A remarkable story of military service (From Salisbury Journal)

A remarkable story of military service

7:40am Thursday 29th December 2011 in Forces focus By David Falcke

FOUR Brothers in Arms, by local author Brigadier Ian McGill, is a story about his remarkable family, who have a history of military service over six generations, much of it in the Indian Army until partition in 1947.

It is the story of four brothers who all served before, during and after the Second World War, mainly in the form of letters to and from each other and their parents.

The father of the indomitable group was Lieutenant Colonel Harry McGill who was commissioned into the 90th Punjabis and served in the Boxer Rebellion of 1900 and subsequently died in Jersey in 1940 just weeks after the German occupation.

Letters from him and his wife tell the tale of life on the island, where all four brothers were brought up, and give an insight into life during the occupation.

Letters from the brothers tell of service life in the pre-war Indian Army.

The eldest brother Malcolm served with 2nd/9th Gurkha Rifles and served in Burma where he was killed in 1944.

Dick McGill, the author’s father, was commissioned into 1st/8th Gurkha Rifles and saw service with 8th Army in Italy where he was awarded a DSO. His letters are about the final months before the partition when the Gurkha regiments were the only reliable troops in the final weeks.

He left the army in 1947 and emigrated to Southern Rhodesia as a farmer. Letters home describe that country during The Unilateral Declaration of Independence and the subsequent guerrilla war.

The other two brothers had distinguished military careers, with Jerry rising to brigadier commanding the Army Schools of Signals at Catterick and Nigel joining the Royal Marines and retiring as a major general.

The book is well illustrated with family photographs and interspersed with official accounts of some of the actions the brothers were involved in. The letters are lively with some very forthright views of the events that they were involved in; in short, a good read.

Four Brothers in Arms is published by Melrose Books and is priced at £10.99, with 50 per cent of the money from the sale of each book going to the Gurkha Welfare Trust.