SL-596L Brig Devine Jones DN

Dear Signallers,
I am sad to inform you about the demise of SL-596L Brig Devine Jones DN (Retd)(ex Signals converted to APTC)on 11 Jul 10 at 0100 hrs at Pune.
Next of Kin: Mrs Joan Devine (Wife)
Name of Children: Mr Craig Devine Jones(Son), Mr Geossrey Devine Jones (Son)
Date and time of Burial: 17 Jul 10.
We pray to Almighty to give peace to the departed soul and strength to all near ones and dear ones to bear this irreparable loss.

Those of you who wish to write a "Shradhanjli", may kindly send it for being posted on our weblog -
Chander Kamboj.
PS – Please also see email below received from Sigs Adm.
Sent: 13 July 2010 04:34

We regret to inform the sad demise of SL-596L Brig Devine Jones DN (Retd)(ex Signals converted to APTC)on 11 Jul 10 at 0100 hrs at Pune.
The details of his family are as follows:-
Details of illness/
Cause of death and hospital etc if known: Old age problems.
Next of kin
Name and relationship: Mrs Joan Devine (Wife).
Name of Children: Mr Craig Devine Jones(Son), Mr Geossrey Devine Jones (Son)
Date and time of Burial: 17 Jul 10.
Other Information about Officer
1. Date of birth: 15 Aug 1928.
2. Date of Retirement: 14 Aug 1982
3. Date of Demise: 11 Jul 10 at 0100 hrs
6. Last appointment held: Comdt ASPT, Pune (1976-78): Dir APTC AHQ (1978-82).
7. Any other information: Converted to APTC wef 27 Apr 1962.

Maj Gen RK Gupte PVSM

My wife and I were away in Singapore to attend the graduation ceremony of our grandson from 3 to 10 Jul. We left Dun on the 1st and were thus away from touch with Corps domestc matters.
Very saddened to learn of Gen Gupte's departure from his earthly abode. He was a professionally very competent officer with a pleasing personality. Possessed with great strength of character and high standards of a devoted husband, he looked after his partially disabled wife, without show of any distress.
May God bless his soul,
MS Sodhi
Lt Gen MS Sodhi
Former SO-in-C

Lt Col DAJ Beeby

I knew Col DAJ Beeby when he was a major in the then School of Signal. An absolute gentleman and wonderful officer. I never had the opportunity of serving under him as I was then in the Tactical Wing. I heard of his untimely and sudden death whilst driving. Luckily he had stopped at a controlled crossing and his wife was sitting at his side. When the lights went green and he did not drive on, she found him to be dead. I got the information from his daughter Christine Witton with whom I am in contact and she informed me. I was so stunned at his passing. We did often exchange emails. He was a wonderful person. May God rest his soul in peace.
Digby

Col DS Ghonkrokta

My wife Usha and self convey our heartfelt condolences to Mrs Neena. We were together at Pune 4 RMC and had known the family well and felt sad when we read the news of Col's demise. We pray to God for peace to Col's soul and pray for strength to Mrs. Neena & their daughters to bear the loss. They will miss him for he was always affectionate to them and guiding them. It was a happy togetherness we had with them while at Pune (1994-97)

Col was friendly and helpful and we always remember him and his family with fondness. We will get in touch with the family on phone.
Jayaraman
Lt Col(retd)
Ex OC 4RMC

Maj Gen RK Gupte

Gen RK Gupte was an officer and gentleman in the true sense. Few spouses can emulate the nursing and care he ministered to his wife, when she became a semi-invalid after her accident, selflessly attending to her every need. He carried the same calm and patience to his profession. I never saw him loose his control and his expertise was conveyed more by suggestion and instruction rather than criticism. As one of his corps CSO's I fine tuned many points of Signalmanship, just by observing his conduct.
Our paths crossed on numerous occasions and we remained in touch for many years till we drifted apart after retirement. I cherish our association. OM SHANTI to his soul.
Maj Gen Sushil Nath (Retd)

Maj Gen RK Gupte

Maj Gen RK Gupte was a highly professional officer who had an outstanding career. Technically very sound, dedicated and forward looking. He was a thorough gentleman, very friendly and helpful indeed. He always measured his words, kept calm and composed but gave his views candidly.

I can say these words because he was our instructor in Degree Engineering Course and subsequently my GSO2 in Sigs Dte. In later years, when I was CSO Southern Command as he was, we reaped the benefits of his long term planning, covering immense area of the desert and schemes set forth for static communications over very long distances in desolate areas.

