07 September 2011

Ayo Gurkhali!

In the early years of my bagpiping career, one of my Pipe Majors complained that I was playing so fast that I sounded like a Gurkha. At the time, I had no idea what he meant. He explained that Gurkhas were Nepalese soldiers serving in the British Army and that their pipers were known for playing their music extremely fast. Never having heard of Gurkhas before, I wanted to learn more. So, in the spring of 1990 I wrote a paper about them for my British India history class in college. When I initially gave my topic to my professor, she feared that I would not be able to find any information about them (this was before the advent of the Internet) and that I would have to eventually change my topic. She was wrong and the following is taken from the paper I wrote and for which I received an “A” grade.


Defenders of the Falklands and guardians of Her Majesty the Queen at Buckingham Palace, the Gurkhas of Nepal are the most jovial, loyal and fierce soldiers to serve in the British Army – if not any army – in modern times. The former Kingdom of Nepal, now sadly a republic, is located between northeast India and the mountains of Tibet. The great Himalayas run through Nepal making it a mountainous country with few roads. The terrain has affected the physical appearance of the people. They have a sturdy build with muscular legs and a touch of either Mongolian or Indian features.[1] John Masters, who served in a Gurkha regiment, provides an excellent description of a typical Gurkha’s physical characteristics:


Here he is, facing us. Just over five feet high, he has a low forehead, slanting brown eyes…and a face either hairless or lined by a straggly Mandarin mustache. Sometimes he shaves the black hair all around his skull, but he always leaves a long tuft at the crown, by which he hopes his God will pull him up to heaven when he dies. In response he is expressionless, but he frequently grins…When he speaks he hardly moves his lips or teeth. He gesticulates little, grunts rather than shouts and points with his chin not his hands. He looks you straight in the eye and is not very interested in you unless he knows you well. He’s the world’s best mimic and will use the gift…often to puncture the inflated egos of those who have the privilege of ordering him about…He runs awkwardly on the level, well uphill and on a steep downhill no one on earth can touch him.[2]


To understand the Gurkha fighters, you must first understand the Gurkha people. The Nepalese people as a whole are sometimes referred to as Gurkhas. This is because “the small kingdom of Gurkha, governed by a member of a leading Chetri family, gave the title of Gurkhali – that is, follower of the King of Gurkha – to all of his subjects.”[3] The Gurkhas were originally Indian Rajputs who invaded Nepal circa AD 1748[4] after being driven-out of Rajputana by Islamic invaders. The Gurkha people consist of a number of tribes, clans and castes. When the Rajputs moved into Nepal, “…they brought with them Hinduism which supplanted Buddhism.”[5]


The Hindu society in Nepal developed a system of social organization very similar to the caste system found in India. Of these castes, the Thakur or Chetri caste is the warrior caste. Thakur is the term used on the plains and Chetri, a corruption of Kshatriya, is used in the mountains. Of all the various castes in Nepal, the Thakur/Chetri is the highest in social standing, excluding the Brahmans. The Thakur/Chetri claim royal descent and the kings of Nepal were from this caste. “Very intelligent, smart in appearance, and endowed with the highest military qualities, the Thakur is the beau-ideal of the Gurkha soldier…They make excellent soldiers, a large portion of officers…being Chetris.[6]


The British first encountered the Gurkha warrior during the Nepalese War of 1814. Bhim Sen Thapa, the Prime Minister of Nepal, looked for an outlet of his warlike energy. After conquering all of present-day Nepal and the surrounding valleys, he began to encroach upon the British territories in Northern Bengal. “From 1804 to 1812 the Gurkhas pushed steadily southward, into British territory, until by the end of that time no fewer than two hundred villages in the fertile Tersi and Tirhut had been annexed.”[7] The Honourable East India Company, the British trading company that ruled the Indian sub-continent until the British Government established the Raj in 1858, had tried to reach some form of mutual agreement with the Gurkhas who were beginning to be a considerable thorn in their side. Nevertheless, the Gurkhas continued to conduct raids into the British territories.

Although the British themselves were foreign invaders, they won the support of the local Indian rulers and Maharajas against the invading Gurkhas. This was due largely to the fact that the British allowed the local princes to remain in power in return for an annual tribute. The Gurkhas, on the other hand, executed the ruling families.[8]


The start of the war with Nepal came about when Umur Sing, the Commander-in-Chief of the Gurkha Army, invaded the British territory of Bhutwal in the province of Oudh in 1813. The administration in Bengal demanded the Gurkas withdraw. Their refusal to do so prompted the Governor-General, Lord Moris, to declare war on 1 November 1814.


During the first part of the war, the British performed pitifully. The first action taken by the British was to seize Kalunga, a hill fortress guarded by roughly 600 Gurkhas. It was here that the British, under Major-General Rullo Gilespie, received their first taste of what the Gurkhas were actually like: “…Although the Gurkha defense was overcome by the British in 1814, it was only after the British had received more than ample demonstration of the Gurkhas’ martial will and capability.”[9] The Gurkha action at Kalunga had earned them the respect of their individual capabilities by the British.


The 1816 Treaty of Sagauli ended the war with Nepal. For the next forty to fifty years, there existed only a shaky friendship between the British and Nepalese governments. However, both sides had developed a deep appreciation of each other’s virtues. While the British learned respect for the Gurkhas’ “martial race” at Kalunga, the Gurkhas received their taste of the British when they encountered one very stubborn Lieutenant:


Lieutenant Frederick Young’s Indian troops fled during a campaign, leaving him surrounded by hostile Gurkhas who asked, ‘Why did you not run away too?’ As history records it, Young replied with proper stiff upper lip: ‘I have not come so far in order to run away.’ Whereupon he sat down in stony-faced composure, prompting an admiring Gurkha to say, ‘We could serve under men like you!’[10]


In accordance with the peace treaty, the Gurkha forces had to relinquish the territories they had conquered over the past 30 years and, in response to Lieutenant Young’s recommendation, “…the Gurkha soldiers who formed the remnants of [Umur] Sing’s forces enlisted in the British Army, being the first Gurkha soldiers to serve under the British flag.[11]


