James Stewart Broatch

J. Stewart Broatch, aged 100, of East Orleans, MA died peacefully April 5, 2024 at Broad Reach Long Term Care in Chatham MA with his son by his side. Stewart, born in Dundee, Scotland spent his childhood on a large family dairy farm near Dundee and graduated from St Andrews University in Scotland with a degree in electrical engineering. After serving four years as an officer in the Royal Air Force, stationed in England and North Africa, including the island of Malta during World War II, Stewart began his career in the precision instrument industry with Sigma Co. in Letchworth, England. In 1948 he married Sylvia, of London, UK, whom he met in Malta. In 1952 he traveled to the USA to initiate the marketing of instruments manufactured by Sigma and was eventually transferred to Pratt & Whitney Co. a division of Colt Industries of West Hartford CT. These were busy, bold times as Sylvia and Stewart had a daughter, Caroline, in the US then a son, Duncan, immediately after moving to the US. He held positions of Vice President of International Marketing and VP of Marketing USA at Pratt & Whitney and VP of Marketing at ELOX Corp. Davidson North Carolina another division of Colt Industries. Sylvia and Stewart lived in New York, West Hartford, Bloomfield, CT, Charlotte, NC, Glastonbury, CT then Orleans, MA.

Stewart thoroughly enjoyed traveling. He circled the globe in business trips and visited many countries and the US during pleasure trips with Sylvia.

After serving Colt Industries for 34 years, he retired in 1989. As an avid woodworker he was chairman for many years of the Manpower Group of over 50 craftsmen who made many furniture and wooden items for the Orleans Holly berry Bazaar to aid the Cape Cod Hospital. Building fine furniture in his basement woodworking shop was one of Stewart’s favorite activities. His interest in Orleans Town government included memberships in the Solid Waste and Recycling Advisory committee of the Orleans Town Hall. As a member of the Federated Church of Orleans his activities included chairman of the Budget and Building committees, chairman of the Board of Trustees and a member of the Bye Laws and Audit committees. For over 10 years he was a volunteer driver for FISH.

Stewart was an active member of the Orleans Yacht Club as Chairman of the House Committee having served in this capacity for 10 years. He was one of the trio members who organized the reconstruction of the Orleans Yacht Club after a violent storm in 1990. As an active member of Orleans Coffee Club he enjoyed the company of over 100 members when they met every Thursday for coffee and donuts and lively discussions. He is survived by his daughter Caroline residing in Boynton Beach FL, his son Duncan living in Newport, RI, three granddaughters - Erin, Ashley and Alyssa and a grandson Ethan, two great daughters Anyis and LaYanni and one great grandson, Carter.

Stewart was a jubilant, loving husband, a father, a grandfather and a great grandfather and loved by all.

A Delightful Journey

(Jan 2014)

It all started in November of 1923.

There is a small village about ten miles to the west of Dundee, Scotland, named Liff. Near this village there is a large farm, Gourdie, where I was born in 1923. The farm is located on a gentle sloping hill overlooking the estuary of the River Tay, a distant five miles away. From this vantage point I could see across the estuary to the county of Fife, with the town of Dundee to the east and, although it is a far 20 miles distant, the town of Perth to the west. The view is magnificent. There was a large lawn in front of the farm house and I remember playing on a putting green there. The house, built of stone, had three bedrooms and the single bathroom upstairs, with four large rooms, plus a kitchen and a storage room, on ground level. All had fire places. It was surrounded by beautiful bushes and trees with a large vegetable garden and lawn to the west of the house and a large lawn in front. The house had all the drainage plumbing on the outside walls which was a standard characteristic of houses in Scotland at that time period. Temperatures rarely crept below freezing. As a youngster, I enjoyed climbing up some of the large trees. I also had ropes attached to a strong branch to create a swing. I loved this as I flew through the air trying to hit a high branch with my feet.

There were many birds in the garden. They loved to eat the berries which annoyed my father. He eventually arranged to have a wooden framework erected covered with netting to keep the birds out of this section of the garden. It seemed to work.

A large estate, Camperdown Estate, was directly East of the farm and on the far side of the main road connecting Dundee with Liff. The estate was surrounded by a ten feet tall stone wall located on the side of the road adjacent to the farm. The wall must have been at least six miles long as the estate was very large. I enjoyed climbing up this wall using minute crevices in the vertical surface to gain finger holds and a footing. I never climbed down the other side just in case I could get caught. The estate has now been converted to a golf course.

The farm was owned by the Town of Dundee and my father managed it along with about 7 or 8 employees. I lived there until I was 12 or 13 years old. During that time a modern cow shed was built to house about 60 milking Ayrshire cows. They were brought in each day from the grass fields and I was always amazed to find each cow knew exactly which stall to go to. The stalls had the name of each cow above the water and food trough so maybe they could read? The cows were milked twice per day. The shed had automatic milking machines. They must have used compressed air as there was no electricity. There was a gasoline engine coupled to a compressor to provide the compressed air. The milk was cooled by running it over a radiator full of cold running water. The milk was delivered to a local hospital each day. Special cows were taken to agricultural shows to be judged. My father was always very proud to announce when they were awarded prizes.

My parents lived a rather austere basic life style. Although we had town water we had no electricity or gas. My mother did not have the amenities which we take for granted today. The kitchen floor consisted of large stone flag stones and the kitchen fire had to be stocked with coal from a storage room outside the house. It heated an oven and also hot water. I remember often making toast for breakfast, by holding the slice of bread on a long fork, close to the fire. Every room in the house had a fireplace but I only remember the living room and kitchen having a lit fire. Winters in Scotland were not that cold and I do not remember a snow fall of any consequence. The Gulf Stream provided a mild climate for the UK compared to the USA.

For food, we had an abundance of milk, bacon and eggs and the large garden had plenty of fresh vegetables, gooseberries and raspberries. The items we did not have were electricity or gas. In my amateurish way I rigged up battery operated lights on the staircase of our house but I could not figure out how to wire the system so that I could always control the lights from both upstairs and downstairs. I guess I needed a three wire system. My mother cooked over an open fire or a kerosene stove and at night we read with the light from kerosene lamps. Running water was heated by the boiler in the coal fed kitchen fire. We were lucky if we had one hot bath each week. Showers did not exist. We had a telephone with a small handle which you cranked to get the operator. You gave her the number you wanted to call and she would then get it for you. You could also pass the time of day with the operator if you had to wait. Very sociable!

Looking back now on this time of my life I should have helped my mother much more as she had a rough time to feed and look after the family. There was no automatic washing machine so she washed all the clothes by hand or washed them in a coal fired boiler, which she had to stoke, in a room attached to the house. She had to take all the washed clothes out to the garden to hang them on a line to dry. There was also a drying rack in the kitchen which was lowered and elevated by ropes and pulleys. Cooking over a coal fire must have been difficult even though she had a kerosene stove to help. My father had a pig killed nearly every year. The cured carcass was hung on hooks up in the kitchen ceiling. I recall it was an attractive home for flies. He would quite often bring it down to cut off a large piece so that we could have fried bacon & eggs.

We had a radio of sorts, with a large trumpet speaker, operated by a battery. I also had a crystal radio which picked up one station if I was lucky. I had a Hornby model train set (clockwork, not electric) and a Meccano set which I enjoyed building small model machines, cars and a replica of a steam engine. I built a model engine and subsequently entered it in a competition at a store in Dundee. I won first prize.

There was a large grass field in front of our house. In the spring, thistles grew there in abundance. My father gave me six pennies to cut down the thistles for every hour I worked. I made good money! I also received another wage. I earned one penny every time I washed and dried the dishes after a meal. If I was lucky I could earn about twelve pennies per week which was enough for me to buy at least six Milky Ways or Mars Bars! Back then they only cost two pence each or only one penny if I was lucky when they went on sale.

My father built a four wheel cart for me. The front axle, which had two wheels on front, pivoted on a single bolt. A rope was fastened on the axle near the two front wheels so that I could guide the cart. It had wooden wheels. I enjoyed using the cart on the road next the farm as it had a decided slope to it which allowed me to whiz down the road at what I thought was a high speed. I enjoyed this sport many times until one day I seemed to be going at a speed much higher than usual when I crashed into the side of the road and cut my right elbow. My parents decided that this cart was too dangerous so that was the end of my cart. The healed wounded skin on my elbow can still be seen to this day.

I had a bedroom on the ground floor with a large window looking east out to a grass field with the main road and high wall beyond. One night I woke up with a splitting headache, my parents opened up the window as they thought a smell in the room may have given me the headache. However the odor got worse resulting in my father thinking there may be a dead animal outside in the garden. Eventually he dug a trench below the window and discovered on open end of a 3 inch gas pipe spewing out gas. A wooden plug had rotted away and the gas flowed out freely. It was a wonder the whole house did not go up in flames. The gas pipe was an off shoot from the main pipe in the road which delivered gas to the hospital further along the road. I never determined why our house did not have gas for hot water and cooking after this incident.

The event of the week for my mother was to go into Dundee with my father every Tuesday as that was market day for the livestock. So while my Dad was at the market my mother did her weekly grocery shopping. We had an automobile, I think the brand name was “Star”, and it seemed to get us around quite well. The car was started by a crank on the front below the radiator. Sometimes the car was difficult to start or just would not start because moisture had penetrated the distributor cap. This was a common problem with cars of that vintage. I always looked forward to Tuesdays as I would meet my parents after school and have a meal of fish and chips with them in the large department store’s restaurant (D.M. Brown’s) in the center of Dundee.

My father, William Broatch (Born 1887 Died 1967) grew up in Dumfriesshire, Scotland. My mother (Born 1885 died 1961) grew up in Dundee. I believe her parents owned a florist shop in Dundee where she worked before her marriage.

I had one brother, Angus, (Born 1928, died in New Zealand in 1983). While he was attending Edinburgh University he was friendly with a student, Bill Barker. Both visited many times with my aunts in Dundee. Moving forward to the present day, a few years ago our church in East Orleans appointed a temporary minister. His name was Bill Barker. He telephoned me soon after his appointment when he noticed my name in the church directory. After hearing from me I had a brother named Angus he introduced himself as a great friend of Angus and my aunts in Dundee. He also surprised me by announcing he had attended my wedding in London at the invitation of my brother. And he lived in Wellfleet, on the Cape. Small world!

I kept in touch with him after he left our church as he was a great advocate for touring Scotland. He took many trips to Scotland and arranged trips for groups of people. He played the bagpipes in a local Cape Cod Pipe Band. Sadly he died in July of 2012.

Angus, after graduating from Edinburgh University and marrying Peggy, immigrated to Kenya where they farmed until the government took the farm over. Not to be discouraged, he decided New Zealand would be an attractive country to make a living on a farm so they purchased a farm in Paeroa, New Zealand and raised sheep and deer. Angus died in New Zealand twelve years ago. Peggy sold the farm to a neighbor but may still live in the original farm house in Paeroa. I have tried to communicate with her but have not been able to get a reply. They had four children, three daughters, Moira, (born 1959) a computer whiz, and Francis, (born 1960) an economist, living in New Zealand, another daughter, Amanda (born 1968) in public relations, living in London and one son, (Alistair (born 1966) a photographer, in Hong Kong.

