Ursula Graham Bower
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Ursula Violet Graham Bower
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(later known as U. V. G. Betts) (15 May 1914 – 12 November 1988), was one of the pioneer
anthropologists An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and v ...
in the Naga Hills between 1937 and 1946 and a guerrilla fighter against the Japanese in Burma from 1942 to 1945.Cook, Bernard A
''Women and War: A Historical Encyclopedia from Antiquity to the Present''
Vol 1, ABC-CLIO Ltd, (2006) pg 76 .


Early life and family

Born in 1914 in England, the daughter of Commander John Graham Bower, RN (1886–1940), Ursula Bower was educated at
Roedean School Roedean School is an independent day and boarding school founded in 1885 in Roedean Village on the outskirts of Brighton, East Sussex, England, and governed by Royal Charter. It is for girls aged 11 to 18. The campus is situated near the Sus ...
; a shortage of family funds prevented her from finishing her school education and achieving her goal of reading archaeology at Oxford. On her father's remarriage in 1932, Bower became the stepdaughter of children's writer
Barbara Euphan Todd Barbara Euphan Todd (9 January 1890 – 2 February 1976) was an English writer widely remembered for her ten books for children about a scarecrow called Worzel Gummidge. These were adapted for radio and television. The title story was chosen as ...
, the creator of the fictional
scarecrow A scarecrow is a decoy or mannequin, often in the shape of a human. Humanoid scarecrows are usually dressed in old clothes and placed in open fields to discourage birds from disturbing and feeding on recently cast seed and growing crops.Lesley B ...
Worzel Gummidge Worzel Gummidge is a scarecrow in British children's fiction, who originally appeared in a series of books by the English novelist Barbara Euphan Todd.
. In the same year she travelled to Canada.


Early travels

She first visited
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
and, more specifically, the Naga Hills and Manipur, in 1937, at the invitation of Alexa Macdonald, whom she had met while on holiday on Skye, and who was staying with her brother who worked in the Indian Civil Service in Imphal. It was a trip where her mother had hoped she would meet a nice husband. Instead, she fell in love with the Naga Hills and their tribes. Bower returned alone to India in 1939 "to potter about with a few cameras and do a bit of medical work, maybe write a book". She spent some years as an
anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...
among the Nagas of the Naga Hills. She took more than a thousand photographs documenting the lives of local tribes which were later used in a comparative study.


World War II

At the start of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
she was in London, but planning to return to the Naga Hills. When the opportunity arose, she gained permission from the British administration to live among the Naga people in Laisong village, in what was then known as North Cachar. Here she won the friendship and confidence of the local village headmen, so that when the Japanese armies invaded Burma in 1942 and threatened to move on into India, the British administration asked her to form her local Nagas into a band of scouts to comb the jungle for the Japanese. Bower mobilised the Nagas against the Japanese forces, placing herself at their head, initially leading 150 Nagas armed only with ancient muzzle-loading guns across some of mountainous jungle.Keane, Fergal, ''Road of Bones: The Siege Of Kohima 1944. The Epic Story Of The Last Great Stand Of Empire'', Harper Press (2010) .
General Slim Field Marshal William Joseph Slim, 1st Viscount Slim, (6 August 1891 – 14 December 1970), usually known as Bill Slim, was a British military commander and the 13th Governor-General of Australia. Slim saw active service in both the First an ...
recognised the work she was doing and supported her with arms and reinforcements, giving her her own unit within
V Force V Force was a reconnaissance, intelligence-gathering and guerrilla organisation established by the British against Japanese forces during the Burma Campaign in World War II. Establishment and organisation In April 1942, when the Japanese drove t ...
, nicknamed "Bower Force". Bower's force of Nagas became so effective that the Japanese put a price on her head. She was the subject of an American comic book entitled ''Jungle Queen''. Her personal weapon of choice was the
Sten gun The STEN (or Sten gun) is a family of British submachine guns chambered in 9×19mm which were used extensively by British and Commonwealth forces throughout World War II and the Korean War. They had a simple design and very low production cost ...
, two of which she wore out in action. Trained as a child by her father to shoot, she had no qualms about handling firearms and training her Naga scouts in their use. By her orders guards were posted on main and secondary trails, and a watch-and-warn system was established. Over these trails thousands of evacuees, deserters, escaped prisoners and bailed-out airmen fled from Burma to India. Bower also directed Naga ambushes of Japanese search parties."Ursula and the Naked Nagas"
''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
''. 1 January 1945.
On 24 April 1945 she was appointed
Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
for her actions in Burma, and in 1944 she received the Lawrence Memorial Medal, named for
Lawrence of Arabia Thomas Edward Lawrence (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935) was a British archaeologist, army officer, diplomat, and writer who became renowned for his role in the Arab Revolt (1916–1918) and the Sinai and Palestine Campaign (1915–1918 ...
, for her anthropological work among the Nagas.