The Gurkahs had distanced themselves from other Indian units in the army of the Raj because of their ethnic and social differences. “Like the Sikhs from the west, the Gurkhas felt a martial affinity with the British soldiers who had bested them…the superb fighting qualities of the Gurkhas…had [caused] a special relationship between the Gurkhas and the British [to emerge].”[12] In fact, in 1886, the Colonel of the 42nd Regiment Gurkha Light Infantry wanted to eliminate all Indian and Sikh regiments in favor of the Gurkhas![13]


Originally, when the British recruited for the Gurkha regiments, they were not very discriminating as to which clan the recruit belonged. Around the year 1855, the time of Charles Darwin and the British obsession with his theories on various races, the British officers became more selective of whom they recruited. They believed in the theory of the martial races. The martial races included the Pathans, Jats, Dogras, Sikhs and Rajputs of India and the Highland Clans of Nepal – the Gurungs and Magars. These “races” were considered to be “…more military minded and more likely to make good soldiers.”[14] The recruitments were made by officers who had a thorough knowledge “…of every shade of [Gurkha] clan and sect and their qualities as soldiers…Magars and Gurungs from Western Nepal; Rais and Limbus from the east; Puns, Thakurs and Chetris [for their castes]…”[15]


Although Nepal was run along military lines, and the Gurkhas are a so-called martial race, there is a paradoxical fact that “…at heart, the Gurkha is not really warlike. He asks for nothing better than to be left alone and, hardworking peasant that he is, to be allowed to till his fields and mind his herds and flocks in peace.”[16]


The recruits, numbering today around 400 each year, are accepted from only certain altitudes in the Himalayas – between 3,000 and 89,000 feet above sea-level. “Below that are too many men of Indian stock whom the British Army does not want. Above, in the domain of mountain-climbing Sherpa tribes, it is too difficult to get around, although a few Sherpas who seek to join are accepted.”[17]


Applicants come from miles around and retired Gurkha soldiers weed out over 10,000. Eighteen hundred are then taken to camps for final selection. The IQ exams alone reject one out of every two applicants. The remaining are then recruited into the elite Gurkha regiments for an enlistment of fifteen years. For those who rise above the rank of Private, the enlistment is for thirty years.[18]


It is the greatest honor imaginable to be accepted into a Gurkha regiment of the British Army. Some of the recruits would journey for sixteen days and for those who are rejected, it is an even longer trip back to their village. “…There is not only the fatigue of the long trek home to be faced, but also the humiliation of his position when he gets back to his village.


The Gurkha soldiers have a unique relationship with the British Army. The British never occupied nor ruled Nepal yet the Gurkhas have an undying loyalty to their superior officers and to Her Majesty the Queen. Just what makes the Gurkhas treat the British in such a way? Lieutenant Colonel Keith Robinson, a Gurkha brigade officer at the British Embassy in Katmandu says that “‘ Had Nepal been colonized [by the British], we would have had taken the privilege of recruiting troops as a right…Since we’ve always had to ask [them to serve], they’ve kept their self-respect.’”[19]


The relationship of devotion and undying loyalty of the Gurkhas to their British officers is well known. Major W. Brook Northey MC, the author of Land of the Gurkhas once asked a young Gurkha who had been in his regiment and away from home, whether he was homesick. “‘I was terribly so at first…but I am no longer. The regiment has become my second home.’”[20] John Masters goes on to describe the loyalty and mentality of a typical Gurkha soldier:


Perhaps he has been working for eight hours up to his waist in freezing water, helping to build a bridge. Now he has just gone to sleep in a blanket on the stones. Wake him, tell him there’s an emergency, that we must dig a trench. He rolls out with a ‘tee-lo!’ takes a pick or shovel, and starts to dig, joking with the men around him and with the officers. The task is finished in three hours, to the stupefaction of the experts, who said it would take six. We who know him are not surprised, we expected it. He rolls back into his blankets. We wake him again an hour later and tell him someone has blundered, now we are to gird for the assault, and the enemy is numerous and well armed. He stands up, stretches, fixes his bayonet, smiles at us in wry comradeship, and moves forward.[21]

The extent of Gurkha loyalty was not fully known and appreciated until the Great Mutiny in 1857. The Great Mutiny was sparked by rumors that the gun cartridges issued to Indian troops were coated with cow and pork fat. As this was repugnant to both the Hindu and Muslim Seypoys, they revolted. As the Mutiny spread throughout the province of Bengal, the Seypoys became suspect. “Many officers who had sworn that their own men were loyal and would remain so were hacked to death by these same men.”[22]


Lord Canning, the Governor-General obtained the aid of three thousand Gurkha troops from Jung Bahadur, the Nepalese Prime Minister, at Lucknow. The Gurkhas occupied the town, which was occupied by the rebels, “and then swept on through Oudh…thereby preventing any chance of a flank attack on British troops…Success after success attended the [Gurkhas and] the morale and military strength of the rebels throughout the north of the Kingdom of Oudh were completely broken.”[23]


No Gurkha joined the mutiny and they did their best to reassure the British of their support. Their loyalty during the crisis was undying. Mutineers near Bhola attacked Major Charles Reid and the Sirmoor Battalion. The Gurkhas drove off their attack and occupied the village. Of the eighteen prisoners they took, thirteen were convicted and five sentenced to death. These five were Brahmans, and “it was a test of the lower-caste Gurkhas’ loyalty that they did not hesitate to kill them…this refusal to allow religious scruples to interfere with duty has always made the Gurkhas more versatile in British eyes.”[24]


Throughout the Mutiny, the Gurkhas had plenty of opportunities to prove themselves.

‘My little fellows behaved splendidly and were cheered by every European regiment. I may say every eye was upon [us]…the General was anxious to see what the Gurkha could do, and if we were to be trusted. They had doubts about us; but I think they are now satisfied.’[25]


After the Mutiny ended in 1858, and after the loyalty of the Gurkha troops was proven, the Sirmoor Gurkha Battalion was given the battle honor DELHI. This battalion was the one to remain during the entire Siege of Delhi and “there can be no question of the fact that the most distinguished part in the entire siege was played by the Sirmoor Battalion.”[26] Because of their loyalty, as well as the loyalty of all the Gurkha troops, two more battalions were established and the Gurkha Seypoys were officially renamed Riflemen, making them equal to the British battalions.


Ninety years later, the Gurkhas once again played a vital role in helping to maintain order during the last days of the Indian Empire. After the partition of India and Pakistan, the Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs were at each other’s throats.