I did not attend the local Liff school. I attended the Harris Academy in downtown Dundee. This entailed walking about a mile from home to the Liff railroad station, travelling about 20 minutes to Dundee by train, then walking another mile to the school. And of course I had this journey in reverse in the late afternoon. Occasionally my father would meet me in his car at the Liff station to take me home. During my time there a new Harris Academy was built on the outskirts of Dundee which I attended until I left in March of 1937. The railroad has since been discontinued as a four lane highway has taken its place. I wore a maroon colored blazer with a dark yellow braid around the edges to school as this was mandatory and made outfitting me simple from my parent’s point of view, compared to the fashions today where anything goes.

At school I remember retrieving a ball which another student had kicked into the school playground shrubs. I was called by the principal to report to his office the next day. I received six of the most painful leather straps on my hands by the principal, for disobedience, as it was against school rules to go in amongst the shrubs. Of course you received leather straps on your hands for any misdemeanor no matter how trivial. Rules of punishment have changed today. I recall the school cafeteria at lunch time had a great tasting apple pie which I loved. I was usually fortunate to get a second helping.

I can’t say I excelled at French as I had a 3% score one year. My parents helped by making me attend a private tutor for a few weeks but I really never became proficient at learning French. I much preferred mathematics and the woodworking class. Much later during business trips to France I was able to order food and get around with the smattering of French I knew.

The crops grown on the farm were oats, wheat and turnips. The sheaves of oats and wheat were built in to large stacks near the farm buildings. Every year a steam engine with a threshing machine would arrive to remove the seeds and bail the straw. The technique entailed surrounding each stack with fine mesh wire netting to ensure the rats and mice which dwelled in the stacks would not escape when the sheaves were gradually removed from the top of each stack. Then two or three dogs were allowed to go inside the netting to kill the rats and mice. With the vermin in their mouth one shake of their head was enough to make a kill.

Sometime in the past the farm must have had a mill driven by a large water wheel. At a high point on the farm there was what appeared to be a large pond which had been filled in with soil. This pond presumably supplied water to the wheel which operated the mill to process the oats, wheat etc. This system had been replaced by the travelling steam engine and threshing machine.

My three single aunts lived in a three story condominium in Dundee. Two were physical therapists conducting their business out of their home. I often saw them and they also frequently visited the farm. My aunt, Agnes, was instrumental in initiating the startup of a rehabilitation clinic in Dundee. It was very successful. She was in charge of this enterprise until she retired. My aunts, when they retired, moved from Dundee to West Newport, a small town on the south side of the Tay estuary opposite Dundee. The large house had a wonderful location overlooking the estuary of the river Tay with a broad vision of the city of Dundee. A long railroad bridge connected Dundee to the south of the estuary. The trains travelled from Aberdeen in the north all the way to Edinburgh and then south to London.

Now the railroad bridge is complimented by a new two lane bridge for vehicles thus providing easier access to the north along the east coast.

I was a cub scout for a time and attended meetings in an old castle in Dundee about eight miles from the farm. Fortunately a local bus which passed by the farm also went near this castle so I had a convenient means of transportation. I remember going on my first and last camping trip. It rained every day.

At home, I had a plot of land in the garden and I grew all kinds of flowers and vegetables from seeds. The new cowshed had a system to collect the urine in a large underground tank. In order to help cultivate my flowers and vegetables I decided to pour gallons of urine from the cow shed on to my garden with the result I had oversize crops. My parents never understood how I managed to get such an abundance of vegetables. Their taste left much to be desired.

At one point there was a disastrous fire which consumed about half of the farm buildings. Fortunately all the animals including 10 beautiful Clydesdale horses were saved. The farm was rebuilt but it never had electricity. These horses were truly magnificent. The farm workers took a great pride in looking after them by brushing them down and attending to their hooves each day. Some were entered in agricultural shows and won many prizes. They looked even better than the Budweiser Horses!

A friend of my father visited us often from Dundee on his bicycle. He always brought a small paper bag of chocolate candies for my brother and me which we relished. We always looked forward to his visits.

Many years later, Sylvia and I visited the farm on one of our visits to Scotland. Most of the buildings were gone but the fields were well cultivated with what appeared to be potato crops. The farm house was occupied but we saw no occupants or other people around the farm. All the beautiful trees and shrubs around the farm house were gone. The large cow shed was still there although it was not used to house cows. It was very sad to see the change in the farm buildings although the fields were in good shape. Recently I Googled the farm site to view it via satellite. It came up with great clarity and in color. The fields which I remember between the house and the railroad station were replaced by numerous factories and office buildings. Most of the original farm buildings including the stables, had disappeared and a number of houses had taken their place. I could see a small above ground circular swimming pool in front of the farm house. Quite a change. During this visit, we stopped by the Liff church, on a Sunday, which I attended as a child. We met two men about to enter the church and were astonished to find I knew them from my childhood. We were playmates together. As we reminisced the minister walked up to us to join in the conversation. When he discovered we were from the States he pointed out they needed funds to build a new steeple and could I help. I politely declined.

FROM SCOTLAND TO ENGLAND 1937

In 1937 ( I was now 14) my father changed employment by accepting a position as manager of about 5 farms in Essex, England. So the family packed up and moved to Maldon, Essex, a town on a river estuary about 30 miles from London. The river had a very muddy bottom which was clearly visible when the tide went out. The dock area was not inviting except at high tide. I attended High School there, starting in March of 1937. I remember enjoying the woodworking classes. I also enjoyed the movies held in the town “picture building” which had a balcony and an organ. For 9 pennies we could sit in the balcony and watch two movies and an up to date news film. The organ was played during the interval between the movies with the words of the songs displayed on the screen. We had great fun trying to sing. Occasionally, in 1940, there would be an air raid siren but nobody took any notice. The movies were much more interesting.

My uncle. who lived in Letchworth, died (1938) when we lived in Maldon, Essex. He had a Hotpoint washing machine with a very heavy large cylindrical ironer which could be mounted on the washer. This equipment was given to my mother when he died. It was very bulky and heavy, mounted on four small wheels. There was a rubber hose drain from the bottom of the washer which emptied the water into a bucket. There was no water pump to extract the water to pump it in to the sink. It was not automatic like models today. My mother found it very difficult to use.

World War II came in September 3rd of 1939. In May of 1940 the British army retreated via Dunkirk when many British soldiers were rescued by amateur sailors in a great number of small boats which crossed the North Sea from the east coast of England. In 1940 the Germans were giving London a pounding with air battles, searchlights and the noise of bombs easily seen and heard from our home in Maldon. The German planes seemed to fly right over our house when returning to Germany. They had a bomb called a Land Mine which was a large canister filled with explosives and dropped silently by parachute. The Land Mine was intended to explode when it touched the ground well after the noise of the plane had gone. One Land Mine fell two houses from where we lived in Maldon but thank goodness it did not explode. I went to see the Army Engineers dismantle the mine and they gave me a piece of rope from the parachute as a souvenir. Later, Sylvia told me (she lived near Woolwich Arsenal, a target for the bombers) a bomb exploded near her house and damaged the hearing in one of her ears. Her parents’ house was also slightly damaged by a bomb.

I graduated from High School in June of 1939, and attended a Technical College in Chelmsford about 10 miles from Maldon from September of 1939 to July, 1940. The courses were in the evening so I went there by bus and my father brought me home each evening. His car had headlights with screens over them to dim the light for safety reasons so the German planes would not see the lights from moving vehicles. This particular foggy night we were driving home very slowly, during a nearby air raid with my father gingerly following the white line which he thought was in the middle of the road. Suddenly, right in front of us was a large tree. He braked quickly and got out of the car to investigate. He discovered he had inadvertently been following the line on the side of the road, not in the middle of the road. We returned home safely.

Sometime during 1940 my father decided it was too dangerous for my mother to stay in Maldon due to the air raid sirens and air raids on nearby London. Even though no bombs exploded in Maldon my father moved her to a cottage near Annan in South West Scotland. He selected this area as he was originally from that general area. I did not go with her as I started my first year (October 1940) at St Andrews University engineering college in Dundee, Scotland. Arrangements were made for me to stay with my aunts. This was fortunate for me as I only had to walk two blocks to the University. During my years at the University I became friendly with fellow students, Carswell Jones, Bruce Smith, and Ian Walker. Carswell eventually married Jean. Sylvia and I attended their wedding in 1948. Both have since died. Bruce married Florence. Both immigrated to the USA but I never caught up with them in Maryland. Florence passed away then Bruce married again but died about 6 years ago. Ian married Jean Maurice. Both lived in Edinburgh but Ian died maybe 20 years ago. Sylvia and I visited Jean in Edinburgh about 15 years ago. I did communicate with Jean via e-mail but not recently. I believe she is now blind.

It was during the summer of 1940 the Battle of Britain was being waged in the Southeast, South and Central parts of England. For four months 2900 pilots of the RAF (The Few) fought a relentless enemy in the form of waves of German bombers dedicated to destroying the RAF and London before their planned invasion of England. Fortunately the Germans never succeeded.

My years at the University were uneventful. The air raids did not reach as far north as Dundee although we had to practice air raid drills. I recall one night at the University when we were on duty fire watching in case of incendiary bombs being dropped, we were in the Medical Building with flashlights for illumination. We discovered a room with large storage trunks and being inquisitive we opened the lids. Inside were parts of cadavers including arms and legs for use by the medical students. The smell of formaldehyde was enough to make us beat a hasty retreat.

While at the University I joined the Officers Training Corps which entailed training with the Black Watch Regiment in Perth, and summer camps. I remember on one overnight field trip we had to sleep in an old barn filled with piles of straw. I could not get a good night’s rest because of all the rats crawling around and over my body, they seemed to be very tame as they completely ignored us as intruders. About this time I sampled my first cigarette. Back then you could smoke in the cinema and that is what I did. I was violently sick with a headache and white as a ghost. I stopped smoking cigarettes and many years later took up smoking a pipe which I discontinued about 1976. During each summer I found employment with engineering companies in England and eventually graduated from St, Andrews University in electrical engineering in July, 1943.

A FOUR YEAR STINT IN THE RAF 1943-47

As soon as I graduated in 1943 I was conscripted into Transport Command of the Royal Air Force (RAF) in England. Basic training followed with a posting to Hendon, then Northolt, both on the outskirts of London. Both airfields were used by Transport Command and did not have bomber of fighter planes. The Hendon field is now a large museum, which I have visited, housing wartime British, American and German planes, a “must see” if you ever visit London. I was also assigned to an American air force base at Lytham St Anne’s (now well known for its golf course) located about six miles south of Blackpool on the north west coast of England. Here American flight crews were receiving their initial training before being assigned to active duty in southern England. There was a small group of British RAF officers receiving training on electrical devices in American aircraft. On Saturday evenings the Americans organized dances by sending trucks in to Blackpool to pick up girl partners. They were very efficient as they sounded the All Clear siren (there was never an air raid) at 6.00am on Sunday morning, to have the trucks available to take many girls back to Blackpool.

The posting to Northolt in 1944, was very interesting as it was the headquarters for planes used by the government including Churchill. The planes, christened “York”, were four engine prop planes with a rectangular section for the fuselage. I recall Churchill arriving to go to an overseas meeting when a siren sounded to warn of an impending V1, Buzz Bomb. Churchill just stood there beside his plane, smoking his cigar, watching the Buzz Bomb go over about a quarter of a mile away. The noise was always terrifying, His aides kept trying to move him to an air raid shelter but Churchill would have none of it. He just stood there watching the noisy pilotless machine go over with the knowledge, when the engine stopped, the bomb would silently fall to kill people and destroy homes. Then, instead of getting into his plane he insisted on going to see where the bomb had fallen and to sympathize with survivors. He came back an hour later still smoking his cigar, and took off for Yalta (I think).