The Corps and the Army should remember his services and laud them. What the Corps is today is due to hard work, planning and forward thinking of officers like Maj Gen RK Gupte.

May God rest the departed soul in peace and give strength to the family and friends to bear the immense loss.
Harbhajan Singh
Lt Gen (Retd), PVSM
Former Signal Officer-in-Chief and Senior Colonel Commandant

IC-02390M Maj GEN R K Gupte PVSM

Dear Chander,
As per Apr 1981 Corps List IC-02390M Maj GEN R K Gupte was born on 5 Jan 1928, commissioned on 12 /12/1947 seniority wef 3/5/1947
I hope this will help
He was CSO Southern Command in early 80's swhen i was with CSO Rajasthan/ 14 Sig Gp. He was a Signal Officer who could hold his own in any forum due to his sheer simplicity with which men of deep knowledge distinguish themselves. Besides profession he was a connoisseur of all types arts&music.His remarkable devotion to his wife who needed his constant attention after an accident, was another touching part of his personality. Always at ease with himself he made us all at ease to get the best out of us.
i am sad to hear about his passing away & will cherish my professional association with him as a fortune.
regards,
Col K K Malhotra, Signals

Dear Chander,
Gupte and I had been close friends for six decades. It is indeed very sad. I had lunch with him in his flat at Chalunkye Vihar a couple of years back. He sacrificed his brilliant career to look after his wife. All his friends will miss his brilliance, warmth and caring.
-Bhanu Kumar Rai

IC-02390M Maj Gen RK Gupte PVSM

Dear Signallers,
I am sad to inform you about the demise of IC-2390 Maj Gen RK Gupte PVSM (Retd) on 06 Jul 10 at 0415hrs at CH Pune.
Next of Kin: Mrs Arundhati NK (Wife)
We pray to Almighty to give peace to the departed soul and strength to all near ones and dear ones to bear this irreparable loss.
Those of you who wish to write a "Shradhanjli", may kindly send it for being posted on our weblog -
http://reportmysignal-shradhanjli.blogspot.com/
In sorrow -
Chander Kamboj.

Signals
We regret to inform the said demise of IC-2390 Maj Gen RK Gupte PVSM (Retd) on 06 Jul 10 at 0415hrs at CH Pune. The details of his family are as follows:-
Details of illness: Old age
Next of Kin: Ms Arundhati NK (Wife)
Name of Children: Anirudh Gupte (Son)
Date and time of cremation: 06 Jul 10 at 1230hrs
1. Date of birth: 05 Jan 1928
2. Date of Seniority: Jun 1948
3. Date of retirement: 05 Jan 1984
4. Date of demise: 06 Jul 10
5. Last appointment held: CSO Southern Comd
(AS Mankoo)
Lt Col
Dir Sigs Adm
For SO-in-C

Rear Admiral SS Jamwal: Rest in Peace

Thursday, 8 July 2010
Rear Admiral Satyendra Singh Jamwal, one of the Indian Navy's rising stars, died in a range accident in Kochi on the 7th of July when a 9mm pistol that had jammed accidentally discharged in his direction.
When I last spoke to my friend, schoolmate, NDA-mate and fellow-officer, Rear Admiral Satyendra Singh Jamwal, there wasn’t the smallest inkling of the terrible tragedy that lay just ahead. “Jammy”, as he was called in the navy --- or “Tiri” as he was nicknamed by the boys (and girls) at the Lawrence School Sanawar, near Simla --- had rung me up from Kochi to invite me to give his officers a talk on China, a subject that I am co-authoring a book on.
Jammy was his usual cheerful, upbeat self. “Our naval officers have no choice but to be strategic thinkers and I will do what I can to make that happen”, he boomed. There was no way I could say anything but, “finalise the dates and tell me when to come.”
Fate, alas, has ruled out that meeting. For me, the end is more than just professional regret at seeing a future naval chief snatched away by the unstoppable hand of death. For me, this is the shocking end of an association with a slim, small, utterly decent young boy who went on to become a 6 foot, 4 inch bodybuilding champ and professional star in that most demanding of Indian institutions: the military.
That Rear Admiral SS Jamwal was a potential navy chief is, to anyone who knows the Indian Navy, hardly a revelation. Not because he was the ADC to the President; that is a purely decorative job that, given his film star looks, was hardly an accomplishment. But when he was selected to oversee the completion of INS Beas, and to be its commissioning CO, it was clear that Jammy had made a mark as the Executive Officer of the INS Delhi. And, as Naval Attache to Moscow, Jammy left his imprimatur as pointsman during the most contentious phase of the Gorshkov negotiations and the nuclear submarine negotiations.
We talked often over the phone while he was in Moscow and always had a meal together when he travelled to India. Given the man he was, we never ever spoke about the top-secret negotiations that he handled through those years. He was too committed a professional to reveal any secrets and I was too good a friend to pose any dilemmas for him.
I also had the pleasure of hosting his lovely wife, Geeta --- together they made the most striking couple you could imagine. They were always close, shared many interests and were enormously proud of each other and of their two lovely children.
To suggest --- as many newspapers and TV channels are obliquely doing, without the slightest proof --- that Admiral Jamwal had committed suicide is an indicator of how low India’s media has sunk. True, the police have registered a case of “unnatural death”. What else was the media expecting in a death in a range accident?
It is regrettable that we have plumbed such depths that the feelings of a bereaved family --- you can imagine their emotions when they see today’s newspapers --- are not as important as an “interesting” headline.
We were fortunate --- those of us who knew Rear Admiral Satyendra Singh Jamwal as schoolmates in The Lawrence School, Sanawar; brothers-in-arms in the National Defence Academy and the military; and those of us who knew Jammy as a friend or a much-loved relative --- to have benefited from his warmth, honesty and cheerful good nature.
On behalf of all of them, I pray for everlasting peace to his soul.
R.I.P.
Posted by Broadsword at 14:06 Ajai Shukla

