Welcome to Part Two of The Tea Planter’s Wife. This is a continuation of the story of our 1st cousin, twice removed: Gladys Muriel Milward Brymer. Gladys was the only child of our great uncle, Lt Col Edwin Oswald Milward, MD.
To refresh your memory, please take a moment to catch up by reading Part One:
British life in colonial Ceylon was similar to the “royal” way of life that existed in the Raj in India. However, those in Ceylon seemed to have stubbornly resisted the strong allure of Indian indulgences and recreated, as far as practical, the mode of living found in England
In All the Year Round, Charles Dickens recollects his first impressions of a Tea Planter’s Bungalow:
“.......... we started on our elephant for the plantation, and after two hours of jolting, arrived at a very comfortably-built bungalow.
I was astonished when ushered into its comfortable and elegantly furnished rooms.
The walls were covered with valuable prints, the furniture was tastefully arranged, and of the latest pattern;
baskets containing exquisite orchids were suspended from the three centre arches which divided the sitting from the dining room;
a Broadwood's grand piano and a harp occupied one corner;
handsome cases well stocked with books,
vases of flowers, and other ornaments one might expect to find in a Belgravian drawing-room, completed the furniture of the apartment.
"I see," said my friend the planter, noticing my look of astonishment,
"you expected to find us established in a sort of barn, with nothing
but the bare necessaries of life around us; but my rule is, wherever I go, to make myself comfortable."
And, certainly, things looked like it.
Under the circumstances, 1 felt that the isolation of a tea-planter's life might be made very endurable, though it is right to state that it is not every man who can afford to fare as sumptuously as my friend.........”
One social practice which was de rigeur in India but not followed in Ceylon was the requirement that those newly arrived in India had to make the first advances in meeting their “neighbors” - essentially forcing themselves upon society.
Through Walter’s strong family connections in both banking and social circles, even before his arrival to the Island, he was assured entrée into the upper echelon of Ceylon society — Sinhalese as well as British.
Tea planting in those days was a job for well educated and well connected people in much the same tradition as an army regiment. In fact, the whole operation on an estate, with its hierarchial structure, was organized very much on military lines, with very similar chains of command.
Also, by the time of his arrival, tea planting had changed from its early days in two important ways.
Firstly, the disciplining and gathering of the labor force was now largely done by the Head Kangany (labor boss) and the planter negotiated with him.
Secondly, the factory process of the plantation of tea was under the care of a conductor and again the planter exercised only indirect control.
Hence, the work had become much less purely agricultural and more like a business — in terms of personnel management and business administration.
A planter during the same period, Col.T.Y. Wright, is quoted:
“........ I’m afraid I neglected my planting work a little,
as I was always off playing either football, cricket, polo or tennis.”
Gladys Milward Brymer was lucky to have been a Tea Planter’s wife during this heyday of plantation life.
In her day, there was a very much larger British community in Ceylon with a much larger number of ladies, in particular. These factors made possible a much more complex world of entertaining, sports-meetings, balls and parties (and, of course, the club life, par excellence).
It was a time when planters’ wives presided over luxurious bungalows and spreading gardens. They often entertained and attended parties and lunches at home and at The Club.
In 1912, a British woman who was living in Ceylon was asked:
“What is society like at Colombo, you wish to know”,said the lady in question.
“It is much more animated than it is here in England.
People are not so stiff and not so much afraid of each other, and ........
we are all alive as soon as it gets alittle cooler. You meet some of your friends every day.......
when the gentlemen come home from office, they want some diversion, and then everybody rides or drives about.......
gatherings and parties of all kinds are incessantly going on, and we know nothing of ennui.
The English keep together, and there are ranks of society, as there are everywhere else, but one element is fortunately wanting.
There are no idlers to be found at Colombo."
Private clubs provided the Planter Class with both food and entertainment, and in some cases, accommodation.
These Clubs served an important social function to the British Raj. Most offered sports facilities and well stocked bars where its members could play cricket, golf, polo and where they entertained their friends and guests.
Since local travel was by horse, most Clubs also provided stables with grooms (syces) for the horses and shelter for the carriages.
Muriel and Walter were members of the famous Hill Club in Nuwara Eliya. Walter served on Committee at The Hill in 1937.
The Hill Club is still in existence today.
