ABSTRACT

INTERVIEWEE NAME: H.P. Hall, Margery Hall COLLECTION: 4700.581

IDENTIFICATION: Britons in pre-Independence India

INTERVIEWER: Frank De Caro, Rosan Jordan

PROJECT: British Voices in South Asia

DATES: 3/1/78 FOCUS DATES: 1930s

Tape 847, Side A

sports popular with 15^th Punjab regiment, ethnic makeup; choosing which regiment to join; joined 3^rd 15^th Punjab regiment at Sorgo?, awful little place in central India; moved up to Fort Sandovan?; differences between British and Indian Army; rapid promotions; role of quartermaster; injured Achilles tendon in 1934; Hall sent 200 miles to Quetta (now in Pakistan) for medical attention; officer who died from anesthetic; Quetta earthquake in May, 1935; Hall was responsible for weaponry, grenades missing after quake; other administrative problems caused by earthquake; airplane accident; stories of people=s earthquake experiences, deaths; reasons why Hall left Indian Army; British political agents in Persian Gulf; privileges of political agents in India; decided to transfer to political service; Hall=s relations with other men in service; moved to Jhansi in central India; tiger hunting around Jhansi; snakes around Jhansi; polo, tennis, squash; attended signal school in Poona; already knew more about electricity and wireless than the instructors; his classmates at signal school; Hall called up in front of commandant for having large bar bill, but he=d spent it on ginger ale; military people tried to keep Hall from transferring to political service; his arrogant attitude toward political service; meeting with viceroy=s assistant; leave in England; war on frontier in 1937; more trouble being released to join political service; fought battle on frontier, description of mountain warfare; attempt to take ridge; people going haywire, shooting up hillside; told to report to duty for political service in central India;

Hall=s power as assistant political agent; relations with tribe on Punjab border; someone who offered to Abump people off@ for Hall; description of terrain; popularity of mail routes, dispute between locals who wanted mail contracts; getting ride on militia lorry; protocol regarding militia lorries; attack on mail lorry; dealing with locals shooting each other, assassinations; getting held up by a gang; duties of a political agent; administration in Baluchistan, a northwest frontier province; appointed director of food and civil supplies for Baluchistan during war; meeting in Delhi to decide on cloth allocations; Brits could rule because Indians obeyed them; gave viceroy account of situation in Baluchistan; Baluchistan leader who preferred British rule to Indian or Pakistani; twelve Brits administered 2.5 million people of Baluchistan; setting date for hand over to India; Baluchistan complied with British rule; tragedy of India Independence; deployment of troops, leadership of Mountbatten; problems and alliances between India, Pakistan, Kashmir, Hyderabad; relation to Persian Gulf, extent of British administration; roles of political service versus foreign service; multiple personalities of India; Americans spoiled Indians during WWII by paying them double what Brits paid; advent of air service to India; Hall returned to England in 1947; readjustment to England after life in India; difficulties of people who tried to enter commerce and industry; people who joined colonial service in Africa; more officers per capita in Kenya, less autonomy and power than in India; diplomatic service was best post-India career; careers of people he knew; why Brits went to India; man who heard so much criticism of ICS on his journey that he resigned upon arrival to his post; more career paths of people he knew; Margery tells about man too cheap fo feed his guests; India bred eccentric characters; Margery didn=t like the person India made of her; description of colonial office, people who worked for it; worked for British interests in Hong Kong in 1949; complications of American interests in Hong Kong; intrigue involving Chiang Kai Shek and some airplanes; Hall became head of Pacific and Indian Ocean department, covering, Fiji, Tonga, Seychelles, etc.; conference in 1958 regarding Mauritius.