The V1 Buzz Bombs or Doodle Bugs as they were called, with an operational range of 150 miles, were developed in Peenemunde, Germany by the Luftwaffe, as a pilotless aircraft with an explosive nose. They were first launched at London on June 13, 1944, one week after the Normandy invasion. A total of 30,000 were manufactured with about 10,000 fired at England, 2419 reached London, mostly falling in the Croydon area. In London 6184 were killed and 17,981 injured by V1’s before the flights ceased in March of 1945. For a short period afterwards 2448 V1’s targeted Antwerp in Belgium.

At the Northolt airfield, I recall one night I was asleep and was awakened by the noise of a Buzz Bomb. But this one was exceptionally noisy, the noise getting much more intense with every passing second, signifying to me it was getting too close for comfort. It was so close the windows began to rattle and I found myself below the bed when the engine of the Buzz Bomb stopped. A second or two later there was a colossal explosion then silence. I got back into bed and slept well the remainder of the night. I discovered later the Buzz Bomb fell in the middle of the airfield and did no damage.

The V2 rocket was the next devise to hit London. Vernher von Braun helped develop the V2 rocket, the first long range ballistic missile to be successfully fired in late 1943. This huge German rocket hurtled a one ton warhead 50 miles high with a maximum range of 234 miles to its target. The rocket impacted at three times the speed of sound with the result you had no warning of its arrival. The attack on London started September 15, 1944. During the next few months 3172 V2’s were fired, 1664 to Belgium, 1402 to England (1358 to London) and 76 to France. They killed 2754 people in London, with one rocket hitting a Woolworth store killing 160 on November 25, 1944. On March 27, 1945 the last rocket hit London. I recall hearing a few V2’s explode but not near me.

TO NORTH AFRICA, 1944

My next posting was to North Africa. Sometime in November of 1944, I was sent to Lynham, an airfield in southern England, then transported in a Dakota, DC3, a two engine prop plane, to Cairo via Sardinia. The plane had a very large tank in the fuselage to hold many gallons of gasoline for the long flights. I tried to sleep on top of the tank but found it nearly impossible because of the smell of gasoline. There must have been a small leak and I exited the plane with a severe headache. It is small wonder we arrived safely in Cairo and not blown up because of the fumes.

When coming in to land at Cairo I noticed a marked demarcation line between the desert and the green cultivated and irrigated land on both sides of the Nile River. The Nile is the life line for all of Egypt as without the life giving water from the Nile River there would only be desert. The towns in Egypt are located along the Nile with fertile fields on either side. Cotton is the predominant crop. The Suez Canal is another source of revenue.

My stay in Cairo was short lived, only nine days, but I had time to visit the Pyramids and the Sphinx. There were numerous outdoor movies in the form of cafes where movies were projected. The air in Cairo was filled with the fumes from the exhausts of numerous automobiles. It was very unpleasant.

TO ALGIERS

My next assignment was to fly from Cairo to Algiers where the Transport Command of the RAF had a Headquarters for the Mediterranean area. I do not know why they sent me there because the nearest airfield was outside the town by about ten miles and I had no work of a technical nature. My time was occupied by organizing entertainment for the staff including dances and concerts plus accompanying a friendly pilot on flights to Tunis, Gibraltar and Casablanca.

At that time Algeria was a French colony and everyone spoke in French. Algiers was a bustling port city but the vehicles in town were few and far between because of the war.

I was billeted with a French speaking family which gave me an opportunity to speak the little French that I had learnt at school. The retired couple was very kind, even though food was scarce and electricity and water available only two hours per day. At Christmas they invited me to dinner. They had a cage of sorts outside a window designed to catch small birds which flew in to eat crumbs of bread. About a dozen birds were caught and then cooked for the Christmas dinner along with some delicious wine. The wine helped me eat the morsels of meat from the many bones of these birds.

Here is a timeline of events during this period of history …………………

World War!! September 3, 1939 to VE Day in Europe May 6, 1945

UK declares war against Germany September 3, 1939

Battle of Britain, Summer of 1940

Pearl Harbor, USA enters the war, December 1941

Malta awarded the George Cross by the UK for outstanding heroism and bravery during the siege of Malta, 15, April 1942

Battle of El Alamein, North Africa, 1-27 July 1942

Normandy invasion across the English Channel to France, June, 1944

Italy surrendered 2 May 1945

VE Day in Europe, Germany surrenders July, 1945

Japan surrendered 15 August 1945

Malta independence from UK 21 September 1964

TO MALTA, 1946

In 1946, from Algiers, I was assigned to the RAF base in Malta, a small island between Sicily and Tunis. Malta was heavily bombed by the Italians and Germans but as the buildings in Valetta, the capital of Malta, were made of thick limestone, the island was very resilient. The limestone was easily cut by hand saws to create large blocks to be used as building material. I remained in Malta until May, 1947.

The island is only about 10miles wide by 12 miles long and supports a population of 400,000. It has 360 churches, predominantly Roman Catholic, or one church for every 1000 residents. Valetta has a magnificent harbor, which was used extensively during WW11 by the British Royal Navy. Now it is a popular stop over point for cruise ships as the climate is very favorable for tourists. 1.2 million tourists now visit Malta each year. Malta has 3000 hours of sunshine per year with an average of 5 hours per day in December and 12 hours per day in July. In 1989 Malta was the meeting place for George Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev to conduct talks to end the cold war. Today Malta has a thriving film production industry and limestone is exported.

Malta has many small fields surrounded by stone walls to prevent the soil from being blown away by the wind. The most important crop was potatoes. Because of the high concentration of inhabitants it is necessary to import water usually from nearby Sicily.

I was stationed at the busy airport of Luqa a few miles from Valetta. Sand flies were prevalent so very fine mesh curtains over our beds were necessary. Every night before climbing into bed I would search for the possible sole sand fly that might have entered the mesh around my bed. Their bites were very irritating.

There was plenty of activity with flights in and out of the airport as it was a refueling stop for flights between Gibraltar, France and Egypt. There were few sandy beaches but plenty of places to swim off rocks into pleasantly warm water. As the war was now over we did not have to contend with air raids however there was a large amount of air traffic in the Mediterranean area.

I became friendly with another officer, Ken Wills, and arranged to deliver a radar vehicle from Naples to Genoa in Italy, in July of 1946. On the journey to Naples we stopped off in Sicily to visit Taormina, a beautiful coastal town on the east coast of Sicily. The hotel, operated by the RAF for recreational purposes, was situated on a high cliff overlooking the blue Mediterranean Sea. After two nights there we caught a flight from Catania to Naples where we collected the vehicle and took off in to the unknown. It was quite an experience as many of the roads and bridges were in very poor condition having been blown up during the retreat of the Italians. Food was difficult to find but I remember in one village the residents were very kind when they gave us a delicious rabbit stew. We delivered the vehicle to a depot in Genoa then went on in a borrowed RAF automobile, to Pisa, Florence, Milan and Lake Como. We eventually returned to Genoa and hitch hiked, by plane, back to Malta.

Back in Malta we discovered that the Cable & Wireless Company in the UK had sent out a contingent of operators to Malta to man their equipment at a communication center in Valetta. We soon realized this contingent consisted of about sixteen young ladies from London, billeted in Sliema, the town adjacent to Valetta. At that time there were about 6000 troops in Malta competing for the attention of very few females. Ken and I decided to organize dances in the RAF mess and to invite the Cable and Wireless contingent. This worked out to our advantage. The girls seemed to like the company of the RAF lads compared to the Royal Navy types. I eventually dated one Cable & Wireless girl and this continued until she left to go back to England. Our favorite tune to dance to was “Blue Moon” which was very popular at that time. We communicated with each other by mail on a regular basis. When I returned to the UK we were married, but that is for a later part of this story.

Then in 1946 I took a trip to Tripoli and another to Rome for a week of leave.

BACK TO THE UK, 1947

The journey home to UK started in May of 1947. A troopship took me to Marseilles in southern France, then by train to Calais, across the Chanel by steamer then by train to London. And guess who was waiting for me at the Waterloo railway station platform in London, Sylvia, who I had dated in Malta. We went on a holiday to Torquay before I started work in 1947, at the Sigma Instrument Company in Letchworth, a garden city, about 35 miles north of London. I continued to visit with Sylvia, who lived with her parents in SE London. I travelled by train from Letchworth to London, taking my bicycle with me sometimes, crossing London in the Underground or on my bike, then by train or bike to Abbey wood where Sylvia lived.

I don’t remember the exact timing of this but my father and mother moved from Maldon, Essex to a large farm on the west side of Cambridge England named Scotland Farm. My father was the manager of this farm until he moved once again, when he purchased a farm in Scotland before he retired. Sometime in 1948 Sylvia travelled by train to Cambridge and then to the farm to meet my parents for the first time. They approved.

Sigma (in Letchworth) was originated by my Uncle who invented an instrument for measuring the calorific value of gas. The sales of this device were very successful with customers all over the world. I did not see my uncle often, maybe twice when I was very young, and he died in 1937. Sigma (with about 50 employees) then appointed a managing director who was instrumental in developing a number of instruments (using some of the calorimeter mechanisms) to accurately measure the size of parts during and after production. During my summer breaks from St. Andrews University and again starting in 1947, I did various jobs at Sigma. I operated many types of machine tools, tested instruments before shipment, designed a few simple mechanisms and was a “gofer.” I continued with this indoctrination of Sigma until I knew the organization inside out.

A WEDDING

In 1948 Sylvia went with me to Scotland to stay with my aunts and attend the wedding of a fellow engineering student, Carswell Jones, who lived across the river Tay from Dundee. Then on October 2nd of 1948 I popped the question to Sylvia and we married. Sylvia’s parents lived in Abbey wood in south east London. Our wedding took place in the All Saints’ Church in Belvedere followed by a reception at Shornells Guest House in Bostall Woods. About 50 friends and relatives attended including Bill Barker a friend of my brother who lived in Wellfleet on Cape Cod. Sadly he died in 2012. Also about seven of Sylvia’s coworkers from Malta were at our wedding.

FIRST JOB

We travelled by train to the Isle of Wight for our honeymoon staying at a hotel next to a sandy beach. There was excellent bus services to allow us to easily sightsee around the island. I was promised a job at Sigma in Letchworth as an apprentice which I gratefully accepted. Our next assignment in 1948 was to find a place to live in Letchworth. This was not too difficult as a friend suggested a suitable small apartment above a garage of a large house, on the outskirts of the town. We discovered the apartment was part of a large beautiful house with a magnificent garden and even though the apartment was cramped and small we took it. The kitchen was a converted closet about four feet square and the two rooms, a bedroom and a living room were extremely small compared to today’s standards. But we were happy. The large house was owned by Mr. & Mrs. Chater Lea. Their daughter Diana lived with them and she eventually married Mike O’Brien. Diana and Mike moved to Under barrow just outside Kendal in the Lake District of north west England. Mike was in charge of a factory making ambulances. He died five years ago and Diana may be moving from her large beautiful home to an apartment in Kendal. We have seen them often during our visits to the UK and they also came to the Cape.

