Peter Kemmis Betty

Lieutenant Colonel Peter Kemmis Betty MBE MC (5 May 1916 – 25 August 2016) was a British Indian Army officer who served with distinction during World War II and the Malayan Emergency. He was awarded the Military Cross for leadership during the Malayan Campaign.^[1]

Kemmis Betty was born in London to Colonel Hubert Kemmis Betty DSO, OBE. He was educated at Bradfield College and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. He was commissioned into the British Indian Army in 1936 and attached to the 1st Battalion, Royal Fusiliers.^[1]

In 1937, he joined the 2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles) and served in the Waziristan campaign (1936–1939). He later participated in the Malayan Campaign during World War II.

In December 1941, as a company commander, he helped delay Japanese advances at the Sungei Dipang River, covering demolition operations and allowing the withdrawal of Allied forces. For this, he was awarded the Military Cross in 1946.^[2]

Captured during the fall of Singapore, he was interned at Changi Prison. While imprisoned, he helped rewrite his battalion’s war diary and established a vegetable garden to supplement rations.^[1]

After World War II, he continued to serve, including during the Malayan Emergency, where he commanded the 2/2 Gurkhas and was mentioned in despatches. He later became Military Attaché in Kathmandu and served as Administrative Officer at the Royal Army Education Corps Depot in Beaconsfield.^[1]

After retiring in 1971, Kemmis Betty became Secretary of the Army Ski Association. He was an early and active member of The Sirmoor Club (the regimental association of the 2/2 GR). He died on 25 August 2016 at the age of 100.^[3]

He married Gemma St Maur in 1947. She predeceased him. The couple had three sons.^[1]

• Half a Banana: The Diary of a Gurkha Officer Imprisoned by the Japanese – A memoir of his POW experience.^[4]

• Gurkha Brigade Association – Half a Banana