A photograph with an important result. [Inex_Top]

My best friend's cousin Don had already moved to England and sent a photograph of a pretty young 17 year old, a member of the Youth Club he had joined. My friend shared this photograph with us and we thought 'good luck Don' but in 1948 living in Adra, India it was just a very nice photograph.

Jump ahead to August 22^nd. 2023 this pretty young lady and I celebrate our 70^th. Wedding Anniversary. Come join me on this wonderful journey.

I could have drowned in the summer of 1947.

Our local swimming venue was a reservoir and my brother John said that not only did he know how to swim but he could teach me. As we stood on the bank he pointed out a pole a few yards away. We got into the water and John placed one hand under my chin and started to swim towards the pole, three strokes later he realized that he could not support me so he just left me and swam off to safety. I sank below the surface and started to thrash around and so I learned how to swim in a hurry.

My very first recall. [Inex_Top]

I could hear the squeak of the wheels way off in the distance and knew what the noise meant; my mother had turned the last corner on her way home from her evening walk with Derrick in the pram. He was under a year old and it had been a rough year for us all, particularly for my mother after the recent loss of baby Samuel. The doctor said that it was just as well that Derrick was ‘on the way’ when Samuel died as this kept mother focused and busy. However, over the following years she never really got over this loss and continued to grieve. As the noise got louder I could see them in the distance with our dog ‘blackie’ bouncing along here and there. These are my very earliest memories and at age six there is not a lot more that I remember. I do remember that we hit a bad financial spot because we had to vacate the very comfortable two-story house for a small flat owned by one of the local shop keepers, the only row of a few shops in the railway community. As our financial position improved our family moved into a semi-detached bungalow owned by the B.N.R or Bengal Nagpur Railway and we lived there until dad retired in 1948.

My life can be neatly divided into four episodes; up to 1948 in Adra, India; 1949 to 1972 in Brighton, England; 1973 to mid 1990 in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada; and since 1990 in South Surrey / White Rock, BC, Canada. But let us not jump ahead, this is meant to be a record of my life that I can pass on to our children and grand children so that they can if they so desire look back into their own heritage.

My baptismal certificate states that I was ‘said to be born’ on February 29^th. 1928 which of course means that I am a ‘Leap Year Baby’ and only get a birthday every four years. Notice also that I don’t refer to a ‘birth certificate’ but a ‘baptismal certificate’ the difference being that when I was born births were not registered in India but because we are Christians and attended church I was baptized; that is my only record of birth. This great event (ha! ha!) took place in a small railway town named Chakradharpur in the State of Bihar. However shortly after I was born our family moved to another small town named Adra in the Bihar State and we lived there until we left India in September 1948; more about that later.

As most people know, India was invaded by the British in about 1750 and became a British Colony until they were given independence in 1947. As a part of the British ‘Master Plan’ they needed to build a network of railways across all of the Indian sub-continent which at that time included what later was divided into India, Pakistan, etc. so that the vast riches could be plundered and shipped back to England. However, in order for this to work, thousands of English, Welsh, Irish and Scottish men were sent out to India both as a part of the British Army and also to ‘Manage’ all aspects of business and commerce. In the early days very few women accompanied their men, which of course resulted in many Indian women becoming pregnant and so began the ‘Anglo-Indian’ sub culture.

Grand parents. [Index_Top]

So far as we know my great grand father on my mother’s side went out to India, probably in 1850 and either married an Anglo-Indian or Indian woman because there was some Indian blood in his sons. My grand father Alfred Shrieves married Clara Ann Pierce and had at least 3 brothers; the ‘Shrieves’ family changed their last name from ‘Shreves’ to ‘Shrieves’ inserting the ‘I’ because of some family feud. These are the only photographs that I have of Alfred and Clara Shrieves. Clara Ann Pierce was the daughter of Samuel Pierce and Jane Maria Douglas and that is probably why my name is Douglas. Grandfather Alfred Shrieves was a very stern man and lived his last days as a part of our family. I well remember him getting up each morning and after breakfast sitting in his ‘easy chair’ all day and smoking his special hand made cigars. I stole one once and attempted to smoke it; I’m sure that is why I never smoked cigarettes, the foul taste and smell was my lifetime cure. I also remember that he kept a walking stick within easy reach and used to pretend to use it as a cane should we dare to walk anywhere near by. John as the eldest gained his favour and was the only one who could walk within range of the cane and not get a whack!

Clara and Alfred had 3 children, Oswald, Millicent and Maurice. While U. Maurice was away on military duties our grandfather lived with us because he had a stroke and had lost the full use of one side. John and I were given the duty of looking after his every need, and I do mean EVERY NEED. We undressed him at night and put him to bed every night, then dressed him every morning and served his breakfast. We also had to bathe him and see to all his toilet needs.

PS: Alfred Shrieves had at least one brother who was the Grand Father of Joan O'Calahan who claimed to be Anna Sashfi who was the first wife of film star Marlon Brondo. But that is another story!

We did not know my father’s side of the family because my father, Reuben Brown was the thirteenth child and both his parents died when he was quite young, in fact he was brought up by his eldest brother Sam and his wife and we only met them once when I was about seven; this is Sam and his wife. I well remember that holiday because there were a few stories worth telling. The whole family traveled by train to Bangalore in South India to stay with Uncle Sam on his dairy farm for a few weeks.