In Letchworth, Sylvia and I each had a bicycle to get around. I went to work on mine and Sylvia did her shopping with a small basket on the front of the bike. There were no super markets but the local grocery store gave personal service by attending to your needs. Sylvia must have shopped every day as I came home for lunch and her basket on the handlebars of her bike was very small.

My work at Sigma was very interesting as we began to design and manufacture automatic machines to measure critical dimensions on machined parts. In particular, we manufactured equipment to measure turbine blades for jet engines. The sales of calorimeters to measure the calorific value of gas kept increasing.

My work included travel to France, Italy and Sweden. Sylvia went with me to France on one occasion to an exhibition in May of 1949, where she was a model, operating one of the machines on exhibit. In 1950 we both went to Italy to attend The Milan Fair. Our train journey from London terminated in Milan, Italy where we had to go through customs. When the Italian officials saw my Christian names (James Stewart) in my passport they mistook me for the film star James Stewart and created quite a fuss until I straightened them out. This was the first and last time I have been a celebrity. Our representative in Milan had great difficulty getting us in to a hotel as most hotels were fully booked because of the Fair and our decision to attend at the last minute. We finished up in a third class hotel. When Sylvia was not at the fair she had occasion to observe the traffic and pedestrians in the street below the bedroom window. She discovered the street ladies frequenting the street also were often using the hotel along with their escorts. We had to use a bathroom at the end of the corridor. In order to use the bath we had to fill it with cold water, place an electric immersion heater in the bath and come back in about an hour to have a hot bath. Usually, in the bathroom, above the bath, there was an array of ladies intimate attire strung out on a line to dry. Having experienced this kind of Italian hospitality we were glad to return to England! In August of 1950 we had an English vacation to Bath and the Cheddar Gorge.

FIRST HOUSE

In 1950, (with the help of a loan from my father) we purchased a semi detached house (Crantock) in Letchworth with a detached garage. Soon after, my aunt Agnes, in Scotland, very kindly gave us her car, a Jowett Javelin which was gratefully received. It had a four cylinder flat engine which necessitated the removal of the front wheels if you had to change the spark plugs. It was a delight to drive. The house served us well as it was close to Sigma as well as stores which made our cycling trips to these destinations easy. Letchworth had a railroad station with direct service to London.

A MOVE TO NEW YORK

In March of 1951 I was surprised to be offered a chance to go to New York, USA, to initiate the sale of Sigma products there. I knew where the USA was located on a map but I had to find New York. I had no idea what I was in for in this completely new environment. We rented out our house (Crantock) to an American air force officer and family. So off we went, the two of us, travelling on the Queen Mary with only two suitcases. Cosa Corp. an importer of European machine tools, the company I was to work for, was located in the Chrysler building right in the center of Manhattan. Cosa organized a furnished apartment for us out on Long Island which entailed a bus journey for me, a subway ride plus a ten block walk to Cosa, a total of over an hour for the journey. I can’t say I liked this. My wage was $500 per month. I succeeded to borrow enough money from Cosa to enable me to purchase a second hand Chevy but I did not use it to get to work. The cost of parking a car in New York was astronomical! The sale of Sigma equipment was difficult as I had not realized the distances in the USA were completely different from the UK. If I had to visit a potential customer In the USA I would very likely have to go by plane, train or on a long auto ride. I remained in the USA until July, 1952 and returned to Letchworth (to Crantock) with a very pregnant Sylvia.

RETURN TO UK AND OUR FIRST CHILD

On October 7, 1952 our beautiful daughter, Caroline, was born in Hitchin Hospital, right next town to Letchworth. My parents were now at the Scotland Farm, near Cambridge and they came to visit us on this festive occasion. My father was manager of this farm for a few years until he decided to purchase a farm in Dumfriesshires', Scotland and operate it along with my brother, Angus. Angus had completed his studies on agriculture management at Edinburgh University. However Angus decided the economic atmosphere in Scotland was not to his liking and after his marriage to Peggy, they went to Kenya, bought a farm there, and farmed it until the government bought out all the farms. They then went to New Zealand and had a more relaxed time with their farm there. Angus died of a heart attack about 12 years ago. Peggy I believe is still alive although I have had trouble contacting her.

My position now at Sigma was senior sales engineer. Precision measuring gauges were developed for the measurement of jet engine turbine blades which meant working with Rolls Royce and other companies in the UK. In addition automatic gauges were manufactured to measure bearings and other items. It was an interesting time as it meant travelling to different locations in the UK as well as in Europe.

ANOTHER MOVE TO THE USA

I remained at Sigma until 1954 when once again I was asked to return to the USA. Our transatlantic trip this time was via the Queen Elizabeth. We brought along a new perambulator and two or three suitcases. This time I decided to try to sell the Sigma calorimeters. I was quite successful and in addition the precision gages also sold well.

Now that I knew USA better on my second visit we found a third floor furnished apartment in Fleetwood, in Westchester County, conveniently placed on the railroad line to Grand Central Station which is right next to the Chrysler building where Cosa was located. My commuting time was about 20 minutes and our apartment located about five minutes’ walk from Fleetwood station. Much better than the commute from Long Island.

During a trip to a plant outside Cleveland I had a call to tell me Sylvia, who was pregnant, was in hospital about to deliver our second child. I frantically tried to get a flight back to New York but the only flight available was one which would get me home by 6.00am, so I took it. I arrived at the hospital about 7.00am to hear Sylvia announce enthusiastically we had a son, Duncan, born January 21, 1955. All was well.

During this period I was advised a large machine tool company, Herbert Ltd. in Coventry had made an offer to purchase Sigma. This transaction was completed without a hitch. Although Herbert was a world renowned company with offices located in many countries it did not keep up with the new technology of computer controlled machines. As a result it eventually went out of business. Also Sigma could not compete with the imports from Asia and closed its doors also.

A MOVE TO PRATT & WHITNEY, West Hartford, Connecticut.

In 1956, the manufacturing rights of the Sigma measuring equipment were sold to the Pratt & Whitney Co. in West Hartford, Ct. Pratt & Whitney was founded in 1860 to manufacture equipment to make guns and gears. Then in 1880 precision gages were manufactured and in 1918 gage blocks used to measure the size of precision parts. In 1925 P & W lent $250,000 to Frederick Reutschler to build a new aircraft engine. In 1929 Reutschler ended his association with P & W taking the name P & W Aircraft Engines with him. This renowned name today is a division of United Technologies. P & W Machine Tools moved from downtown Hartford to the West Hartford location in 1939. It was a very prosperous company with its products known throughout the world. Gradually overseas competition got the better of P & W. The various product lines were sold off separately in 1990. The factory building was demolished and a new facility built to house a Home Depot store.

In 1956, once again we had to pull up stakes to move, to West Hartford this time. We found a new unfurnished apartment at the corner of Boulevard and Quaker Lane which was an ideal location, only about four or five blocks from P & W with a small supermarket within walking distance. We made friends with Anna Lou and Ray Stahl and Curt and Bobby Rosser who were in the same apartment complex. The Stahls eventually retired to Naples Florida. Both passed away a few years ago. Curt and Bobby moved to the Cape when he retired to live in a house about one mile from us. Bobby still lives there after Curt died.

My position at P & W started as a sales engineer only for Sigma products but gradually I became involved with all of their numerous gage products and then their machine tools. As time went by we were able to slowly furnish our new apartment. It was an exciting time as I was being introduced to many new products and systems. Computer numerical control of machine tools was being introduced, although in its infancy, we succeeded in designing some of the first computer controlled machines in the world. Along the way I was promoted to sales manager for some of the products.

Al Dexter, who was in charge of research for Measuring Instruments at P & W, became involved for 14 months in Washington, with a project sponsored by the Government to measure accurately to a tenth of a millionth of an inch. His paper on this subject is interesting reading. In summary his efforts were not successful in measuring to a tenth of a millionth of an inch but his research was successful in being able to measure to one millionth of an inch more accurately. His paper on this subject, entitled Zero Point One, was presented at the 27th annual meeting of the American Society of Tool Engineers in Milwaukee April of 1959.

In 1960 I was invited by the American Society of Tool and Manufacturing Engineers to write a paper on Numerically Controlled Inspection machines. This paper covered a multitude of gages and inspection machines which were familiar to me and served as an excellent advertisement for our products. The paper was presented at the 28th annual meeting of the Society in Detroit on April, 1960.

While at Pratt & Whitney, maybe in the late 1960’s, I became involved with the tooling up of a new Ford engine, the Cardinal. This engine was a four cylinder V design to be manufactured in their Cologne, Germany plant. Ford selected us to supply all the gages for the inspection of the parts. I had never worked with a Detroit car manufacturer before, this was an eye opener. To start the process they gave us a computer list of all the gages, and there were hundreds of them, from $1.00 items to $5000.00 items. So we started making them but no sooner did we start than we received, each morning, a listing of all the design changes they were making. We soon realized Ford was redesigning the engine which meant we had to change the design of the gages or delete some or add new items. I and my team had to keep up with this deluge of paper work. We worked from 8.00am to 10.00pm most days. I remember I was so highly strung, when I returned home I went down to the basement to cut wood on my radial saw. I just cut wood without making anything. The sound of the saw blade cutting wood soothed my jarred nerves. This process went on for weeks. Eventually everything was shipped and I breathed a sigh of relief. Two or three months later I decided to visit Ford in Cologne. When I arrived I was very surprised to be told the Cardinal program had been cancelled that day. All the gages, (and multiple machine tools) were never used and placed into storage. However Ford paid for the gages, about $1.5 million. A small four cylinder engine might be a good idea today with the high cost of gasoline.

We sold P & W products through distributors throughout the USA and abroad. This brought me in contact with many people who in turn introduced me to our customers. I soon found out the customers were good sounding boards to define their future needs and existing manufacturing problems. With this type of information I could recommend specific design requirements to our design engineers to integrate them in our future new products.

FIRST HOUSE IN THE USA

In 1957 we moved to Bloomfield, CT, in to a house we built on Grant Hill Road. Initially there was no garage but after about a year we had a two car garage added. The house did not have air conditioning or a dishwasher but we didn’t mind. Our neighbors on Grant Hill included Frank and Jan Sprogell and Lee and Olive Hopkins. The Sprogells, now in their 90’s, lived in a retirement home in West Hartford. Frank passed away in October 2011 and Jan is in a nursing home. The Hopkins have retired to Sun City, near Tampa, Florida. They now live in a retirement center. We still keep in touch. While living at Grant Hill, Sylvia’s mother and father and later, my father visited us. All complained about the hot summer weather as we had no air conditioning.

In 1960 the President of P & W was Hayward Gay, Paul Stanton VP of Marketing and Buck Cody sales engineer for NC Kellers and Jig Borers. I was promoted to Sales Manager for overseas sales. Harry Reichert was the VP, born in Germany and could speak German fluently. Why he picked me to replace him when he retired I’ll never know but he was gracious enough to take me to most of the industrial countries of Europe and Japan, to introduce me to the distributors and customers. He arranged to have one of our smaller tracer controlled milling machine manufactured by Herbert Machine Tools in Coventry England. This arrangement went well initially but was abandoned after five years. Herbert Machine Tools has since gone out of business as they did not keep up with the new technology of computer controlled machine tools.

