Engineer in Chief of the Indian Army and part of the recce for the Everest expedition in 1953
| Estimate: | £1,200 - £1,500 |
| Hammer price: | £1,200 |
Indian Independence Medal
GVI Indian General Service Medal, Northwest frontier 1936 - 37 with MID, correctly impressed in Indian Army Style - Lt. R. E. Aserappa. Madras S. & M.
War Medal with MID, correctly impressed in Indian Army Style - AI-649 T/LT Col R. E. Aserappa, R.I.E.,
Defence Medal, correctly impressed in Indian Army Style - AI-649 T/LT Col R. E. Aserappa, R.I.E.
Court mounted as worn, condition NEF
The group comes with the following original pieces; Major Generals dress hat named to the recipient; a photograph album with silver/white metal plaque to the front, engraved 'First Visit of Major General R E Aserappa, MA, Cantab, MIE. Engineer in Chief, Army Headquarters 31st March 56 - 1st April 56', the album contains 52 photographs with annotations; Brigadier dress epaulettes; Major General epaulettes for field wear; divisional patches; staff officer collar tabs; two sets of miniatures medals, both swing mounted as worn; Madras Sappers and Miners in white metal, possibly Indian silver; newspaper clippings covering family history; several loose photographs of the recipient; an Officers Record of Service Army book; together with four Royal Engineers wall shields.
Richard Edwin (Bunny) Aserappa was born on 27th December 1910 in Calcutta. He was of Ceylonese extraction; his father, Richard Humberto Aserappa, had qualified as an Engineer in England and subsequently joined the Indian Railway service.
Bunny was educated at St Paul's, Woolwich, Peterhouse and read Engineering at Cambridge. He was commissioned in the Royal Engineers in 1935 and was quickly back in India serving with the Madras Sappers and Miners.
He saw active service on the Northwest Frontier between 1936 and 1937 and was awarded an Indian general Service Medal. He was Mentioned in Despatches for this campaign and promoted to Captain.
Promoted to Major in February 1940, during the Second World War, he first served in "Paiforce" ( Persia and Iraq Command), receiving his second Mention in Despatches for his service there. 'The King has graciously pleased to approve that the following be Mentioned in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in Iraq, Syria and Persia during the period April 1941, to February 1942.'
He returned to India for the Staff College Course at Quetta, Where he passed out first and was then posted to Italy.
Aserappa, taught himself fluent Italian in 20 days; unfortunately, he then found out this posting was a mistake, and he should have been posted to Burma.
In Burma, he distinguished himself at Myitkynia; by the end of the war, he had risen to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. At the time of partition, he was in Peshawar and was instrumental in saving many lives in the conflict between rival religious groups. Although not a mountaineer himself, he did the preliminary reece for the Everest expedition in 1953.
From October 1955 until April 1960, he was the first Indian to serve as Engineer in Chief of the Indian Army with the rank of Major General. He took the position after Lord Mountbatten persuaded him to stay in India.
After retiring from the Army, he moved to England with his family. He worked as an Administrator for the RNLI and passed away in Eastbourne in 1988.