Unbelievable stories. [Index_Top]

This is the first story about some clever monkeys. We took one of our servants with us and he was housed in a small servants house behind the main house and it did not have windows just bars; there were many rhesus monkeys in the trees all around. They were obviously watching him shave every morning and he used to prop a small mirror against the bars. One morning he just turned around for a second and his mirror was gone; he ran outside to see a monkey dashing up a tree with his mirror. Several other monkeys then wanted to get in on the action and when chasing each other from branch to branch the mirror slipped and came crashing down and broke. The next day one of the larger monkeys yanked a glass panel window off the house and also dashed up the trees. Once again there was screeching and calling and chasing till again calamity struck and the window came tumbling down and smashed.

The second story is unbelievable; Uncle Sam was concerned that his milk yield was suddenly less than normal and he thought that someone was coming by at night and milking his cows, so he decided to stand guard one night. He positioned a chair opposite the cowshed and sat with his rifle at the ready and a strong flashlight nearby. Late at night he was wakened by the cows becoming restless, he picked up the flashlight and gun and went forward to investigate; he shone his flashlight towards the noise and there was the culprit, caught in the act of stealing the milk, however, he stepped back amazed because the culprit was not a human but a cobra snake; there in the flashlight beam was a full grown cobra, upright and sucking at the cows udder. Believe it or not, this was my uncle’s story the next morning. Recent research on the internet has shown that this is an old Indian myth; snakes are unable to take in fluids because if they did they would choke to death.

When we arrived in England in October 1948 Uncle Sam met us as we dis-embarked, saw us loaded into a taxi, gave the driver the hotel address and said goodbye. We never did meet him again.

Shrieves generation. [Index_Top]

The Shieves consisted of four children. Hugh, the eldest, Oswald the second, Millicent (our mother) and Maurice the youngest. Uncle Hugh had a great senior position on the Railway that provided a very exclusive bungalow with cook, gardner and many other benefirs.His position required him to do a lot of travelling so the Railway provided him with his own exclusive carriage complete with kitchen and cook. Unfortunately his first wife died in childbirth and because his job did not permit him to look after the baby, her family took the baby into their family. Oswald (known as Ossie) was the second son of Alfred and Clara Shrieves  Oswald married late in life but sadly died suddenly shortly before his first and only daughter was born. His wife Perl was a real ‘charmer’ and to honour her lost husband named their daughter Oslyn, being Oswald and Lynn. Although we were very young at the time of Oswald’s death we remember that he was well loved by not only his family, but all his co-workers and had many friends. Oswald was a very calm, peaceful person and his early passing was a very sad loss to his family, friends and co-workers.

Our mother, Milicent, Phoebe was an amazing women,  She was a beautiful woman with bright gigger hair and the kindest person to all who met her. Our servants would do anything for her because she was always there for them. Our cook and his spouse had about seven or eight children but were not married so mother decided that as they were good Roman Cathlocis perhaps it was about time they got married. She met with them and with their permission arranged their marriage. Our family and their family attended the wedding. She was also a very talented woman in cooking, dress making and everything in between. I remember when my sister Gwen needed a new dress for her first New Years Eve Dance, Mother just called the tailor in with his sewing machine and on the spot designed new long evening dresses for Gwen and herself. As the tailor cut and sewed the dresses they would try them  on and he would make alterations as required. She also bought a Landor Horse and carriage and ran a 'Taxi' service and at Christmas time cooked our Christmas Cakes and other goodies. She instructed our cook in the making many  very tasty lunch and dinner  dishes.

My mother’s younger brother, Maurice was very close to us as we grew up and in fact lived with us for a time prior to joining the REME and served in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and Burma (now Thailand) during World War II. He was very athletic and I guess I get my keen interest in sports from U. Maurice. He also married later in life mainly because while he was away during the war ‘the love of his life’ could not wait and married someone else. For many years after the war he felt jilted and lonely. He eventually married Joan O’Shea who already had a son Joe and they had six more sons while trying for a daughter. Before Uncle Maurice got married he bought a ticket in a raffle for a bright red convertable Model T Ford that a local resident was  raffeling. 'Bingo' Uncle Maurice was the winner so our mother just added this to her Taxi Service.

Dad.

Brown next generation. [Index_Top]

I am the second son in a family of five, although Samuel died before Derrick the youngest son was born. John is the eldest and Gwendolin or Gwen as she was called was the only daughter. My mother was very musically talented and played the piano with a wonderful touch and the family story is that she had ‘Cap & Gown in Piano’, however, John was the only one to inherit this musical ability; both Gwen and I enjoyed music through dance. More about that later. Our home was a side-by-side bungalow and you can see the back of it behind John. Our neighbours were a family named ‘Paul’, they had three children, the eldest Jean, was John’s age, the next was Irene, my age and I had a crush on her for many years; the youngest was George or ‘Georgie’ as we used to tease him. Mr. Paul also worked on the Railway, however, somehow they were always more affluent than us and sent all three children to boarding school for many years. In fact they were the reason that John and I eventually went to boarding school, ‘keeping up with the Pauls. The Paul family immigrated to Australia.