P & W had developed a numerically controlled drilling machine which had a very attractive price and sold well in the USA. I promoted this machine in Europe by holding sales seminars in France, Italy, and Denmark to which the different distributors from other countries were invited. This worked very well, so much so that our sales took off especially in France and Germany. In order to help the distributors I hired a sales engineer, Rolf Schlatter, located in Zurich and two service engineers also living in Switzerland. They worked very well to support our distributors and customers. One of our large orders came from a printing press manufacturer in Germany. They gave us an order for about thirty machines, enough to make us celebrate.

My mother, Marjory, died in their house in Lochmaben, Scotland in 1961. Fortunately Sylvia and I had visited with her a few months before she passed away. I do not know why I did not go to her funeral and looking back on this I was distressed that I did not go. My father eventually sold the beautiful bungalow in Lochmaben and purchased a small cottage in the same village.

In 1963 Buck Cody moved as sales engineer in Iowa and Wally Tefft became sales manager under Paul Stanton.

During 1965 Paul Stanton became President of P & W with Wally Tefft as VP of Marketing and Buck Cody as sales manager of H & H Wilson in LA. In 1970 Paul Stanton left P & W and Irv Dennen became President.

At the same time we were doing excellent business in Japan although not with these drills. P & W also made large tracer controlled milling machines used to make dies for the automotive industry. During this period the automotive industry in Japan was expanding which gave us an excellent opportunity to sell these large machines. At one point I thought Japan might sink due to the weight of the machines we exported. I visited Honda in Japan once and was amazed to see a large banner over the front of the office building inscribed “Welcome Pratt & Whitney”. For some reason I was not able to sell a single numerically controlled drill in Japan.

AROUND THE WORLD

Business was flourishing, so I decided to try to visit as many overseas distributors as possible in one trip. In 1964, an around the world trip was prepared going east to west. My secretary arranged the flight by coach seats but when the president of P & W, Hayward Gay, heard about this he said I must go first class around the world, so off I went. The itinerary took me to Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the Philippines, Australia, India, Israel, Kenya, South Africa and England.

I flew to Tokyo via Hawaii as Honolulu was a convenient stop over for such a long flight. I stayed at the Hyatt right next to the beach. I soon discovered other people had the same idea as me, to lie on the sand. I couldn’t find a satisfactory spot on the beach as it was so crowded, packed like sardines. Instead of the beach I took a tour to see the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor. The battleship was sunk by Japanese planes during the attack on December 7, 1941. It is a fitting memorial to the 1102 sailors killed as a result of the attack. It is visited by over one million people annually. In 1999 the USS Missouri was anchored nearby. It is a memorial to the signing on board of the surrender of the Japanese on December 7, 1945 which ended WW11. My short stay in Hawaii was not devoid of a little unpleasantness. When I arrived my luggage was nowhere to be found so Pan Am gave me a survivor’s kit. My luggage was eventually delivered to the hotel one day late.

JAPAN

I arrived in Tokyo from Honolulu without further incident. My objective was to hold a sales meeting with the sales force of the distributor. I had 35mm slides to help describe the machines but of course there was a language problem as only a few attendees spoke English. One employee spoke excellent English so I collared him ahead of the presentation to go over my talk to enable him to make an easy translation. This worked out very well as he was quick to pick up the main elements of my talk. We did it three times in Japan and the third time he did the presentation all by himself so I did not have to say one word.

The food in Japan was excellent. In particular I enjoyed the sushi and sake. I was taken to a small restaurant which specialized in lobster dishes. We sat at a counter where the “chef” prepared the meal. Behind him was another counter with a tiled surface on which water flowed. The chef placed a live lobster on the tiles and proceeded to dissect the live lobster. He gave us the still quivering meat along with different sauces and vegetables. Using the shell of the lobster and head including the eyes he then proceeded to make a small doll which he proudly presented to me. I can’t say I enjoyed the meal. Very gruesome!

HONG KONG

From Tokyo I travelled to Hong Kong. When I arrived at the Hong Kong airport there was a large limousine waiting for me with a uniformed driver. I was very impressed, assuming the Peninsula Hotel provided this wonderful service. I discovered when I was given the hotel bill it was not a free service as there was a sizeable charge on the bill. I did enjoy the very hot cup of green tea and fresh fruit awaiting me in my room on arrival.

I made a side trip from Hong Kong to Macau by ferry and decided to go to the border with China. The bus stopped at the border and was immediately surrounded by children trying to sell the passengers all sorts of trinkets. One in particular attracted my attention as he was selling jade ornaments. I bargained with him for two jade pieces which could be made in to ear rings. On the return ferry journey I talked to a fellow passenger and recounted my experience with the jade. He smilingly said the jade was very likely plastic. Then he advised I could tell if it was plastic by wrapping a long hair around the “jade” then setting the hair alight. If the hair continued to smolder the material was plastic. If not it was real jade, I discovered later it was real jade to be made in to ear rings for Sylvia. Next stop, Manila.

MANILA

The distributor in Manila invited me to his house for dinner the evening I was to leave for Sydney. On the way to the airport in his Mercedes, there was a violent rain storm which flooded the streets. He kept pressing on even though the flood waters were about two feet deep. His car was water tight. Eventually we arrived at the airport without incident. As I was checking in at the counter my friend collapsed on the floor. He whispered to me to go back to the car to get medication which I did. When I returned he was still lying down and insisting that I go immediately to the plane as it was boarding. There were now three or four other people trying to help him so I left feeling very guilty. I later discovered he drove home by himself.

AUSTRALIA

En route to Australia there was a stop In Darwin to refuel. Darwin is situated out in nowhere, on the northern tip of Australia about 1000 miles from Sydney. Next stop was Brisbane on the east coast about 250 miles from my destination. We were delayed there because of what they termed was a snow storm in Sydney. Nobody had ever heard of Sydney having any snow and after a short delay we resumed our journey to discover only a light dusting of snow in Sydney.

My visit to Australia coincided with a machine tool exhibition in Melbourne where I had arranged to exhibit one of our machines. Unfortunately the economy in Australia at that time was in poor shape resulting in few potential customers visiting the exhibition. We did not sell the machine which was eventually returned to the States. I had an occasion to visit the renowned Opera House in Sydney including a tour of the interior. This building is world renowned for its unique architecture of sail like roofs located majestically with the Sydney Harbor Bridge as a backdrop. It took 14 years to build, finishing in 1973. It has a yearly program of over 1500 performances including theatre, opera and ballet.

INDIA

My journey now took me to Calcutta, India via Bangkok in Thailand. My recollection of Bangkok is hazy. All I remember was the very high humidity and heat.

India is an interesting country. I landed in Calcutta (now Kolkata) from Bangkok, in the middle of the monsoon season when the temperature must have been in the 90’s and the humidity 100%. Friends there were astonished I would visit at that time of year as most visitors came when the weather was cooler and pleasant. I visited an automotive factory which had just taken delivery of one of our large milling machines. When it left our factory it was in beautiful condition with a glorious paint job. I was astonished to see it half covered in what looked like red paint which had been poured on it from above. I was told that the Indian operators had poured red ochre over it at a ceremony to eradicate all evil spirits which could damage the machine.

My next stop was in Bombay (now re-named Mumbai in 1996), on the west coast of India. During the flight on an Air India plane I was served with what looked like a delicious pastry. To my detriment I discovered it was full of very hot curry. My mouth was on fire and very painful. The stewardess gave me a Coke but it took a few hours before the pain subsided. I was lucky to stay in a five star hotel, the Taj Mahal Palace. In was raided and severely damaged by terrorists in November of 2008 when 167 people were killed. With 565 rooms and 11 restaurants it was rebuilt and opened in August of 2010. Mumbai urban area has a population of about 16 million. I was introduced to the Tata empire at two factories where two of our machines were installed. Tata is now a major financial and manufacturing giant. It recently introduced a small automobile in India costing under $3000.

ISRAEL

From India I flew to Israel. All I can remember was the smell of what I think was roast lamb. After one day there I journeyed to Nairobi, Kenya to visit with my brother, Angus, and Peggy.

KENYA

They had a farm in Kitale, about 200 miles North West from Nairobi, (also 100 miles from Lake Victoria) and had journeyed by car especially to see me in Nairobi. Nairobi is the commercial capital of East Africa with a population of three million. It was a good visit. They showed me around a national park outside Nairobi where there were many kinds of wild animals including giraffes and baboons. The next visit with Angus and Peggy would be in New Zealand a few years later.

SOUTH AFRICA THEN BACK HOME

My next stop was at Pretoria, and then Johannesburg in South Africa. We had a few machines in factories which I visited and unfortunately I did not take the opportunity to visit the beautiful city of Cape Town before flying to New York via Rome and London. I made a stopover in London for one night. I was walking down Regent Street in London at about 5.00pm during the rush hour when I felt a tap- on my shoulder. I turned to find to my astonishment Ken Wills standing there. The last time I had seen him was in Malta in 1946. He was dressed in business clothes with an umbrella looking quite different from the RAF uniform I had last seen him wear. We immediately went to the nearest Pub to recall good times, to drink each other’s health and then eat a good meal. It’s a small world.

BACK HOME IN CONNECTICUT

I do not remember the exact timing of a visit I paid to see my father in a nursing home in Lochmaben Scotland. At that time it was possible to fly from the USA to Prestwick, on the south west of Scotland. I flew in to Prestwick and hired a car to travel down to Lochmaben. Lochmaben is near Lockerbie where the Pan Am plane crashed because of a terrorist planted explosive. I had a good visit with my father.

My father, William Broatch, died in Lochmaben, Scotland during 1967. I was attending a seminar in Connecticut on financial management at the time. I immediately flew out to his funeral which consisted of a graveside service with a small reception afterwards.

In 1967 we built a new house on Arnold Drive in Bloomfield CT. Our son, Duncan, and daughter Caroline were going to the public schools in Bloomfield, Caroline graduated from High school in 1970 then attended Bay Path Junior College, and also Manchester and Hartford Community colleges. She commenced employment at Connecticut General Life insurance, in Bloomfield, in 1973. Duncan was not impressed with the education system he was attending in Bloomfield, so we arranged to have him join Avon Old Farms School as a day student in 1971. He progressed favorably at this school and graduated in 1973. Duncan and Susan’s son Ethan, our grandson, also was educated at Avon Old Farms. Duncan was a student at the University of New Hampshire from 1973 until he graduated in 1977. In 1979 Duncan graduated with his Masters from the North Carolina State University.

The US Chamber of Commerce invited P & W to attend an exhibition in Moscow which they were organizing. I arranged to exhibit a computer controlled drill and lathe with the idea we could sell these machines to the Russians. I attended the exhibition along with Rolf Schlatter and a P & W service technician both from Switzerland. The attendance at our booth was outstanding as the Russians were eager to see computer controlled machines. After numerous negotiations both machines were sold. Then we had problems.

The drill could not be delivered as an export permit had to be obtained from COCOM in Paris due to restrictions on computer controlled machines. This process could take months. The US Embassy in Moscow had to deal with this. They arranged to ship the machine to Finland to await the export permit. Unfortunately the original crate used to ship the machine to Moscow had been destroyed and the only protection for the trip to Finland was a tarpaulin. Two months later, the permit was received and the machine shipped from Finland to the new Kama River Plant being built to make trucks.

