Pick Up Your Parrots and Monkeys and Fall in Facing the Boat : The Life of a Boy Soldier in India

Pennington, William

ISBN 10: 0304365645 / ISBN 13: 9780304365647

Published by Cassell, 2003

About this Item

Spine cocked. Nice, clean copy.

Seller Inventory # 004985 9019

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Pick Up Your Parrots and Monkeys and Fall in Facing the Boat : The Life of a Boy Soldier in India
• Publisher: Cassell
• Publication Date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0304365645
• ISBN 13: 9780304365647
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good
• Book Type: Book

About this title

Synopsis

An unusual, vivid coming-of-age story and unforgettable autobiographical portrayal of the last days of the Indian Raj. "Pick up your parrots and monkeys, and fall in facing the boat" was the traditional order given to British soldiers heading home from India. William Pennington overheard the command when he arrived in India at the age of 17 to serve in the horse artillery. His compelling portrayal of army life extends from the 1930s to the Burma campaign in World War II, where Pennington fought the Japanese as an artillery officer-the most dangerous job in the jungle.

An unusual, vivid coming-of-age story and unforgettable autobiographical portrayal of the last days of the Indian Raj. "Pick up your parrots and monkeys, and fall in facing the boat" was the traditional order given to British soldiers heading home from India. William Pennington overheard the command when he arrived in India at the age of 17 to serve in the horse artillery. His compelling portrayal of army life extends from the 1930s to the Burma campaign in World War II, where Pennington fought the Japanese as an artillery officer-the most dangerous job in the jungle.

About the Author

Fourteen-year-old Bill Pennington enlisted in the British Army as a trumpeter in the 1st Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery. At fifteen, he was on active service on the North-West Frontier. After serving in India, France, Belgium, Burma, Germany and England, he was demobbed in 1946. He married Enid in 1946 and emigrated to Canada in 1951, where he lives to this day. He started writing this book at the age of seventy-seven.