When my friend told me the story of the bench warmer
tradition in his erstwhile battalion, I was somewhat surprised, though not
astounded. The British implanted some queer customs during the buildup of the Indian
armed forces, and if you search you can find many. This one comes from a station
somewhere up North, where the winters can be biting cold, and where the Sikh
regiment had been billeted. It was a long standing tradition from who knows
when and the story of its origin had been passed down the proverbial grapevine,
to the present day. The British CO (Commanding officer), he said, had a
daughter who used to come in the mornings, to where soldiers fell in and congregated
for morning prayers. I don’t know why she came often, but take it for a moment
that she was genuinely interested and quite fastidious about attending these
prayers, albeit from a distance.
The bench overlooking the Gurudwara where she would
sit every time she came was made of cement or granite, and the result of the
meeting of a compact derriere belonging to this English lass wearing just
skirts (my assumption), with a biting cold bench surface, can easily be
imagined with a grimace. The CO, her caring pop, decided that matters had to be
set right and so a Sepoy was selected (how one selects a man with the warmest
arse, is not a question I can answer, but thou shalt not ask such questions when
I retell these stories) to get there ahead of time and warm the bench. So he
did and when the lady in question arrived, he would slink away to perform his
normal duties. As I understood, the
tradition continues with a Jawan still being selected for bench warming duty,
though there is no CO’s daughter any longer. Still there, it is just that, a
tradition, followed perhaps for military decorum…. Now most sportsmen would perk
up to mention that there are bench warmers even today, those who do not play a
match, substitutes or just members of a team who sit on the bench at the
sidelines, nevertheless this story of a real benchwarmer was new to me.
But the article is not about bench warmers actually, it is
about the batmen. Worry not, I am not going to write about the comic strip
character and his sidekick Robin, I am going to cover the batman in the British
and Indian army. Today the position is almost on its way out after having
morphed through many names. But we will get to most of them. The gist of the matter is that the batman was
a personal servant or valet of a British Indian army officer. Sometimes it was
purely personal duties, sometimes, it overlapped to that of an orderly or even to
carry out radio duties, but we will get to all that eventually. That it was a
necessity then, a tradition or even a matter of prestige, needs no mention. But
the name is a curiosity, how and where did it come about?
The batman had nothing to do with bats (unlike the comic
strip) or bat caves, but actually originated with horses and the term can be
traced to pack horses in the French army. In French the term Bat signified pack
saddles and bat horses (baw hors or bor hors) carried the cooking utensils of a
traveling army. The person assigned to look after these horses and utensils
were the original batmen. Over time, they took responsibility for all baggage
of the regiment, and went on to become the keeper (baw man or bor man or bat
man) of the officer’s horse. They were paid, as you can conclude, bat money. Batmen were common in all armies and you will
find books from the past mentioning the term often, be it Russian, East
European, British or French. It was a common concept, the assistant or servant
of a high ranking officer, like a Man Friday and make note of the real old
pronunciation, it was bawman, not BATman.
Now it is time for the curious one to pipe in and ask, so is
that the origin of the term bata or daily bata in the Indian expense
statements? Well, no, while BATA is an acronym for boarding allowance travel
allowance, Batta is maintenance or traveling expenses of an employee. It
evolved as a common term for an extra allowance paid on special grounds to
British officers, soldiers, and others serving in India! Batta came from Bhatta
(Kannada for paddy and bhat - boiled rice), the term for this allowance, which in
addition to their ordinary salary, provided officers with money for
field-equipment and other expenses when on the march. In south India, East
India Company officers were paid half batta while in the North, full batta (about
Rs 600 or £60)
was paid monthly!
If you wonder why I brought up the definition of batta, you
will soon detect a possible link. In the early EIC days, the officer in the EIC
army was paid a fixed amount and a batta, and with it he had to manage his
expenses, his horse and well his servant. So the batta was used for all that
and I could also infer (wrongly) that the man maintained with a batta may have
been the original Indian batman. Perhaps that was a given, and the Batman became
an institution even with the horse and the batman directly paid for by the
British Indian army. When the use of horses for conveyance tapered overtime and
mechanized armies were housed in billets, the batman simply became the British
officer’s servant. His duties were varied and he had to take care of all sundry
matters while the office rested and cleared his mind for more important
matters!
