Veteran teacher Geoffrey dies aged 101
Second World War broke out he joined the commandos and was sent to India. After hostilities ended he stayed on as the former British colony was split into India and Pakistan.
Geoffrey trained soldiers in Pakistan’s new army but soon returned to teaching English and maths at elite Aitchison College in Lahore. He spent 25 years there. Former student Nadeem Mumtaz said: “He was like a father to us.” In 1979, mountaineer Geoffrey left for Razmak Cadet College in lawless Waziristan. He was kidnapped and held for six days by militia in 1988. His captors were so impressed with him that, before his release, they took a photo of them all together. Ex-student TRIBUTE PM Imran Khan Ali Sabtain said: “He walked faster than the kidnappers up the mountainous areas.” That same year Geoffrey became a head at a school in Chitral, later named after him. He retired at 95 in 2013 and saw out his remaining days at a cottage in the grounds of Aitchison College. A BRITISH teacher who worked in Pakistan for more than six decades, winning the hearts of the nation, was yesterday laid to rest after his death at the age of 101.
Former soldier Geoffrey Langlands counted future political leaders among his students, many of whom paid tribute as thousands of mourners flocked to his funeral in Lahore. Among them was PM Imran Khan, who said he was “saddened to learn of the passing of my teacher”.
Many waited hours just to see Geoffrey’s cortege pass, a police force offered him a guard of honour and newspapers carried reports of his death on January 2. The country’s favourite Englishmen was known as
The Major or simply Pakistan’s teacher. Born in Hull in 1917, Geoffrey was orphaned at the age of 12.
A twin, he was brought up by family in Taunton, Somerset, before qualifying as a teacher and getting a job in Croydon, South London. When the Students hand him retirement gifts in 2013 Geoffrey in 2003 aged 85 with Chitral students