Post-War

Bower never received any formal training in anthropology, but her photographs, film and two monographs on the Nagas and the Apatani establish her as a leading anthropologist, alongside her friends J.P. Mills, Bill Archer and Christoph von Furer-Haimendorf. In 1950 she received a postgraduate diploma in anthropology from the
University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
.


Personal life

She met Lt. Col Frederick Nicholson Betts when he was serving in
V Force V Force was a reconnaissance, intelligence-gathering and guerrilla organisation established by the British against Japanese forces during the Burma Campaign in World War II. Establishment and organisation In April 1942, when the Japanese drove t ...
in Burma during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
and married him in July 1945. Betts, known as Tim, was appointed Political Officer in the remote and volatile Subansiri region towards Tibet, and they worked together to establish good relations and pacify the constantly battling
Dafla The Nyishi community is the largest ethnic group in Arunachal Pradesh in north-eastern India. In Nyishi, ''Nyi'' refers to "a human" and the word ''shi'' denotes "highland".The Nyishis are mentioned as the Daflas in the contemporary Ahom docu ...
and Apa Tani tribes, until Indian Independence demanded their removal. After returning with her husband to Britain in 1948, they grew coffee in
British Kenya British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
. Leaving Kenya because of the danger of local unrest, they relocated to the
Isle of Mull The Isle of Mull ( gd, An t-Eilean Muileach ) or just Mull (; gd, Muile, links=no ) is the second-largest island of the Inner Hebrides (after Skye) and lies off the west coast of Scotland in the Council areas of Scotland, council area of Arg ...
, where they brought up their two daughters, Catriona and Alison Betts, both of whom were educated at
Roedean Roedean is a village in the city of Brighton and Hove, England, UK, east of the seaside resort of Brighton. Notable buildings and areas Roedean Gap is a slight dip in the cliffs between Black Rock and Ovingdean Gap, and has been known by the ...
, like their mother, before attending university. After her marriage she was known as U. V. G. Betts. Her papers are held by the Centre of South Asian Studies at the
University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
.


Works based on her life

Two BBC Radio 4 programmes, ''The Naga Queen'', produced by Chris Eldon Lee and narrated by John Horsley Denton, and ''The Butterfly Hunt'', a play by
Matthew Solon Matthew may refer to: * Matthew (given name) * Matthew (surname) * ''Matthew'' (ship), the replica of the ship sailed by John Cabot in 1497 * ''Matthew'' (album), a 2000 album by rapper Kool Keith * Matthew (elm cultivar), a cultivar of the Ch ...
were based on the life of Ursula Betts and her husband F. N. Betts. A documentary film entitled ''Captured by Women'' (2011) featuring some of Ursula Graham Bower's photograph and object collections in connection with her own film footage of her time in Nagaland, India, was produced by The Oxford Academy of Documentary Film (OADF), with funding from the British Film Council (The National Digital Archive Fund – Screen South).Captured by Women
/ref> This was a collaborative project between OADF and the Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford, and directed by Dr Alison Kahn. The documentary includes the film footage and work of
Beatrice Blackwood Beatrice Mary Blackwood (3 May 1889 – 29 November 1975) was a British anthropologist, who ran the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford from 1938 until her retirement in 1959. Early life and education Beatrice Blackwood was born in London on 3 May ...
, another important anthropologist who collected photographs and objects from Papua New Guinea (among other places), and who also captured film footage of her time in the field in the 1930s.


Other sources

* Ursula Graham Bower. 1950. ''Naga Path'' London, John Murray. * Ursula Graham Bower. 1950. ''Drums Behind The Hill'', New York, Morrow. * Ursula Graham Bower. 1953. ''The Hidden Land'' London, John Murray. * Vicky Thomas, official biographer. 2012 'The Naga Queen', The History Press


References


External links


Interviewed by Alan Macfarlane 4 November 1985 (video)


* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bower, Ursula Graham 1914 births 1988 deaths People educated at Roedean School, East Sussex Members of the Order of the British Empire British women anthropologists English anthropologists 1942 in Burma English non-fiction writers British guerrillas British women in World War II 20th-century British women scientists Burmese military personnel of World War II British people in colonial India British people in British Burma