Visit to 2 STC

BEVERLY EX BOYS ASSOCIATION
Chairman Mick Teague Secretary Tony Hull as reported in The WIRE
Whilst on holiday in Goa, India, we were travelling back from a visit to a waterfall, when we passed a military establishment and I saw young recruits with a “Jimmy” on their singlets. I made the taxi driver stop so that I could take a photograph of a young recruit.

He stood so proudly to attention for me. He belonged apparently to 3 Trg Regt, Indian Signals, near the city of Margao.
After 2 weeks in South Goa, we moved up to the capital, Panjim. On our journey we passed another building displaying “Jimmies”. I found out that this was 2 Sig Trg Regt, and decided to pay them a visit.
We were taken into a secretary’s office, and explained the reason for our visit. When the Adjt heard that I was an ex-boy, he called us in immediately.
We were given tea and had a long chat with him. He explained that they have a “Raising Day” on 15 February every year and every unit celebrates this. He said the CO would like to meet us and we were taken upstairs, where we were greeted, very cordially, by Brig K A Cariappa and treated with the utmost courtesy.
The first thing that the Brig said to me was that he would like to confiscate my straw hat, which has the Corps colours and the RSA badge. He went on to explain that they have 4,562 recruits in trg. The recruits used to be taken in at sixteen and a half, but the age has been raised to seventeen and a half, due to an international ruling.
The Army is very important in India because of all their borders and they often have to deal with areas of unrest. The Army has over a million soldiers.

Brig Cariappa presents Indian Signals Corps tie to Tony Hull

Brig Cariappa very kindly presented me with their Corps tie and also a copy of The Signalman, their magazine which is equivalent to The Wire.
Extracted from The WIRE of Royal Signals

Original Treaty of Surrender is displayed in 2STC

Goa Liberation: Goa publicising wrong Treaty of Surrender doc
PTI, PANAJI | 05 July 2011 13:54 IST



The original historic `treaty of surrender’ signed between Indian Army and Portugal Government while liberating Goa, 50 years back, is not with the state government, who are publicising the `letters during surrender’ as the treaty, historians claimed today.

In what could be startling revelation, the historians, who researched the incidents during December 19, 1961, when Goa was liberated after 450 years of Portuguese rule, have said that the original treaty remains to be out of bound of state government.

Sanjiv Sardesai, a historian, said that the original copy is with the Indian Army’s 2STC office in Panaji displayed on the wall. “What we are showing to the public as treaty of surrender is not the original one,” he said.

He pointed out that state government’s official diary has printed an unsigned letter by then Portuguese Chief Commandant of Armed Forces General Manuel Antonio Vassalo e Silva as the treaty.

The confusion over the treaty continues as another different letter in Portuguese signed by Silva is displayed in the Goa state Museum’s gallery on `Goa Freedom Struggle.’

Sardesai said that the actually original treaty has signatures of Major General K P Candeth, who led Operation Vijay to liberate Goa and Silva, who was commandant of armed forces of states of Portuguese India. “It is in Portuguese and same text is translated in English below it,” he explained.

Another historian, Rohit Falgaonkar, said that `the original copy should have been displayed in the Goa state museum so that the people know about it.’

Falgaonkar said that state government should do activities that would bring people closer to the history of the state.

Director of Goa State Museum, Radha Bhave, said that the copy on display was a facsimile from the book on a freedom struggle, which was put as an exhibit since 2004.

“If there is an original copy available, which is different from that, we will surely try to procure it,” she said.

The confusion about the events preceding Goa’s liberation has also percolated to the students. As per the Secondary School Certification examination book `History of Goa’, the treaty was signed between both the parties below the headlights of car of the Governor.

“The document of surrender was signed at 7.30 p.m. on a street at Vasco-da-Gama under headlights of the Car of Portuguese Governor General and submitted to Brig, K S Dhillon,” the para in the book reads.

Sardesai, pointing out at the original treaty, has said that it was signed in Panaji city and that too at 8.30 p.m.
Goa publicising wrong Treaty of Surrender doc

Comment: The Original Treaty of Surrender needs to find its place in the Corps Museum, before it vanishes