261966 Sgt. George Henry Edward Reed British Army 1st Btn. Royal Scots from:Gravesend George Reed was sent to India in 1944 on the Queen of Bermuda. He spent time with several Scottish regiments and then joined the Americans under General Slim and Merrill’s Marauders, seeing action at Myitkyina and Imphal and crossing the Irrawaddy.
After the war, he remained in India at the Red Fort in Delhi for the war trials. His claim to fame was that one day when he was in charge of the sentry at the Red Fort, a high-ranking Indian gentleman insisted on being allowed to enter the fort. George was called forward and without any respect told the gentleman to ‘Foxtrot Oscar’. It later transpired that the gentleman in question was the future prime minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.
Many years later, George was attending to his runner beans in the garden when the Red Arrows, returning from an aerobatic display, flew low over the house. In a fright, George dived for the floor and when he opened his eyes he saw that he was surrounded by his beans on trellises. This panicked him into thinking he was back in Burma. It took us ages to calm him down. Like many others he had recurring bouts of malaria over the years.
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