Burma Star Association - B.C. Chapter
I am pleased to say that the whole trip - four weeks - went off very much as planned.
Percy Smith , the V.P. of our BSA Branch made arrangements for members of the Vancouver Branch to attend the BSA Reunion in BLACKPOOL, Lancashire and four of us were able to participate. We left Vancouver at 8pm. Wednesday June 12th by AIR CANADA bound for Heathrow where we had a 3-1/2 hour wait before going to another terminal to catch a plane to MANCHESTER and finally by train to BLACKPOOL. There had been some delay enroute so we did not arrive, exhausted, at Blackpool until lOpm on the 13th. However, Percy had alerted the keeper of the Hotel that we would be late and the manager retained a chef especially to arrange a late supper for the four of us. This was very much appreciated as we had not had the opportunity to get a meal since arriving from Canada
The accommodation was reasonably good although the elevator to our floor should have been consigned to an antique collection years ago. It was of the type where the occupants had to manipulate two very awkward doors - (one on the 'lift' itself and one on each floor) at the start and end of each elevation and descent. It had the stated capacity for THREE persons. With three aboard one had to be very careful not to be guilty of indecent assault if any well endowed female was present; however, it made for a conversation piece and proved that the hotel clientele had a delightful sense. of humour !!!!
The meals were very good - as was the service. The beds (mine anyway) comfortable, but the scene across the backs of row houses was hardly inspiring- but c'est la vie !!! Archie -- and I shared one room, Percy and Joe another, so Archie and I travelled together. We acquired a 3-day pass which enabled us to use the street-cars (trams) for the trip to and from the famous WINTER GARDENS where the major functions took place.
We were the only BSA Members from Vancouver and had travelled the farthest to attend so consequently found ourselves being afforded V.I.P. Status which meant being included in the party set up to meet the Mayor & Mayoress and Councillors of Blackpool at the 'official greeting on the Saturday and again on Sunday when we met the VISCOUNT ( John) SLIM , son of General Slim, whose name is forever linked with the Burma Campaign. At the reception, followed by refreshments, the Viscount himself went to the bar to get me a beer !!! The first- and in all probability the ONLY time that I have ever been served by the Nobility.!!!! I must say that he was very affable and gracious.
I think that all who attended would say that the OUTSTANDING event on each day was the presentation by the Ghurka Battalion Band which kept us enthralled for an appreciable time on the Saturday & Sunday programs and naturally were given most enthusiastic reception and applause. They also headed the march to the cenotaph on Sunday morning then through the streets leading back to the Winter Gardens.
I was personally delighted that Johnny Wheeler, who was my WOP/AG, felt well enough to attend, with his wife Jacquie, from Lincolnshire as he had suffered a stroke some 12 months earlier. Johnny was with me during the months I spent in Indonesia at the end of the war. Another very pleasant meeting was with John & Phyllis Hodgson from Lowestoft who had attended the Reunions our BC Branch hosted at Vancouver in 1991 & 97. All too soon the Reunion drew to a close on Sunday evening June 16th. I get the feeling that a hall never looks so forlorn as the time when most attendees have left and only a few stragglers remain, saying their last farewells.... bartenders collecting empty glasses ..... papers are discarded.... and the spirit of the reunion passes into history.
From Blackpool I caught the train to SOUTHPORT- a little distance from Liverpool. LIVERPOOL has a certain nostalgia for me as it was my "home port" when I served as an Apprentice in the Furness Houlder -Steamship Line which was engaged in the Liverpool-South America route- taking general cargo Outward bound and chilled beef (5,000 tons of it) and frozen mutton back to Britain. Southport was on my itinerary as it is the home of friends of mine who lived just across the road from us when we lived in Mississauga during the-.time I worked in Toronto with B/A - GULF Oil. Harold and Mavis James held some great parties to which Anne & I were invited. Harold was over from the U.K. getting first-hand knowledge of the North-American butcher trade and then went back to the U.K. to become a very successful business man some 30 years ago. Harold had made arrangements for my stay in Southport and took me out to a rather prestigious Golf Club of which he had been a member for many years since his boyhood days.
