‘You can’t do much training here; it is all bloody jungle’ with Mike Tickner
On arrival in Malaya in 1941, 2Lt John Randle in 7/10 BALUCH overheard his Commanding Officer being advised by a staff officer that “you can’t do much training here; it is all bloody jungle.” The Baluch Regiment, like so many of those battalions failed to train sufficiently in the final months before the Japanese invasion. While the reasons for the Fall of Singapore are well catalogued, central to this defeat was a comprehensive failure to train to fight the Japanese and to fight in the jungle.
As retreating Indian, Gurkha and British troops began arriving in India in Spring 1942, it was clear that the Indian Army urgently required fundamental change. The pre-war army was highly professional, but training was a slow and methodical process. Time was no longer available and a whole new approach to training was required. By Spring 1945, fortunes had been reversed and the once unstoppable Japanese Army was in full retreat from Burma. The Indian Army had become a world class and war winning organisation, however, this evolution had been hard won. Tough and demanding training was essential to this transformation. Join Mike Tickner on 13 June 2025 to find out how the Indian Army trained for victory
Bio Notes
Lieutenant Colonel Mike Tickner is a retired Regular Army officer with a long term interest in the British Army in India and particularly the Far East campaigns and the North West Frontier. He regularly gives talks to military and civilian groups, clubs and museums and writes the occasional article. He has led battlefield studies to the India and South-East Asia, most recently to Singapore. Having spent many rainy nights on the North German plain and Salisbury Plain, he has also served in Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia.
The event
Delivered in The Gurkha Museum’s newly refurbished library, this lecture (lasting approximately 45 minutes) will be followed by a question and answer session. Guests will then enjoy an authentic two-course Gurkha curry in the grand McDonald Gallery which hosts The Gurkha Museum’s impressive art and silver collection.
You have the option to join us for tea, coffee and lecture with Q&A plus the bhat lunch (£40), or just stay for tea, coffee and lecture with Q&A with no bhat lunch (£15). Please select your option when booking.
1030 hrs – Tea and coffee on arrival
1100 hrs – Lecture
1200 hrs – Question and answer session
1215 hrs – Two course Gurkha curry lunch with a complimentary drink
