Jim Corbett: The Leader I Admire.
I’ve been reading about WWI for quite some time. The more I read about it, the more fascinating it becomes. However, when in detail I read about India’s part of this great war, there was one name that caught my eye, Capt. Jim Corbett. Jim Corbett is a notable figure in Indian colonial history, His legacy spans from renowned big cat hunter, saving at least thousands of lives, to having a national park named in his honor. However, what no one ever talked about is that he was also a volunteer officer in WW1 and that’s the part of his life that fascinates me the most so that’s what I want to talk about-
Some time ago I started watching The Crown, although I only watched first 5–6 episodes but I remember watching the one where Elizabeth and her husband went to Kenya, she captures her experience of her camera, remember? I was waiting for Jim Corbett to be mentioned in that episode but unfortunately he wasn’t. Actually in 1952, when Elizabeth and prince Philip were in Kenya on vacation, Corbett was their security in charge and he also spent one night with them at Tree Tops bungalow in Nyeri. The very same night, King George passed away. Corbett writes in his last book Tree Tops: “For the first time in the history of the world a young girl climbed into a tree one day a Princess, and after having what she described as her most thrilling experience she climbed down from the tree the next day a Queen — God bless her.” WoW! right?
The name Jim Corbett may sound firangi, but he was in fact, a true son of this soil, yes he was British but he was born and raised in Nainital. Where he grew up and then went on hunting down man-eater tigers and leopards in Kumaon and Garhwal regions of north India, I don’t know much about his hunting records but he hunted down around 30–40 tigers including one which claimed around a 400 human lives, because of this service to the people, he was very famous and respected among local people and villagers of those regions, later on when his book was published in 1940s and people around the country got to know about him, he had become a celebrity in India. Jim was not just a hunter, he was also a very renowned nature lover and wildlife conservative. For his work, time to time he was honored with various honors and orders including CIE (companion of the order of Indian Empire). After spending almost his whole life in this country and to the service of it’s citizens, he left India after independence and his love for wildlife took him to Africa where he spent rest of his life.
Like his father and his father before him, Corbett also wanted to be in military and fight in the war, when he tried to get commission during the first world war, he was denied because he was too old, almost 40. But by 1917, when the British-French forces were having a tough time against Germany, Delhi got the message to form more units for the Western Front, including the Indian Labour Corps.
Even though Jim was considered too old to fight, he was just the right age to command. So, in 1917, he was given a wartime commission as Captain and was given the task to form the 70 Kumaon Labour Company but from the scratch. Thanks to the respect he had in the Kumaon region which I mentioned before, he didn’t have a hard time. He got about 5,000 volunteers and he picked the best 500 because that was all he needed.
Corbett knew he was sending these guys into a deadly war zone and at that time probably the worst place to be in on whole planet. So, he visited each volunteer’s home and promised their families that he’d bring everyone back safe when the war ends. Ever heard before of any officer doing such gesture? I didn’t.
When they reached the Western Front, things got a lot worse. The food was not enough and not suitable to the Indian men, all they got to eat was beef and pork which the personnel refused to eat because of their religious values and most of those men were vegetarians. So, as a true leader of his men Corbett made a deal with a nearby Animal Transport Company to trade beef and pork for barley and gram. That way, Corbett served chapattis, dal, khichri and even pakoras & laddos! to his men in middle of the war zone.
During those years of war, most of the Indian officers would take short leaves to visit London, but Corbett stayed with his men every single day till Armistice Day, the day on which 5 years long war ended, the reason for this was to ensure personal hygiene all the time, and make sure that no one in his company gets sick in those conditions. He even got the Kumaonis to build a bathroom, a mini-laundry, and an incinerator from war rubble so that his men could have a warm bath every day in privacy.
The commander, who was in charge of the Labour Corps troops in France, visited 70 Kumaon. He was impressed with Corbett and noted that the men were doing well in the cold and there was no sickness. He was surprised to see a brick building built by Corbett using just chalk and rice water.
When the war ended and Corbett returned to India, he was celebrated throughout Kumaon and he had indeed kept his promise and brought back 499 volunteers out of those 500. Returned them to their families except one personnel who died unfortunately. Government later honored Corbett with the Volunteer Officers’ Decoration (VD) award.
These leadership qualities of a person who is not a full time officer can impress anyone and that’s why Jim Corbett’s way of commanding men is the ideal way of leadership, Jim Corbett might not be Indian by origin but his patriotism towards this country and service to his men and the people of India are the evidences enough to say he was indeed a true son of this Indian soil, that’s why his name and honor should always remain in our history, Jim Corbett national park which is named in his honor shows how much India is thankful for his service.
Today, the names of those 500 personnel of the Indian Labour Corps along with Sir Jim Corbett VD ’s name, are engraved on the National War Memorial in New Delhi.
