Wednesday, 19 January 2011

ABC Wednesday - A is for The Auk

One of our Christmas crackers posed a question about which well-known people merited respect and admiration. One name that came up was that of Field Marshal Sir Claude John Eyre Auchinleck, GCB, GCIE, CSI, DSO, OBE, familiarly and fondly known as The Auk.
Auchinleck in Delhi attending an Art exhibition organised by Barry's father.
He served his professional life in the Indian Army and was reluctant to agree to the Partition of India which he felt was essentially shameful. In fact, he refused a peerage in case he was thought to be in favour of the policy of Partition.
You can read more about him here and here.
Thank you to the Able Denise Nesbitt who Administers this meme, Aided and Abetted by her Army of Assistants. Click here to see more As and perhaps be tempted to join in. 
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15 comments:

  1. Gattina19 January 2011 at 16:11

    Whom of course I don't know, sorry ;)

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  2. Nanka19 January 2011 at 16:28

    I share my birthday with Auk.... I think ... because both sites that you have marked for further read says it differently. :)

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  3. Roger Owen Green19 January 2011 at 18:22

    various partitions, in the Indian subcontinent and in Africa especially, have been disasterous. Good for Auk to have foreseen that.

    ROG, ABC Wednesday team

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  4. Kay L. Davies19 January 2011 at 18:22

    What an amazing person he must have been. Two world wars! And loved by the people who served under him. I'm glad you left links for the uneducated among us to click.
    An outstanding selection for A day, Janice.
    -- K

    Kay, Alberta, Canada
    An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel

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  5. jijie19 January 2011 at 19:04

    I'm your newest follower from ABC-WED, hope you will follow me back here@ Step Up
    Take Care

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  6. Wanda19 January 2011 at 19:40

    Very interesting.... I will come back to check out the links.

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  7. Carolina19 January 2011 at 19:58

    You deserve at least an MBE for bringing Mr. Auchinleck (what a strange name) to our attention. I'd never heard of him ;-)

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  8. nonizamboni19 January 2011 at 20:58

    I can always count on learning something new whenever I visit your blog--and Auk is no exception.
    :O) What a long and interesting career he had; and a man with a conscience is always inspiring.
    Happy Wednesday!

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  9. Sylvia K19 January 2011 at 21:05

    What an interesting post for the A Day, Janice! You do come up with some good ones! Hope your week is going well! Enjoy!

    Sylvia

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  10. Tumblewords:19 January 2011 at 21:26

    Very interesting - I'll follow the links...

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  11. EG CameraGirl19 January 2011 at 21:54

    I know so little about the partition of Pakistan and India. Shame on me!

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  12. Joy19 January 2011 at 22:52

    Politicians never seem take any advice of soldiers on the ground.
    Must admit I only knew about Monty versus Auk command in Africa thing. What a varied career.

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  13. ChrisJ19 January 2011 at 23:34

    And here I thought you were blogging about the birds, Auk - some of which reside off Flamborough.

    But this man needs recognition for sure. It's interesting how many British went to India and fell in love with it and never left. I've recently finished reading "The Haj" by Leon Uris. Fascinating.

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  14. Kay20 January 2011 at 00:19

    I didn't know about this wonderful man. It's great to know a person who stands by his convictions.

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  15. Beverley Baird21 January 2011 at 00:33

    I've never heard of him! Thanks for sharing the info and further places to go to learn more. Sounds like a very principled man!

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