Boarding School. [Index_Top]

Keeping up with the Jones’ so often creates challenges and that is what I think happened in about 1937 when our next door neighbour, the Paul family sent their three children off to boarding school. It is my belief that my mother, with our best interests at heart decided to also enroll John and I into Bishop Westcott’s Boarding School for Boys in Namkum, Ranchi, when in fact our family could not afford the expense. I say this because while we were at boarding school mother had a mental break down and I know that it was brought on by this heavy financial burden. Our stay in boarding only lasted 18 months but for me it was an experience of a life-time; I enjoyed every minute of all aspects of learning in the classroom, even Latin, sports and friendships. John was homesick immediately on arrival and spent the first week in the sick room. It was here that I discovered my ability in athletics and even won two medals, one, a second place in low hurdles and the other a second place in a five mile cross country run.

It was while we were in boarding school that World War II broke out and I well remember all us 10 and 11 year old boys being very concerned that our dads would be going off to war to be killed. There were many tears and shortly thereafter dad came to take us out of boarding school and home for good. The family finances were not good, to the point that we were not even permitted to go back to our local school because fees were in arrears.

As soon as the war with Japan started thousands of English men and a few women started to arrive in India to establish bases for the Air Force and Army. Once the war in Europe was over, American troops also arrived. In fact we had an American base just the other side of our back fence. Needless to say life for everyone changed dramatically not only because of all those men in uniform but also because of the sudden injection of cash, especially the American dollar.

Behind our bungalow was an open field and small forest and this became an American Army Camp for about a year and we made friends with quite a few soldiers, two that I remember are Fred Cyr and Ben ? Who was the son of an American Christian Minister. Ben and 'Mum' were great friends and he spent many hours talking with her. Fred was a 'big guy' rough around edges but with a good heart. Photo of Fred & a friend (the big guy). "yes!" that is a young monkey on the shoulder of the "yank" on the right back row, The young Indian boy is a camp follower.

Our Social Club became a hive of activity with dances every Saturday and movies twice weekly. I guess this was the start also of the American men flaunting their wealth around which gave them a false sense of importance. Almost every dance ended in a brawl between the English and American troops, chairs flying all over the place, bottles breaking and even some fists connecting with jaws. Mostly the ‘local men’ stayed out of these testosterone wars except that many of our girls and women could not resist the ‘high living’ – nylons – chocolates – cigarettes – and of course sex! As has happened so many times since, there were many ‘war babies’ left behind in India after the war.

Even with all this external wealth these were ‘hard years’ mainly because mum just returned from hospital and John and I were not at school so had to find something to keep us busy. It was during this period that John took up music and I got involved in many sports, football (soccer), field hockey, yes, it was played by men & boys in India; in fact India always won Olympic gold medals in field hockey up to 1952.

After boarding school [Index_Top]

At last in 1942 John and I went back to day school, John at age 15+ and I at 14 and we were both in the same class. Perhaps at this time I should show you a rough map of the small railway town where we grew up and experienced and learned so much. Our town ‘Adra’ was like so many others that crisscrossed India during the days when India was a part of the British Empire; north and south; east and west; India consisted of a network of railway lines, towns, junctions and cities. To build and support this railway system required three levels of work force which consisted of the English, many of whom came out from England to India on short term ‘Management’ assignments; the Anglo-Indians, who over many generations were the backbone of the workforce and the Indians who performed many of the lower paid tasks.

Looking at the first two photographs above; imagine that there are two distinct cultures, one living to the south and the other to the north of the railway tracks. Our English and Anglo-Indian Community lived to the south and the Indian Community plus all the bazaars were to the north. The only exception was that our servants lived in special servants homes at the bottom of each garden of each home. Now take a look at the map of ‘our’ community and you will see that there are again two groupings separated by the school, social club and sports fields. The one marked ‘Traffic’ is closest to the railway station and most of the employees who worked at the station or were in any way connected to the station lived in this community; the other is marked “loco” or locomotive, most of the employees who worked or had anything to do with the locomotives lived in this community. As dad was a locomotive driver we lived in the “loco” community.

Horse riding. [Index_Top]
Another passion I had was for horse riding and in about 1944 used all my savings to buy a small filly pony; she turned out to be a real wanderer and regularly escaped and would turn up weeks or months later with another young filly. I did ride her whenever she was around and always bare back; unfortunately her wanderings led to her demise as she was found dead by the side of the railway tracks.

As I look back now, those years from the mid 1930’s to 1948 seemed such a long time and yet it was only about thirteen or fourteen years; I guess so much happened in such a short time period and when you are so young, time has its own meaning. I am going to use Google Earth to map our small town and hope that I can take you into those formative years that I think had a profound influence on who I became and who I am today.

Behind our home was an open area with a dirt track road that ran past a small group of local Indian shops and this was where we had lived many years before when our family had to find temporary non-railway accommodation. Beyond this track were bushes and in the distance a small forest. One of our pastimes was 'kite flying' and we became quite expert in making our own kites including coating the string/threads with crushed glass mixed in rice paste. We would unwind the string in a zigzag pattern between 2 posts and then coat the string with the glass paste. Some times this process would take a whole day. As each section dried in the sun it would be wound onto the special spindle. Then we would start the next section. By the end of the day the spindle would contain several hundred yards of glass covered string.