I took the opportunity while in Moscow to visit the Space Museum where the Russians were proud to display their Sputnik. I must say it was a very interesting exhibit with parts of the rocket and a full size model of Sputnik. I also squeezed in a wonderful performance of Swan Lake in the Bolshoi Theatre.

About a month later, back in the USA, I had a call from the Russian Embassy requesting the installation of the machine with operator training. This service had been included in the price. The service engineer from Switzerland went to carry out these tasks but he soon discovered the machine was in poor condition because of its unprotected travels to and from Finland. As a result I had to arrange for a service technician from P & W to visit Kama to fix the machine.

During most of my working life in the States, Sylvia and I enjoyed the company of Golden Retrievers. Unfortunately their life span was much shorter than humans. They are wonderful pets, intelligent and versatile. They are renowned as guide dogs for the blind, hearing dogs for the deaf and hunting dogs as retrievers as well as being popular family pets. The first Golden’s were developed in Scotland and were bred initially for retrieving fowl. They were first registered as a recognized breed by the English Kennel Club in 1903. I remember when we lived in Bloomfield, our Golden being sprayed by a skunk. We took him to a local stream, covered him in tomato juice and let him swim in the stream. After a few immersions like this he was basically clean although the smell did not wear off completely for 4 or 5 days.

During the period from 1970 to 80 many changes occurred at P & W. In 1971 Buck Cody became VP of Sales at P & W and then in 1974 he became President of the Small Tool Division to close it up. Warren Bruns became VP of Sales at P & W. In 1972 Irv Dennen introduced small machining centers built by Fanuc in Japan but sales were weak. In 1976 Buck Cody became President of Elox and invited me down to Charlotte as VP Marketing at Elox also in 1976. Then in 1980 Buck went back to P & W as President and I became VP of Marketing at P & W in 1982.

NEW RESPONSIBILITIES

Sometime in the early 70’s my duties were augmented by the addition of machines sold domestically as well as overseas. These new responsibilities I found challenging and interesting. Gradually our overseas business diminished due to competition from European and Japanese manufacturers while business in the USA was excellent. We were now making large profile milling machines completely computer controlled which sold well in the automotive and aircraft industries. My visits to these factories were enlightening and instructive as they challenged me to offer machines to increase customer’s profits by reducing the machining time of numerous large parts.

I appointed a large number of distributors both domestically and overseas. It was my responsibility to train the distributor salesmen on our products. I soon discovered it was difficult to keep the attention of the salesmen as some of them had never before seen a machine tool. I developed a series of color slides along with a questionnaire to hold their attention. The series of questions reflected the advantages of our machines. We had to identify features in our equipment which would be to the advantage of the customer. At the end of the seminar the salesmen were graded according to their answers in the questionnaires. This worked well in the USA but not so well in Europe. I think this adverse situation was due to the different languages spoken by my audiences in Europe while I made my presentations in English. The lesson learnt ….. if you wish to market your products overseas speak at least two more languages besides English.

MEXICO

We attended an exhibition in Mexico City with one of our computer controlled drills. The exhibition was sponsored by the US Department of Commerce with all manner of items being exhibited including a model kitchen. I was supported by a technician from P & W along with both of our wives. No matter what we did we could not get the drill to function correctly so we had to improvise. The drill drew large crowds but they were just sightseers with no interest in purchasing the machine. The four of us enjoyed our short stay in Mexico including a trip in a rickety taxi to see some ancient ruins. On the return journey the driver fell asleep at the wheel and if it hadn’t been for my quick reflex to grab the steering wheel we would have had a mighty crash and I would not be around to tell the tale.

While living in Connecticut we enjoyed spending vacations on Cape Cod. Timothy O’Brien, the son of a good friend, from Kendal in England, came to vacation with us on the Cape one year and Duncan vacationed in England with Timothy another.

1976. THE MOVE TO ELOX, DAVIDSON North Carolina.

Pratt & Whitney was a division of Colt Industries. Another one of their divisions, Elox Corporation located in Davidson, north of Charlotte North Carolina, manufactured electric discharge machines. They had a very good reputation with their products selling well. The President of Elox, Buck Cody, was an ex-employee of P & W whom I knew well. During 1976 he offered me the job as Vice President of Marketing at Elox and after visiting the plant I accepted. We sold our house in Bloomfield in November 1976 and lived in a rented condominium in Charlotte while a new house was built. Can’t say we enjoyed the new surroundings as they were cramped and a long way from Davidson, but we survived. We moved into the new Charlotte house in April of 1977.

Elox had a very good reputation for EDM machines. These machines made dies by eroding metal with small electrical discharges (sparks) from inverted carbon profiles. New machines were coming on the market from Japan and Switzerland using wires, like a band saw, to cut shapes of dies. Elox designed one model but it was a flop as the competitor’s performance was far superior.

Iran

I arranged with the US Department of Commerce to exhibit an Elox machine at a US sponsored exhibition in Tehran, Iran. The machine was shipped and I flew to Tehran to be there on the opening day. On that day we waited for potential customers to arrive when the gates of the exhibition area opened but nobody came. We contacted the US embassy. They said they would have a solution within the hour. Sure enough, in about an hour, many people arrived at the exhibit. We later found out the embassy staff had to bribe the guards at the gates to allow the people in to the exhibition grounds. That’s the way of life in Iran.

At the time we were in Iran the Shah and Empress were still in power. We were staying at the Hilton. One evening when I returned to my room I noticed a beautiful gold bound book on the table. On opening it a card fell out. It was a beautiful thank you note from the Empress to someone, thanking this person for supporting the Shah and past services. Definitely not me. I decided to give it to the hotel manager. The following evening another present was awaiting me. This time it was a beautiful vase, once again from the Empress. This time I gave it to my colleague without mentioning it to the hotel staff.

There was a revolution in Iran in 1979. The Shah and Empress left Iran in 1979 and the country became an Islamic Republic in April, 1979. Iran has large resources of petroleum and natural gas.

I sold the machine at the exhibition with the understanding it would be held in bond until we received payment. This was arranged through the US Embassy and the customer agreed to this arrangement. When I returned to the States I received a call from the customer asking for the machine operating instructions. He said he had the machine delivered and needed some instructions. I was dumbfounded as we had not received payment. He assured me the money was “in the mail”. I contacted the embassy in Tehran to discover the people in charge of the bonded warehouse had been bribed to allow the machine to be delivered to the customer. Fortunately a week later we received the payment, otherwise I would have been out of a job. There was a problem at the exhibit as there were no operational toilets. I found one which was surrounded by dirty water one foot deep. Someone had the bright idea to organize a “Latrine Taxi” to take us back to the hotel, once in the AM and again in the PM. That idea worked well.

The impression I had in Iran, the population was not too friendly towards America maybe because we supported the Shah. I was quite glad to leave Tehran and return to home base.

In March of 1981 Sylvia and I attended a convention at the Hyatt Regency in Maui. We flew to Chicago then nonstop via a 747 to Hawaii. Also stayed at the Hyatt on Waikiki Beach and had an opportunity to visit the Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor. Can’t say I would like to live in Hawaii as the weather when we were there was very humid. On the way home to Charlotte we stopped off for a day in San Francisco. The Golden gate park was gorgeous. And of course we had to go over the Golden Gate Bridge to get to Sausalito.

Our stay in North Carolina until 1982 was with mixed blessings. There were many IBM employees in Charlotte. They seemed to be moved to another location every two years as no sooner did we make friends than they were moved out of town. One of our neighbors had a golden retriever. Sylvia volunteered to look after the dog while our friends went out of town for a day. When Sylvia went to feed him he lunged at her and bit her arm badly resulting in a visit to the emergency room and five or six stitches. We thought the dog was protecting its territory as Sylvia must have been a stranger to him.

I arranged another trip to Australia to attend an exhibition in Melbourne. On arrival the transport drivers were on strike which meant we could not get our machine delivered from Sydney to Melbourne. Our distributer had some creative ideas which meant he hired a large van and by driving along second class roads he eventually delivered the machine in time to be exhibited at the exhibition in Melbourne.

On the return trip to the States I went via New Zealand to visit with my brother Angus. He was in a nursing home as his health was poor. We had a good visit and I recall Peggy (his wife) and I went with him to purchase a pair of shoes. I also had time to visit a customer.

In 1981, while in North Carolina Sylvia’s mother came over from England to visit with us. We decided it would be good for her to visit Disney World in Florida along with Duncan (who had grown a beard!). So we drove down and had a great time. On the way down to Florida we stayed in a condominium owned by a Connecticut friend, in Winter Haven, on a golf course. One of the rides Sylvia’s mother went on, which I thought was a colorful and quiet ride, turned out to be one of these spooky rides. She finished the ride very annoyed I would do such a thing as she was frightened all the time. However she did like the other attractions at Disney World and Seaworld. Duncan, I recall went out in the car when it was dark and came back with a trunk full of oranges. He said they were just lying on the ground.

While at Elox, our president, Buck Cody was transferred back to P & W in 1980 to be President of Pratt & Whitney. In 1982, he called to offer me the job of VP Marketing at P & W. Of course I accepted.

BACK AT PRATT & WHITNEY 1982

January 1982 we moved back to Connecticut and bought a new house in Glastonbury. We added air conditioning having been introduced to it in North Carolina.

During this period at P & W we became involved with unique designs which resulted in the manufacture of very accurate machines. One was a six axes co-ordinate measuring machine using a computer for measuring complicated parts. Another project was special rotary tables for use in the manufacture of the Atlas Guidance System (Azimuth Indicators). Al Dexter was in charge of research at that time. He played a significant role in devising a measuring system to enable these tables to operate at a level of accuracy much higher than previously thought possible.

In March, 1982 we went to attend a conference in San Diego and had an opportunity to visit the zoo which is quite spectacular. We stayed in the Hotel del Coronado right on the beach. It had an antique elevator with an attendant to operate and open and close its two gates.

In May of 1982 Josie and Jane Willis visited with us from England and we had a day’s outing to Old Saybrook

Buck Cody, President of P & W organized a meeting at Hilton Head, Sylvia and I flew down and enjoyed a mini vacation at this resort. Buck invited me to play a game of tennis with him and his wife, Marilyn. As Buck was a very good player he easily beat us even though he played against both of us.

While at Elox and P & W I enjoyed playing many games of racquet ball which I found more exciting than tennis (or golf). I was a moderately good player and managed to play once or twice per week.

1985

In July 1985 we received a contingent from Wuxki, China who purchased a few machines. Sylvia and I entertained them at our house in Glastonbury and to lunch at Old Saybrook. They had trouble ordering the food as they were not used to the different items in the menu. Eventually they ordered fish and chips. They could not eat the large helpings of food given to them but it was an experience of the outlandish helpings we get in the USA.

In July of 1985 Florrie (Ray Willis’s mother) visited with us from England. We picked her up from the QE2 which docked in New York then had a mini vacation with her at a rented apartment in East Orleans. It was amazing to see such a large ship as the QE2 being maneuvered into the dock by small tug boats. Caroline, Erin and Ashley enjoyed Florrie’s visit also.

