A Life Of Passion: Story Of A Sapper

This book is published following certain articles and incidents which the author had penned down, from time to time and sent to the College of Military Engineering Pune and Bengal Sappers. The author's family members suggested that in view of the very versatile and varied experience in service spanning 40 years,it would be appropriate for the author to write a short book containing snippets not only of the days the author spent in army service but also the period prior to and after his service. An attempt has therefore been made to highlight the Sapper's story from the early days prior to service to the period after retirement based purely on memory and the narrations within quotes may not be wholly accurate word for word but the gist is.
About Author :
There are very few, if any, officer of the Indian Army, who have had such a versatile career profile during their service. Lt. Gen TB Nanda started his zest for travel and adventure as a youngster when he hiked towards Gilgit in an area close to the second hightest mountain k2, now in POK. During service, his travels streteched in the East from longitude 119 E from BORNEO now called Kalimantan as part of Indonesia and Northern Malaysia in the region of Mount Kinabalu 12600 FSL and on the wetern side, his visit to Iceland which got aborted from Scotland owing to the change of course of the Colombian trawler which was to take him to REJIVIK in Iceland. His other trips streteched from Canada in the West to China in the East and from Russia to the Caribbean Islands besides SriLanka. He drove extensively in his car in Europe covering 5000 miles from Norway in the North to Austria, France, and Italy in the South.
Contents :
Foreword by Maj Gen B C Khanduri, AVSM Preface Acknowledgements Our Ancestors-1850 onwards Early Days Around Srinagar, 1925-1936 Jhelum Valley Road (J V Road) 1930-1936 The Doon School, 1936-1943 Early Innings in the Service, July 1943 to August 1947 Ranchi-IMA-Roorkee and UK, 1947-1949 Tenure in Transportation, 1949-1955 11 Infantry Brigade, 1956-59 Tenure with the MES, 1960-1962 Commander Engineer 4 Infrantry/Mountain Division 1962-64 (Chinese invasion) Military Advisor to Malaya/Malaysia/Singapore (1964-1968) Chief Engineer-XI Corps, 1968-1970 National Defence College, Director of Works AHQ 1970-May 1972 Chief Engineer-Northern Command, 1972-74 Chief Engineer Eatern Command, Sep. 1974-Sep. 1975 Director General of Works (DGW), 1975-1979 Tenure of MGO's Branch, 1980-1983 Close to Retirement and Post-Retirement 1983 Our Family-1953 Onwards Epilogye, Brief Profile Lt Gen T.B. Nanda Appendices Photographs