Kite flying and kite fighting. [Index_Top]
All this work was so that in late afternoon and evening we would fly our kites using this 'sharp string' and swoop down on other kites and try to cut their string. If we succeed their kite would go sailing off in the wind. Great fun. If however, my kite got cut off and went sailing in the wind I now needed a kite. This is where the field and bushes came into play; generally the wind blew west to east so the 'floating kites' sailed over this field. If I lost my kite I would grab a long pole with a dried tree branch attached to the top and off I would go to try to catch a floating kite. I well remember running between the shrubs and once jumping over one, as I looked back I saw a cobra slide into its hole.

Social Life.
Once all the troops returned home after the war our social life returned to normal; regular movies continued and these were usually the newest releases by Hollywood. We had regular dances and many 'hops' (unscheduled mini dances) when a group of musicians just got together and spread the word and like magic dancers just turned up for a couple of hours.

New Years Eve [Index_Top]
This was the highlight dance of the year, most of the women had new full length dresses made and the men wore evening dress, bow tie and some even had white dress jackets made for the occasion. The dance started at 9pm and usually did not finish till 5am. The highlight of the evening was at mid-night when members of the band who could carry their instruments would form a congo line and everyone else would follow. Earlier in the day a huge bonfire would be setup on the field at the rear of our Social Club. This consisted of old railway ties that had been well soaked in oil over the years. This bonfire would be ignited earlier in the evening so that it would be at its best by mid-night.

At about 11:45 the band would start to move out of the upstairs dance hall, down the stairs and out of the front entrance and around to where the bonfire was blazing. On the stroke of mid-night all the locomotives that were in the repair sheds or marshaling yards would start blowing their whistles. This was the signal for the band to play “Auld Lang Syne”. Then came the moment that all us 'young bucks' had been waiting for; kiss as many young ladies as often as possible wishing them 'A Happy New Year'. Then everyone slowly made their way back upstairs and the dance continued till 5am, as some people drifted home. For some of us even after we went home, we had breakfast and then continued to visit some young ladies that we had perhaps missed kissing at the dance or ….............

Google map of Adra. [Index_Top]

Notice the small lake to the extreme right (yellow circle); that is where I learned to swim after brother John told me not to worry as he knew how to swim and would take me from the bank to the post in the middle. Yes, he could swim, however, as he left the bank with me in tow, he soon found that I was too heavy and let me go; after taking a few mouthfuls of water I knew that if I wanted to live I had better swim for my life and get to the post; and so I learned to swim in a hurry. This small lake was our water reservoir, which had a water treatment building at one end and became our swimming pool for many years.

After WWII. [Index_Top]
The years after WWII up to the time we left India in 1948 were important years in many ways and yet they slipped by almost as a blur. John was totally committed to his music, at first purchasing a trumpet then in quick succession a clarinet, saxophone, trombone and Electric Hawaiian Guitar. The reason for his moving away from wind instruments was that he had developed a weak chest so mother told him he could no longer play wind instruments so he had to move to keyboard and strings. Of course we now had all these instruments sitting idle so I was told that I had to learn to play them. After trying each one in turn I decided that as the trumpet only had three keys it would be the easiest to learn. I made a deal with John that I would learn only if he converted all music to numbers and this he did. For the next few years we formed a band with John playing the piano or guitar and I the trumpet and we recruited a drummer and saxophone player. On average we played at least once a week for various dances and got paid for the privilege.

Earning pocket money (Billiards). [Index_Top]
Because we both were still not working not only did we have idle time on our hands but pocket money was scarce; I now discovered that my skill on the billiard table could be put to good use especially in the game of ‘skittles’. By the time we left for England nobody would play with me or if a game was already in progress and I joined, the other players would all decide to drop out. I was seldom short of money during this period. This game of ‘skittles’ required each player on payment of an entry fee, to pick (un-seen) a numbered button from a bag; positioned around the billiard table were about twelve skittles each one worth points from 1 to 10 with a second number one and ten. The purpose of the game was when it was your turn to play the white ball onto the red and in the process knock down skittles which added to your button equaled twenty-one. First player to exactly equal twenty-one was the winner and won ‘the pot’ consisting of all entry fees.

As I said before, sport was a major part of my life in my late teens, however, when practicing high jump I injured my left knee (torn ACL) that resulted in the left knee locking up under pressure. Mother would not allow me to have a knee operation so I lost all those years in sport. It did not stop me from playing, however, instead of playing football in the ‘half back line’ I had to play as goal-keeper. I did not have this fixed until 1955 after Pamela and I were married. This injury did not stop me from playing, tennis, badminton and even lawn bowling; however, it certainly put an end to serious athletics.

