Molly & I did not know Joan and Jimmy  well, but their visit to us at the remote Christian Mission Hospital at TANK in the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan is etched in one's memory. We were surgeons there for many years, and engraved in the communal memory of the hospital was the name of Pat Duncan, Jimmy's brother, once Assistant Commissioner of the District and great supporter of the hospital.

At the time of Partition of British India, and the ghastly atrocities committed on the minority  populations  (perhaps 2 million were slaughtered), Pat Duncan was instrumental in saving scores of Hindu lives in the area.  He was one of the few British officers who stayed on under the new Pakistan government and was promoted as District Commissioner ('Political Agent') of the neighbouring tribal area of South Waziristan. But he was murdered by a lone tribesman during a Jirga, tribal meeting, who was himself then shot by the loyal ones.

Pat, a very committed Christian, then had a ward in the mission hospital named after him. Jimmy and Joan had come out to visit the scene and area  of his brother's devoted and inspirational service. We immediately formed a lasting friendship with this great couple, though by force of circumstances it was mainly by correspondence.

Though many years have passed, the memory is still green.

Ron Pont (now retired in Twyford, Nr. Winchester )