In Salute

From its birth in Quetta, and subsequent translocation to Wellington in 1948, DSSC today is a ‘Monument Académie’ ranking amongst the best in the world. Its character epitomises a composite multi-service and multi-national amalgamation of student officers and its distinguished faculty. The College provides an invigorating environment for developing analytical thinking as military leaders, emphasis on jointness, game-changing strategies, transformational ingenuity and path-breaking innovativeness. Life at the DSSC aims at the holistic personality development of an officer and his family, to include well-imbibed social graces, sophistication and the value system followed in the armed forces, in conformity with our noble traditions.

This is about the evolution of the DSSC, its unique ethos, values and traditions and the infrastructural enhancements over the years. It is an account of the incessant efforts of the extraordinarily competent and dedicated faculty to constantly nurture a dynamic ‘Purple’ (tri-services) curriculum and syllabi incorporating the requisite tenets of ‘Jointmanship’ and achieving the objectives of ‘Vision, Values and Vitality’ whilst keeping pace with contemporary institutions across the world.

The Genesis

It was during colonial times, that the British thought it imperative that military officers be required to further improve their proficiency in arms. The initiative was taken by the Duke of Cambridge, the Commander-in-Chief, who mandated certain salient qualifications required of a staff officer and soon the senior department of the Royal Military College (established in 1802) at Sandhurst was designated to train British officers in organisational skills and develop their intellect and mental acuity. In 1862, the Staff College shifted to Camberley. From 1864, officers who passed out of the College began to be distinguished by the letters ‘psc’ (Passed Staff Course) and this tradition continues to this day.

The syllabus included mathematics, military history, topography, astronomy, French, German and Hindustani language. The General Officers in the field army required efficient and brilliant staff officers who could sketch rapidly, build bridges, make roads, construct field works, all very quickly, had tactical acumen of battlefield milieu and were required to be fluent linguists.

Professional Imperatives

The mutiny of 1857 came as a rude shock to the British. Subsequently, major reforms were constituted, and the Indian Army was reorganised and reduced in strength. In 1868, under the Secretary of State for War, Edward Cardwell, a Royal Commission was instituted, who ostensibly, and most prudently, considered the possibility of a Staff College in India. Though an Indian Staff Corps had been set up to provide the Indian Army with British officers, they were not staff trained. General (later Field Marshal) Lord Strathnairn contended that India should have a Staff College of its own.

However, the proposal was turned down, as the Government felt that suitable instructions and a conducive environment might not be available in India. Moreover, India was perceived to have an unsuitable climate and lack of opportunities to study modern battles.

Repeated requests were turned down until 1902, when Lord Kitchener took over as the new Commander-in-Chief. He strongly proposed to establish an Indian Staff College, very similar to the one at Camberley, with the same regulations, syllabus, entrance examination, and a possible interchange of instructional staff, and an inspection by the Camberley Commandant. Though his proposal met with the same apprehensions, ultimately his efforts were successful, as he managed to overcome all opposition. The proposal was sanctioned in 1905 and finally the Indian Staff College was all set, principally, to be established in Quetta (now in Pakistan).

The Quetta Heritage

Pending completion of buildings at Quetta, the College was temporarily established at Deolali, in India, utilising the buildings in which the Military Hospital and some portions of School of Artillery are now located. The first entrance exam was held on 15th May 1905 and the first course of two years’ duration commenced on 1st July, the same year. The first Commandant was Brig Gen AWL Bayly, CB, DSO, a Camberley graduate.

In 1907, the College moved to Quetta, from Deolali, and it was officially given the wherewithal on the 1st of June, the same year, by Maj Gen (later Lt Gen) HL Smith-Dorrien, who was then commanding the 4th (Quetta) Division. The aim of the College was to produce officers who could organise all the necessary staff work that guaranteed success in war. The Staff College, Quetta, maintained close liaison with Camberley and even adopted the Owl with the motto ‘Tam Marte Quam Minerva’ as its own.

The year 1906 saw the formation of a General Staff in the British Army. All General Staff Officers were essentially to be Staff College graduates and were to be rewarded with accelerated promotions. Hence, there was keener competition to seek entry to the Staff College. These officers came to be regarded as the ‘brain-trust’ of the army. Their role was to advise on strategically important matters, supervise training of officers and men, study military plans, collect and collate military intelligence and direct general policy in army matters. The Staff College, Quetta was closed after the outbreak of the First World War, on 15th September 1915. The accommodation was transformed into a Cadet College to train young men for grant of commission in the British and Indian armies.

It was only in 1919 that the College started functioning again. Quetta had its share of brilliant students and instructors. Field Marshal Slim attended the two-year course in 1926. Field Marshals Auchinleck and Montgomery respectively were Chief Instructors between 1932 and 1937, in the rank of Colonel. The first King’s Commissioned Indian Officer (KCIO) to attend the 1933-34 Staff Course was Capt KM Cariappa, later the first Indian Commander-in-Chief and Field Marshal.

