This article was written by John O'Rourke, a former Grand Master of the Hash House Harriers Singapore, the second oldest hash in the world. The HHHS holds a Gispert memorial run every year in February.
A. S. Gispert, generally regarded as the principal among the founders of the original Hash, KL (1938) was an accountant by profession with Evatth & Co with whom he worked in Singapore, Malacca and Kuala Lumpur. While in Malacca in the early part of 1938, he took part in weekly runs with a local group called Springgit Harriers, mostly Malayan Civil Service personnel. Later that year, Gispert was transferred to Kuala Lumpur where he apparently missed his weekly run with the Malacca group, and he set about trying to organise a similar group in the Malayan capital. After sometime, with the aid of Cecil Lee and ‘Horse’ Thompson, he managed to organise a new group. Nearly all the runners were members of the Selangor Club, sometimes referred to as the Hash House, and they therefore became known as the Hash House Harriers.
Gispert, as far as can be ascertained, organised the first run and appointed Cecil Lee and ‘Horse’ Thompson as Joint Masters. The group flourished and were able to celebrate their 100th run on 15 August 1941. The hares for this first Hash century were E. A. Ross and M. C. Hay.
Apart from the Harriers, Gispert's other main involvement was with the Selangor Battalion of the Federated Malay States Volunteers, where he was a Company Commander.
In the latter half of 1941, Gispert went on leave to Australia, but returned as soon as war broke out in the Far East. By the time he reached Singapore, the Selangor Battalion of the Federated Malay States Volunteers had been disbanded following the loss of most of the Malayan peninsula, and Gispert joined the 2nd Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders on 21 January 1942 where he was OC Mortar Platoon.
During the battle for Singapore, he was killed at Dairy Farm Road early on the morning of 11 February 1942.
The following extract is from the Official History of the 2nd Argylls:
"About 0400 hrs (11 Feb) a considerable force of Japanese from the track junction 751150 (751180) moved up the track for 200 yards to within ten yards of Battalion headquarters and halted. They surprised and silently caught Captain Gispert, the mortar office and three men (and killed them)."
Since his body was not identified, he is probably buried at Kranji War Cemetery in one of the graves marked "All Unknown Soldiers". His name is inscribed on the Memorial Wall.
The intervention of the Imperial Japanese Army brought hashing to a stop on 12 December 1941. But in August 1946 they were back in business having been reestablished by Torch Bennet, Philip Wickens and Cecil Lee, all prewar hashmen.
On 19 February 1962, Ian Cummings an ex-KL hashman founded a second Hash in Singapore. The rest, as they say, is history.
The following extract is reproduced from the book "Sunset of the Raj, Fall of Singapore 1942" by Cecil Lee, published by the Pentland Press, Durham:
I must mention my old friend "G", A. S. Gispert, an accountant, who was in command of "A" (M.G.) Company of the Selangor Battalion of the Federated Malay States Volunteer Force, who was on leave from his job when the Japanese War broke out. As soon as he could get back he did but by then Kuala Lumpur had been evacuated and his old command disbanded. He enlisted as a lieutenant in command of the mortar platoon of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders who had been much depleted. I saw him briefly when attached to the Argylls on the rearguard at Johor Bahru, but on the second night after the Japanese landings "G" was killed when his platoon was overrun in the night at Bukit Timah. So died a man who took a grave risk to fulfil a moral obligation. Incidentally he had started the Hash House Harriers which has since the war spread throughout the world, and now has some 500 branches -- a fitting memorial to my old friend.