One of the most frightening aspects of this partition was the failure of the armed forces and the police to maintain order…Mutiny in the Indian Navy…Air Force…and the Indian Army…also among some police forces…Muslim police refused to arrest Muslims and Hindu police refused to arrest Hindus. Only Gurkhas performed their duties, impartially and with humanity…”[27]


To maintain order on the newly created Indo-Pakistani border, Lord Louis Mountbatten, the last Viceroy and first Governor-General of the Dominion of India, established the Punjab Boundary Forces, which included the Gurkhas.[28]


Muslims could not be trusted to guard Hindus and the Hindus could not be trusted to guard the Muslims, while the Sikhs killed the Muslims they were sent to guard. “Only Gurkha battalions could be relied upon.”[29]Although the Gurkhas were Hindu, they dealt impartially with everyone.

Unfortunately, there were not enough Gurkhas to protect all of the convoys between Pakistan and India and to put down all of the riots at the time of independence. Captain W.D. Wells of the 7th Gurkhas wrote, ‘we were needed everywhere and guarding, patrolling, escorting, investigating went on without stop twenty-four hours a day. There simply were not enough of us to cope with the outbreaks.’[30]


For the first time since 1816, the Gurkhas were involved in a conflict that affected their own interests. No one knew what was to become of the Gurkha regiments once the British left India. The problem that arose was how many troops would transfer to the new Indian National Army. The solution came after a meeting between Field Marshal Montgomery and Prime Minister Nehru on 23 January 1947. Of the twenty-seven battalions in the British Indian Army, only eight went to the departing British Army.[31]

After Independence, individual Gurkhas in the eight battalions ceded to the British Army were given three options: 1) Stay with their battalion; 2) transfer to a battalion that would join the Indian Army; or 3) take his discharge with honor. Surprisingly, many opted to stay in India. “India was familiar [and many] Gurkha families were already there.”[32] Even to this day in the Indian National Army, the Gurkha Regiment’s tradition and customs have been retained. The only changes made were in the British rank titles, medals and honors issued.


The Gurkhas of the British Army played a vital role throughout the history of the Empire, esp

ecially in the service of the Raj. The Gurkhas are the best of the best and possess a loyalty to the Crown, which no other mercenary army (for the Gurkhas are mercenaries) has ever expressed. A study of the Gurkhas is a study of undying loyalty between two unique “races”. They are a fascinating and paradoxical group – both martial and peaceful. To quote one British officer, “‘they’re the best bloody soldiers you ever saw. And so far, thank God, they’re on our side!’”[33]


A post script to my original 1990 paper comes from a June 2, 2011 article by CNN:


Soldier cited for holding off

up to 30 Taliban by himself

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/06/02/soldier-cited-for-holding-off-up-to-30-taliban-by-himself/?hpt=hp_c2 (6/2/2011)


Britain's newest hero is a Nepali.

Queen Elizabeth II on Wednesday awarded Britain's second-highest award for bravery, the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross, to Acting Sgt. Dipprasad Pun of the Royal Gurkha Rifles. While stationed as a lone sentry at a checkpoint in Afghanistan's Helmand province on September 17, Pun fended off an attack by up to 30 Taliban fighters. "There were many Taliban around me," Pun said in an interview with British Forces News. "I thought they are definitely going to kill me. ... I thought before they kill me I have to kill some of them."

During the 15-minute battle, Pun fired more than 400 rounds of ammunition, detonated 17 grenades and a mine and even threw his gun tripod at a Taliban fighter climbing toward his position, according to British Forces News. "He was just about to climb up there and I hit (him) with my tripod and he fell down again," Pun told British Forces News. Pun's actions saved the lives of three fellow soldiers at the checkpoint and were the "bravest seen in his battalion over two hard tours in Afghanistan," according to his medal citation. Pun was not wounded in the firefight.

“That he survived unscathed is simply incredible," his medal citation says. “Throughout Dip’s actions he was under almost constant intense fire. Dip’s courage and gallantry were simply astonishing."

Pun, 31, joined the British military in 2000 and also has served in Bosnia and Kosovo. Like other Gurkhas, Pun is from Nepal. The Gurkhas were incorporated into British forces after their fighting skill impressed the opposition British during the Nepal Wars of 1814 to 1816. As part of the peace treaty ending that conflict, Gurkhas were admitted into East India Company's army and then into the British military. Gurkhas recruited solely in Nepal remain Nepalese citizens during their service. Gurkha unit officers are British.

FOOTNOTES


[1] Nicholson, JBR., The Gurkha Rifles. Osprey Publishing, LTD.: New York, 1974. Page 3.

[2] Masters, John. Bugles and a Tiger: A Volume of Autobiography. Viking Press, New York, 1956. Pages 84-5.

[3] Northey, Brook (Major) MC. The Land of the Gurkhas: Himalayan Kingdom of Nepal. W. Hoffer & Sons, Ltd.: Cambridge, 1975. 0Ppage 42.

[4] Ibid, page 42.

[5] Nicholson, page 3.

[6] Northey, pages 93-94.

[7] Ibid, page 57.

[8] Chant, Christopher. The Illustrated History of an Elite Fighting Force. Blandford Press: Poole, Dorset, England, 1985. Page 11.

[9] Ibid, page 13.

[10] Kaylor, Robert. Enduring Tradition of the Gurkhas. US News & World Report, Vol. 93, No. 10, September 6, 1982. Page 63.

[11] Northey, page 58.

[12] Ibid, page 76.

[13] Farwell, Byron. The Gurkhas. W.W. Norton & Company: New York, 1984. Page 24.

[14] Ibid, page 76.

[15] Bidwell, Shelford. The Chindit War: Stilwell, Wingate and the Campaign in Burma. MacMillan Publishing Company, Inc.: New York, 1979. Page 117.

[16] Kaylor, page 64.

[17] Ibid, page 64.

[18] Northey, page 188.

[19] Northey, page 98.

[20] Northey, page 98.

[21] Masters, page 85.

[22] Chant, page 38.

[23] Ibid, page 40.

[24] Farwell, page 40.

[25] Ibid, page 43.

[26] Chant, page 43.

[27] Farwell, page 46.

[28] Ibid, pages 244-45.

[29] Ibid, pages 240-41.

[30] Ibid, page 248.

[31] Ibid, page 248.

[32] Ibid, pages 249-50.

[33] Newsweek, Vol LIX, No 10. The Best Bloody Soldiers. 5 March 1962. Page 48.

