Archive item of the month: Hints for Officers Proceeding on Active Service

During some recent sorting of uncatalogued pamphlets we came across some items which had been separated from the Sibthorpe archive collection; including some handwritten reports, printed pamphlets and ephemera. One item which especially caught my eye was a small leaflet Hints for Officers Proceeding on Active Service.

Charles Sibthorpe was born in Dublin in 1847; he studied medicine at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and at the Meath Hospital. In 1870 he joined the Indian Medical Service as Assistant-Surgeon, and worked his way up through the ranks to Surgeon-General with the Government of Madras in 1894. During his time in India he was Superintendent of the Goal at Banda, Resident Surgeon to the General Hospital and Professor of Pathology at the Madras Medical College, where he also held successively the positions of Professor of Ophthalmology, Anatomy and Surgery. 

On two occasions during his time in India, Sibthorpe volunteered for active service with the Indian Medical Service. Firstly in 1878 when he served with the Peshawar Valley Field Forces in Afghanistan. In 1885 he transferred to active service again, this time in Burma, where he was staff surgeon to Sir H Prendergast the officer in command of the British forces in Upper Burma. As the leaflet of Hints is undated it is not clear which of the two occasions it dates from.

Hints for Officers contains very detailed instructions on the weight and contents of the kit authorised to be carried by each Officer in the Indian Army. An Officer was allows 80lb of kit, which was to contain everything from ‘new pattern khaki serge coat and trowsers (sic)’ down to six silk handkerchiefs, a 1lb of dubbling for waterproofing boots, a spare pipe and 6 boxes of matches. An Officer could also have three servants each with a 10lb allowance of kit.

The leaflet expounds the praises of the small Warren’s cooking pot as it ‘has the great advantage, that it is just large enough for one officer’s ration. The vegetables should be placed in the upper compartment and a little salt sprinkled over them, the meat in the middle compartment with some more salt and pepper; the lowest compartment should be filled with water. The vessel is then closed and placed over a fire until one-half of the water has been changed into steam. The rations will then be found to be well cooked, a very important matter’. Despite these detailed cooking instructions the suggested mess supplies are less inspiring, including Liebeg’s extract of meat (a concentrated meat extract which was to act as a meat substitute) and Erbswurth compressed vegetables.

As well as guidance on what an officer needs the leaflet also contains instructions on where it can be purchased in Madras. The new pattern uniform can be had from ‘Nanooeah Saib, tailor, living at No. 9, Patter’s Road’, conveniently located ‘at the back entrance of the Club’; no doubt an excellent location for attracting army trade. ‘A carpenter, named Ramalingram, living in Pursewakum, near the Native Infantry Lines’ is recommended as having very good skills and plans for making camp chairs, camp cots and camp tables, which are suggested as ‘being of great use when carriage can be obtained’.

Hints for Officers and the other newly found Sibthorpe items will be catalogued and added to the existing Sibthorpe collection and will be available for researchers to consult. A detailed list of the rest of the Sibthorpe collection including 6 casebooks from his time in India can be found here.