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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 19 November 2013
A month into his viceroyalty, Lord Mountbatten took time out from sounding Indian political opinion about independence to discuss the future security of British residents with his provincial governors. By this stage, the concerns stemmed from fears of a general breakdown in law and order and Hindu–Muslim conflict rather than nationalist assault. Detailed plans were developed for a sea-borne evacuation. In the event, the only Britons who were evacuated were those airlifted from Srinagar in November 1947 as they were in the path of an invasion of the disputed Kashmir territory by Pakhtun tribesmen from Pakistan. Despite numerous articles on the British departure from India and the aftermath of Partition, little has been written about either the airlift or the broader strategic planning for European evacuation. The paper will focus on this neglected corner of the history of the transfer of power. It argues that while anti-British sentiment declined from a peak around the time of the Indian National Army trials, of 1945–6, the memories of the wartime chaotic flight from Burma and Malaya and the irreparable damage this had done to British prestige in Asia coloured the safety first approach adopted in 1947.
1 Critics of Mountbatten have juxtaposed these scenes with the grisly murders in the Punjab at the same time. See Wolpert, S., Shameful Flight: The Last Years of the British in India (New York, 2006)Google Scholar.
2 These extracts from Mountbatten's Report on the Last Viceroyalty are cited in H. V. Hodson, The Great Divide: Britain – India – Pakistan (1969), 390–1.
3 James Murray, ‘Box Wallah’, Indo-British Review: A Journal of History, 25th Anniversary Number 1993, ‘To Independence and Beyond’, 123.
4 See Tinker, Hugh, ‘The Indian Exodus from Burma 1942’, Journal of South East Asia Studies, 6, 1 (1975), 1–22CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
5 Christopher Bayly and Tim Harper, Forgotten Armies: The Fall of British Asia, 1841–1945 (2004), 167.
6 Ibid., 182.
7 Ibid., 182.
8 Ibid., 168.
9 Cited in ibid., 120.
10 See Statesman (Calcutta), 12 and 13 Feb. 1946.
11 See Hindustan Times (Delhi), 28 Feb. 1946.
12 See the Peoples'Age, editorial 3 Mar. 1946, entitled, ‘In the Name of Our Dead’. This extract is contained in Towards Freedom: Documents on the Movement for Independence in India 1946, ed. Sumit Sarkar, i (New Delhi, 2009), 65.
13 The exceptions are Banerjee, S., The RIN Strike (New Delhi, 1981)Google Scholar; Dutt, B. C., Mutiny of the Innocents (Bombay, 1971)Google Scholar.
14 Telephone message E. A. Simms to Intelligence Bureau, 23 Feb. 1946, in Towards Freedom, ed. Sarkar, 83.
15 Report by Supt. Police Sind K. R. Eates on RIN Strike and Reactions, 5/14/46 Home Poll NAI, in Towards Freedom, ed. Sarkar, 94.
16 Note by chief commissioner Delhi, 8 Mar. 1946, 6?13/46 special branch chief commissioners officer Delhi, 1946; Department of Delhi Archives in Towards Freedom, ed. Sarkar, 134.
17 Report by Captain Wyllie Carrick, officer in charge regimental colour parties to War Department GOI, 9 Mar. 1946, file 6/13/46, Special Branch Commissioner's Office Delhi, 1946, Department of Delhi Archives, in Towards Freedom, ed. Sarkar, 139.
18 Hindustan Times (Delhi), 8 Mar. 1946.
19 G. Ahmed, deputy director Central Intelligence Delhi, 13 Mar. 1946, file 5/2.46, Home Political Department GOI, in Towards Freedom, ed. Sarkar, 141.
20 On the Muslim League breakthrough in the previously Unionist dominated Punjab which Jinnah had termed the ‘corner-stone of Pakistan’, see Gilmartin, D., Empire and Islam: Punjab and the Making of Pakistan (Berkeley, 1988)Google Scholar; Talbot, I., Punjab and the Raj, 1849–1947 (New Delhi, 1988)Google Scholar.
21 Khan, Yasmin, The Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan (New Haven and London, 2007), 28Google Scholar.
22 Office High Commission New Delhi to Commonwealth Relations Office London, 20 Nov. 1947, L/P&J/7/12442 IOR.
23 Daily Express (London), 10 Nov. 1947.
24 Whitehead, Andrew, A Mission in Kashmir (New Delhi, 2007), 180Google Scholar.
25 Bourke-White, Margaret, Halfway to Freedom: A Report on the New India in the Words and Photographs of Margaret Bourke-White (New York, 1949)Google Scholar.
