Godfrey Bartlett Proctor 1902-1993

At the age of 15, Proctor ran away from school in Hertford to join the army.. He started as a boy soldier in the Royal Flying Corps then joined his father's old regiment, the Devonshires, and was commissioned into the Sherwood Foresters. Whilst serving in Bombay he was shocked to witness a 'Quit India' riot at close quarters; he was standing on the lawn of the Bombay Club with only a chain link fence between him and the hostile crowd. In 1935 he helped with relief operations after the Quetta earthquake.
His Gurkha career began in 1936 when he was gazetted to the 10th Gurkhas, serving on the Afghan border guarding the Khojak. He was given command of the 4th battalion in the War, and spent some years in continuous fighting in the jungles of Burma. He started badly. Before even taking command he was badly injured when his horse reared, throwing him backwards. On campaign, his unit was in the mountains, using mules to carry equipment. A mortar bomb exploded, injuring Proctor and panicking the mules, one of which kicked him into a ravine. He was rescued and despite being in great pain, rallied his men and managed to get them out of a very dangerous situation. For this action, he was mentioned in despatches.
By the end of the war he was the youngest Brigadier in the Indian Army. In 1947 he supervised the final evacuation of the British troops from India and was said to be the last officer to leave. "I sent the last policeman up the gangway," he recalled, "and walked up behind him."
He retired as a farmer in Sussex and died in July 1993 at the age of 90.

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