London, leaving General Douglas Gracey, the Chief of General Staff, as the Acting Commander-in-Chief On his return, he stopped in Delhi, where Lord Mountbatten made him swear that he had not been asked for, nor had he provided, any help to the tribesmen. But within a week he was found providing arms and ammunition to the Pakistani invading forces. He complained to Governor George Cunningham of the NWFP that Mountbatten had gone over to the side of the "Hindus". Pakistani officers narrate that both Messervy and Gracey were involved in running the day-to-day operations of Pakistan's Kashmir War. Officers were loaned out for commanding the rebel forces and shown on records as being absent. Nevertheless, Messervy issued a statement on 12 November 1947, denying that any "serving Pakistan Army officers are directing operations in Kashmir", which was cited by Pakistan in the UN Security Council debates as proof of Pakistan's innocence. Messervy was relieved of his post on 15 February 1948, leading to his retirement in 1948. He was granted the honorary rank of general. Later, he wrote an influential article on Kashmir in the Asiatic Review, where he alleged that India had planned to militarily intervene in Kashmir several weeks before the event. He opined that if the pro-India National Conference party was allowed to hold power in Kashmir, India would likely win a plebiscite, but if Pakistan was allowed to hold on to the areas that it had captured, a Pakistan win was 'even more certain'. He had 'few doubts' as to which dominion most people of Kashmir would choose. Historian Gowher Rizvi states that influences of this kind persuaded the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs Philip Noel-Baker to ensure that Pakistan's viewpoint was "not ignored" in the UN Security Council. Messervy died at home in the small village of Heyshott in the south of England on 2 February 1974. Family In 1927 he married Patricia Waldegrave Courtney daughter of Lt Col Edward Arthur Waldegrave Courtney. They had a daughter and two sons. Career Commissioned into the British Indian Army (1913) Commissioned into the 9th Hodson's Horse (1914) Brigade Major – (1928–1932) Instructor (GSO2) at Command and Staff College, Quetta (1932–1936) Commanding Officer, 13th Duke of Connaught's Own Lancers (1938–1939) General Staff Officer 1, Indian 5th Infantry Division, East Africa (1939–1941) Commanding Officer Gazelle Force, Sudan and Eritrea (1940–1941) Commanding Officer, 9th Indian Brigade, Ethiopia (1941) General