Page 101 - The Wish Stream Year of 2021 (Crest)

he maintained their morale at difficult moments, such as when men were lost or wounded. These episodes could be accurately recorded as Jary could draw upon the experiences of the pla- toon command team which, unusually, had also largely survived the war. On p.7 of his book, he makes an important observation on leadership:
Successful leadership in battle, although complex and intangible, always seemed to me to depend on two factors. Firstly, soldiers must have confidence in their leaders’ professional ability and, sec- ondly, they must trust them as men.
Sound leadership – like true love, to which I suspect it is closely related – is all powerful. It can overcome the seemingly impossible and its effect on both leader and led is profound and lasting.
With such observations on leadership at small formation level, perhaps unsurprisingly, the book became a key text for officer cadets from late-1987 onwards. Copies of the book are still available from the Academy library. Similarly, the medals, donated by his widow Helene Jary, can be viewed in the library’s biography room.
The Sandhurst Collection is not a static collec- tion and is able to continue fulfilling its purpose because it acquires new items. This year has seen a mixture of objects, artwork and archives added to the Academy’s collection.
The largest acquisition was a set of contempo- rary artwork purchased from the artist, Mr Doug- las Farthing MBE. Farthing is a former sergeant major in the Parachute Regiment, which he joined in 1984, and left full-time in 2007 when he took up art professionally. He started at the Ware- house Studio in Lowestoft where he met sev- eral well-known and influential local artists who helped with his techniques. Farthing still served in the army, however, taking part in Op Veritas in Afghanistan 2001-2014, where some of the art from this acquisition was produced. In 2015, he developed further after joining the Royal Drawing School on their ‘The Drawing Year’ postgradu- ate programme. He continues to produce work at his Lowestoft studio and much has been acquired by the National Army Museum, the 4th Battalion Parachute Regiment, the 3rd Battalion Royal Anglian Regiment, the Snibston Discovery Museum, Leicester, and many other private col- lections. RMAS has acquired five oil paintings
and thirty prints of etchings done by Farthing on operations. Five of the oil paintings are repro- duced here, but the entire collection can be seen hanging in the ground floor left-hand foyer of the Leadership, Security and Warfare faculty build- ing. A proportion of the work also continues up the stairs and onto the landing of the department of War Studies.
Other examples of acquisitions include items which were either used or belonged to previous staff and cadets. Firstly, two horse hooves and a handsome piece of equestrian sculpture, which belonged to a long-serving groom, came to the Academy via a local solicitor upon the death of the groom’s widow. For 41 years, Mr Albert S Denton BEM was groom to the adjutants’ charg- ers; between 1938 and 1982 he served 18 adju- tants and looked after nine chargers. Following the Commandant’s rehearsal for the Sovereign’s Parade on 4th August 1982, a farewell party was held in the Indian Army Memorial Room where Denton received the ‘bronze’ statue (actually resin) which has now come back to Sandhurst. As can be seen from the image, a number of previous adjutants and assistant adjutants were present, most notably, Major General the Earl Cathcart who served as a Sandhurst adjutant after the Second World War. Regard- ing the hooves, Mr Denton had already served for some time when he was presented with the hoof of ‘Dastur’ in 1964. Dastur had been the adjutant’s charger for 18 years and carried eight successive adjutants. Denton was also given the hoof of ‘Mars’, Dastur’s successor, who served between January 1964 and August 1970. Den- ton was obviously much valued and respected as attested not only by these gifts, but also by the naming of the space between the polo sta- bles and Old College headquarters as ‘Denton’s
Medals of Captain Jary being prepared for mounting, these include: Military Cross, 1939-45 Star, France and Germany Star, Defence Medal, British War Medal, General Service Medal with Palestine 1945-48 clasp, Medal of the Légion d’honneur, Chevalier class
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