Indian Independence. [Index_Top]
On August 15^th. 1947 India received “Independence” from Britain; this was a great day for India but sadly for the Anglo-Indian communities across India it was the beginning of a mass exodus. During the following six months there were also many, many riots and killings between the many Indian casts particularly between the Hindu and Muslim faiths which culminated in the assignation of Mahatma Gandhi on January 30^th. 1948. I well remember that day because our football (soccer) team had arranged a match “up-line” with another community so that after the match we could stay overnight and attend their “Grand Dance”. Our “hotel” was in fact several first class railway carriages that our team boarded in Adra and these carriages were attached to the morning train form Adra to Chakradharpur (my birthplace); when the train arrived in Chakradharpur our “hotel” was disconnected and placed in a special siding track for our overnight stay. I don’t remember the football match nor in fact the result, however, I do remember that after the match as we were freshening up and changing into suitable dance attire, we received the news of the assassination and that all social events were canceled. So, ‘the best laid plans of mice and men’ resulted in our return home the next day.

The Anglo-Indian Community was in great turmoil for the next few years as we began to see our ‘privileged’ way of life begin to change. A formal association was formed and what started as a ‘home grown concert’ designed and produced by Gwen and John suddenly took on a life of its own and became ‘an event’; various local dignitaries got involved and before we knew what was happening we were putting on this huge local concert as a fundraiser. They even erected a proper stage with curtains etc. Gwen and John did a magnificent job choreographing a full two hour musical with ‘comedy skits’. Gwen recruited a troop of local nine and ten year olds and taught them Hawaiian dancing, John choreographed a tango that he danced with Gwen and Ben Woodfall and I danced the jitterbug of course Ben was the woman dressed in bobby socks and blouse & skirt,. We even introduced several skits based on the Americans as they had so recently left a legacy behind them after the war.

Photographs of concert. [Index_Top]
These have been lost in movin.

This event along with many others made us realize that our family also must now make plans to leave India. The other major factor that put pressure on our parents was that John and I were now aged 20 and 21 and still not working with no job in sight as we refused to continue the cycle of working on the railway system. John wanted to go to Calcutta for other work but my mother would not agree and so eventually it was conceded that we would leave India for England. Many or our neighbours and friends were also making plans; some leaving for Australia, some for South Africa but mostly England. Dad was only aged 48 and mum 47, however, India was all they knew and so it took a great deal of courage on their part to step out into the unknown. It is only now that I truly appreciate the sacrifice they made so that we, the next generation could have greater opportunities in the future. Not only did mum and dad pay for all of us but we had also offered our best friend Ben Woodfll the opportunity to leave India with us. As it happened, because of dad’s pension delay, Ben’s family left India before us and Ben was left behind with us, to follow later.

Dad resigned from his job. [Index_Top]
And so dad resigned from the railway, however, almost immediately we were told to vacate the bungalow we were renting although he had not even received his retirement pension. Friends of ours living across the street kindly gave us their upstairs rooms until we left for England in September 1948. As the months went by and dad still had not received his retirement pension a friend asked him “have you worked the system?’, it was only then he realized that if he wanted his retirement pension he would have to bribe the right people. So off he went to Calcutta where the B.N.R. Railway Head Office was located and “worked the system”. Once dad’s retirement pension was released we were able to start making final plans such as travel arrangements to Bombay, booking passages on a ship for our journey to England and hotel accommodations in London. These six months were not only worrying for all of us but also distressing as we watched our bungalow deteriorate into a slum with animals indoors and cooking with open coal fires in all rooms. It had been rented to an Indian family without giving them any guidance as to how such a home could serve their needs.

Boarding the train for Bombay via Calcutta. [Index_Top]
At long last the day of departure arrived and we were all on board the afternoon train from Adra to Calcutta which was the first part of our long journey; for many years I had a “crush” on this sexy young chick who in fact was the biggest flirt in town but she barely gave me a second look, however, low and behold she arrived at the train station to say goodbye with a kiss. Arriving Calcutta the next morning we changed trains and were off on the long journey (several days) across India from east to west all the way to Bombay. Perl was there to meet us when we arrived in Bombay and took us all back to her apartment. You will recall that Perl had married mum’s brother Ossie who died before their daughter Oslyn was born; during that tragic time Perl had in fact stayed with us for short and long periods until she eventually married again and moved to Bombay.

Remember Perl, she was married to Oswald my mothers eldest brother who unfortunately died before his daughter was born. We stayed with Perl almost a week and were able to see many tourist attractions in and around Bombay including it’s very famous zoo and botanical gardens. How Perl coped with the seven extra bodies living in her apartment I will never know, however, she did and was pleased to do so. Here is a photograph of Perl shortly after Ossie’s death and one of Oslyn when we were in Bombay September 1948.

Many years later I met up with Oslyn several times in London when I was comuting to London every day working in my first selling job and in fact she came down to Brighton/Woodingdean for a weekend and met Pamela and also Malcolm & Deborah. I lost touch with Oslyn when I started working for NCR out of their Worting office. More about that later........

Boarding the SS Stratheden. [Index_Top]
At last the day arrived when the ‘Brown family & Ben’ were ready to board the S.S. Stratheden for our historic journey from the country of our birth to the country of our nationality; to some it may seem trite that I should make this distinction, however, although we were all born in India we had always identified ourselves as ‘British’. Our native language was and is English, we attended English style schools and our exams were based on traditional English School Exams, we saw English and American movies, we danced the waltz, fox trot, quick step, jitter bug to the very latest music, we wore tuxedos and ball gowns and brought in the New Year with Auld Lang Sang around a huge bonfire.