The Hill Club in Nuwara Eliya was established as an exclusive planters’ hunting club in 1876 and it remains, to this day, a private establishment.
It is distinguished as representing the formal lifestyles of planters of a bygone era and - from its antique billiard table to the men only bar and the ladies’ lounge - little has changed since the 1940s.
The panelled walls, hunting trophies, leather arm chairs, glowing fires and ancient bathrooms - they all add to the antiquated charm of the Hill Club.
The current manager confirms that the Club’s policy is for men to wear formal attire (tie, jacket, and shoes) in the main dining room, mixed bar, and mixed lounge after 7 p.m. No jeans or denims are permitted in these areas and women are also required to be in suitable attire. The Club reflects exclusivity in style and class while maintaining the British colonial traditions.
As mentioned, The Club was the epicenter of Plantation Society.
In 1920, Walter and Gladys took a family trip home to England with their two young sons. John was seven years old and Hew was only three.
The family sailed in First Class Cabins aboard the S.S. Lancashire for the 30 day voyage from Colombo to London.
His parents and brother were probably very happy to have their family reunited again at 13 Marlborough Buildings in Bath - the family home.
Walter was the youngest of three children. His older sister, Benita, had died in 1906 and his brother, Cecil, did not have long to live. The family knew he was never going to recover from an illness he had contracted during his nine months imprisonment as a Prisoner of War in Germany.
Walter’s father, Walter Spencer, was to die in 1926 and his mother, Lucy, died in 1934.
And, if you remember - Gladys had lost her father in 1906 and her mother had been committed to a “lunatic asylum”. So this would be the last time the boys would ever see their extended family.
From, at least, 1890, the Brymer Family Home in Bath was at 13 Marlborough Buildings.
Situated on the west side of the world-renowned Royal Crescent and on the edge of Royal Victoria Park, the Marlborough Buildings has always been one of the most prestigious addresses in Bath.
Construction had first begun on the 22 homes that comprise the Marlborough Buildings in 1788 and by September 1791, all 22 houses were occupied. The new occupants purchased the shell of the house, but it was up to them to contract craftsmen to embellish the buildings with plasterwork and woodcarving. Nos. 13-15 were the first to be completed.
From its inception, Marlborough Buildings was considered an "up-market" address and is even mentioned by Jane Austen in her book Persuasion.
No 13 is positioned in the middle of this fine Georgian Terrace and benefits from having a wonderful aspect to the front overlooking the Royal Crescent and it enjoys stunning elevated views to the rear over the Royal Victoria Park.
Walter Henry had spent most of his early life in this home and, in 1908, he returned to rent a room there from his father for £50 a year..
And Walter was to return to this home with Gladys on some of their future trips back to England.
At any rate, we can only hope that their visit together was a happy one because Cecil died a year later in June 1921. Walter and Gladys returned to Bath for the funeral of his brother.
Back home in Ceylon, Walter kept himself busy with his management of the Sheen Plantation. He was also actively involved in the local Agricultural Society and the Planters’ Association of Dimbula. He was elected District Representative for the Planters’ Association of Ceylon and, in 1924, he bought an interest in the ownership of the Delgahalande Tea Plantation.
Evidently, progress had arrived to Ceylon in the form of automobiles and Walter was named an Examiner of Motor Drivers for the district of Nuwara Eliya in 1924.
During the time period of The Raj in both India and Ceylon, it was customary to send children - at a young age - home to Britain for education or, occasionally, for health reasons.
In Elizabeth Buettner's Empire Families, she writes of the intense pain this caused these children and how their fathers, in particular, became strangers to them.
After tracking British children in India through their early years and then charting the education some received in India, Buettner explains why it was so important for most British families to send their young children, especially boys, home to Britain for most of their formal education.
It had to do with race and career paths.
Those children who went to colonial schools were jostled together with Eurasians (called Anglo-Indians in the 20th century) and Europeans born in Ceylon.
Placed with these children, the very “whiteness” of the British children was made suspect and their futures endangered.
They also would not have access to the British schools, colleges and examinations which channelled young men to the best career paths.
So they had to be sent home even though it meant a wrenching break with family. They might be sent (or taken by their mothers) "home" to the British Isles where they boarded at school during term and stayed with relatives or others during vacations.
They might see their mothers every second or third year and their fathers every five years.
"Many suffered emotional traumas, most adapted to their plight.