As time sped by, this small cog in the gigantic army machine
got delegated to mere mentions in officer’s memoirs, though some of them batmen
did go on to choose their own illuminating careers. Many of them followed their
officers in retirement to work in their homes as butlers or secretaries. But
let us spend a little while to check their lives and times.
As you may have inferred, all commissioned officers were therefore
assigned a Batman who served as a personal servant and assistant. While there
were assigned duties which we will get into, one can generally state that they
acted as runners to convey orders from the officers, as drivers, as valets,
maintaining the officer’s uniform, handled the radio at times and had various
other roles such as limiting and regulating personal access to the officer
during busy and testing times. It was always
considered a good role in the past, because batmen received better rations and often,
favors from their officers. He had in the old times, that is, among other
unsaid duties, more formal ones such as waking up the officer, getting his bed
tea and breakfast ready, whipping up the shaving lather, lighting the fire and
getting (upto an inch of hot bath water as they say, for the tin tub) his bath
water ready, collecting rations, cooking meals, cleaning the quarters, handling
his laundry, maintaining the officers personal effects and sometimes even
sorting of mail and handling communications as a radio man. Sometime it was
just a lots of drudge work such as being a dogsbody (a menial worker, lackey or
a gopher – but not a dog walker) for his boss! Dog robber" is American
military slang, dating back to the US Civil War, for an enlisted man who acts
as an orderly, valet and all-around facilitator for an officer.
There are so many stories mentioning batmen, be it the
Russian novels of acclaim such as ‘the brothers Karamazov’ or various British
officer’s accounts from the first and second world wars. Some mention them in
passing, some talk about heroic batmen they associated with, some talk about
their sheer necessity. These foreign accounts mention British and Australian
batmen, while Indian and old BIA officers mention Indian batmen. They are
interspersed or mixed up with orderlies, aides, assistants, aides, in all a
confusing glossed over compendium, to say the least. Interestingly, there were
batwomen as well, and we come across stories of British and Australian women
who worked in camp messes as well as Red army girls appointed as batwomen to
Red Air Force captains, with various kitchen duties including that of procuring
necessities. Kay Summersby who served for Gen Eisenhower is sometimes termed a
batwoman, though she was actually his confidante, chauffer and later secretary.
But it should also be noted that during the great wars, the batman
was sometimes voluntary as one officer stated - senior officers on the staff and in command positions were entitled to
a personal staff, including a batman. It was usual to seek a volunteer from the
senior officer's regiment who was detached from the regiment and posted to the
senior officer's headquarters or unit. A batman was in British Army parlance an
officer's uniformed servant or orderly, supposedly taken on as a voluntary
extra duty, for which the officer paid for the service. In the trenches, a batman carried his
personal weapon and often acted as a bodyguard, while the officer carried out
his duties as a platoon, company or battalion commander.
James Belton and Ernst Odell explain in their WW memoirs - ‘Hunting
the Hun’ - A batman is chosen by an
officer to act as his orderly; his duties are many, and wherever the officer
goes while in the trenches his batman accompanies him. The higher the rank of
the officer the easier the work for the batman and the less the risk, although
there are exceptional occasions when a commanding officer takes as much risk as
the junior Lieutenant under him. When a platoon officer leads his platoon “over
the top” his batman goes with him; he therefore takes the same risk as the
other men in the platoon, but he has several privileges that the private has
not, such as: after he has attended to the requirements of his officer when out
of the line he may spend the balance of his time as he deems fit, he is exempt
from sentry and fatigue duties, and as a rule he has a good standing with the
boys.
Another Brit definition states - The batman's services
consist principally in grooming the officer's regimental horses, and cleaning
his accoutrements, but he sometimes goes on errands, and does anything else
which may be required of him; the officer pays him a small weekly sum, fixed by
the army regulations, and he is subject to all military duty, at the will of
the commanding officer, and attends the parades; he also receives a soldier's
pay.
The aide-de-camp in comparison is not a batman, but he used
to be an officer on the personal staff of a very high-ranking military person, acting
as his confidential secretary in routine matters. In modern times aides-de-camp
are usually of junior rank and their duties largely social.