The next KCIO to get his ‘psc’ was Capt (later Lt Gen) Kalwant Singh of the 1st Punjab Regiment, who attended the 1936-37 Staff Course. He was followed the next year by Capt Thakur Sheodatt Singh of 16th Cavalry and Thakur Nathu Singh of the 7th Rajput Regiment.

Partition and After

The partition of India was discussed openly, but the Defence Services kept out of the controversy and went about their job as usual. After the failure of the Cripps Mission in early 1946, all mayhem broke loose, and the British Government decided to leave India by June 1948. Lord Louis Mountbatten took over as the Viceroy of India on 24th March 1947 and announced on 3rd June 1947 that the sub-continent would be divided on 15th August, that same year. Indian officers and men were offered the choice of service in the Armed Forces of either of the two dominions, or to serve neither. British officers were also given a similar choice. The Service headquarters and training establishments were split commensurately, in conformity with instructions from the Viceroy General of India.

Division of Military Assets

Col SD Verma was posted to Staff College, Quetta, in early 1947 to instruct a division of 60 officers. On ‘Partition’, a mixed Indian-Pakistani-British board was assembled to divide the assets of the Staff College in the ratio of two to India and one to Pakistan. Col SD Verma and Maj Zaheer represented Indian and Pakistani interests respectively. The Quetta library stayed with Pakistan and India got the Defence library located at Delhi. Other items included mess property, crockery, cutlery, cups, silver trophies and oil paintings. The division of the other assets posed little problem, and the process was completed quite smoothly, except for the Camberley Owl.

The first one-year course began in 1938, and was attended by Capt PN Thapar of the 1st Punjab Regiment, who became later Chief of the Army Staff, Capt Naranjan Singh Gill of the 19th Hyderabad Regiment and Capt Sardar BS Chimni of the Royal Army Service Corps. Several future Army and Air Force Chiefs, Field Marshals, Heads of State and the Commandants of Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, attended the student war courses at Quetta between 1939-41.

A New Beginning

It was in the capable hands of Col SD Verma, a senior Indian officer on the Directing Staff (DS) of the Staff College, Quetta, that the Indian Army Headquarters chose to entrust the setting up of an Indian Staff College. In early October 1947, he was sent a signal from the Director of Military Training, Army Headquarters, stating that he should undertake reconnaissance to locate the new College, which was to start functioning from 1st April 1948. The signal also stated that he had been appointed as the Commandant of the Staff College, India. Staff College was established in 1948, and Wellington was designated as its temporary home. Among the many tasks in the itinerary of Col SD Verma was the search for a permanent site for the establishment of the Staff College. However, after carrying out extensive surveys in Bangalore, Belgaum and Deolali, he recommended that Wellington was the most fitting location for the Staff College.

Staff College at Wellington

The 15th Staff Course at Quetta terminated on 10th October 1947, with 32 Indian officer graduates. A special train, escorted by some Baluch and Gorkha jawans, left Quetta on 15th October 1947. Its passengers, the Indian officers, their families and many civilians reached Ambala Cantonment safely, three days later. Expecting more instructions, Col SD Verma reached Delhi to find everybody preoccupied with the post-partition mayhem in Kashmir. In Col (later Lt Gen) SD Verma's own words, “Eventually I managed to corner an officer in the Quartering Directorate and asked him to give me a list of places where there was some accommodation lying vacant. He was kind enough to give me a list, and as an afterthought, he said, ‘Oh, yes and there are a few barracks and some empty British Other Family quarters in a place called Wellington, near Madras.’”

A quick rejection of places like Deccan College in Poona, Barnes’ School at Deolali, Kamptee Barracks near Nagpur and Belgaum, for either lack of accommodation or training facilities, led him to Wellington. It was love at first sight with the exquisite Nilgiris, its picturesque and idyllic surroundings, conducive tranquillity and serenity, a sine qua non environment for intensive studies by officers, far from the ‘madding crowd’. The army man from Quetta made his decision. To top it, the hills were ideal for mountain warfare exercises, the Coimbatore plains for mobile warfare and the Mysore jungles were easy to reach. On 3rd November 1947, Col Verma took a final decision and requested that these trains be routed from Ambala to Mettupalayam, and this is how Staff College was located in the blue-green district.

Salubrious Climes

The special train left Ambala Cantonment on 4th November 1947 and reached Mettupalayam on 8th November. The Madras Regimental Centre (MRC) arranged the reception and placed all its resources under Col Verma. Initially, the Staff College had to make do with improvised buildings for most of their requirements, but it was essential to have a hall of some kind, with an auditorium, and a model room. It was decided to convert a small dining room and kitchen into a model room (the present Mountbatten), but the hall had to be built ab-initio. The Assistant Garrison Engineer (AGE) had neither the authority nor the plans for the construction of a new hall. Col Verma, then promoted Brigadier and appointed Commandant of Staff College, made a start without waiting for the sanctions. Thus came Gandhi Hall (later to be named Sardar Patel Hall). When the hall was finally completed just before the opening ceremony on 5th April 1948, it possibly had the state-of-the-art acoustics of the time.