This was a cost of empire and of keeping the family in its appropriate class position.”
So it was with Gladys’ two sons.
In 1927, they both started school in England and it is likely that Gladys had accompanied them home to help them settle in.
We found a record of her trip back to Colombo aboard the S.S. Oxfordshire which left Liverpool on March 25, 1927.
The Oxfordshire was one of the flagships of the Bibby Line and accommodations for the lonely voyage back to Ceylon must have been very comfortable.
So, in 1927, fourteen year old, John Hanway Parr Brymer, began his education at Sherborne School in Dorset, England.
Sherborne’s campus is scattered over a picturesque abbey town in northwest Dorset. Its honey-colored school buildings had been confiscated by King Henry VIII from the Benedictine Monastery and given to the school after the Reformation. According to legend, Alfred the Great was one of the school's early pupils.
With 8 different boarding houses, each run by a scholarly old-school housemaster, Sherborne is the prototype of a boys’ public school.
At the turn of the century, it had been characterized as one of those uncompromising all-boys boarding schools where parents sent their sons to toughen them up and where the rugby field rivalled the classroom in importance.
That same year, his brother, Hew Robin Guy, also started school in England. Hew began at Gresham House Preparatory School in Birchington-on-Sea when he was 13.
Hew continued his studies the next year with his brother at Sherborne in 1928 where he was assigned to Harper House.
Harper House, being set within lovely grounds in the town, is said to possess a sense of tranquillity and space. This was felt to do much to influence the character of the house, with boys being relaxed within their environment but going about their daily routine with purpose.
Hew did well at Sherborne where he was in the 6th Form Army Class. He was the School Prefect and played on the 2nd XV Rugby Team. He was also the Class Leader, a Corporal in OTC, and a member of the literary, Duffers Society.
He graduated from Harper House, Sherborne in 1932. Here is a picture of the graduates:
After Sherborne, Hew entered the Royal Military College at Sandhurst in 1933.
Hew graduated from Sandhurst - placing 120 out of 138 cadets and was assigned to the King’s Shropshire Light Infantry.
The King’s Shropshire Light Infantry Uniform -
In 1946, Hew was described as:
A powerfully built boy, he was in the 2nd XV Rugby team....though large in size,
he was quiet & unassuming & made friends by these characteristics.
Hew’s brother, John, took a different path.
After leaving Sherborne, he boarded a ship headed for Colombo on April 17, 1931. According to the Manifest, John planned on staying in Ceylon. Perhaps he considered joining his father as a Tea Planter.
But, maybe he realized that plantation life in Ceylon was not for him.
Five years later, he sailed home in a first class cabin aboard the S.S. Orama.
He entered Islington House as his address.
John’s father might have inherited the Brymer ancestral home in 1926. But his great uncle Wilfrid John Brymer lived there with his sister, Constance Mary.
Hew and John might have also stayed with Wilfrid and Constance during their school vacations.
Situated in Dorchester, the history of Islington House can be traced back to the 12th century.
In 1861, John Brymer purchased the estate from the family of the first Prime Minister of England - the Walpole family.
Originally set in 2,369 acres, the estate encompassed farms, cottages, residential properties, woodland, workshops, and fishing rights. It remained in the Brymer family until 1977 and is now offered as an event venue and a vacation rental.
Check out this website for more photos and information about Islington House.
So, in about 1937, 24 year old John Hanway Brymer settled himself into Islington House.
Around this time, he earned his Pilots’ License at the Herts & Essex Aero Club.
The aircraft on which he earned his certificate was the iconic pre World War 1 - Moth Gipsy
John then furthered his aviation education by enrolling at de Havilland Aeronautical Technical School.
The de Havilland Aeronautical Technical School was founded in 1928, initially to provide the owners of de Havilland Moth aircraft with technical maintenance skills. In 1934, the School moved to Hatfield, Hertfordshire, following the establishment of Hatfield Aerodrome there. The curriculum widened to cover the design, manufacture, and operation of aircraft in general. The instructors were engineers from the de Havilland company.
We’re not sure when he joined the Royal Navy. The earliest data found is dated December 27, 1940 when he was promoted to Lieutenant.
John did later become a test pilot. His old school, Sherborne, has published this entry about his career accomplishments.
During the 1930s, Gladys and Walter made several voyages back to England from their home at the Sheen Plantation in Punduloya, Ceylon.
