mess. It was here we met Dara Singh (brave lion), who was one of the rugby club administrators. He lived in town and was a well known personality in Malaya. His family were Indian, his father served in the Bengal Lancers (1st Duke of York’s Own). Dara was born in Taiping in Malaya and as he was at an English school he remained there and after his family returned to India he was looked after by a Chinese family, hence he became fluent in Mandarin, Cantonese, Hindustani, Malay and English, which would prove invaluable during the war as a translator. After training in mechanics and transport he volunteered in 1939, then in his mid 20s, to join the
Nangiao ji gong (transport) to fight in the Sino-Japanese war under Chiang Kia-Shek. In charge of a large number of transport vehicles he was promoted to Colonel supporting the 2nd Battalion of the Sixth Chinese Squadron. He was noticed by General (Vinegar Joe) Stillwell, the American commander in Burma and, because of his linguistic skills, he became General Stillwell’s translator and bodyguard. They remained lifelong friends for many years after the war until the General died. Working for Stillwell, Dara met Lord Mountbatten many times. Lord Mountbatten was Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia, later taking the Japanese surrender in Singapore. He became Earl Mountbat-
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