Who appointed Mountbatten?
Sudhir Ghosh in his Gandhis Emissary (mostly Gandhi’s original letters) writes (page 44) ‘It was during this visit to London that Cripps brought together Mr. Nehru and Viscount Mountbatten, a relation of the Royal family who had a distinguished career as Supreme Commander of the Alliance Forces of the South East Command; and Cripps told Nehru that if he felt that he and Mountbatten could work together then he would do his best to get Mountbatten appointed as Viceroy in Wavell’s place.’ Contradicting this statement Hodson writes (page 213) as a footnote ‘A story in Gandhi’s Emissary by Sudhir Ghosh, that in December 1946, Sir Stafford Cripps brought Mountbatten and Nehru together in London is without any foundation in fact.’ Space does not permit me to elaborate on Who appointed Mountbatten but please read pages 467 to 470 of The Cripps’s Version by Peter Clarke for documentary evidence about the veracity of Sudhir Ghosh’s statement. Therefore, Hodson’s statement is false. Further evide
