Edward Quinan - Early Years and Career in Indian Army

Early Years and Career in Indian Army

E. P. Quinan was of Anglo-Irish descent and was born in Calcutta on 9 January 1885. His father died when he was ten years old. Although his mother later remarried, he was brought up and educated in Dublin by his grandparents and aunts until he went to Sandhurst in 1903.

He was commissioned into the Indian Army (27th Punjabis) in 1905. Before World War I, he served on active service on the North West Frontier of the British Indian Empire. During the war he fought in France and Mesopotamia. He served at the battles of Neuve Chapelle, Loos and the attempt to relieve Kut al Amara and was wounded at Beit Aisa.

He returned to India and the Frontier and was a staff officer in the 1919 Afghan War and the subsequent campaign in Waziristan. On one occasion, the aircraft in which he was conducting reconnaissance crashed but he survived unhurt. He wrote the official history of the Waziristan campaign which is considered by military experts to be the model of a campaign history. He was awarded an OBE for his staff work during this campaign. In 1930, he rose to the command of 3rd Battalion 8th Punjab Regiment) and was selected to attend the Imperial Defence College; an indication of his suitability for high command.

While in command at Jhansi in 1930, Amy Johnson, the famous British pilot, made a heavy landing on the parade ground during her epic flight from London to Australia. Quinan was instrumental in getting her Gypsy Moth repaired.

As a colonel in 1933, he was appointed an Instructor at the Indian Army Staff College in Quetta which is now in Pakistan. Among his immediate predecessors at the College was Auchinleck and his successor in 1934 was Montgomery. He then returned to his command in Jhansi.

In 1936, during the short reign of King Edward VIII, Quinan was appointed Aide-de-camp Brigadier to the King Emperor and was awarded the CB. He was posted to Dacca to assist in anti-terrorist operations against those fighting for Indian independence. In 1937, he commanded his troops in the campaign against the Faqir of Ipi in Waziristan and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order. He was promoted to major general at the end of 1937. In March 1938, he was forced to take sick leave due to high blood pressure and convalesced for a number of months in Osborne House before being declared fit again for active service in July 1938.