The voyage from England to Colombo took about 40 days to complete. The Brymers seem to have favored traveling in First Class cabins on board ships from the Bibby Line: the Worcestershire, the Lancashire, the Warwickshire, the Oxfordshire and the Staffordshire ...... were some of their favorites. They mostly sailed between Colombo and London or Liverpool.
But, in April 1935, the couple traveled to Japan - we found a Manifest listing them as alien passengers on a ship which had landed in San Francisco from Yokohama. They stayed in the United States for a month. From New York, they sailed to Liverpool in a first class cabin aboard Cunard’s SS Laconia - arriving on June 3.
Traveling on RMS Laconia in first class accommodations was a luxurious adventure in 1935.
The emergence of the RMS Laconia (and her sister ship, Franconia) inaugurated the era of the high-sided steamer. Apart from her unseen technological specifications below decks, her single-funneled simulacra replaced the twin stacks of the earlier period. She was classed as one of the most successful and popular of the great ships of the sea.
RMS Laconia offered her first class passengers spacious accommodations, broad promenades and well ventilated, heated cabins. She was one of the first ships to offer running water in every cabin AND, in her dining rooms, moveable seating replaced the fixed, rotating stools found on most ships.
The first class public rooms included a Verandah Café, Smoking Room, Lounge, Writing Room, Library and “state of the art” Gymnasium on the Upper Promenade Deck.
The Laconia was one of the most beautifully decorated passenger ships at the time.
Her Writing Room was done in the Adam Style; her Main Lounge in the Queen Anne Style; her Smoking Room was made to resemble an old English inn - complete with a brick fireplace.
The First Class Lounge boasted lofty ceilings, mahogany walls and large fenestrated windows draped with green embroidered curtains.
At one end was a fireplace. The floor had been laid with polished Austrian oak and covered with Persian carpets. In the center of the Room were comfortable settees upholstered with cream and green tapestries.
The delicately modelled plaster ceiling featured semi-circular dormer windows which shed a pleasant glow.
The Smoking Room was panelled throughout in grey sycamore inlaid with holly and tulip wood and populated with red furniture and floors.
The First Class Dining Saloon was enameled in white with a rubber floor featuring a blue and white pattern.
The color scheme of the First Class Library and Writing Room was of “vieux/rose and French grey”. Its ceiling was an excellent example of the plaster work of the period with electric lights arranged to diffuse the light evenly over the whole room.
The mahogany furniture was inlaid with box. The seats and backs of the chairs and settees were covered in rose velvet. A large number of conveniently placed writing tables were scattered around the spacious room. The Library contained nearly 1,000 books.But, the Laconia’s piéce de résistance was its state of the art Gymnasium. Designed with large lofty ceilings, it was completely fitted with every requirement that any athlete could ever desire.
These included electrically driven riding horses “for the ladies”, vibrating machines for massage treatments, rowing machines, cycling machines, chest developers, wall bars, horizontal bars, vaulting bars, a trapeze, hand rings, ground bars, dumb bells, Indian clubs and punching balls. (I didn’t even think exercising was in vogue in those days!)
It must have been a very relaxing voyage back to England.
Taking a closer look at the Manifest List from their voyage, the home addresses entered by Walter and Gladys were in London: The Badminton Club and The Empress Club. These were very exclusive Private Clubs.
Private clubs in London originally existed primarily as retreats for men of the upper classes. To be a member of “society” entailed being a member of at least one, and probably more, clubs. No person engaged in trade could ever hope for admission to these bastions of privilege and exclusivicity.
Far from the scathing glare of the hoi polloi, traditionally the Club was created as a safe place for the upper echelons of London society. The gentlemen’s club was a place for relaxation, where the finest port flows and money is thrown around like confetti.
They allowed members to escape from their families and jobs to a place where they could smoke, drink, relax, socialize and network in comfortable surroundings with like-minded gentlemen. That original role later expanded to provide places for newly qualified or graduated young men to network and make business and social connections among members. In some clubs, these young men were able to rent a room before they could afford to pay for a house or flat in London.
For their members, clubs were their "second homes" in London where they could relax, mix with friends, play parlor games, get a meal, and in some clubs stay overnight.
Expatriates like Walter and Gladys would use their club as a base while staying in England.
