That’s great Shat.

My granddad was stationed inCeylon(nowSri Lanka) as part of the Ordinance Survey with the Royal Engineers.

As well as playing football with the Gurkhas (who were barefoot!) he often tells us of the time they went to see an Indian Strongman.

Of the various feats he performed (pulling trucks with his teeth, bending steel bars etc) it was the smashing of a coconut on his head that was the subject of much hilarity. This chap apparently just kept smashing a coconut on his head, even though after several attempts his own head was torn and bloody from the relentless pounding….just to show the British how determined an Indian could be.

Oh, and after the war, he worked in sales for a steel company in the Midlands (Accles & Pollock) and helped develop a new manufacturing process do draw the barrels for the Sten Gun, resulting in improved accuracy and reliability.

I’ll have to try and get some photo’s of him up here.