Then on to Banbury - famous for the rhyme about the “very fine lady on the white horse”, where I was met by Brian Cosgrove who had also served in our Squadron in Indonesia as our Meteorological Officer and is a member of the No. 31 Squadron RAF. He has written books on meteorology, is a member of the Royal Meteorolgical Society and a couple of years ago was awarded the MBE for his outstanding work in the field of microlights. This year we went to the Hendon Air Museum and among other exhibits saw - and entered a mock-up of the Concorde supersonic aircraft which cover the North Atlantic run in about 3 hours. The fuselage is cylindrical - only four seats wide. Note-worthy is the fact that when on the ground, the pilot is FIFTY feet off the ground,....it sure looks like it is a long, long way down.
When I was in the U.K. last year Brian had arranged for me to board a Dakota - the type of aircraft our Squadron flew in Burma & the Far East and which had made me realize that I'm not as nimble as I was 50 odd years ago. On our return to his home place at Hempton- Deddington, I was taken out to see the great job being done by his daughter and her husband in converting a barn to an outstanding example of a home. It really has to be seen to be appreciated. I'm told that there is a brisk trade in converting barns which are treated as antique treasures, into dwelling places.
Once again I boarded a train - for London - Marylebone St. - the Underground and on to Liverpool Street Station and the train to BISHOPS STORTFORD where I was met by my sister, Kathleen and driven to her home at Little Hallingbury in Essex. The festivities for her birthday celebration started on Saturday June 22nd with a great get-together of a large part of our family, our sister Gwen from Clacton, her son and his wife, her daughter and her husband, Kathleen's daughter Anne, her husband and more offspring !!! Then the greatest surprise for her was Kathleen's daughter Jean from Las Vegas. A few of Kathleen's friends were aware that Jean would be coming but they all kept it as a secret until Jean walked in on the party, I think that Kathy thought that she was having hallucinations when she saw Jean approach her.
On Sunday June 23rd Kay had a group of her friends out from the Church which she attends and on her actual birthday the celebrations were carried over to the Scottish Dancing Group of which she is a very enthusiastic member. Her friends in this group had prepared for the occasion by purchasing an outdoor lounge chair from which she could view her delightful garden and in which she sat for all the world as if she was royalty !!!! The group from her church had presented her with a fine bench to augment the seating arrangements.
Next day we were taken out to dinner by another couple, followed by a lunch provided by Kay's two daughters, Jean & Anne as Jean was going back to Los Vegas shortly afterwards.
Kay took me to Brightlingsea to the home of our nephew Graham and his wife Jane and left me there for the weekend of June 28 - 30th. Graham has been a great sailing enthusiast and a staunch supporter of the Brightlingsea Sailing Club.
As you may well know, the Essex coast is deeply indented with river estuaries from the Stour which forms the northern border with Suffolk; the Colne which runs through Colchester and Wivenhoe and past Brightlingsea; the Blackwater with Maldon at the head of the estuary; then comes the Crouch with its notable Burnham-on-Crouch which has been the home port of many English yachtsmen. Last - but far from least is the River Thames which runs the full length of the southern border of Essex. There is a fascinating book called THE MAGIC OF THE SWATCHWAYS which deals with the adventures of the author while spending some 25 - 30 years in and out of harbours and estuaries of this county which I feel sure must have the longest coast-line of the English counties.
On Saturday the 29th Brightlingsea was hosing a sailboat race open to all the local clubs. Graham was officiating the start & finish from an ancient tower which had been constructed many years earlier by one of Brightlingsea's notables to allow him to have an unobstructed view of the estuary. It is 40 feet high with an open turret from which the officiating is carried out - the hoisting of certain flags at intervals preparatory to the start, sounding the hooter or firing a gun for the actual start, and keeping a watchful eye on the participants to check that no one 'beats the gun' at the starting signal. All have been jockeying for position in an effort to get a good start though in this instance it was a 'running ' start with the wind up their stern whereas it is more desirable to have the first leg 'beating' into the wind when 'clear' air is much to be desired. Due to the fact that there were many types of sailboat - in fact, I dont think that there were more than two or three in any class - it meant that each boat hada handicap based on Portsmouth Tables (?) and so an accurate record had to be kept of the time taken by each to which the formula was applied to determine the winner. The final result was announced at the dinner which followed- accompanied by much hilarity and good-natured chaffing. So much for your introduction to some of the mysteries surrounding the exhilarating/frustrating world of the small boat yachtsman !!!!!
