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VIII.
1936, C.J.R in Katha (Myogalay)
Cecil remembered his days in Katha as DC, in Upper Burma. He had lots of Burmese friends there. In Katha, as for a European, there were not many things to do. In the morning, office work or routine check-in at nearby villages would be assisted and accompanied by ywar-thu-gyis (village headmen).
In the evening, they could relax and enjoy their life in the village creek, where they could bathe, and swim. After that, they could enjoy evening times at the local club, which was only meant for Europeans.
After that, his Burmese men would prepare food for him. In that way, he spent his time in Katha.
Two Flashback Incidents Happened in Rangoon
1940, November, Sule Pagoda Road
Cecil was driving his jeep along Sule Pagoda Road, but he was not driving it fast as much as it could go. As usual, the road was busy with rickshaw–wall
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An English Writer IX.
1941, The Last Supper at Myogale or Katha before Leaving for India Cecil also remembered Civil Station, the dak bungalow in Myogale. In it, the Deputy Commissioner’s house lied at the curving road past the railway station. Cecil lived there for five years. Actually, he had first come here fifteen years before. From the upstairs verandah of the house, the courthouse buildings could be seen red roofs, red-brown roads, and dusty roadside trees, flamboyant scarlet Marion. The wife of the District and Session Judge was Marion Simpson, who was thought to be the queen of Myogale Civil Station. There were also two dozen houses of European colony. On that March evening, the magenta of a bush of bougainvillea was seen in the corner of the tennis courts. Sheila Summers, wife of one of Deputy Conservators of Forests, and Henry Simpson, District and Session Judge were among the people at that evening. The club butler was Moses. E
An English Writer X.
1942, February, or MarchSometime in February or March 1942, Cecil was summoned to the Headquarters of the Government of Burma in Rangoon and told that he must immediately go down to the battle-front which was then about 60-70 miles south-west of Rangoon.Cecil needed to deliver a message to the General in Command that the withdrawal must cease, if not, the whole campaign would be jeopardized because the Japs were hammering at the gates of Rangoon.Cecil thought that the implication of the order seemed unusual, and he should have been in uniform. But, he knew that an order is an order which he needed to follow. He talked with his Kachin boy who declined to accompany him to the battle-front because the boy was not allowed to take his bicycle with him.Cecil went off alone, taking a supply train to the battle area which was on the far side of the Sittang River over which the long steel bridge was still intact. He jumped a supply tr
An English Writer XI.
1947, C.J.R in Swarraton, UKSwarraton in Hampshire is a small village in which people can live peacefully, and quietly. Cecil chose this place to live in after his retirement from the Indian Civil Service in 1947 when he went home by flight.Today he woke up early and he was staring out of the window from his bedroom in the morning of November. He saw snow coming down and they were resting on treetops, and house roofs.Cecil, reflecting on his life in Burma where all the sunshine shone fully, felt nostalgic for the country, and its people, especially his friends in Burma. In his mind, before his retirement to Swarraton, in England, he decided that he would compose a poetry book on Burma and its people.Today, at 10 am, he would meet the publisher in London. The publisher’s name was Herbert Curnow who already agreed with him to publish the poetry book. The publisher really liked the title of the book “Rainbow Land and
An English Writer XII.
XII. 1960, as a volunteer teacherAfter coming back from his trip, he felt more refresh and vitality got back into his life. So, he tried to give a talk about it in Village Hall and Britain-Burma Society to which Cecil regularly attended the annual meeting of the society at which he could meet his old colleagues.Especially, during his trip, he met his old, intimate friends in Burma and they could recount their good old days. And he also enjoyed visiting new places and meeting new people, too. It enhanced his love for traveling and if he had another chance he determined that he would take a trip again.&nbs
An English Writer XIII.
XIII. Cecil’s visit to Gallipoli in 1970Cecil visited Gallipoli in April 1970 with his friend who used to serve in Burma as the Veterinary, who even took part in Salonika Campaign on the Asiatic shore with 28th Division for Veterinary Officer.They left Victoria by boat train on April 16th. At first, they had a calm Channel crossing and a very rocky night on the train across Belgium, and woke up about Ulm, and reached Munich at 9 a.m.At Munich, Cecil was looking for the office of Europa bus with which they would travel to Istanbul. They saw Rathaus tower and had lunch at the Hofbrauhas where Hitler made his putsch in 1923. They drank excellent beer out of big blue-grey mugs.In the afternoon, they went for a coach driver to visit the Nymphenburg Castle, which is the Residence of the Kings of Bavaria until 1918. They learned that Munchen was told the 3rd largest city in Germany, and it had
An English Writer XIV
XIV. To Gallipoli (Part-2)At Hill 10, outside the beautifully tended cemetery, Cecil found the gravestones of 4 men of his own battalion. After that, something came into his head and Cecil made his way over rock and scrub to Kiretch Tepe Sirt and Karakol Dagh, at their highest point 600 or 700 feet above sea level, reflecting the event which was left of their Battalion holding the extreme left flank of the British Front Line.On the northern side, the cliffs slope steeply down to the blue waters of the Aegean, with bays of white sand. Cecil found a 1915 Pratt’s 2-gallon petrol tin in which their very tangy water used to be man-handled up to the Front Line, broken pieces of earthenware rum jars on which the letters SRD were still intact. He saw them on his way down.“Ingliz” barbed wire still in use, miraculously not yet rusted, they saw that on their way back to Anafarta. They stopped for tea at a village teashop. The
An English Writer XV.
At the end of his lengthy recount on the forgotten writer, C.J Richards’ life, U Aung Aye Myint exhaled smoothly in the living room where Lin and Oo were sitting in their seats. It was so true that both of them were lost in the narrative of U Aung Aye Myint who earnestly talked about the less-known British author who ever lived in Burma.In fact, U Aung Aye Myint told them a lot about the author’s life. So, Lin was thankful to U Aung Aye Myint. He understood that if he did not meet U Aung Aye Myint, he could not know about this author.Lin looked at the face of Oo who looked him back. And, Oo asked Lin, “Lin, do you have any questions to ask to U Aung Aye Myint? I think we should give a break to Uncle who talked continuously for nearly a day.”Lin nodded. But, U Aung Aye Myint said after taking some sips of water from a glass of water in front of him, “It’s alright. Don’t worry about me. I am really happy to talk to you
An English Writer PART 3: Revival
Chapter-12018, March, Yangon University, YangonLin thought that he should visit Yangon University after meeting a librarian who told him that he could find old Guardian Magazines at Yangon University library which was one of the best resources for book lovers and researchers.He knew that it was not easy to find those old periodicals in other places these days. If he found them luckily, he would have to pay a high price for them because they became rare. When he left his house, at first, he thought that he took a cab to go there, but he changed his mind because he needed to be thrifty in spending.So, on that day, he took a bus to Hle Dan which was the busiest part of the city. One would find many youths in this area. When he reached the bus stop, he got off the bus and crossed the road to walk towards the main entry gate of the university.Yangon University was very prominent a long time ago. He called
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