NO.119
T H E T R U S T Y S E RVA N T
Wavell
David Fellowes writes upon his return from
India, following the Wykeham Patrons’ trip:
Whenever possible, the catalyst for
the annual Patrons’ trip abroad is to
follow in at least a few of the footsteps of
famous OWs, such as Charles DoughtyWylie VC in Turkey (2011), George
Macleod in Scotland (2013) and John
Pendlebury in Greece and Crete (2014).
‘Wavell in India’ had been in the making
since the outset and finally came to pass
in March this year.
In short, our journey started in Delhi,
where a very special private tour of the
Rashtrapati Bhavan (formerly the
Viceroy’s House) and a lecture from
author and travel-writer, William
Dalrymple, were the highlights; down to
Agra for the obvious, but also as our base
from which to visit the scene of one of
Wavell’s great passions in India, shooting
duck, at Keoladeo near Bharatpur, now an
immense and beautiful bird sanctuary
with World Heritage status; back up via
Delhi (and Pataudi for the lucky few – see
over) and on up to Shimla [or in those
days, Simla].
the Wavell Conference, which opened
almost seventy years ago, on 25th June
1945. To quote Wavell’s most recent
biographer, Adrian Fort, who has given
his blessing for the use of his biography,
Archibald Wavell – The Life and Times of an
Imperial Servant, published in 2009: ‘….
Wavell’s great conference …... failed. The
root cause was Jinnah’s obstinacy ……
Despite the failure of Wavell’s efforts,
praise for him came from near and far.
There he had stood, through weeks of
tortuous and bitter argument, a rock-like
referee, always on hand, without fear or
favour, trying to solve the insoluble.
Although he knew how devious the
politicians could be, it was clear that his
own integrity was beyond question and
that he was wholly reliable.
Characteristically, he took responsibility
for the failure upon himself, but prejudices
wilted as the leaders departed. ‘This time,’
Gandhi told him, ‘you have taken the
blame on your shoulders. But the world
will think otherwise. India certainly does.’
‘A gallant effort,’ the King described it,
sure that everyone thought so, ‘and
certainly the great majority of sensible
people all over the world’.
In addition to enjoying readings from
his still-renowned anthology of poems,
Other Men’s Flowers, on our last evening
in Shimla, the group held a debate on
But that is mere geography; what
about the man himself? Given our
allotted time – just nine days – we could
but mug up sufficiently to imagine this
Old Wykehamist forbear of ours, bearing
the great strain of his office as Viceroy
(from October 1943 to March 1947), and
wonder at the immense challenge he
faced in attempting to influence
proceedings, both in India and in
London, at such a critical time in the
history of his domain.
Above all, we could not fail to
imagine this challenge during our private
tour of the Viceregal Lodge in Shimla, the
summer capital for the hottest six to eight
months of each year, and where he hosted
Part of the sandstone-tablet ‘gamebook’ at Keoladeo, showing a modest day’s bag in comparison to the record of 4,273,
shot by 39 guns in November 1938
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