Late that evening the S.S. Stratheden sailed out of the port of Bombay and John, Ben and I were up on deck to watch India slowly slip away as the lights grew dimmer and dimmer. John in fact stayed up on deck very late and I guess was very nostalgic, however, he paid the price the next few days as he was the only one who was seasick. The maps below show our journey, however, I must say that these maps were created by me under false pretense.

The year Pamela and I celebrated our 50^th wedding anniversary, Deborah phoned me with a request that I help Kyle – our grandson with a school project that required him to document a selected part of his ancestry; he apparently had chosen my side of the family and would I prepare maps accordingly. Well, when Deborah presented her ‘Work of Art 50^th. Anniversary Wedding Album’ there were the maps, (Kyle did not have a school project) however, I’m now glad that I did as asked because it does show in detail our journey. Because we journeyed east to west you need to view these maps starting at the bottom right and then along the bottom row then again from right to left in the top row.

After we left Bombay the first leg of our long 16 day journey, took us across the Arabian Sea and then through the Red Sea prior to entering the Suez Canal. Our first port of call was Port Said where the then Prince Hussein of Jordan came on board. Prince Hussein became King at age 18 after his father was assassinated in 1954.

As I look back now into the past, if only we knew then what we now know; I’m sure we would have taken a much greater interest in those next few days as we sailed through the Eastern, Central and Western Mediterranean. I don’t remember any other ports of call between Port Said and Gibraltar. Little did I know that the next time I would see ‘The Rock’ was with my dear wife Pamela in 2003 when we celebrated our Golden Wedding Anniversary on our cruise on the Golden Princess, more about that later.

The next part of our journey took us around the tip of Spain and Portugal and up the coast towards France; as we sailed through the Bay of Biscay I well remember the swell of the ocean; the water in the swimming pool rushed from one side to the next and in fact the pool was eventually closed. That evening as we danced the waltz, fox trot or quickstep we again were challenged as the floor of the deck kept changing from 45 degrees down to 45 degrees up. The quickstep sometimes became the ‘quick run’ and the waltz became the ‘waltz and run’ – great fun.

Arriving in England. [Index_Top]
On October 16^th. 1948 we docked at Tilbury, East London. Dad’s brother Sam was there to greet us and show us the way to the railway station with our bag & baggage; tin trunks and all. After a short train journey we took two London Cabs to our Bed and Breakfast Hotel. England had still not fully recovered from the after effects of WW II, ration books were still in use and London was still full of bomb craters and bombed buildings and the biggest surprise was that jobs were still hard to find.

Our friend Ben Woodfall who came with us, went on to Hove in Sussex, (Brighton & Hove are Twin Cities) where his family had already settled. We realized very quickly that we had to find cheaper accommodation because London was very expensive, so the following weekend Ben invited me down to Hove to see if perhaps the ‘Brown Family’ should move there. I arrived on Saturday October 24^th. 1948 and the next day, Sunday the 25^th. the St. George’s Youth Club or YBF as they were named, came looking for Don & Jeff Thorne (Ben’s cousins) because they were not in church that evening. There were about a dozen YBF members and little did I know that five years later I would marry one of them, however, that evening I had my eye on another young woman who was the extrovert in the group. Peggy was here, Peggy was there, Peggy was everywhere, dashing off to talk to one member after another. We walked down to the seafront and along the beach, as apparently was their custom every Sunday evening after Church Evensong.

Moving to Hove, Sussex. [Index_Top]
During the next few days I found suitable accommodation just up the road from where the Woodfalls were living and our family moved to Hove within a week. This of course again was just temporary accommodation as it was cheaper than London but still a drain on our finances.

We had two priorities; priority number one was to find less expensive accommodation, priority number two, to find jobs. But more of that later; shortly after we moved to Hove we were swept up into the YBF or Young Builders Fellowship, attending their meetings and on Guy Fawkes Day November 5^th we had a club outing. This was something completely new to us, however, we embraced everything new that came our way. And so we spent that November 5^th going from one bonfire to the next.

At this time I should tell you that when we were still in India and the ‘Thorne Family’ (Ben’s relations) moved to England and settled in Hove, Ben received letters from Don his 19 year old cousin telling him about the YBF (Youth Club) and also sending a photograph of this young lady he was in love with, Pamela Yates; Ben shared this news and photograph with us his best friends.

Meeting Pamela. [Index_Top]
Now lets jump back to November 5^th, 1948 – I noticed that Don was walking next to Pamela every opportunity he got but they were not even holding hands; by now of course I also was checking her out so at an opportune moment I went up to Don and gave him ‘fair warning’ that unless he got something going with Pamela I would be making a move. The rest as they say ‘is history’.

Derrick, the youngest ‘Brown’ who was only 14, was the first to find a job as a ‘go-for’ in a garage service station where he worked for many years. The owner became a second father to him, taking a great interest in teaching him all about servicing and repairing cars. Gwen had great looks and charm and soon found work in a catering business where she worked for many years. For John and I it was really tough because we were ages 20+ and 22 but had no work experience; we convinced mum and dad that we would find it easier to get a job if we learned how to drive and so they paid for our driving lessons and we both passed in quick succession, through Gwen we eventually got summer jobs for the same catering business, selling ice cream. John was given the job driving the Ice Cream Van around Brighton (so the driving lessons paid off), mainly the beach area and I was stuck in the Ice Cream Shop under the arches along the Brighton sea front.

