John Shipp

Authentic voice of a British officer fighting in India in the early 19th century. These memoirs are unusual in that John Shipp rose from the ranks after being given a field commission for bravery. His descriptions of the campaigns that eventually led to British supremacy of the Indian subcontinent are full of authentic details, and he himself was heavily engaged in very sharp actions.
His description of a hand to hand fight with a Goorka chieftan (Ghurka) is remarkable. The Ghurkas later went on to form part of the British Indian Army, a tradition which has carried on ever since (2011). Their reputation for bravery is legendary, and Shipp makes his own observations "I never saw a steadier bravery than they showed in all my life. Run they would not, death held no terors for them, though they were so near that every shot told.… (altro)