Rob Funny thing was he never drove in civvy street. Unlike your's truly, who was, in October 1942, taught to drive by the Army, swapped his Army driving licence for a civvie one in 1947 and has never passed a civilian driving test ! 67 years driving............... that's not a bad record Ron
Hi Dave, I am currently writing a short article on one of the Chindit batman from 1943. He looked after his officer in an amazing way during the first operation in 1943 and went on to command his own platoon+ in 1944. I cannot give details on the forum until the article is published, but after that I will place it here you to read. Bamboo.
Sitting around chatting one day in Austria - Captain the Lord Carmichael's batman was with us and he related the tale of how one day His Lordship asked him how he was able to awake at 6.a.m. each day without a clock ? The batman replied that - just before he settled down at night he repeated to himself three times the mantra " I must get up at 6 a.m. " His Lordship thought that was interesting and thus HE was awakeing at 6.am. whilest the batman slumbered on ! Cheers
Does anyone know much about the position? Was it something that you were assigned to? How did their peers and the officers view them? What were the responsibilities?
Ramacals Dad was one in the Artillery I believe. A quick go on the forums search engine should bring up a thread or two. I suspect Rob will post in here too. Andy
Apart from the image of Baldrick in Blackadder Goes Fourth, I don't really know much else about it apart from my Gramp being one.
Aye Ben, Merged your query into two other scattered threads on the subject so as to concentrate stuff. Have a feeling there's a bigger thread out there somewhere, but I can't currently find it. ~A
Ramacals Dad was one in the Artillery I believe. A quick go on the forums search engine should bring up a thread or two. I suspect Rob will post in here too. Andy As I mentioned in an earlier post, we never knew he was one. Not until I got the service records. All the family knew, was that he drove a jeep and tried to impress my Mum by taking her close to the front lines. My Mum told us that. Surprised he got away with it, but it obviously worked, as they did get married after the war was over.
Both my father and his No. 2 on the bren were asked by different officers during the NWE campaign to be their batman, the previous incumbents having been killed or wounded. Not considered 'a cushy number' at all. Their standard reply was "Sorry sir, I can't even look after meself." Having said that writing the job off as looking after some Rupert who can't shave properly, as has been suggested, is far too dismissive. From what I've read, in action it didn't entail being some put-upon manservant/butler. They went into the thick of things too, ran messages and Intelligence back and forth, etc etc, as well as driving officers around, often being one of the easier and most obvious targets while doing so. I've also see the term 'solider servant' used, and I think that just about sums up the duties, in that order.
My understanding is that the batman evolved post-war into the officer's radio operator. The role must still exist in some form as an officer isn't going to have much time to look after himself if he's doing his job properly.
My understanding is that the batman evolved post-war into the officer's radio operator. The role must still exist in some form as an officer isn't going to have much time to look after himself if he's doing his job properly. It didn't exist in 2003 and I was as close to my troop commander as anyone for 6 mths. I did nick MRE's for him though for 3 mths from the Americans so he never had to eat 24hr rat packs and there was other luxury items from various sources like a swivel chair and desk with a locking draw and key
Both my father and his No. 2 on the bren were asked by different officers during the NWE campaign to be their batman, the previous incumbents having been killed or wounded. Not considered 'a cushy number' at all. Their standard reply was "Sorry sir, I can't even look after meself." Having said that writing the job off as looking after some Rupert who can't shave properly, as has been suggested, is far too dismissive. From what I've read, in action it didn't entail being some put-upon manservant/butler. They went into the thick of things too, ran messages and Intelligence back and forth, etc etc, as well as driving officers around, often being one of the easier and most obvious targets while doing so. I've also see the term 'solider servant' used, and I think that just about sums up the duties, in that order. It sounds like they would have to have been very reliable men then if the officers hand picked them.
I have another suggestion for the origins of the word..... Bhat is the Sanskrit word for soldier. Bearing in mind the history of the British army in India, I think its possible that the origin was in Bhat-man ie literally an Officers soldier-man. Pete
Totally forgot about my promise in regards to the original part of this post. On Chindit 1 and even in the middle of the Burmese jungle the officers had (until things started to unravel) a batman, a groom and a runner. Attached is a short article I wrote for the Burma Star magazine 'Dekho!'. Also attached is a photo of the hero of the story, Peter Dorans. He is the man in the foreground wearing the bush hat.
I should have added earlier that some of the Chindit batmen were retained even in Rangoon Jail during the POW years. This must have proved a very difficult role to perform as officers and other ranks were separated and slept in different cell rooms.
On our sister forum, ww2f, I have just posted a few words clarifying the role played by a batman. http://www.ww2f.com/topic/53895-was-my-father-a-uk-ww2-veteran/#entry590860 In my own experience, these characters had a most unusual role to play as personal servants to senior officers whilst serving in the line with equal risk to their own lives. As I opined on the other forum, they were usually not held in high repute by their fellow non-rankers but were nevertheless often the source of confidential information. I would be interested in your thoughts on the subject. Ron
Ron. Your Batman was an 'aide' not a personal servant, his responsibility to deal with necessary chores and allow you to get on and do your job as a 'commander' at what ever level your rank and responsibilities involved. In the field he was your runner, provided cover as a rifleman when your were on operations, made sure you had food, usually bringing you a Dixie with your meal when ever food was brought up to the front line. He was a great support, but never my servant. Joe Brown.