Rear Admiral SS Jamwal

Mystery shrouds the death of a top official of the Southern Naval Command S S Jamwal, who died today after a bullet pierced his skull, with the police suspecting suicide but the navy describing it as a case of "accidental firing"
51-year-old Rear Admiral Jamwal, Chief of Staff of the Southern Naval Command, the second ranked naval officer here, was at the training establishment's small arms firing range of 'INS Dronacharya' when the accidental firing occurred around 1030 Hours, naval spokespersons said.
The Navy has ordered an investigation into his death but it was tight-lipped about how the accident occurred.
A case of 'unnatural death' has been registered and top police sources said on condition of anonymity that it appeared to be a case of suicide. Family problems could be behind it, they said.
The body of Admiral Jamwal, a highly accomplished officer, was shifted to a hospital and further probe is in progress.
However, the local naval establishment dismissed reports of suicide as speculative.

"If the Chief of Staff wants to commit suicide he need not not go to the firing range. He was accompanied by his entire staff including the staff of Dronacharya. It was an official, planned visit to a firing range to check the progress of training.
"He was accompanied by his full staff including the Executive Officer of Dronacharya, the firing officer, head of the range, everyone prresent," Commodore Ajayakumar told reporters.
Commodore Kumar, Commanding Officer of 'INS Venduruthy' and naval officer in charge of Kerala, said that Jamwal died as a 9 mm pistol he was inspecting accidentally went off.
Jamwal was at 'INS Dronacharya' on an official visit to monitor training of the second batch of 'Sagar Prahatri Bal', the new force being raised by the navy for coastal security in which 24 cadets were undergoing training. The training had commenced on Monday and today was the day for firing practice, he said.
The Rear Admiral, Commodore Kumar said, had said he himself would do some firing practice and first used the Insas and later the 9 mm pistol. Unfortunately the pistol misfired twice.
While he was inspecting it from close range to ascertain the cause of the misfiring, it suddenly went off, he said.
"The muzzle was pointing towards his head and during that time the gun went off accidentally," Commodore Kumar said.
Though he was rushed to the hospital, he was declared brought dead. Jamwal, who hailed from Jammu, leaves his wife, son and a daughter.
Commodore Kumar said a board of inquiry has been ordered to go into the incident to find out the reasons and it would file a report in 10 days.
Ruling out suicide, he said Admiral Jamwal was a very happy man. "I had never seen in despair. There were a lot of trainees there and his staff officer was accompanying him," he said.