16 May 2011

A Reprehensible Affair

As the New Jersey State Police enters its 90th year, it has almost become commonplace to hear of a State Trooper suing the organization or the Superintendent for any number of reasons. This trend would make some pine for the "good old days", back in the early 20th century when this kind of thing just did not happen. But did the "good old days" ever really exist? How far back would one have to turn the pages of State police history to find when a Trooper first sued the Superintendent for wrongful termination, for example?

Some may guess as far back as the Pagano administration of the 1970s and 1980s. Others a little further back, to the time of national unrest and upheaval in the 1960s. But surely not as far back as the '40s when Schoeffel led the State Police during the Second World War! No, not as far back as that...Further!

The first account of a Trooper suing the Superintendent of the State Police was during the summer of 1924, when the State Police was just over two years old! The case of John J. Manyon v. H. Norman Schwarzkopf was argued before the New Jersey Supreme Court on July 17, 1924, and decided on September 20th of that year. The case stemmed from the dismissal of Corporal John Manyon #62 the previous year.

Very little is known about Corporal Manyon; when he left the State Police he somehow managed to remove his entire personnel file. What is known is that he was born in Ireland and immigrated to the United States when he was eight years old. He was a veteran of the First World War, during which he was gassed. This led to his contracting Tuberculosis and he spent a good amount of time in the Tuberculosis Sanatorium in Glen Gardner, New Jersey. He lived in Arlington, Hudson County and had little contact with his parents and brother who were living in Manhattan at the time.

Manyon enlisted in the New Jersey State Police in September 1921, as a member of the first class. He was assigned badge number 62 and upon graduation on December 5, 1921, he was assigned to Troop "A", somewhere in Burlington County. The Troop Commander at the time was John C. Weinmann. Weinmann was one of "the appointed" - the four men who did not attend the Training School but rather were appointed in 1921 by twenty-five-year-old Colonel H. Norman Schwarzkopf, the Superintendent and founder of the State Police, to serve as the initial officer corps for the organization.

John Christopher Weinmann was from Trenton, New Jersey when he joined the State Police, but he was born in Pottsville, Pennsylvania in December 1884. He and his family moved to New Jersey when he was just a year old. He was a veteran, having first served in the Cavalry from 1902 to 1904 and later, during World War I, as a Supply Captain in the Infantry. H was married and he and his wife lived on Chancery Street in Trenton, New Jersey. [1]

When Captain Bell resigned as Troop "B" Commander, Captain Weinmann was sent on April 7, 1922 to replace him. [2] The majority of the Troopers in Troop "B", however, did not care much for Captain Weinmann as Troop Commander. They had little or no respect for him, and many felt that Sergeant John Lamb, his subordinate, actually ran the Troop. According to Trooper Howard Dean, "I have heard him contradict the Captains' orders. When the Captain would give an order Sergeant Lamb would say, 'No, we will do it this way.'" [3] It was said that Corporal Manyon would make a good commander of Troop "B" because the majority of the men in the Troop liked him. [4]

Manyon and Weinmann had their first of many run-ins while both were stationed in Troop "A". Manyon was known as an agitator and trouble maker. "In my opinion...I had consistently opposed the element in the Organization which are disrupting it and have constantly stood in their way since I have been in the Organization. They have been trying for over a year to destroy me and didn't even let me alone when I was fighting for my life at Glen Gardner." [5] This opposition, as he called it, eventually caused him to be transferred to Troop "B" - specifically the Washington Sub-Station in Warren County.

Friction between the two men continued in Troop "B". It was most likely fueled on Weinmann's part by a combination of frustration at Manyon's actions and jealousy of his popularity tinged maybe with a little insecurity. Manyon was probably frustrated and even confused that his Troop Commander did not support his over zealousness. Regardless of the root causes of their feud, things got so bad that Lieutenant King J. Powell, the commanding officer of Headquarters Troop in Trenton, was sent on March 9, 1923, to interview Manyon about the issue.

Although the details of any previous incidents are not known, Lieutenant Powell documents the events of March 10, 1923 in interviews he conducted later in the month with all the involved parties. Early that Saturday morning, Troop Commander Captain John Weinmann and the Troop "B" Inspector Corporal James Kelly made their way from Troop Headquarters in Netcong to the boarding house that served as the Washington Sub-Station in Warren County. They were going there to confront the Station Commander, Corporal John Manyon, about several issues that had been annoying the Captain. "There have been no horse patrols out from that station. A boy at the house takes the horse out for exercise. The motorcycle has not been out on patrol. The way Manyon talked to the Colonel when he was up here for inspection made me so mad that I could have torn him to pieces. He is a Bolshevik A-1." [6]

After making a couple of stops at the County Prosecutor's Office in Phillipsburg and at a five-and-ten-cents store, the two Troopers made their way to the Washington Station. The station was a boarding house run by Mrs. Jackson. The Troopers had free use of the kitchen, dining room, living room and the upstairs bedrooms as well as the stables in the back yard.

When Weinmann and Kelly arrived in their Velie, Corporal Manyon and Trooper Thomas Littell were sitting in the dining room. Trooper Littell let them into the living room and then went out back to the stables to check on the horses. "We found Manyon in bedroom slippers and the green sweater he wears." [7]

While the three men stood in the living room, Captain Weinmann "began to upbraid Corporal Manyon." [8] Captain Weinmann "...told him he was doing the same thing as he had done in Burlington County. 'You are starting the same agitation that you started in Burlington. I have held my temper for a year now and I am going to have a show-down with you.'" Weinmann made it clear that he was running the Troop and not Manyon. [9]

Weinmann accused Manyon of antagonizing the Warren County Prosecutor's Office. According to Weinmann's statement, "Mr. Smith, the Prosecutor, said (Manyon) was trying to run his office and (Manyon) was carrying waivers of indictment around with him, having them signed above the Prosecutor's Office." Weinmann also demanded to know why "that son-of-a-bitch Powell" was at the station the night before and why was the Dodge Troop Car not out on patrol? [10]

He further berated Manyon by saying, "...you are a dirty rat, son-of-a-bitch." At this point, Manyon stopped the Captain and asked him to join him upstairs so that the landlady, Mrs. Jackson, who was in the kitchen, would not hear their argument. He also called Trooper Littell in from the stables to serve as a witness. Captain Weinmann, Corporal Manyon, Corporal Kelly and Trooper Littell then went into "the larger of the two rooms occupied by us and we closed the door."