Walter’s Badminton Club was founded in 1875 and located at 100 Piccadilly Street in London. The club was named after Badminton House, the country seat of the Dukes of Beaufort who have hosted the prestigious annual Badminton Horse Trials since 1949.
According to the Duke, The Badminton Club was “........a thorough coaching establishment, having all the year round a coach, a brake, a team or two... capital stabling and coach-houses, as well as chambers and bedrooms kept for the use of members”.
The Badminton Club flourished so long as the horse remained supreme in London but, by the late 1930s, driving was only the pastime of a few. The club had lost its raison d’etre and decided to disband in 1938.
Gladys was a member of the very prestigious Empress Club on Dover Street in London.
Towards the end of the 19th century, the idea of a London club solely for women was put forward by one of Queen Victoria’s Ladies-in-Waiting, With the help of other Ladies at Court, and indeed with the blessing of the Queen herself, the idea went ahead, and on May 24, 1897, the Empress Club opened.
The Club’s foundation marked a new era in the history of Ladies’ Clubs.
Unconnected with any political movement, it soon became a powerful Social Institution. Headed by the Duchess of Leeds, its leadership Committee included a Princess and several Countesses. Within 12 months of its opening, its large and influential membership of over 2,000 members represented nearly every known family of distinction in the United Kingdom. As such, it was the most exclusive club in Great Britain and the most luxurious club in London.
Lavishly furnished and filled with plants, cut flowers and overstuffed easy chairs, the expensive décor of the Empress Club signified luxury.
Its seven story building was made of stone with a massive portico on the first floor and bold bay windows on the second and third floors.
Inside, it offered a choice of two formal Drawing Rooms - one furnished in the style of Louis XV or the other in the Venetian Style.
There were over 70 bedrooms, two dining rooms, several lounges, a Smoking Gallery, a Smoking Room, a Library, a Writing Room, a tape machine for receiving news, a telephone, dressing rooms and a room in which servants could be interviewed.
There were baggage rooms, cloak rooms, quarters for servants and a grand staircase that was decorated with stained glass windows depicting Shakespearean heroines.
In short, the Empress Club offered every accessory needed for the elegant, “ease loving” society woman.
It was to these exclusive private clubs where Walter and Gladys retreated while in London.
It seems that, after spending four months home, it was time for Walter and Gladys to get back to Ceylon. They sailed in First Class aboard the SS Orford (of the Orient Line) from London on October 26, 1935.
Curiously, they listed their London address as: Coopers Wood, Woodcock Hill in East Grinstead. We could find no ownership records under their names for that address.
An elderly woman named Amy Lawrence had died at Coopers Wood in that month. Maybe the Brymers were aquatintences of hers or her family. Harold E Palmer - the world famous linguist - purchased the property soon afterwards. There were no records associating the Brymers with that address but perhaps they were friends with the owners and had been invited to stay at Coopers Wood.
In 1935, Gladys’ younger son, Hew, was promoted to Lieutenant in the King’s Shropshire Light Infantry.
Four years later, he was attached to the 2nd Brigade of the Gold Coast Regiment. The Gold Coast Regiment was formed from battalions of the Royal West African Frontier Force (RWAFF) which, in 1944, became part of the 82nd West Africa Division of the XIV British Army.
In peacetime, British officers would often be “seconded” to an African Regiment for a tour of three years and then returned to their home Regiment. Given their promise of adventure, the African colonial forces were often seen as an ideal spot for a young officer. Some wrote of being motivated primarily by the promise of big game hunting, exploration or travel. Others mentioned the increased pay given to officers in colonial Regiments. In addition, many saw it as an easy duty. The African colonial infantry was much less formal than the regular army. Military standards were relaxed for officers and there were increased opportunities for leasure activities and for drinking.
One luxury that British officers could also look forward to in the colonial forces: the presence of a personal servant who was paid by the RWAFF. These “orderlies” would be expected to take care of his clothes, make and tend to fires and to clean his quarters - generally act as the officer’s lackey.
The badge of the 82nd WA Division featured two spears on a native carrier’s headband set on a yellow shield.
Hew’s 2nd Brigade served in the East African campaign in the early part of the war before seeing action with the 82nd West Africa Division in Burma in 1944–45.
The 82nd was organized on a “head load” basis - with porters carrying heavy equipment and supplies balanced on their heads.