When setting up an institution, every minute detail must be investigated, be it cutlery, crockery, chairs, silver or even paintings to adorn the walls aesthetically. To collect, assemble and then place an essential rightful place was no easy task, and the credit for much in the Staff College of today goes to Brig Verma. Constant appeals and persuasion resulted in numerous books, trophies, silver, gold and cash as donations for the new College. This helped immensely in accumulating other essentials like cutlery, furniture, etc. A cash crunch meant that there were obvious limitations, and it took a lot of persuasion on the part of Brig Verma to get non-essentials, like horses, sanctioned from the Government. Other requisites for the courses like exercises, books, précis, maps, Directing Staff notes were compiled and prepared with utmost perseverance; some from the already existing material from Quetta and the rest from extensive research of the resources at hand.

Fledgling Years

The Staff College Wellington, established by Brig Verma was essentially an army institute of excellence for military studies, with an onerous responsibility of producing junior staff officers for the Army. As at Quetta, a couple of officers each from the Navy and the Air Force were to attend the staff course and study how the Army operated during war and peace.

Maj Gen WDA Lentaigne CB, CBE, DSO took over as Commandant on 10th March 1948. In his seven years as the head of the College, he contributed immensely towards the setting up of a modern joint services establishment.

The early years of free India were trying times for the country, and especially for the Army, as there was a shortage of arms and ammunition, trained soldiers and staff. In turbulent times when there were raiders in Kashmir, refugees were to be rehabilitated, and a general disorderliness was evident in the newly independent nation. Thus, the first and second interim courses emphasised more on quantity to fill the many vacancies for officers, rather than on quality. The syllabus was based on the British establishment and tactical doctrines as evolved during World War II. It was modified to primarily suit battle conditions in Kashmir. 1948 was also the year in which the Staff College journal made its appearance, named ‘The Nestling’, with Maj PLN Choudhary being its first editor. From the second course onwards, ‘The Nestling’ fledged into ‘The Owl’.

The Second World War had vividly highlighted, the increased interdependence of the Services on one another, and on the civilian war effort. This gave an impetus to the thought that the three Services of the Armed Forces should train and function together, learning the nitty-gritties of the organisation and staff management at the Staff College. Thus, it was felt that it would lead to an overall increase in the efficiency, desired symbiosis, mid-level leadership and jointmanship in the Armed Forces in the long run. That being so, Maj Gen Lentaigne won over the then Commander-in-Chief and Chief of the Army Staff, General FRR Bucher, and the Governor General of India, Earl Mountbatten of Burma, to the idea of converting the College into a proper well-organised Inter-Services Institution. On the advice of Earl Mountbatten the then Defence Minister, Sardar Baldev Singh, gave his consent, and from 23rd May 1949, the day the 3rd Staff Course was to commence, the College came to be regarded as an ‘Inter Services Staff College’.

The third course, the first ‘ten months’ duration course, commenced in a considerably better political scenario, and the partitioned Army too was rebuilt and organised. It had one full syndicate of Indian Air Force (IAF) officers. With the formation of the Naval Wing before the start of the 4th Staff Course, the College became a truly Joint Services Institution, the only one of its kind in the world. It was also from the 4th Staff Course onwards that students from foreign countries began attending the course in 1950. The College was rechristened more appropriately as the Defence Services Staff College. The organisation of the Staff College also underwent a change with the addition of the Air and Naval Wings. The first interim course had only 11 Defence Staff.

Towards Today…

On 11th May 1955, Maj Gen Lentaigne relinquished office. He left an indelible imprint not only on the DSSC, but on the life of military officers and their families in Wellington, and the Nilgiris, in general. He was instrumental in reviving the Wellington Gymkhana Club and the Ooty Hunt Club. It was mainly due to his indefatigable efforts and enthusiasm that the College was elevated to a high threshold of excellence in joint military education. Through his consistent efforts, students from other Commonwealth countries were invited to attend the Staff College at Wellington. His most outstanding contribution was the conversion of the Staff College into a Defence Services Institution.

The odyssey of DSSC from its inception to the present times has been replete with challenges and transformational dynamics, but it has emerged to be one of the most enviable joint training establishments in the world, epitomising the ‘Purple’ tri-services military culture, on the credible edifice of ‘jointmanship and leadership’. We, in the Nilgiris, are so proud that this premier institution is part of our daily lives, and it is here in this district, that we see, most keenly, the incredible symbiosis that lies between the Armed Forces and civilian population of this country. May divine providence shine eternally on this kinship.

A BRIEF PROFILE OF THE AUTHOR

• Lt Gen (Dr) SK Gadeock, AVSM (Retd) PhD, MPhil, MSc, Dip SLDM, BSc
• Director General, Amity Institute of Defence & Strategic Studies (AIDSS)
• Director General, Amity Centre for Defence & Strategic Analysis (ACDSA)
• Vice President, Amity Science Technology & Innovation Foundation (ASTIF)
• Vice Chairman, Amity Institute of Defence Technology (AIDT)
• Commandant, Amity Institute of Education &Training (AIET)
• Former Commandant, Defence Services Staff College, Wellington (2014-2017)