Once behind closed doors, Weinmann verbally landed into Manyon again. "I want to know why that car wasn't out! I want to ask you a lot of questions. I want to tell you what I think of you. You are nothing but a dirty rat and a stool pigeon...all you are good for anyhow is adultery and fornication and stool-pigeon work!" [12]

Not surprisingly, this angered Manyon who told his captain that "'when you speak to me like that you are not speaking as my Troop Commander; you are speaking as Drunken Jack Weinmann. When you say I am a stool pigeon you are lying and you know it!'" [13]

According to Trooper Littell, Corporal Manyon added, "'Now listen, Captain, you are making this too much of a personal matter. I'm not stool-pigeon and if you say so, you are a damned liar. If you want to talk on personal matters like that the only way you can talk to me is out behind the barn.'" [14]

At this point, things got ugly. Manyon had partially turned away from his Captain towards Trooper Littell. "As I turned my head in a half-left face, Captain Weinmann struck me a strong blow in the jaw, raising a lump and splitting my tongue, at the same time showering abuse on me. I turned and clinched with him, striking him an overhand blow with my right hand in his left eye. He fell across the room from the force of the blow on to the bed breaking the spring frame . he dragged me with him as he fell and the situation was that Captain Weinmann was lying on the collapsed bed and I was kneeling [on] him. I clasped his throat with my left hand and held him there." [15]

During the altercation, Manyon said that he saw Corporal Kelly moving towards him so he told Littell, to "'take care of Kelly.'" Later, Kelly asked, "'what [did] you mean when you said 'Littell take care of Kelly,' I can take care of myself!'" and with that he began to take off his coat. Trooper Littell tried to diffuse the situation. "'Now listen, Kelly, we don't want any more violence but if you're looking for something, I'll help you take off your coat!'" Kelly immediately backed down and put his coat back on. [16]

Meanwhile, Manyon refused to let Weinmann up "until I tell you what I think of you." Eventually releasing him, Manyon continued saying that "I won't recognize you any more as Troop Commander. To me you are only 'Bull-Shit Weinmann.' I am going to take this matter up with the Colonel!'" [17]

Corporal Manyon again told Weinmann he would not recognize him as his Troop Commander but looked upon him as a "disorderly drunkard." [18] When Manyon gave his statement to Lieutenant Powell, he immediately accused Weinmann of being drunk. "The moment he entered the room, it was plain that he was drunk, the smell of liquor was on his breath..." [19] Powell pressed him on this. "Are you reasonably sure that he was under the influence of liquor?" "Yes," Manyon replied. "I smelled liquor on his breath and I am not ready to believe that a man [who] acted as he did was sober. He was what I call a very drunken man." [20]

Trooper Littell, in his statement, agreed that Weinmann was under the influence because "'you could smell it all over the room. I didn't know whether it was Kelly or Captain Weinmann so...I leaned over to see if it was Kelly. You could tell very plainly that it was not Kelly.'" [21]

Weinmann denied the accusation - an accusation that had been leveled against him before. "'I take Troopers with me on that account, to stop being framed. He [Manyon] tried the same thing while he was in "A" Troop.'" Weinmann went on to declare, "'I am going to resent that 'being drunk' proposition thing. I am going to put [Manyon] in jail for that...I want this thing brought to a show down. If they make that statement 'drunk' get it down on paper and when he does he is gone.'" [22]

Manyon refused to take orders not only from the Troop Commander but also from Corporal Kelly, the Troop Inspector. '"Corporal Kelly is my junior [and] the very fact that he is in your company would prevent me from taking orders from him even if he was my senior.'" [23]

Manyon then told both Weinmann and Kelly that they had to leave the station, that they had caused enough disturbance and that he would be taking the issue up with Colonel Schwarzkopf. Manyon and Littell left the room but were followed by Weinmann who stormed after them, continuing his ranting; this time complaining that the station's telephone bill was too high. "I told Captain Weinmann that if he did not stop his [verbal] abuse I would knock him down and [I] asked him once more if he was going to leave or not. With that Captain Weinmann and Corporal Kelly left...saying they would be back." [24] By three-thirty, they had returned to Troop Headquarters in Netcong. [25]

About a half hour after the event, Corporal Manyon telephone Major Mark O. Kimberling, the Adjutant and Deputy Superintendent, at Department Headquarters in Trenton. Kimberling was out of the office, so Manyon told Sergeant Brown, who had answered, that it was imperative that he speak with the Major immediately because "Captain Weinmann had been at my station drunk and caused a disturbance." A short while later Kimberling returned the call and Manyon told him all that had happened, and stating that he no longer recognized Weinmann as his Troop Commander because of it. "'Did I do right under the circumstances, Major, and what shall I do?'" he asked. "'Just sit tight and await further instructions from this office,'" came the reply. [26]

At around 9:00 the following morning, the phone rang at the Washington Sub-Station. As Corporal Manyon began to answer, he was cut-off by the voice on the other end. "This is Corporal Kelly talking." he asked to speak to Trooper Gardner whom he told that Corporal Manyon was relieved of duty and that Trooper Raymond was now in charge of the station. [28]

Manyon got back on the phone and told Kelly that any orders sent to the station had to go through him. Kelly's only reply was to once again say that "'you are relived Corporal. You are relieved from command of that station...I tell you, you are relieved!'" [29]

Corporal Manyon immediately called Lieutenant Powell at Headquarters in Trenton and explained the situation. Powell told him that Major Kimberling was aware and was "attending to it." Manyon then called the State House at about 1 PM to try to locate Kimberling. Trooper Wilton answered the call and told him that the Major had gone with Captain Weinmann to see Colonel Schwarzkopf at his home in Newark.