My first job. [Index_Top]
Within a few weeks I left the ice cream job and got a job with a tire company, however, I think that the owner secretly felt that I could do better so gave me the push after a brief trial period; he said that I was not suited for the job which was either driving (driving lessons paid off) around town picking up parts or replacing worn out tires on cars and trucks. Not exactly rocket science! By this time Ben (our friend who came with us from India) had found a job with a photo processing company in Hove and knowing that I had shown an interest in photography got me an interview. Wow! My first ‘real’ job! I worked in the dark room printing photographs taken by ‘sea side photographers’ from all around England. This was mainly a summer job, however, a few of us were so fast that the owner decided to keep us on during the winter instead of having to find and train new staff the next season.

By now our family had found suitable accommodation at 96 Montpelier Road, Brighton; a very nice two level house with a separate basement apartment. We rented the house and shortly after we moved in we had a visit from relatives on my mother’s side; the Shrieves family, my grandfather’s youngest brother. They had moved to England about a year prior to us and were living in Hammersmith, London. They liked Brighton so much that when the basement became vacant a few weeks later they decided to rent it and moved in. This later became our famous connection to Marlon Brando!!!!! You will have to wait for that part of the story.

Pamela and I were now ‘a couple’ as I had ‘moved in’ on Don Thorne by teaching Pamela how to play table tennis and making sure that we always were attending the same events whether at Church, Youth Club or other social activities. Our first ‘movie date’ was to see ‘Buttons and Bows’ and I had given her a large box of chocolates; we still remember what happened to that box in the excitement of the movie!!!!!! It was during these years that our little group of ‘friends’ did everything together. Saturday Evening Dances at Moulscombe Hall, Sunday Evening walks along the beachfront, our Youth Club Special Dances, Table Tennis Matches, Summer Picnics etc. However, there was also trouble on the horizon! Unfortunately, Pamela’s father began to show a prejudice against me because I was born in India and banned her from dating me. We continued to meet without his consent, however, the strain became too much for her and we eventually decided to part. Gwen was a great dancer and we made great partners; I remember on one Saturday dance in Moulscobe Hall they decided to have a jive contest..... guess who won, 'The Brown Bro & Sis'.

The Blue Rhythm Boys. [Index_Top]

By now we had a great social life, through St. George’s Church and the Youth Club and also brother John had formed a band with Don & Geoff Thorn, ‘The Blue Rhythm Boys’; wherever they played our group would support them. They even won a contest, the prize of which was a one-week contract to play on stage at our local Grand Theatre. Unfortunately the theatre was accidentally burned down before their contract date. As you can see from the photograph Don played the guitar and John and Geoff sang. Although as John’s brother I am biased, they were very good and soon became quite famous in Brighton and Hove.

In 1950 we moved to a larger house just up the road (80 Montpelier Road) because the rent was lower but the space larger. Also shortly after we were settled we had a post card from Uncle Maurice & Joan on their way through the Suez Canal and reminding us to meet them on their arrival on June 12^th. 1949. They stayed with us for a few weeks till they found a basement flat. Maurice had no problem getting work after his service in the REME and also on the Railway. They had hardly moved out when we heard from our kind friends who had provided us with temporary accommodation in India, the Thomas family; so once again we had a house full for a short time.

A tribute to Milicient Brown (nee Shrieves) – ‘Our Mother’. [Index_Top]
As I look back now I realize what a wonderful giving person our mother was; always ready to reach out with a helping hand, in India and also after we moved to England. It was her desire to put others first that in the end left her frail and spent of energy. She died at the young age of 51 with still many years to live by today’s standards. I don’t think dad ever got over losing her as he also died two years later. As I approach my next birthday (past 90), I feel so sad that our parents gave us so much by making that ultimate sacrifice of giving up their lives in India, giving up the ‘known’ for the ‘unknown’ so that John, Gwen, Derrick and I could have a better life. Shortly after ‘mum’ died Derrick was called up for his ‘National Service’ and decided to sign-up for an extra year in order to get additional training, so the four of us decided that we no longer needed such a large house and found a small 3 bedroom apartment on Riley Road, Brighton.

Photography. [Index_Top]
The next few years were certainly a ‘period of change’ – I had left my first photographic job and now worked for a high class wedding and portrait photographer on Portland Road, Hove; SNA Photographic was owned and run by Harold Roper, a wonderful, kind and soft spoken man and I enjoyed my time working for SNA. There are many great stories to tell, however, the one that sticks in my mind is when he employed a very experienced photographer to shoot weddings, however, this guy was a bit of a card and loved to talk. He was given a ‘top hat and tails wedding’ to shoot in this very old country church in a beautiful village setting complete with village pond and village green. The problem was that when he got back to the shop he discovered that he had forgotten to put a film in the camera. With his ‘gift of the gab’ when the happy couple returned from their honeymoon he talked them into a re-shoot and saved the day. I don’t remember whether they had to pay but knowing Harold Roper I would think that they received their complete wedding photographs for free.

