Netaji's choice of Wander W24 for grand escape to Germany

Netaji Subash Chandra Bose opted sturdy Wander W24 instead of his comfortable Studebaker President car for his grand escape from Kolkata to Germany to lead Indian freedom movement. He managed to escape CID sleuths as they mainly eyed upon his Studebaker President model.

Kolkata: Netaji Subash Chandra Bose's grand escape from Eligin Road residence in Kolkata to Gomo, later to Afghanistan and eventually to German to spearhead the Indian freedom movement always fascinated everyone. Researches have been ongoing over his escape.

He traversed 300 kilometres, uninhibited by the perilous terrain and road. A sturdy car was one of his mettle. When faced with the dilemma of choosing between Studebaker President model and Wander W24, Bose made the intelligent choice disregarding comfort.

On the wee hours of the night on January 16, 1941, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose set out on the journey on his Wander W24 turning it one of the most admired cars. As believed by many Netaji researchers including Sugata Bose, the great- grandson of Netaji and the son of Netaji's nephew Sisir Kumar Bose, is that the choice of Wanderer 24 was prompted by the motive to hoodwink the ruthless spies of British Indian Police, who were deputed in plain cloth in front of the Elgin Road residence for 24 hours. As recalled by some of them, the Wanderer W24 model came to the Bose family much later when the family members were using the Studebaker President model for quite some time.

Netaji's younger brother Sarat Chandra Basu, who later became the Union Minister after independence, purchased the German-made Wanderer W24 model in 1937. However, the car was registered in the name of his son and Netaji's nephew, Sisir Kumar Bose, who was medical student then.

"Since Sarat Chandra Bose mainly used the Studebaker President model, the model was very popular and that is why the vehicle was always under the scanner of the CID sleuths. However, the Wanderer 24 model, which was a sturdy car, was not that popular. So for the grand escape, Netaji chose that model," said Sugata Bose, a historian by profession.

"On January 16, 1941, at around 1.45 PM, Netaji came out of the Elgin Road residence through rear- stairs and my father and Netaji's nephew, Sisir Kumar Bose drove the whole night and travelled for 300 kilometres till Gomo railway junction. The rest is history," added Sugata Bose.

In 1957, the Netaji Research Bureau and Netaji Museum were set up and Wanderer W24 model was the first thing that was displayed. Till that time, Sisir Kumar Basu had been using this model regularly for his personal use. This car was also used in a Japanese documentary on Netaji that was shot in the year 1979. However, nothing is known about the fate of Studebaker President model owned by the Bose family during that period only.