Radhika Singha who studied these subsidiaries (see references),
explains - As the British entrenched themselves
in India and availed of comforts, they too employed a number of servants, both
in the army and in civil positions. However British officers in pre-war India,
whether in the British army or in the Indian army were not allowed a British
soldier-servant, that is a batman. The official reason was that the white
combatant strength had to be kept up. By the close of World War one, the Indian
service was said to be unpopular with British officers, so it was felt that
they had to be offered more 'concessions in kind'. The Esher Committee
appointed in 1919-20 to suggest army reforms proposed that officers of the
British service be allowed a British soldier-servant (a batman) from the ranks
when in India, as they were in the U.K., and British officers of the Indian
service, a soldier-servant from the Indian ranks, deploying special enlistments
if necessary. She adds that if high caste sepoys objected to 'menial' work,
lower castes could be specially recruited as soldier-servants, clarifying also that
British privates avoided the job and resisted the performance of 'menial' tasks
in the sight of natives..
Officers received an
allowance for a syce (grass-cutter and groom) and took him into active service
as a 'private follower'. Thus we find the formal usage of the term
orderly. British Officers of Indian
regiments were also assigned a sepoy as an orderly, who on active service took
messages, cleaned his kit, found him food and a billet.
After the British left, the Indian army continued with the
system, terming them buddies initially and later as the sahayak. The system
became quite popular and lent prestige to a senior officer, so much so that
when suggestions came to dispense with it as it was felt a demeaning activity
and no longer a necessity for a modern army, there was marked discontent in the
officer’s line. The Sahayak meanwhile was getting upset when some officer spouses
would get him to do vegetable shopping, menial household work, baby sitting or even
dog walking. Was that what he signed up to do in the army? Was it his choice? The
discontent increased and the clamor to end a system that has been referred to
as "an anachronism" and "a feudal practice", which has no
place in a modern army, had become strident.
While the air force and Navy had disbanded the system long
back, the army is still contending with some 30,000 sahayaks (and 41,000
officers). Looking at the Lok Sabha report, we see that the duties presently assigned
to a Sahayak are: to provide personal
protection and security, to attend to telephones, receive and deliver messages
during operations, training and exercise, and in peace,to maintain weapons,
uniforms and equipment of Officers/Junior Commissioned Officers in accordance
with custom and usage in the Army, to assist in digging trenches, erect
bivouacs and shelters during war, training or exercise, while the leaders are
more busy in planning, coordination and execution of operations, to be of
assistance during patrols and independent missions, to carry and operate radio
sets, maps and other military equipment during operations, training cadres and
outdoor exercises. In 2010 the defence committee recommended that the
practice be abolished stating - The Committee expect the Ministry of Defence to
issue instructions to stop the practice forthwith, as this lowers the
self-esteem of the Jawan.
The army replied as follows - that the Sahayak is a comrade-in-arms to Officer/JCO symbolizing trust,
respect, warmth, confidence and interdependence, which are the fundamentals of
relations between the leaders and the led. The Sahayak is a solider who in
addition to his duties provides the essential support to authorized Officers
and JCOs, both in peace and war to enable them to fully attend to their
assigned duty. He also provides leaders a direct contact with men and thus
enables officers and JCOs to gain an insight into the state of morale and
wellbeing of men. The Sahayak will be attached to regular Army units and
provided proper living accommodation and messing facilities. The officers to
whom Sahayaks are provided will ensure such facilities are arranged. And
finally, that Sahayaks will not be employed for menial house-hold work.
In summary, The Ministry while defending the use of Sahayaks
by Army officers only concluded that comprehensive instructions be issued to
regulate the work of Sahayaks. They added that the Committee is not able to
understand the necessity of having the services of Sahayaks by the Army
officers particularly when sister services viz Navy and Air Force have
abandoned this practice. Meanwhile, the system continued.
As I researched this topic further, I chanced upon the sad
story of Gunner Roy Mathew and his death at Deolali in 2017, a case which
brought out the worst side of the Sahayak or buddy system hit the press, and
turned out to be complicated one, still under investigation.
The MOD added in a 2017 justification press release that
during operations in the field areas, the sahayak and the Officer / JCO act as
buddies in arms. One covers the movement of the other buddy and protects him in
operations where support has to be total, whether mental or physical or moral.
A Sahayak, in addition to his normal soldier’s tasks, provides essential
support to officers / JCOs both in peace and war, which enables them to fully
attend to their assigned duties. The buddy also provides an alternate contact
with the troops, whereby the officer is made aware of grass root issues, albeit
through informal means. Clarifying that they should not be used for menial
tasks, reiterate that buddies are combatant soldiers and form part of the Army
and perform operational tasks as well. Thus, there is no additional cost to
Government exchequer.
