Beginnings
“An extraordinary family saga, the Kiernander contribution to South Asia”.
D.W. Martin, The Changing Face of Calcutta.
Lt.Col. G.A.Kiernander with FM M. Ayub Khan, President of Pakistan.
(East Pakistan. 1966)
In 1965, my grandfather, George Albert Kiernander (1926-2006), then a lieutenant colonel in the Pakistan Army, wrote to the University of Uppsala in Sweden to research the history of the Kiernander family. This foray into the archives inspired his cousin, Benjamin David Kiernander (b. 1914), to painstakingly trace, in the pre-internet days of the 1980s, the earliest recorded origins of the family, and to construct our first comprehensive family tree.
B.D. Kiernander with the R.A.F.’s biggest bomber – the Lincoln.
(Khartoum, Sudan. 25 Jan. 1949)
Over the past few years, I have garnered from the internet and the British Library various snippets of information, and the purpose of this blog is to bring together, and so make sense of, these fragments. It is my hope that this will serve as a touchstone and a meeting place for others, so that our mutual history may be preserved and better understood.
The Kiernander family is rooted in British India, but branched across the British Empire and beyond, bearing testimony to a fascinating past.
8 Comments
Ronald J Dosman
December 20, 2016I am the Secretary of the OPP Veteran’s Assc. Chapter 3 Burlington, ON CAN. The following person is listed without further information in our Remembrance files and I have been trying to gather some info to complete the history.
Could this person be the one and the same depicted in this article.
from OPP Remembrance files. Photo is available.
George KIERNANDER
1926 – 2006
Aidan Kiernander
July 9, 2020Apologies for the late reply. The George Kiernander you are looking for is my grandfather. If you should like any more information please don’t hesitate to email. Many thanks, Aidan
Md Noor Imtiaz
July 6, 2024Your grandfather was a mighty man in the history of both Pakistan and Bangladesh. Being a Bangladeshi I can say that he was responsible for raising a batch of officers on the mighty East Bengal Regiment during the 1969-70 period from which we had great fighters for our war of freedom in 1971. Of the list of great and brave warriors, there was K. M Shafiullah, Khaled Musharraf, and others of note. He was called “Papa Tiger” by the officers of that batch and there are pictures of him posing with his junior officers in the East Bengal Regiment hall of honor.
I was also searching for him on google after seeing his picture in a documentary about the founding of the East Bengal Regiment. I also found the surname very interesting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcrGmMAS6Oc&ab_channel=SOMOYTV
If you go onto the above link, you can find a picture of your grandfather sitting with his freshly trained officers on the :31 second mark.
Thanks for compiling such an wonderful website.
Sebastian Cooper
October 14, 2017My great grandmother was Kathleen Kiernander who married William Ellicott in India at the turn of the 20th century. She and William are buried in Calcutta. My mother is very interested in her Kiernander heritage and is planning to write a book on the life of Johann Zacharias Kiernander. We have visited the house where he lived in Axtad in Sweden and the local library in Linköping, where the helpful librarians provided us with several documents about his life.
She would like to hear from any members of the Kiernander family who have any material about Johann that they would be willing to share with her and I would be grateful to receive any information via my email address and pass it on to her. Thank you.
Aidan Kiernander
July 9, 2020Hello Sebastian,
Apologies for my late reply. I have a great deal of info about JZK and would be very happy to share. I too am putting together something about JZK, and have been in close contact with the author Andrew Otis who wrote “Hicky’s Bengal Gazette” which features JZK quite prominentl. Please don’t hesitate to email me on akiernander@hotmail.com
Many Thanks,
Aidan Kiernander
Shafayat Ahmad
August 3, 2020Greetings! This is Major Shafayat Ahmad (Retired). I am a retired officer of Bangladesh Army currently living in the US. While I was serving in Bangladesh Army, I belonged to the East Bengal Regiment, the very regiment where your predecessor George Albert Kiernander proudly served. He commanded the 4th Battalion of my regiment twice. He also served as the Commandant of the East Bengal Regimental Centre (EBRC) back in 1968-69; a post that is affectionately called the “Papa Tiger”. Hence, he was the only Papa Tiger of European origin and the last non-Bengali Papa Tiger before our independence in 1971.
I did extensive research on the history of the regiment while I was serving at EBRC as a project officer to develop our regimental museum. Although I have retired from the army and left the country, I am still continuing my research. It would be an honour for me to get in touch with any of the descendants of one of our revered Papa Tiger.
Warm regards
Shafayat Ahmad
admin
August 5, 2020Major Ahmad,
Many thanks for your kind message. I have sent a reply to the supplied email address.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Warm Regards,
Aidan
Brig Gen (rtd) Hafiz
January 10, 2024Hi! A little while ago I was reading about George Albert Kiernander in a reminiscent of one of my retired colleagues. He has posted it in a Facebook forum of retired officers.
For a considerable period Albert, the legend, had served in this part i.e. erstwhile East Pakistan, what is now Bangladesh. He had great contributions in raising the East Bengal Regiment and served two terms as the Commanding Officer of 4 East Bengal Regiment -an Infantry battlion, revered for it’s gallant. He also served as the Papa Tiger (Commandant of East Bengal Regimental Centre) and helped the regiment grow.
Here he was promoted to the rank of Colonel and commanded an Infantry brigade at Rangpur (in the northern part of Bangladesh). As the situation here was rapidly changing, Colonel Albert was taken to West Pakistan.
My retired colleague recalls Albert with due respect and cites him as a true professional, farm yet soft spoken person and a fatherly gentleman.
Yes, he was a man who makes us proud as we learn about him; we are indebted to him and his family. May he rest in peace. Prayers for the wellbeing of all members of his family.
Regards!