During these years through the Youth Club and other friends we established a great group of many nationalities, Scottish, Irish and of course Anglo-Indian. I well remember somehow we met Joe Hastier who either owned or ran the Brighton and Hove Radio Relay Company and he and his wife lived in this great old house in a huge treed lot just off Montpelier Road. They were very inviting to our group and it became almost like an 'Open House and Drop In Centre'. Great Music and they even supplied food. This also was a very painful time for Pamela and I because her Dad insisted that she not meet me any more. Knowing this, Miriam Byrne the Irish lassie, asked me to escort her to a Dinner Dance at Hove Town Hall and we had a great evening.

The loss of our mother. I guess although 'Mum' & Dad' had agreed to sacrifice their lives in India to give us opportunities in England, Mum had never really recovered from her health breakdown when we were in boarding school and now had a relapse. Unfortunately she choose an Irish doctor who was almost always drunk. I still don't understand why none of us did not see how ill she was before it was too late. We lost her in 1952 but I am glad that she had met Pamela and knew that Pamela was the 'love of my life'. I well remember when we were forced apart I was really down and Mum came up to my bedroom and we chatted. With all her own health issues she tried to console me.

A career change. [Index_Top]
Although I enjoyed working for SNA there was no long-term future in this business so I started studying to be an Accountant and shortly after got an office job with Underwood Sunstrand Ltd., an American Business Equipment Manufacturer. One of my jobs was to track the Salesmen’s Commission Statements each month and on seeing their monthly commissions I decided that sales was an area worth considering, however, when requesting to apply for a sales job I was told that I needed ‘sales experience’. It would take me a few years to get ‘sales experience’ and I did eventually get that sales job with this company, however, lets not jump ahead.

During 1952 I was delighted to once again get a message from Pamela; she had knitted for me a dark green cable stitch long sleeve jumper and wanted to meet me to give it to me! Wow! All I can say is that true love will find a way and although we had been apart for almost a year our feelings for each other had not changed. Pamela had certainly gone through a tough time and had lost weight, however, other than her father the rest of her family now accepted that we were in love and committed to each other. Our dating now took on a life of secret meetings in secret places but not quite the plot for a movie.

We are now in early 1953, just five short years from arrival in England and one Sunday afternoon Pamela was visiting – shortly before she arrived Dad had been sent home from work as he had fainted – he said that the kitchen in which he worked was extra hot that day and the heat just got to him. As Pamela was leaving that evening, Dad asked me to drop by a pub after I had seen Pamela home and get him a small bottle of brandy which would help shift indigestion pain. I returned home about an hour later and gave him the brandy and he went off to bed. The next morning I looked in on him before I left for work and he appeared sound asleep, however, midway through the morning I received a phone call from Gwen to say that when she took him a cup of tea she could not wake him – he had passed away in his sleep. What a wonderful peaceful way to go; he really had never got over the loss of his wife ‘our mother’.

And now we were three’ – just John, Gwen and myself – Derrick was away in Kenya having signed up for an extra year so that he could receive training as a motor mechanic. This was a very difficult time for the three of us because Gwen planned to move to London in the near future and John & Gloria decided to get engaged so now there would only be me in the apartment when Gwen moved to London. By now Pamela and I were pretty steady, I had asked her to marry me many times – in fact ‘mum’ knew that this was the ‘girl of my dreams’; so on her next visit we approached John & Gloria and asked them whether they wanted to rent the flat after their wedding; their response was ‘absolutely not’ – and so it was that we announced our engagement with a wedding date of August 22^nd. 1953. Although John & Gloria had said ‘No’ to renting the flat, once we decided to get married and rent the flat they also decided to get married; in fact they got married a month before us and as the flat below us became vacant they moved in.

Our wedding day. [Index_Top]
So here we are in early 1953 planning our wedding for August 22^nd. – who would have thought that in less than five years of arriving from India both John and I would be fast approaching our weddings. By now the ‘Yates Family’ had moved from Kemp Town to Lorna Road in Hove and worshiped at All Saints Church, Hove so we agreed that our wedding would be at All Saints Church, however, at special request we asked the Rev. Savins to also ‘officiate’ as he had been the Minister at St. George’s Church, Kemp Town during the years we were in the Youth Club. My ‘Best Man’ was my brother John and Pamela had three ‘Bride’s Maids’, her twin sister Barbara, her younger sister Ann and my sister Gwen. As Gwen worked for a catering company she arranged for our wedding reception to be held at the Savoy Ballroom on Marine Drive, Brighton and we invited over eighty family and friends.

We had planned a two week honeymoon in Torquay, Devon and because it was a long drive by bus we had decided to spend our first night in our new home 'our Riley Road Apartment' , our wedding reception finished by mid afternoon so while we slipped away nobody knew that we were still in town. That evening we dined in a small restaurant on marine drive.

Memory fades however, I believe that Gwen lived with us for several weeks/months and then moved to London.

I hope you enjoyed reading this bio of my life from birth to marriage

Feb. 29th. 1028 to August 22nd. 1953

"Thank you for being interested."