Rear Admiral Jamwal was commissioned in the Executive Branch of the Indian Navy as a Surface Warfare Officer on July 1, 1980, and had specialised in anti-submarine warfare (ASW).
He was an alumnus of Lawrence School at Sanawar, National Defence Academy (NDA), Grechko Naval War College in the then USSR, Defence Services Staff College at Wellington and Army War College at Mhow.
His appointments included tenures on Indian naval ships -- Taragiri, Atul, Rajput, Ranvijay and Command of Ships Vibhuti and Kuthar, Commissioning Executive Officer of Guided Missile Destroyer INS Delhi and Commissioning Commanding Officer of Guided Missile Frigate INS Beas.
His staff appointments at Naval headquarters included Joint Director of Staff Requirement and Director Naval Operations.
During his training assignments, he was the Executive Officer at Naval Academy in Goa and Instructor at ASW School, Kochi. He has also been the Aide-de-Camp to the President of India between 1983 and 1985.
On promotion to Flag Rank on September 1 last year, he took over as Chief of Staff of the Southern Naval Command, which also handles all training activities of the Navy.
Prior to this, he was a Naval Attache at the Indian Embassy at Moscow, Russia
Mystery Shrouds Top Naval Officer's Death
Kochi | Jul 07, 2010
Jamwal took over as Chief of Staff of the Southern Naval Command on September 1, 2009. Earlier, he was naval attaché at the Indian Embassy in Moscow. An alumnus of Lawrence School Sanawar, National Defence Academy, Grechko Naval War College (Russia), Defence Services Staff College (Wellington) and the Army War College, Jamwal had in his 30-year service specialised in anti-submarine warfare to find, track and deter, damage or destroy enemy subs and was now an instructor in the same.
Originally from Jammu, Jamwal is survived by his wife Geeta and two children who live in Delhi. He was commissioned into the Navy on July 1, 1980. His father Major General Jagdish Singh Jamwal (retd) lives in Jammu.
Jamwal’s afloat appointments included tenures on Indian naval ships Taragiri, Atul, Rajput and Ranvijay. He also commanded the Vibhuti and Kuthar and was commissioning executive officer of guided missile destroyer Delhi and commissioning commanding officer of guided missile frigate Beas. He was the Aide-de-Camp (ADC) to the President of India from 1983 to 85.
Top Naval officer killed in freak firing- It was an accident, says Navy; police suspects suicide: Tribune News Service & Agencies
Rear Admiral Jamwal killed in accidental gunfire S. Anandan The Hindu

Lt Col Beeby

Just read the Email regarding the demise of Col Beeby. Please convey my heartfelt condolences to his wife HILDA in Australia. Dudley served with me before my retirement in 1976 and I have very fond memories of him.
God bless his soul.
All good wishes.
Major General Krishna Tewari

Col DS Ghonkrokta

Dear Neena,
All of us feel deeply aggrieved and shocked on hearing of the sad demise of our beloved coursemate Col DS Ghonkrokta, it was only a few days back that we were together, one cannot imagine that the end was so close. He put up a very brave front fighting the disease for almost 21 years,and was cheerful and full of life, it was his will determination,and your looking after, sacrifice,and all out support that helped to sustain. being also my room mate at IMA days I shall always miss him as a true friend and a role model. Not only has the Corps lost a very competent officer its a great loss for the Army as a whole. Nature has been very unkind, at this hour of distress Anju, self, Vinod Ravi Sir we are all with you and pray to the Almighty for the eternal peace of the departed soul, and to give you strength & fortitude to bear this tragic loss. Please accept our heartfelt condolences.
In grief
K Dalbir Singh & family

Col DS Ghonkrokta

I had the privilege of serving with this fine officer in 8 Mtn Div Sig Regt in 1976-77. He was then a young subaltern and I was the 2IC of the Regt. Devinder as he was popularly known in the Regt was one of the finest young officer I have ever come across in my entire service. Extremely energetic and with a good sense of humour, he was loved by all his colleagues. A very fine sportsman too, the fact that the Sig Regt won all Div Tps sport events was due to a large measure his contribution.

He met me again in 1993 when he was diagnosed for Cancer. The mere fact that he lived so many years after contracting the dreaded disease shows his never die and positive attitude to life. I met him last about a year back in RR Hospital Delhi. Even then his broad smile and energy in his manner of speech indicated his positive attitude to life.

I pray to God to give this fine Officer and Gentleman a nice corner in Heaven.

I am sure he would have put all documentation in place so that his wife Neena does not have any problems in her life ahead. In case there are any loose end to be tied, I volunteer to extend help.
Maj Gen L Tahiliani

Col DS Ghonkrokta

Please convey our condolences to Mrs Neena ghankoktra. Col Ghankoktra was with me, on attachement, at HQ Southern Command where I was Col Sigs in 1992. He was a very bright officer, whose UN Mission Botswana tenure was cut short as he was dignoised as Luekemia. However, with his strong will power and love to live for his two very pretty daughters, that he sustained for next 18 years. He used to take treatment from one Vaid in Noida, Delhi. He was a fine ,simple human being, a typical Himachali Dogra.
God bless his soul.
Col H G Karkare