The deliberations are perhaps still on, while Sahayaks
continue to do what they did. The term batman meanwhile died a silent death,
unheralded and unlauded.
But there were heartwarming stories too, especially those
dating to the war days. O. P. Bahukhandi in his Army Oh Army, mentions the close
relationship between the officer and his batman. During the 1962 Indo China
conflict, Capt Basant Singh (who retired as colonel) of the Sikh light
infantry, refused to abandon his wounded batman and humped him back to safety
through the mountains and jungles of Bhutan, himself hungry, sleepless and with
festering sores. Lt Col Desmond Hayde recalls how he was saved from certain
death when his batman Kunwar lal rushed in to shoot down three Pakistani
assailants in the 1965 war. And there is also the story of a batman who went on
to become an MLA after retiring from the army, as mentioned in Brig Kuldip Singh’s
memoirs.
Blackford in his book humorously talks about Mustaffa, who regularly
brought him his chota hazri (breakfast), hot water for a shave, organized the
emptying of his thunderbox (shitpot), took care of his bath, had the dhobi
starch and iron his uniforms, polished his shoe and shin straps, kept his tent
spic and span and served his food. For this the British deducted Rs 50 from his
emoluments and in addition, he paid him directly a sum of Rs 30 plus a
baksheesh now and then as the master pleased! He goes on to term the batman
‘the Jeeves in Uniform’ (Jeeves would be familiar to the rare PG Wodehouse fan
still out there). Glorifying the batman, who could very well turn out to be a
friend, philosopher and guide, he provides yet another term – the batman during
peace times was a madadgar (helper) or a Johnny who sometimes kept and
controlled the officer’s expenditure and accounts. An invaluable asset, he even
provided advance warning of major events or shakeup’s in progress, tapping the
batman network’s upper echelons.
He also recounts the story of Field marshal Claude
Auchinleck’s (Auk) sudden arrival at his post. Auchinleck had heard about a
particular unit’s posting in this area and expressed his interest to visit
them, much to the dismay of its CO. The CO hurriedly passed orders down and in
haste they decided also to send out a particular officer nick named Bhola, one
with a very Indian outlook as explained by Blackford and somewhat of an embarrassment,
on a long reconnaissance trip to avoid any problems when the FM came. As it
turned out, the FM was there only to check on the very same Bhola, asking in
his booming voice ‘where is my Bhola?’, who as it turned out, happened to be Auk’s
ageing batman’s son. The FM wanted to see the young fella, and make sure he was
getting along well. What happened when he found him missing is left to reader’s
imagination and naturally did not bode well for the CO.
There is the story of Lord Ismay’s batman (from the times
when he was a military man in India) - Ismay had, for more than twenty years,
been supplementing his old Muslim batman’s Army pension with one of his own.
Just before he arrived in India, his bank manager wrote to tell him that the
pension hadn’t been collected for some weeks. He realized why when he reached
Delhi. His batman, hearing of his appointment on the radio, had set out on foot
and walked for weeks and was waiting in Delhi to serve him again. And then,
there is Sam Gamjee, Tolkien’s famous creation, Frodo Baggins’s Batman familiar
to young readers.
Servants are nothing new in India and define high position,
even today. They have been there before the British arrived and though the
batman is as we saw, a colonial vestige, like so many other remnants of the
British, such positions would surely have been there in native armies of
various princely states even before the Brits came and I am sure, will remain
for a long time to come.
References
The world in world wars: experiences, perceptions and
perspectives from Africa and Asia - Front lines and status lines: Sepoy and
'menial' in the Great War 1916-1920 -Radhika Singha
Searching for Pop - Michael R. Brookbank
One hell of a life – Capt Stan Blackford
Standing committee on Defence - thirty first report October,
2008, 4th report 2010,
Note - While writing this I recalled a place from my Turkey
days, located in SE Anatolian region of Turkey, named Batman after the Batman
River. Nobody really knows how its name came by, perhaps it was a shortening of
the Bati Raman Mountain located nearby (bati means west). Batman is also a unit
of weight in Turkey! The unit of weight maund in India is somewhat equivalent
to the batman in Turkey. Batman’s mayor Huseyin Kalkan once tried to sue Warner
brothers for mental agony, and loss of identity, on the basis that there is only
one batman, and that was in Turkey. Perhaps Kalkanbey has never heard of the
Batmen in the armies…
