harrym (still on your #6401, as there's such a wealth of material in it),
What seems to have been your experience in "Cal" in summer '45 reflects a tremendous change in the status and treatment of "BORs" - "British Other Ranks", compared with what I'd found up to summer '44, which was the last time I was there (I spent my last 18 months 1400 miles away in South India, and never saw Calcutta again).
Your: ".......a “tin” trunk.....more important was its resistance to damp or entry by undesirables (scorpions etc)."
The cheap (Rs20-30) bazaar tin trunk wasn't all that damp-proof, I lined mine with a balloon fabric liner sewn up by the dherzi in a shape which fitted into the corners. The main purpose was to keep the white ants out !
The scorpion was more a dry-season hazard, but there were plenty of other horrible invertebrates with infinite numbers of legs which appeared in the monsoon. Even so, I take it that you tapped your shoes and slippers out every time before putting them on - the inside of the toes being a favourite spot for a scorpion to bed down!
And your: "......hordes of ragged porters.......but as I reached into my pocket I realised the noise had ceased.......!"
Decrepit and bandy-legged or not, they could move through the crowd with impressive speed, it was vital to keep them in sight all the time - or you might never see your luggage again ! Your brand new trunk (and bedroll ?) would mark you out as likely prey !
If he were an "official" station bearer, he would have a numbered brass plate on an armband or on his pugri (pagri ?), the head-pad. It was vital to note this number before entrusting your baggage to him, then you had some come-back. There were even more unofficial bearers, but then you were on your own with them.
"Sixpence", I guess, would be a four-anna coin. As the "proper" rate for Sahibs, IIRC, was a two-anna - and he'd be lucky to get half that from a Bengali gentleman - he was pushing his luck ! No pangs of guilt needed, Sir.
And your: ".......but an Indian 3rd Class carriage was never designed for comfort...... only bare slatted wooden benches".
I find this beyond belief. This must have been a "special" military train, for otherwise all BORs were entitled to travel on normal services in 2nd-Class 4-bunk "cabins" (officers always in 1st-class - much the same thing but better upholstery).
Did they really put British SNCOs and airmen into 4th-Class ? - (open-plan and the cheapest - except for travel on the roof, or hanging on the sides, for which the locals negotiated a price from the train guard - what happened when they came to a tunnel - or an oncoming train passed on the opposite track ? Don't know and don't like to think). 3rd-Class was like 4th but with some upholstery.
(Your #6410),
"To all who have been kind enough to comment on my scribbling - the next instalment will follow shortly, but things will slow down a bit after that as I am still working on completion of the rest!"
Can they slow down a bit now, please, as I'm still struggling to catch up with my exegesis on your #6401 !!
Cheers, Danny.