On July 20, 1944, the 82nd Division was assembled in Ceylon for further jungle training to prepare them for battle in Burma. Hew’s parents were living at their bungalow on the Sheen Plantation at the time ...... wonder if they were able to communicate with their youngest son while he was in Ceylon. They might not have even known he was there.)
Some of the most difficult conditions experienced by British and Commonwealth forces in the Second World War were in Burma (now Myanmar), where a bitter campaign against the Japanese Army raged across the country, from Thailand to the borders of India.
In November, the Division moved into the Arakan in Burma to begin their Mission: clear the Japanese from central Burma and recapture Rangoon. The Third Arakan British campaign to push the Japanese out of Burma was the longest and bloodiest of World War II. Thousands of miles away from the battles in Western Europe, its soldiers were often known as the Forgotten Army.
On December 15, 1944, the 82nd Division of the XIV Indian Army Corps captured Buthidaung and cleared it of the enemy. The Division was then able to establish a beachhead on the east Bank of the Kalapanzi River. Their actions allowed the Allied troops to gain control of the Maungdaw-Buthidaung Road which had been contested for three years.
Engaged in protecting the Forward Maintenance Area at Buthidaung, the 2 was directed to immediately rejoin the 82nd in Myohaung. The 2 Brigade moved with great speed.
This part of the country was ideally suited to the Japanese for tenacious defense. Small jungle-clad features broken up by innumerable nullahs dominated the flat paddy and narrow defiles through which the few passable roads ran.
The 82nd then crossed a steep jungle covered mountain range to link up with the 81st Division.
Together, both Divisions fought hard and persuasively over hilly, forested and sodden terrain. This move forced the Japanese to evacuate Mayu Peninsula (which they had held for four years) and retreat south along the coast - with the 2 West Africa Divisions pushing their foe ever southward with the objective of eliminating him from the region.
Caught between the troops landing from the sea and the pursuing 82nd, the enemy suffered heavy losses.
This victory enabled the transport of 640 river craft through river tunnels to supply Allied troops.
In February, the 2nd Brigade - greatly supported by tanks and artillery - had captured the strategic supply lines of the enemy.
In their drive towards Kangaw, 2 and the 22 Anti-Tank Regiment had a series of successful encounters. They were in constant contact with a company of Japanese fighting a delaying action. But 2 did not lose the impetus of its advance. They kept the enemy continuously on the move, inflicting a number of casualties and capturing valuable equipment and documents along the way.
After more fighting, 2 landed on the beachhead. By February 22, the 2nd Brigade was ready for a drive on An.
On March 6, the 2 Brigade achieved one of their foremost objectives: Blocking the Tamandu Road. This action stirred up a hornet’s nest and the Japanese response was immediate.
Their efforts to break up the 2 Brigade were stepped up considerably.
The enemy let the 2 really have it. All of their attempts to gain ground were met with unyielding resistance.
The enemy brought up more heavy artillery, tanks and mortars and some of their shelling caused heavy casualties in the Brigade HQ.
Fierce hand to hand combat ensued in which the 2 played an outstanding part.
The 2nd accounted for killing 10-20 Japanese each day. Total enemy casualties in this battle between March 6 and March 8 totaled 60 with numerous wounded.
On March 17, the 2nd was finally relieved by the 1st Brigade who promptly began its vigorous offensive as Japanese opposition began to show signs of slackening.
By the night of March 24, following a tortuous route, the 2 was able to cut tracks through the thick, wet jungle. After a final burst of fighting, Brigades 1and 2 met along a narrow ridge.
Throughout the next two days, the 2nd Brigade carried out evacuations to Letmauk where its casualties were flown out without delay.
On April 1, 2nd left on foot for Taungup.
The 2nd Brigade battled its way to Taungup. Everywhere, they met tenacious enemy parties whom they dislodged only after prolonged fighting. Enemy shelling was particularly frequent. During this time, 2 Brigade was in constant contact with the enemy.
The Japanese knew that their retreat would give the Allies possession of the Taungup Pass before the feared monsoons broke.
Taungup is in a plain of paddy, completely commanded on the east by a large jungle-clad hill.
The object for the Division was to bypass this hill (which was still held by the Japanese) by marching 4 Brigade to the south of it while 2 was to outflank and capture it from the south.
With Taungup deserted, 2 relieved the 4th Indian Brigade on April 17.