We exhibited a numerically controlled lathe at the machine tool show in Hanover, Germany in September of 1985 but competition was severe. We did not sell it. We managed to fit in a visit to the UK with Sylvia’s mother and Winnie and Charles (aunt and uncle) in Framingham where they had a small bungalow. We also visited the Thames Barrier. This engineering feat is intended to restrict very high tides flowing up the Thames River to prevent flooding upstream. Giant gates are raised in the middle of the estuary in the event of an emergency. During a visit to Westminster Abbey Sylvia did some Brass Rubbing and we inspected a monument to commemorate the freedom of slaves. Also visited Hever Castle (home of Ann Boleyn), Winchester Cathedral, the Lillie Langtry Hotel in Bournemouth, Salisbury where we stayed in a very nice B & B, and Stonehenge. (Oct 1985).

1986

We decided to eventually retire to Cape Cod as we had enjoyed many summer vacations there. While living in Glastonbury we hired an architect to design a house to be built on the Cape. The Hartford Courant displayed a different design of a house each week. We selected one we liked and for $1.00 obtained the basic design. We gave this design to a local architect, R. R. Kennedy, who finished the design with our small additions by May of 1986. Next, I created a rough specification and gave it to four Cape contractors. One was selected, Fred Colton, and work on our house at 24 Country Crossing was completed in 1986. In 1991 we added a room, the TV room, to our house which we really liked mainly because it was one level and had a huge basement where I had a well-equipped workshop.

GM BRAZIL

The P & W profile milling machines, computer controlled, sold well to automobile manufactures and their suppliers. General Motors was interested in a number of these machines for their Brazil plant. I arranged to go there to present our machines. I knew they were also looking at a Japanese supplier of similar machines.

During the flight to San Paulo I was looking out the window of the 747 and saw flames coming from one of the engines. When I pointed this out to the stewardess she rushed to the cockpit. There was an immediate announcement from the pilot advising we were to divert to Miami because of this problem. They put us up at a hotel for the night and I continued to Brazil on another flight the following day without any further problem.

The GM plant was situated on the outskirts of San Paulo. On the way there we passed a district which housed the poorest of the poor. There were shacks made of cardboard, some with no roof, some with corrugated metal roofs and sides, open sewers with only one or two water faucets for the whole “village” all bunched together. It was painful for me to see all this poverty especially as I was about to visit a modern automobile plant. However the GM plant employed hundreds of workers.

The meeting with the engineers in the GM plant went well, leaving me with the feeling we might get the order. I flew back to Hartford. A few weeks later GM called to request I visit Brazil again as the people there had more questions to ask. To me, this meant they wished to place an order. But it wasn’t that simple. When I arrived the plant was closed because many employees were on strike. They had no idea how long the strike would last so I decided to fly down to Argentina where we had a good customer. I kept in contact with GM but they were still on strike. My distributor in Buenos Aires suggested I visit the Igauza Falls located at the junction of Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina. I took his recommendation to fly there. I was very impressed with the Igauza Falls as they are much larger in width than Niagara although not as high. I also examined, nearby, a large hydroelectric dam under construction with the transmission lines to carry high voltage electricity to the industries on the east coast.

While there I was advised the strike at GM was over so I made the trip back to Sao Paulo. The negotiations were very direct. Naturally they said my prices were too high. I also knew my competition had lower prices. After lengthy negotiations I succeeded in getting the order for over $2 million. I called Buck Cody, the P & W President, with the good news and went home quite content.

1987 Sylvia and I attended a conference in Miami and took advantage of being in Florida to visit Epcot and Disney World. Also flew over to Nassau for a two night visit. There were cruise ships galore and many houses painted in pink. The beaches were beautiful but we were pestered by vendors trying to sell us trinkets.

Back in the USA we took advantage of having our Boston Whaler by going out to the outer beach in Orleans with Duncan, Caroline and family. In September there was a big parade in Orleans and Caroline, Erin and Ashley participated in the Community Playground float. This playground was a massive undertaking by local contractors to provide swings, slides and castles for the children. During 2013 it was updated.

Our house at 24 Country Crossing E Orleans was partially furnished so that we could live in it for holidays.

Christmas 1987 was great as we had the whole family at our Glastonbury house, including Caroline & Rick, Duncan & Susan, Ashley and Erin.

Rick did a marvelous job by landscaping our lot in East Orleans and also building beautiful brick sidewalks.

GE SCHENECTADY

During the period 1987 to November 1988, when I retired, I was successful in selling Fanuc Wire Cut machines made in Japan even with stiff competition from Swiss made machines. I visited GE in Schenectady a number of times to give them details of our wire EDM and five axes milling machines to machine turbine blades. The salesman covering GE at that time was Charlie Hooper. He was well versed in the capabilities of the machines and had a good standing with the chief engineers. We succeeded in getting a large order for computer controlled five axes machines to machine the profile of turbine blades. In addition we had a large order for 24 Wire EDM machines, to cut the Christmas tree roots of the blades. After I retired, I was invited by GE, to see this installation in operation. It was quite impressive. I also was successful in selling to Ford a five axes milling machine to machine large dies, but I retired in November of 1988, before it was delivered. Generally speaking our order level gradually fell because of stiff competition from abroad.

During 1988 I attended a convention in California with Sylvia and took the opportunity to visit the Queen Mary, the Spruce Goose and Alcatraz Prison. Also in 1988 Peggy Broatch, (my sister in law) visited with us from New Zealand. We showed her around Mystic Sea Port and took her to the Cape including a trip to the Heritage Museum in Sandwich.

Then the most important event was the marriage of Duncan and Susan on October 15, 1988, in Glastonbury, when Libby Merrow officiated. Duncan and Susan left the festivities in a Jaguar convertible which Duncan had fixed up to look brand new. Erin and Ashley dressed as bridesmaids wore beautiful blue and pink frocks.

Before retiring in November of 1988 I went to Japan with Ralph Karanian who was to take over my Job. This visit to Fanuc, who we represented for the sale of EDM Wire machines, was intended to introduce Ralph to the hierarchy of Fanuc. We had a good visit with Dr Inaba, President of Fanuc who I knew well and had a tour of the factory. As we were leaving Dr. Inaba said he would arrange transportation to the airport about 3 hours journey from the factory. He then took us down to the main entrance where, to our surprise, a London taxi awaited us. Dr. Inaba explained he always thought the design of London taxis was outstanding so he bought one. We could see he was very proud to own this unique vehicle and to show it to us. It was the only London taxi in Japan. It was air conditioned and had a cocktail and refreshment bar. It was a great trip to the airport. As we went past inhabited areas people stopped to stare at this unusual vehicle. London taxis are built for use in cities, not on highways or motorways. So the ride to the airport was relatively slow as I doubt if we exceeded 50 miles per hour on the motorway.

THE END OF THE INTERESTING ROAD

In 1987 P & W was sold to a number of investors headed up by Rich Burkhardt. Their objective was to concentrate on service and the parts business and make lots of money. It did not work out that way. Buck Cody was moved out and became president of Kearney & Trecker until it was dissolved in 1993. He then became President of Brenton Engineering until he retired in 1997. Burkhardt did not succeed to make P & W a profitable entity except for the small measuring systems section which still exists in Bloomfield CT. The machine tool portion was sold to Cincinnati Milling Machine Co and the large Pratt & Whitney factory building in West Hartford was demolished. A new building, on the same foot print, now houses a Home Depot Store.

When I look back on my career to try to determine how I could have been better at my job I find there is a blank that was never filled. I was always involved with the sale of machines either by contacting customers or distributors. When the machines were highly competitive with many customer oriented features we sold machines at list prices. When our designs were waning and competition severe we had to discount prices to get orders.

I was never involved in any meetings regarding the profitability of the company. I did not know if we were making a profit or a loss. It would have been beneficial for me to know if the machines I sold were priced correctly to make a profit. I never knew if we met our yearly budgets. The financial side of the business was a mystery to me. Maybe I should have been involved with the finances but I was never invited to be involved. That was the blank that should have been filled. This was a fault of our president who should have had monthly meetings to review the finances of the company.

After retirement I became very interested in the finances of the Town of Orleans as well as the church. I made a presentation at a Town meeting criticizing the capital budget and I was surprised to find the budget was voted down because of my remarks. In 2010 I made another presentation deriding the Town operating budget but although it was received with applause the budget was approved. I have been Chair of the Trustees and Budget Committee at the Federated Church of Orleans for many years. Even with great difficulty we seem to be able to balance the budget at the church each year. I have found the examination of financial data interesting and intriguing.

Retirement

I retired from Pratt & Whitney in November of 1988. We sold our house at 4 Thompson Street, Glastonbury on March 6, 1989 and moved in to our already built (September, 1986) Cape house in East Orleans. The Glastonbury house sold for $295,000 and the price of the Cape house (including lot, architects fees and addition) was $267,000. The transition to the Cape was easy as we had partially furnished the house over a two year period. I had purchased a 15 foot Whaler while in Glastonbury so it was well used once we moved to the Cape especially in Nickerson Park in Brewster. Of course we were welcomed by Caroline and family as they had moved to East Orleans from East Hampton CT in 1986, then they moved to Florida in 1992. I remember in the summer of 1990 both Erin and Ashley enjoying riding go carts in an amusement park, at what I thought at the time were excessive speeds.

In 1989 we had a great trip to England when we stayed with the Willis’s in Rickmansworth where they had a beautiful garden, typically “English’. We went to Windsor Castle, Anne Hathaway’s cottage, Warwick castle, Mary Arden’s House, and a great B & B, like a castle, in Shrewsbury. We motored up to Kendal to visit with the O’Brien’s then went on to Dundee where we had a good look around my birth placed, Gourdie Farm. I won’t bore you with all the details but we visited with Carswell Jones then on to St Andrews, my old University haunts in the engineering department in Dundee, also my old school, Harris Academy in Dundee. Before heading home we visited with Jean Walker in Edinburgh and of Course climbing up to see Edinburgh Castle. Great memories!!!

Then in September of 1990 we took Erin and Ashley on a trip to Washington. We stayed in the Embassy Suites and travelled in to Washington by “tube”. We saw all the sites including the Washington Monument, the Jefferson Monument, Mount Vernon, the White House, President’s Bush helicopter taking off, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, the Capital, Smithsonian Museum, Kennedy Center Arlington Cemetery, Washington Zoo, (including a Panda), and Union Station. We also had a tour of Gettysburg. We finished with Erin and Ashley in a paddle boat in the Tidal Basin.

In August of 1991 we went on a Tauck Tour to British Columbia, Canada. We flew from Boston to Seattle via Minneapolis. I had the misfortune to have left a small bag containing a camera and travelers checks on the sidewalk at the airport. I was extremely lucky to find it had been handed in at the lost and found so I retrieved it quite quickly.

Now that I have time to look back on this journey I discovered one of the best pleasures in life apart from my family and work was and is my hobby. No, it wasn’t golf as I tried this game only once and found there was no pleasure in trying to hit a small ball in to a very small hole. I took up racquetball and tennis instead and found these games more invigorating and challenging. I first became interested in making furniture when I purchased wood kits requiring only assembly, stain and varnish. I made about four or five items by purchasing these kits which required no wood cutting.

