PARTITION - additional recordings I Andrew Whitehead / _____________________________________I CD-15 Transcript of an interview by AW with General Stan Menezes, a retired Indian army officer, in a side room at the National Army Museum, Chelsea, 5th October 2001 information from Patrie Emerson: Stan Menezes joined the Grenadiers in 1943. He’s an Indian Christian. He switched to the Assam Rifles, and was in GHQ in cl946-7, in A branch concerned with administration and tactics. He had a reputation as an excellent staff officer and served as vice-chief of the Indian army. He's written a much admired history of the Indian army. Recorded anout 45 minutes on minidisc about the Baramulla attack and tribal raid; he had been in the Frontier until Septeber 47 (having joined the Indian army in cl943) and his train was attacked by tribesmen; he joined GHQ in Delhi around the beginning of November 1947, and was involevd at the Delhi end of the formal Court of Inquiry into Dykes's death before a pension could be given to his next of kin; he met the nuns at Baramulla in early 1949 and in 1950, and he met Father Shanks at Srinagar in 1949. He is the author of the definitive history of the Indian army. Stan Menezes is short, very particular, quite formal and precise. He strongly believes partition was wrong - and is very critical of what he regards as British affinity with the monotheist Muslims, with Pakistan, and with the Pathan tribesmen in particular. He mentioend in chat that Messervy was arrested for paedophilia on his return to the UK, and had a reputation for this while in S Asia. He says so did several senior British officers, and it was a point of affinity, perhaps, with local Pathan tribesmen. General Menezes have me seevral photocopies (in the India/Pakistan file) He is being treated for prostate cancer and is also waiting for a heart bypass operation. The interview took place in a side room in the NAM, with some noise coming from an adjoining office. 1 - 0'30 'The origin of the tribal raid [of Oct 1947] was instigation by the govt of Pak, as also devised by the then GHQ Pak.... The actual genesis started even before partition in the sense Akbar Khan, who was a regular officer of the pre war Indian army..., was posted in the military operations directorate of the then General H'quarters, so he and others of similar intent,... before independence were already planning the invasion or 1