A tribute to our Instructors in Gunnery

There are IGs and there are IGs. IGs nonetheless. The latter being Incorrigible Gunners. If I were an IG I would be the latter type. Instructor Gunnery is one of the most coveted competency status in the Artillery. The IG symbol is Authority. Back in the 1960s we had Dato Jaffar Mohammed as the first Malaysian IG followed by Tan Say Loke, David Lam, and Harbans Singh. These were the IGs we had to ‘argue’ with. But they always had the last say. IGs argue amoung themselves in their annual IG Conventions. They then issue their resolutions as Malaysian Artillery Conventions. The latter IGs like me will then take upon ourselves to discuss the conventions to no end for we are not the real IGs. We think we are IGs.

Major Thurgood RA, was the first and only IG from the Royal Artillery to start and head our School of Artillery in Port Dickson. The school ran courses for our OR gunners at that point of time. Courses include TAFA and courses for Gun numbers. But soon the school conducted courses for NQFAs and later advanced courses for officers; and of course I was told the school runs the local IG course now. Has anybody got a photo of Major Thurgood?

I recalled other IGs in my era included Paul Pulendren, Aris Salem, Waris, Aziz Hassan and Timmy Masoud. And of course later came more IGs like Ramachandran, Ibrahim, Sallehuddin, and Nordin. Just to mention them, but not in any order of seniority. I would have missed out many more IGs. I really cannot remember thm off hand. Please fill in the missing IGs from the above list with your comments. Of course there are the latter type of IGs aplenty. The whole Artillery officers corps actually.

Yes I almost missed out the American IGs from the 1970s. I think Hussein Kamal was the first in this grouping. 

All our IGs had certainly contributed a lot to the development and training of our Corps and Regiments. We thank them for their professionalism and dedication to their duties as IGs. In them we had trusted and in them we had succeeded to become the best and fastest growing corps in the Malaysian Army. I salute them.

Allen Lai