"After waiting all afternoon I called up the Colonel at his home in Newark explaining the situation briefly and asking for orders. The Colonel said that Major Kimberling was handling the situation and I had better report to him." [30]

That Monday, March 12th, Lieutenant Powell was given verbal instructions to conduct an investigation of the events of the previous Saturday. During his interview with Captain Weinmann, he asked, for the sake of the Troop, what did he suggest be done to finally resolve the issues with Manyon? "Get rid of him," Weinmann said. "The Troop was running fine; we never had any trouble until he came up here." [31]

Corporal Kelly, it turned out, was the most difficult witness to interview because he refused to say anything! "I made a statement the other day to the Colonel. I told the Colonel the whole story and that is all I intend to say." Although he was steadfast in his refusal to speak, he did add that, "if there is no action taken in this case, I intend to have a warrant sworn out for [Manyon's] arrest." [32]

Lieutenant Powell left the Washington Station and headed to Phillipsburg where he interviewed Mr. Sylvester C. Smith, Jr., the Prosecutor of Warren County. Powell was surprised to learn that, contrary to Captain Weinmann's accusations - that the Prosecutor had said Corporal Manyon was antagonizing and trying to run his office - Smith said that his only objection was that Manyon "...is a little over-anxious" and "over-industrious." He said that Manyon does not have the "power of elimination" where he can pick and choose the more important crimes to prosecute. Smith said that if Manyon were to lock up everybody he felt that should be, "we would lock up 3/4 of the people" in the county. [33]

While Manyon needed someone to correct him at times, Prosecutor Smith admitted, "that Corporal Manyon has considerable detective ability." Finally, Powell asked Smith outright if it was true that Manyon was trying to run his office to which he replied, "No, he does not." [34]

Later, when Prosecutor Smith gave his official deposition, he reiterated that "Manyon was industrious, that he brought minor matters to my attention as Prosecutor and used a great deal of my time in that way...Manyon is energetic, industrious, and as far as I have been able to learn, a hard worker in his position." [35]

Colonel Schwarzkopf called Corporal Manyon to his office on March 25th and demanded his resignation because he refused to obey an order given to him by Captain Weinmann. Manyon refused to resign. "I consider the demand for my resignation and the circumstances surrounding the demand to be absolutely unjust." He argued that when Weinmann punched him, his official capacity automatically terminated. "I had a perfect right to place him under arrest then and there...that very moment he was a criminal under the laws of our State, having committed an assault upon an officer of the law." [36]

Rather than resign, Manyon demanded a Court Martial, with both a lawyer and stenographer present. "I am not questioning the fair-mindedness of the Colonel or Major Kimberling when I make this request. I merely want the proceedings spread upon the record in order to allow me to exercise my right of an appeal to the courts." [37]

On March 27, 1923, charges of insubordination and disrespect toward a superior officer were preferred against John J. Manyon. The charges specified that,


Corporal John J. Manyon did...at, Washington, NJ, on or
about March 10th, 1923, use insulting, insubordinate and
disrespectful language toward an officer of the New Jersey
State Police, who was then in execution of his office, by
saying to him, 'When you speak to me like that, you are
lying, you are not speaking to me as my Troop
Commander. I will not take an order from you, you are not
my Troop Commander, you are only Drunken Jack
Weinmann, Windy Weinmann, Bull Shit Weinmann, Hot
Air Weinmann, and I will not recognize you as my
Superior Officer' or words to that effect. [38]
Less than a week later, Schwarzkopf issued Special Order Number 34. Effective on April 1st, Captain J.C. Weinmann "...is hereby relieved from command of Troop "B" and is hereby attached to Headquarters Troop...until further notice." Captain Charles H. Schoeffel was placed in command of the Troop in his stead. Corporal John J. Manyon was also "...hereby relieved from duty with Troop "B"...and attached to Headquarters Troop...until further orders." [39]

Manyon's hearing was on April 7th at 10:00 in the morning and was conducted at State Police Headquarters at the State House in Trenton. Schwarzkopf heard the sworn testimony of three witnesses for the prosecution and one for the defense. Francis M. McGee, who stood in for the Attorney General, represented the State Police and Martin P. Devlin represented Corporal Manyon, who was also present. The hearing was public, and the testimony was taken down stenographically as Manyon had requested.

Corporal Manyon was charged with violating a Special Duty of the New Jersey State Police by "refusing to give prompt obedience to all lawful commands as such dities [sic] are set forth in General Order #1, Par. 2, of December 5th, 1921..." [40]

After hearing all of the testimony, Colonel Schwarzkopf concluded that Corporal Manyon had no authority to disobey his Superior Officer when ordered to relinquish his command. Schwarzkopf stated that Manyon should have relinquished his command when the order was given, "subject to later confirmation or rescission from the Adjutant or Colonel." He was not justified in his refusal to obey that order and the order to obey Corporal Kelly." [41]

Schwarzkopf felt that the entire affair was "reprehensible" and that, although he was not at this time commenting or passing judgment on the actions of Captain Weinmann, "I conclude that any impropriety of conduct on his part did not justify Corporal Manyon acting in the manner proven." [42]

In the end, Schwarzkopf found that the charges against Manyon had been "fully proven to be true" and that Corporal Manyon was "guilty as so charged."


I find the cause as charged a just one and that his usefulness
to the Department is at an end and direct the removal from
office in the Department of State Police of Corporal John J.
Manyon. [43]
As he said he would, Manyon filed an appeal with the New Jersey Supreme Court. "I am sure to give the 'Kaiser' [Schwarzkopf] an awful beating in the Supreme Court, and he will have to give me back pay and allowances for the time I have been out. Of course I wouldn't go back, but I can and will beat him." [44]

No longer a Trooper, Manyon was required to turn in his uniform and equipment, however he failed to do so. Major Kimberling proposed that he submit an affidavit to the effect that he lost it. "Of course, I shall do nothing of the kind, for the very good reason that I didn't 'lose' it." In a letter to Major Kimberling, dated May 1, 1923, Manyon explained that when he was relieved of duty and ordered away from his Station on March 30th, his uniform and equipment was left behind intact. He claimed that Mrs. Jackson, the landlady, and the Troopers at the Station last saw it on April 3rd. "I returned to the station on Wed. April 4th. I had two suit cases with me when I came to the station on the 4th to use in packing up my things...There was nothing to pack up when I got there. So no one knows what became of my clothing, equipment, camera, rain coat and documents?" [45]

Manyon wrote that he immediately phoned Kimberling and Sergeant Cunningham, who was temporarily in command at Troop "B" Headquarters in Netcong. He also spoke to Kimberling in person about his missing property. "As soon as Captain Schoeffel took command at Netcong [as Troop Commander], I told him about it...the only reply I ever got to my complaint of the things having been taken was: 'you are responsible for your equipment, Manyon!'"

