The History of the Chinthe
The chinthe (pronounced 'chin-thay'), the mythical Ieo-gryph of Burma, guardian of the temples, goes far back into Buddhist and Burmese mythology. The Mahavamsa, the Great Pall Chronicle of Ceylon (c 500 AD), tells the story somewhat like this.
A princess had a son through her marriage to a lion, but forsook the lion who then became the terror of the land. The son set out to slay the lion. When he found the lion he shot an arrow at him, but so great was the lion's unshaken love for his son that the arrow rebounded from the lion's brow and fell to earth at the youth's feet. Three times this happened. But then the lion grew wrathful; and when the youth let fly the fourth arrow, it pierced the lion's body and killed him. Thus the lion lost
his life because he had lost his self-possession and allowed wrath to pervade his heart.
Legend goes on to say that the son later erected a statue of the lion as guardian of the temple, to atone for this murder. Certainly, the chinthe (sometimes portrayed as half lion and half human) is revered and loved throughout Burma.
It is also a protector, which can pounce on the enemies of religion (ie the State), from nine different directions. Due to this superiority it was used symbolically on the royal thrones of Burma.
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The two chinthes which 'guard' the entrance to Burmah Castrol House are replicas of those which guard the Shwedagon Pagoda in Rangoon, and are the first ever to be officially exported from Burma. They are 8 feet high and together weigh over 5 tonnes. Before being sent to England they were blessed by Buddhist priests. The chinthes were shipped 10,000 miles to Southampton, transported to Swindon and were hoisted into position for the opening of the Burmah's Headquarters. U Han Tin, the sculptor, travelled with them to Swindon and helped with the installation. Burmah employee U Saw Shwe acted as interpreter. |
In 1994-95 the entrance to Burmah Castrol House was rebuilt. After extensive research to see whether the chinthes could be moved, they were enclosed in wooden 'kennels' to protect them during the work. The 'kennels' had mesh windows so the chinthes could still see out to protect the building.
(reproduced by kind permission of Burmah Castrol Ltd
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Against the Malayan Chinese Terrorists Squadron Organisation The Flights of the Squadron were based at many locations during the Emergency operation. At this date they were located as follows:
Analysis of the 150,000 Operational Hours
NOTE: In addition the Squadron has flown over 40,000 additional hours on training, air tests, demonstrations etc.
To celebrate this a parade was held at Noble Field where the Squadron was presented with a KRIS (Malayan traditional dagger) by Maj. Gen. Dato FH Brooke. CB. CBE. DSO. PNM, Chief of Staff, Federation Armed Forces, on behalf of the Malayan Prime Minister. It was the combined effort of all members of the Squadron, from the Army, Royal Air Force and Royal Navy, during the 11 years of Operations, which resulted in this magnificent achievement. updated 5th September 2010
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