Their mission was complete. The Third Arakan Campaign had successfully driven the Japanese enemy from the area.
During the Third Arakan Campaign, the 82nd Division of the XIV Indian Army Corps suffered the biggest hit of any unit of the Corps - 2,085.
Of which Hew Robin Guy Brymer was one.
Sometime on April 22, 1945, Major Hew Robin Guy Brymer was killed in action. No details are known.
Hew is buried in Burma at the Rangoon Memorial which was erected in 1951.
The Memorial stands in the center of the cemetery, surrounded by the graves of more than 6,000 men who fought and died with those whom it commemorates, whose remains were brought from the battlefield cemeteries and from scattered jungle and roadside graves all over Burma.
It is in the form of two long open garden courts, flanked by covered walks and joined by an open rotunda.
The names of the fallen are carved on the inner faces of broad rectangular piers placed at intervals to form the sides of the covered walks.
Through these colonnades can be seen the green lawns of the cemetery and the colorful garden courts.
Sadly, Hew’s mother - Gladys Muriel Milward Brymer - passed away in Ceylon just six months after her youngest son on October 22, 1945.
I do not know where she is buried.
In 1946, Walter Brymer left Ceylon and returned to London.
Three years later, he seems to have relocated to Alderney in the Channel Islands.
The name of his house was Longis House. This is what Longis House looks like today.
Walter remarried some time in the 1950s. In 1955, he and his new wife Edith Elizabeth (1891-1973) traveled to Tenerife for a month vacation.
Then, in 1959, Edith Brymer took a trip to South Africa and on the ship manifest, she stated that she was a widow.
So, Walter must have died sometime before 1959. I was unsuccessful in locating their marriage records or the death records of Gladys and Walter.
Edith passed away in London in 1973.
You might remember that Gladys and Walter had two sons.
Hew’s older brother was 93 years old when he died in 2005.
In 1967, he published a book about tropical fish keeping -
John Hanway Parr Brymer was married three times and was the father of five children. Unfortunately, I was unable to locate any of them.
ADDENDUM
March 17, 2018
Months ago, I contacted the archives at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC. requesting information about John Brymer.
I received this file today which includes new information and fills in some gaps in John’s career.
These papers were prepared in January 1940 when John held the position of Technical Assistant at Air Minstry of the Royal Aircraft Establishment.
He was a member of two aeronautical societies: The Royal Aeronautical Society and Mem., I. ae. S
With 400 hours of flying experience in Single, Twin and Four Engine planes, John earned a British Pilot’s “A” Licence No. 13528.
He attended Sherborne from 1927-1931 and DeHavilland Aero. technical School from 1936-1938.
In chronological order, here are the positions John held during the early years of his career:
1931-1935 - John worked in Civil Engineering in South India and Ceylon (our research indicated he was Tea planting. Maybe he did both.)
1936-1937 - he was employed in Factory and Design work at DeHavilland Aircraft Company.
In 1937, he was the assistant to the visiting service engineer at DeHavilland.
From 1938-1939, John became Technical Assistant in the Sales and Export Division at DeHavilland.
In 1939, he was a Technical assistant in the Air Ministry of the Royal Air Force.
Besides his book about raising tropical fish, John also wrote five articles on the design features of the Gipsy Twelve Engine plane and he also wrote similar articles on Rubber-in-Stress engine mountings. These articles appeared in the DeHavilland Gazette.
In addition, John was the author of the R.A.F. Engineering Manual on the Defiant Fighter.
I am still trying to locate John’s children and will update this post when I contact them.
I hope you have enjoyed reading about the descendants of our great uncle: Lt Col Edwin Oswald Milward, MD.
EPILOGUE
History gives a nation its bearing on what it is and how its people are affected by what has happened in the past.
Its kings and queens, its wars - with victories and defeats - these all mold a nation’s culture into the way it views itself in the present.
In the same way, a family history presents how a family has survived and come to terms with the great social and cultural experiences of the ages.
We hope these stories will give each member of our family a foundation and, in some small way, explain how we came to be what we are today.
Hopefully, through these vignettes, our future generations will gain a knowledge of the energy and dynamism, the loves and hates, the errors and mistakes, the victories and failures, the struggles and successes that make us what we are.
Our family history presents a fascinating read - and, hopefully, some lessons to be learned in the process.