26 The novel by H. E. Bates was titled, The Scarlet Sword and was published in London by Joseph in 1950. Alan Moorehead's book, was entitled, The Rage of the Vulture (1948).
27 For details, see Whitehead, A Mission in Kashmir.
28 For details, see J. S. H. Shattock, HC Delhi to H. A. F. Rumbold, Commonwealth Relations Office, 3 Dec. 1947, L/P&S/13/1850 IOR.
29 This meant British nationals, not ‘foreign’ nationals, nor Anglo-Indians.
30 Secretary of state, memo European civilians in India, 18 Feb. 1947, India and Burma Cabinet Committee, MB1/D228, University of Southampton.
31 Governors’ Conference, 15 Apr. 1947, MB1/D229, University of Southampton.
32 Ibid.
33 Ibid.
34 See Khan, The Great Partition, 89.
35 Governors’ Conference, 15 Apr. 1947, MB1/D229, University of Southampton.
36 Ibid.
37 Auchinleck to Abell, 2 Apr. 1947, MB1/D228, University of Southampton.
38 Secretary of state to viceroy telegram, 20 Mar. 1947, MB1/D228, University of Southampton.
39 Ibid.
40 Viceroy to secretary of state telegram, 27 Mar. 1947, MB1/D228, University of Southampton.
41 Ibid.
42 Secretary of state to viceroy telegram, 4 Apr. 1947, MB1/D228, University of Southampton.
43 Note by Christie, 3 Apr. 1947, MB1/228, University of Southampton.
44 Anand, Mulk Raj, Death of a Hero: Epitaph for Maqbool Sherwani (Delhi, 1968)Google Scholar.
45 See Swami, P., India, Pakistan and the Secret Jihad: The Covert War in Kashmir, 1947–2004) (New York, 2007)Google Scholar.
46 For a discussion, see Whitehead, A Mission in Kashmir, 59–60.
47 Ibid., 142.
48 Report by Major W. P. Cranston, 18 Oct. 1947, L/P&S/13/1850 IOR.
49 W. P. Cranston, report on situation in Kashmir and movement of British civilian residents from Kashmir in Oct./Nov. 1947, 27 Nov. 1947, L/P&S/13/1850 IOR.
50 Ibid.
51 Report by Major W.P. Cranston, 18 Oct. 1947, L/P&S/13/1850 IOR.
52 UK high commissioner Pakistan to secretary of state Commonwealth Relations, 18 Oct. 1947, L/P&S/13/1850 IOR.
53 Defence Committee meeting, 25 Oct. 1947, MB1/D42/9, University of Southampton.
54 Mountbatten to Ismay, 9 Oct. 1947, MB1D279, University of Southampton.
55 Ministry of Defence London to UK High Commission Delhi top secret cypher telegram, 27 Oct. 1947, L/P&S/13/1850 IOR.
56 Report by W. P. Cranston, 27 Nov. 1947, L/P&S//13/1850 IOR.
57 Indian High Commission to Commonwealth Relations Office telegram, 27 Oct. 1947, L/P&S/13/1850 IOR.
58 W. P. Cranston, 27 Nov. 1947. Note on Colonel and Mrs D. & T Dykes, L/P&S/13/1850 IOR.
59 There is great controversy as to whether the accession document was signed before the first troops were airlifted.
60 Governor-general's personal report, 7 Nov. 1947, L/PO/6/123 IOR.
61 Defence Committee meeting, 4 Nov. 1947, MB1/D43/4, University of Southampton.
62 Sir Thomas Elmhirst to Mountbatten, 9 Oct. 1947, MB1 D279, University of Southampton.
63 Whitehead, A Mission in Kashmir, 119.
64 Ibid., 150.
65 UK High Commission Pakistan to Commonwealth Relations Office telegram, 8 Nov. 1947, L/P&S/13/1850 IOR.
66 Pakistan High Commission to the Indian High Commission telegram, 8 Nov. 1947, L/P&S/13/1850 IOR.
67 Indian High Commission Delhi to Commonwealth Relations Office telegram, 30 Oct. 1947, L/P&S/13/1850 IOR.
68 Whitehead, A Mission in Kashmir, 151.
69 Indian High Commission to Commonwealth Relations Office telegram, 30 Oct. 1947, L/P&S/13/1850 IOR.
70 W. P. Cranston report, 27 Nov. 1947, L/P&S/13/1850 IOR.