My last week was spent back at Little Hallingbury with sister Kay. I accompanied her to her Scottish Dancing practices, made visits to Bishops Stortford, to the ancient market towns of Thaxted and Saffron Walden and one day went to St Ives (Cambridgeshire) to visit one of my Squadron friends who lives with his wife on a NARROW BOAT, the type used to navigate the many canals which in a past era - before that advent of the steam locomotive - formed the main means of transporting goods from one end of the country to the other. George & Ruby decided on their retirement to try out living on a narrow boat for a couple of years - but THAT was some 14 years ago and the boat became their permanent home. I had notified them of my itinerary well ahead and they were able to wend their way into Cambridgeshire to be within reasonable proximity of Bishops Stortford. '
An acquaintance, whom I met through the Burma Star Association, came over to Canada last year to do some research into the life and customs of the Haida Gwai - the Indian people whose history goes back for centuries around the Queen Charlotte Islands. I met him then as he was able to make a hasty trip to Vancouver to attend one of our Branch meetings. I have kept in touch with him and was very pleased to receive an invitation to meet him at his Club - The Army & Navy Club located in Leicester Square at noon July 9th -- just one day ahead of my scheduled return home. Michael Williams is very much involved with the Chindits- the British Army Group of legendary fame in the Burma Campaign. He gave me a quick tour of the facilities of the A & N Club which are, to put it very conservatively, prestigious, affording all the needs one could hope for in a 'home away from home' - magnificent dining rooms to quiet library quarters, cozy little corners for a tete - a - tete etc.
I had been able to contact another member of our 31 Squadron Association who lives in the Chelsea District, not far from Leicester Square. He had returned from a walking tour with his wife a few days earlier and I had arranged to have him meet me at 3pm. that same day. Stan very kindly picked me up and had brought his car so that my luggage presented no problem. He took me on a tour of the area around Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, across FOUR of the many bridges which span the River Thames and wound up at the Imperial War Museum for a quick look around before taking me to his home for a dinner his wife had prepared. I spent a quiet evening followed by a cozy bed and a good night's rest before the journey home. Not content with taking me to the subway station with all my gear, Stan accompanied me to Heathrow Airport, sat with me during the usual three hour wait PLUS another three hour delay due to some hitch, then phoned my wife in Canada to let her know that the plane would be 3 hours late arriving in Vancouver.
I must say that I was impressed with the assistance offered by so many - not only by friends with whom I had been in touch, but also by individuals who took note of an old man struggling with his luggage on and off trains and subway stations. On the tube from Marylebone to Liverpool Street Station, with a change at one station a young coloured man grabbed my heavy case and insisted on seeing me to another level. Two or three young woman giving a hand onto escalators etc .While travelling from Liverpool Street Station to the West end, I had to make a change from the Central line to the Piccadilly line and THREE separate young people each took one of my bags and took me to the required platform. Much the same had also happened when I was traveling from Southport, via Liverpool (Lime Street) to Banbury where a pleasant young female rail worker insisted on carrying my baggage from one station, through the connecting line and onto the next. Frankly, it left me with a very warm feeling that folks in busy walks of life would take time to gratuitously assist a stranger.
The flight from Heathrow to Vancouver by Air Canada was on the "Great Circle" route which meant that it passed over the southern tip of Greenland which was clearly visible as the weather was good and I had a window seat just aft of the ailerons. But TEN hours in a cramped position is something which simply has to be endured, broken by meals, offers of liquid refreshments and a few walks to the nearby toilets At Vancouver we were quickly passed though the necessary procedures, found luggage which I had marked with broad yellow stripes for quick identification and met by friends Carol & John who had taken me to the airport four weeks earlier.
Home to Helena and A Very Warm Welcome HOME.
Well, what a wordy old man I've turned out to be, what was intended as a one page note to let you know that I had a very pleasant trip
Regards
Norm Currell