Hot under the collar for Lord Louis’s visit

DURING the war, I served with SEAC (South East Asia Command) in Kandy in Ceylon, now Sri Lanka. The head of SEAC was Lord Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, who was due to inspect the Armed Forces out there. Though I wasn’t worried about the visit, there were concerns that our section might not live up to his high expectations. Fortunately (or not), I was sent away just before the visit. Owing to the extreme temperatures around the coast, I had developed a painful heat rash. The medical officer sent me to Nuwara Eliya in the hill

country above Kandy. There, the evenings were very cold and so would cure my rash. With no warning, the superintendent of the mountain top convalescent home announced that Lord Mountbatten would be heading up there the next day. We were told to wear our cleanest white uniforms and, if spoken to, explain that we appreciated the Navy for looking after our welfare. The fuss was all for nothing! My section passed the inspection with flying colours and, above all, I was grateful to have met such a fine man as Lord Mountbatten. I have often thought we were more apprehensive about him paying us a surprise visit than about the enemy!

Bob Hunt, Bengeo, Hertford.