| Frederick Markham Bailey |
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Born in Lahore on February 3 , 1882 , F.H.M. Bailey was the son of an officer in the British Army (who was also named Frederick, resulting in the younger Bailey usually being called just Eric). He studied in Sandhurst before returning to India as a member of the 32nd Sikh Pioneers . During a mission in Sikhim he began to study Tibetan , and became so proficient that he accompanied Francis Younghusband in his 1904 invasion of Tibet . He later traveled alone in unknown parts of China and Tibet, eventually earning the Gold Explorer's Medal from the Royal Geographical Society for his discoveries, including the blue poppy which now bears his name, the '' Meconopsis betonicfolia baileyi''. Bailey served on the Western Front during World War I , where he was shot in the arm. At the time he was serving in the Indian Expeditionary Forces as one of the few Urdu -speaking officers on the front. When his wound continued to worsen, he returned to England, but later joined the fight again at Gallipoli , where he was wounded twice more. One of Bailey's more well-known adventures occurred in 1918 , when he traveled to Tashkent in Central Asia on a mission to discover the intentions of the new Bolshevik government, specifically in relation to India. He eventually had to flee for his life from the city, and only escaped after taking on the guise of an Austrian POW and joining the Cheka , with an assignment to find a rogue British agent - that is, himself. Upon his return to England, he was a national hero. Bailey later recorded his exploits in his book ''Mission to Tashkent''. He was among the earliest to import the Lhasa Apso breed of dog into Britain. He was in contact with others interested in Central Asia including Richard Meinertzhagen . FURTHER READING
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