The Anonymous Widower

Sikhs

Everybody knows that Monty Panesar, the England spin-bowler is a Sikh.  He has a beard, wears a turban and adheres to the rules of his religion.  But England played two Sikhs in the last Test Match in Cardiff, as Ravi Bopara is also a Sikh.

I first came aware of Sikhs, when as a child I was watching the Commonwealth Games of 1958 on the television. Milka Singh, running for India, won the gold in the four hundred metres. I can’t remember him in the Olympics in Rome, where he ran barefoot with his hair streaming behind him and became the darling of the crowd and favourite for the gold.  He came fourth in a photo-finish.  Now he is most remembered as the father of the very capable Indian golfer, Jeev Milka Singh.

I am not a religious person, but I do admire what Sikhs stand for.  Unusually, their religion doesn’t have an afterlife.  Perhaps this is why they work so hard for success, as it only matters what you do on this earth!

But the principles of the religion are very much what I stand for; women are equal, there is no priestly class, anyone can join, regardless of race or gender etc.  Only when it comes to God, do we disagree, but then if you live your life well and for the benefit of others, who cares?

But there is one Sikh tale I want to get to the bottom of.

Jimmy Langley, was an officer in the Guards, who lost an arm at Dunkirk and then evaded the Germans before returning to the UK through Spain and Portugal.  He later organised the escape routes for hundreds of airmen, who were shot down in occupied Europe.  These tales were then documented by the BBC, in the series Secret Army, for which he was an adviser.

I met him about twenty years ago, on a ferry from Harwich to the Hook, when he was promoting his autobiography about his wartime exploits.  He kindly signed a copy and we chatted for a few minutes.

A couple of years later, I bought another of his books called MI9: Escape and Evasion, 1939-1945, which he had co-authored with M. R. D. Foot.

In that book, one short sentence says that the first “Home Run” by British forces from Germany was by two Sikh sergeants in the Pioneer Corps.

That must have been some tale.

July 13, 2009 - Posted by AnonW | World | History, Sikh