Manyon continued his "agitation" and "propaganda", as Kimberling referred to it, in another letter dated May 9, 1923:


I have another matter to call to your attention...While I was
stationed at Washington a citizen of the town presented me
with a Harley-Davidson motor cycle and side car, the cycle
in need of some repair, but the side car practically new. I
wrote a Special Report in duplicate on the matter, setting
forth that the machine and side car were presented to the
New Jersey State Police. I have since learned that Sgt.
Cunningham destroyed my Special Report, and he and
[Trooper] Righter converted the cycle to their own use...At the
present time Righter calls this machine his own property...I
wish that you would see that the [motorcycle] is credited to
the State police, or allow me to dispose of it as I see fit --
which certainly would not be to deed it to Cunningham or
Righter. [46]
While Manyon continued his complaints against the State Police, the Warren County Prosecutor's Office had a complaint of its own against Manyon. Prosecutor Sylvester Smith, Jr., submitted a phone bill to Colonel Schwarzkopf in a letter dated May 18, 1923.


Manyon, while still in service, made several telephone calls
from the office of Smith and Smith...total due and owing
$1.80. These calls were charged to our private firm
account. Manyon never paid for these calls. It is a most
reprehensible practice and done without my consent or
permission, and although he was warned by the
stenographers in the office that these charges were against
the Firm account of Smith & Smith, and had nothing to do
with the State. [47]
It would be over a year before the State Supreme Court heard the case of John J. Manyon vs. H. Norman Schwarzkopf. The case was finally argued on July 17, 1924 before Associate Justice Thomas W. Trenchard. Tenchard had been on the bench since 1899. "He was a 'tall, dignified, scholarly looking man with a keen mind and a forceful demeanor.' Noted for his decisiveness, he was a 'stickler for the proprieties' in the courtroom." [48] Martin Devlin continued as Manyon's lawyer and both Francis Mcgee and Attorney General Edward Katzenbach represented the State.

It took Trenchard two months to render his decision and he delivered his opinion on September 20, 1924. After examining the record, and in light of the arguments presented by counsel, Trenchard concluded that the court should not interfere. "Under the statute the Superintendent of the State Police has the power to remove a corporal for sufficient cause, upon charges and after notice and a hearing." He continued that, "in my judgment the prosecutor [Manyon] was charged with conduct justifying his dismissal, and after due notice was duly and fairly tried before the proper authority as requried by the statute and was found guilty upon evidence which formed a rational basis for the judgment against him. The judgment and order of removal were therefore legal, and must be affirmed, with costs." [49]

Meanwhile, on July 30, 1924, twenty-three-year-old Postal Clerk Eugene L. Stack was working his early morning shift at the local post office in East Orange, New Jersey. His duties included meeting the "newspaper train" that carried mail, newspapers and "home-going suburbanites" at the Lackawanna Railroad Station. It was expected that the train would also be carrying at least $50,000 in Federal Reserve notes.

Stack met Train 353 at 4:50 in the morning and, with the help of assistant baggage man Golden B. Treadwell, gathered all of the mailbags onto a cart that he then wheeled into an elevator to take him to the street level. At the same time, they noticed two men jump off the rear of the train as it pulled out of the station.

While Stack wheeled his cart to the elevator, Treadwell walked over to one of the other baggage men to pick up a letter. The two strangers were now making their way up the platform, pretending to be drunk. When they saw Treadwell put the letter in his pocket, they thought he was reaching for a gun. The strangers "opened fire...from a distance of about ten feet. The shots went wild. Stack, in the meantime, leaped into the waiting elevator and stood guard next to his mail. [One of the strangers] fired again but he missed his mark the second time." Two bullets however hit Stack in his right thigh and his right thumb.

"'I backed into the elevator, where I quickly took my revolver from the holster...the men kept coming toward me, one of them following me into the elevator. I got behind the baggage truck. One of them fired low and I returned the shot. He must have fired three or four more times." [50]

The bandits tried to get away. One made it down the stairs to a waiting taxi and escaped. The other, who allegedly fired the first shot, was about to descend the stairs when "...Stack aimed once more and pulled the trigger. The bullet pierced [his] heart [and] he fell down the flight of steps and was picked up dead a few minutes later." [51]

Several local policemen who were going off duty heard the shots and ran towards the train station. They rushed Eugene Stack to the hospital and removed the dead criminal to the morgue. "The slain bandit was first identified by William Bross, a policeman of Orange, New Jersey, who [was] also an ex-member" of the New Jersey State Police. He had heard the commotion and wandered into the morgue simply out of curiosity. He was stunned to discover that the dead man was John J. Manyon, the ex-corporal who had been recently dismissed by Colonel Schwarzkopf.

In Manyon's pockets, the police found $60 "and some loose change, a 14-inch lead pipe, a police whistle and a key similar to that used for police alarm boxes." The editor of the State Police newsletter, the Triangle, wrote that this ordeal was "conclusive proof that the Colonel acted in the proper manner and that he was absolutely positive of the fact that Manyon was not the type of the man for our organization when he made his decision to dismiss him." [52]

The $50,000 that Manyon and his confederate thought was on the train was, in fact, sent on a different train. There was little or nothing of value for Manyon to steal from the train and before the robbery, young Eugene Stack had never fired a pistol. However, an autopsy showed that Manyon was not long for this world anyway; his Tuberculosis had gotten much worse and he would probably have lived only about another six months. [53]

Ironically, John Manyon died in the early morning hours of July 30, 1924, while the State Supreme Court was still deciding his suit against Colonel Schwarzkopf.


NOTES
[1] Weinmann, John C. Application for Commission. August 10, 1921.
[2] New Jersey State Police. Special Order 163. April 7, 1922.
[3] Powell, King J. Investigation. March 21, 1923.
[4] Powell, King J. Investigation. March 21, 1923.
[5] Manyon, John J. to Col. H. Norman Schwarzkopf. Refusal to submit resignation. March 26, 1923. Manyon had been gassed during World War I and suffered from acute tuberculosis. He spent time in the Glen Gardner asylum for Tuberculosis patients in 1922.
[6] Powell, King J. Investigation. March 21, 1923.
[7] Powell, King J. Investigation. March 21, 1923.
[8] Schwarzkopf, H. Norman. Court Martial Summary. April 10, 1923.
[9] Powell, King. J. Investigation. March 21, 1923.
[10] Powell, King J. Investigation. March 21, 1923.
[11] Powell, King J. Investigation. March 21, 1923.
[12] Powell, King J. Investigation. March 21, 1923.
[13] Powell, King J. Investigation. March 21, 1923.
[14] Powell, King J. Investigation. March 21, 1923.
[15] Powell, King J. Investigation. March 21, 1923.
[16] Powell, King J. Investigation. March 21, 1923.
[17] Powell, King J. Investigation. March 21, 1923.
[18] Powell, King J. Investigation. March 21, 1923.
[19] Powell, King J. Investigation. March 21, 1923.
[20] Powell, King J. Investigation. March 21, 1923.
[21] Powell, King J. Investigation. March 21, 1923.
[22] Powell, King J. Investigation. March 21, 1923. In his deposition, Warren County Prosecutor Sylvester Smith, Jr. stated that Captain Weinmann had visited his office and that he “appeared in a very jovial disposition. I smelled liquor on his breath. I cannot swear that he was intoxicated or drunk.” (Smith, Sylvester C. Jr. Affidavit. April 6, 2923).
[23] Powell, King J. Investigation. March 21, 1923.
[24] Powell, King J. Investigation. March 21, 1923.
[25] Schwarzkopf, H. Norman. Court Martial Summary. April 10, 1923.
[26] Powell, King J. Investigation. March 21, 1923.
[27] Powell, King J. Investigation. March 21, 1923.
[28] Powell, King J. Investigation. March 21, 1923.
[29] Powell, King J. Investigation. March 21, 1923.
[30] Powell, King J. Investigation. March 21, 1923.
[31] Powell, King J. Investigation. March 21, 1923.
[32] Powell, King J. Investigation. March 21, 1923.
[33] Powell, King J. Investigation. March 21, 1923.
[34] Smith, Sylvester C. Jr. Affidavit. April 6, 1923.
[35] Manyon, John J. To Col. H. Norman Schwarzkopf. Refusal to submit resignation. March 26, 1923.
[36] Manyon, John J. To Col. H. Norman Schwarzkopf. Refusal to submit resignation. March 26, 1923.
[37] Manyon, John J. To Col. H. Norman Schwarzkopf. Refusal to submit resignation. March 26, 1923.
[38] Kimberling, Mark O. Charges Against Corporal John J. Manyon, New Jersey State Police. March 27, 1923.
[39] New Jersey State Police. Special Order No. 34. March 31, 1923.
[40] Kimberling, Mark O. Letter to M.P. Devlin, Attorney for Cpl. John J. Manyon. April 2, 1923.
[41] Schwarzkopf, H. Norman. Summary of Court Martial. April 10, 1923.
[42] Schwarzkopf, H. Norman. Summary of Court Martial. April 10, 1923.
[43] Schwarzkopf, H. Norman. Summary of Court Martial. April 10, 1923.
[44] Manyon, John J. Letter to Tom [Littell?] April 30, 1923.
[45]Manyon, John J. Letter to Major Mark O. Kimberling. May 1, 1923. The letter continues for almost a whole page with a series of what could best be described as “accusatory questions” before getting back to the topic of his missing uniform.
[46] Manyon, John J. Letter to Mark O. Kimberling. May 9, 1923.
[47] Smith, Sylvester C., Jr. Letter to Colonel H. Norman Schwarzkopf. May 18, 1923.
[48] Falzini, Mark W. Their Fifteen Minutes: Biographical Sketches of the Lindbergh Case. iUniverse, Bloomington, IN., 2008. Page 136.
[49] New Jersey Supreme Court. Manyon v. Schwarzkopf. 100 N.J.L. February Term 1924.
[50] New York Times. Dead Mail Bandit Once State Trooper. August1, 1924.
[51] New York Times. Dead Mail Bandit Once State Trooper. August1, 1924.
[52]Death of Manyon Proves No Mistake in Dismissing Him.” Triangle. Volume 1 Number 5, July 1924, page 2.
[53]“Death of Manyon Proves No Mistake in Dismissing Him.” Triangle. Volume 1 Number 5, July 1924, page 2.

Works Cited
"Dead Mail Bandit Once State Trooper." New York Times [New York] 1 Aug. 1924.

"Death of Manyon Proves No Mistake in Dismissing Him." Triangle 1 (July 1924): 5.

Falzini, Mark W. Their Fifteen Minutes: Biographical Sketches of the Lindbergh Case. New York: IUniverse, 2008.

Kimberling, Mark O. Charges Against Corporal John J. Manyon, New Jersey State Police. 27 Mar. 1923.

Kimberling, Mark O. Letter to M.P. Devlin, Attorney for Cpl. John J. Manyon. 2 Apr. 1923. NJ State Police Museum, West Trenton, NJ.

Manyon, John J. Letter to Mark O. Kimberling. 1 May 1923. NJ State Police Museum, West Trenton, NJ.

Manyon, John J. Letter to Mark O. Kimberling. 9 May 1923. NJ State Police Museum, West Trenton, NJ.

Manyon, John J. Letter to Tom [Littell?]. 30 Apr. 1923. NJ State Police Museum, West Trenton, NJ.

Manyon, John J. "Refusal to Submit Resignation." Letter to Colonel H. Norman Schwarzkopf. 26 Mar. 1923. NJ State Police Museum, West Trenton, NJ.

Manyon v. Schwarzkopf. 100 N.J.L. February Term. New Jersey State Supreme Court. 1924.

New Jersey State Police. Special Order 163. 7 Apr. 1922. NJ State Police Museum, West Trenton, NJ.

New Jersey State Police. Special Order 34. 31 Mar. 1923. NJ State Police Museum, West Trenton, NJ.

Powell, King J. Investigation. 21 Mar. 1923. NJ State Police Museum, West Trenton, NJ.

Schwarzkopf, H. Norman. Court Martial Summary. 10 Apr. 1923. NJ State Police Museum, West Trenton, NJ.

Smith, Jr, Sylvester C. Affidavit. 6 Apr. 1923. NJ State Police Museum, West Trenton, NJ.

Smith, Jr, Sylvester C. Letter to Colonel H. Norman Schwarzkopf. 18 May 1923. NJ State Police Museum, West Trenton, NJ.

Weinmann, John C. Application for Commission. 10 Aug. 1921. NJ State Police Museum, West Trenton, NJ.