My real hobby started in our house in Bloomfield when I purchased a radial saw at the Bloomfield hardware store. This gave me the ability to cut wood with some precision. I believe my first major project was a cabinet to hold a turntable, radio receiver and amplifier. After moving to the Cape I gradually added to the woodworking equipment in the basement. Today I have all the equipment necessary to make most woodworking projects. Along the way Duncan very kindly gave me a lathe with associated tools which gave me added incentive to make more advanced and complicated furniture. In the beginning I made only one of the pieces of furniture I had selected. Later I decided to make two of everything as it was just as easy to make two instead of one as the set up times were substantial. This led to an abundance of duplicate furniture items in our house. To correct this problem I gave the church some items to sell at the silent auctions held in August of each year and also some to a few friends. It is a very satisfying hobby as you can create a beautiful piece of furniture from raw wood and quickly learn from the mistakes made each time to ensure they are not repeated next time around. I also discovered it was very comfortable to work in the basement as the temperature was a constant 67 degrees summer and winter. While in Charlotte and Connecticut I enjoyed playing tennis and racquet ball. Although I was no expert I found these games a real challenge and a great opportunity to meet people and make lasting friendships. While at P & W I played tennis once per week with a group of eight from work. We had great fun even though none was a great player.

I was not exposed to office computers during my work days although they were used extensively in the machine tools we manufactured. They were just being introduced in the offices before I retired. After retirement I purchased a computer with software to allow me to type and print letters. This one was the old flat box type computer. Then I upgraded (in 1996?) and used it for letters, spreadsheets and Power Point presentations. Now I have a more up to date model as Duncan has presented me with one which is very fast and a delight to use. I use the spreadsheet to organize the church budget each year and Power Point to make presentations at the church and other organizations. Curt Collyer and I have prepared an analysis of the Town finances projected over the next 15 years. This is a very interesting task as it encompasses all aspects of town government which makes you realize it is extremely difficult to reduce expenses without alienating a section of town residents. But I keep out of politics.

I can’t say I’m a very religious man but I found the local Federated Church in East Orleans a haven for fellowship. I was surprised in 2001 to be asked to present a sermon on Laity Sunday at our church on October 7, 2001. I had never done this before or even thought about it but I considered this a challenge so I accepted. The sermon I presented was titled “Solutions through Hope” and was composed of a few vignettes describing experiences I had encountered. It went over well as I had a number of congratulatory messages. The theme centered around the idea that if you have a problem concentrate on the solution and not the problem. As a result of getting involved with different activities in the church I have met many friends and gained experience along the way. For example as a member of the property committee I appointed an architect to design and later to build a new elevator and update the upper and lower narthex. Also, I organized the building of a new parking lot and lately to install new heating and air conditioning systems throughout the complete building. Another responsibility was to add a power operated screen and a digital projector in the sanctuary. Presently I am Chair of the Budget Committee at the church and a member of the Orleans Coffee Club Steering Committee. This Club meets every week with about 80 members attending. A moderator is appointed from the membership each week. He introduces topics for discussion and members stand with a microphone to comment on the topic. The moderator does not join in to make comments. Usually we have 5 to 8 topics. The meeting starts at 1.30pm and finishes promptly at 3.30pm with a 20 minute interval half way through the meeting when coffee and donuts are served. These activities helped to keep me active.

Every year the Town organizes an Independence Day July 4th parade through Orleans. We have witnessed many of these parades throughout the years along with hundreds of people who throng both sides of the streets. One year the church decided to participate with many marchers and a vintage convertible leading the group. I headed up this procession by carrying a large banner and wearing a large sun hat. It was surprising to find so many people I knew as I walked by to acknowledge their shouts and enthusiastic waves. Other years we had to go early to find a place to park and to place chairs at a suitable vantage point. We usually parked at the Yacht Club then found a place to see the parade at the intersection of Cove Road and Route 28. Here we would find a group of about ten of our friends who joined in the fun. But the parade route was changed a few years ago as Route 28 was eliminated so we found a suitable place in front of Friend’s Market. As was to be expected the traffic after the parade was such that it took us about half an hour to get home. The floats in the parades were beautifully decorated and the fire engines kept us awake with blasts on their sirens. The best part of the parade was always a Scottish Pipe Band with the marchers wearing beautiful kilts and playing resounding bagpipe music. Great fun.

In 1989 and 1990 we took advantage of our retirement by travelling ………………………… To England and Scotland to visit with Josie and Ray Willis and ……

To stay at B & B’s to visit Windsor Castle, York, Ann Hathaway’s Cottage, St Andrews, Pitlochry, Jean Walker in Edinburgh, and with Diana & Mike O’Brien in under barrow near Kendal. Went to Edinburgh with the O’Brien’s to see the Tattoo at Edinburgh castle. A not to be missed show of marching bands of Scottish bagpipers in full kilt regalia plus hundreds of dancers in beautiful Scottish costumes. The O’Brien’s left to go back to Kendal while we continued up north to Inverness and Loch Ness. We did not see the Loch Ness Monster!

In September of 1989 we journeyed to Maine to visit Bar Harbor, Arcadia Mountain, and Kennebunkport. Later we went to Newport with the Stahls and Hopkins.

1990 Trip to Washington with Erin & Ashley.

Then in 1990 we rented a condo in Naples Florida and had a great time collecting shells near Marco Island as Sylvia loved making shell wreaths at home. Also visited Edison and Ford homes in Fort Meyer's, witnessed the Lippizan Horse Show, also met with the Stahls and Hopkins in Naples.

In July 1990 went on a Tauck Tour to Colorado Springs, Royal Gorge, Canon City, Durango, Mesa Verde, the Silverton Railroad, Colorado National Monument, Grand Junction, Aspen and Vail. A great tour.

Also in 1990 we attended the Holly Berry Bazaar in Orleans when I made and sold a rocking horse. In November we went to Freeport to stay at the Harraseeket Inn and then had a Xmas party at 24 Country Crossing with Caroline, Rick, Ashley, Erin and Duncan. I had a bicycle as a present from Sylvia. I later discovered I was not suited to ride a bike so it languished in our garage for many years until I got rid of it at the church fair.

1991 This was a busy year. We went to Naples Florida to stay in a condo at Countryside, (February) on a golf course. Met with the Hopkins and Stahls in Naples and Felix and Tina Pesanelli, Jean and Charlie Groezinger in Venice, Florida. Also visited Sea World, Kennedy Space Center, the Everglades and Sarasota.

Caroline and Rick put their Orleans house up for sale and Sylvia and I went on a tour to Montreal and Quebec City, Canada. Josie Willis visited with us and went with us to visit the mansions in Newport.

Also in 1991 we went on a Tauck Tour to British Columbia visiting the Emerald Lake, Takakkaw Falls, Yoho National Park, Banff Springs Hotel, Sulphur Mountain, Mouraine Lake and ten Peaks, Lake Louise, Columbia Icefields, Athabaxa Glacier and Falls, Jasper Park Lodge, Rafting on the Athabaxa, saw salmon in Swift Creek, and a 100 mile train trip to Whistler to finish in Vancouver. Where the flowers in Stanley Park were magnificent.

1992 Alyssa born June 1, 8.15am 10 ½ lbs. Jane and Josie Wills visited with us in May. June, the Marine Corps. in Orleans put on a great marching and band display.

July, to Boston to see “The Tall Ships”. In the spring new “TV” room added to our house. John and Dorothy Gall visited and had a picnic at Skaket Beach. Amanda Broatch and friend from England visited on their way around the world. They arranged to deliver a car from New Jersey to California.

September, 16, 1992 Tauck Tour from Rapid City to Salt Lake City via Mt Rushmore, Claremont Wyoming, Deadwood S. Dakota, Cody (Buffalo Bill’s town) Wyoming, many buffalo in Yellowstone National Park, Old Faithful geyser, the Tetons Wyoming, Jackson, rafting on the Snake river, Stein Erikson Lodge at Park City Utah, Snow Bird Ski area, Salt Lake City and Temple, Bingham Canyon. Visited with Bob and Harriet Flodine in Salt Lake City (Bob was advertising manager at P & W. and died in 2013)

Visited with Caroline and family in Florida in December 1992. Caroline’s new home at 101 Meadows park Lane was not surrounded by houses as it is today.

Christmas, Duncan and family visited in E. Orleans, the Whaler (boat in the driveway) was covered in snow.

1993 March, a vacation in Florida, visited the Zoo.

June, Holiday to N. Conway to White Mountain Hotel, visited Lune Mtn. Mt. Cranmore, Bretton Woods Hotel, Mt, Washington.

Summer, to Lake Winnipesaukee with boat to stay at house on the lake with Duncan and family.

August-September, to England with the Willis’s to visit Chatsworth, Leeds Castle, York Minster, Edinburgh to see the Tattoo at the Castle, St. Andrews, Met the Norcross’s in Edinburgh.

Also went to Aviemore, Ft. William, Pitlochry, Glen Coe, Glamis Castle and Moffat.

1994 April 20. Tauck Tour to New Mexico etc. Carsbad Caverns, El Paso, White Sands, Santa Fe, Bandelier National Monument, Taos Pueblo, Albuquerque and Sandia Peak by cable car. Visited with Art and Mary Barney in Silver City. The most spectacular part of this tour was the caverns. We went down in the depths by elevator and were greeted by numerous large stalactites and stalagmites.

August. To Nantucket then in September to North Conway and Bar Harbor with the Willis’s

July. Someone crashed into the rear of my Buick at the old roundabout near Sagamore Bridge. Had a rental Cadillac for a few weeks.

October. We had a pond built in the garden.

1995 24, May. To England then Italy with the Willis’s. Resided in a Hotel high on the cliffs on the waterfront of Amalfi, Italy, and visited Pompeii and Capri. The visit to Pompeii was impressive. I just couldn’t imagine a whole town being engulfed by ash from Vesuvius to smother thousands of people. It has taken many years to dig out the town buildings to enable us to see how residents lived in these far off days. We left Amalfi to travel to Naples to catch our plane to London but on arrival found the airport employees on strike. Went in to the Holiday Inn in Naples by taxi to have a good meal. Eventually after about three hours the strike was over and we flew off to London. We had a great time staying in B & B’s throughout England.

1997 Met the Willis’s in Washington. They flew in from Toronto where they had visited with Jane, their daughter. We travelled down to Williamsburg and Yorktown. On to Richmond and Monticello, home of Jefferson. Then via the Blue Ridge Parkway to the Luray Caverns and back to Washington. In Washington I had arranged to get tours of various government buildings including the White House. Ray and Jose had to cut their visit short by half a day as they had to catch a flight which had suddenly been re scheduled, back to the UK from Toronto.

1998 April, Cruise on river Danube with Josie and Ray Willis. Flew in to Munich then by bus to Passau to board a delightful river cruise ship. I noticed most of the bridges across the Danube were relatively new as many of the old bridges had been blown up during WW11. I compared them to bridges in Boston which are old, rusty and in need of repair. Visited Linz, Vienna (Austria), Bratislava (Czechoslovakia), and Budapest (Hungary).

Duncan rented a lakefront house for a holiday on Lake Winnipesaukee, NH, and we took advantage of this by staying with him for a few days in August. We took the boat with us so we had great fun.

1998 Ralph and Heidi Schlatter visited from Switzerland

The O’Brien’s from Kendal, England, visited in October and we went with them to Newport.

We had a visit from Peggy Broatch, my brother’s wife from New Zealand. She knew Bill and Jean Barker so we visited with them in Wellfleet. Tall Ships in Boston harbor. 1999 Duncan and family to Aruba

May, finished large entertainment center for Duncan and Susan made in cherry wood.

May, 1999 to Holland for a cruise. Flew to Amsterdam via Brussels. Sylvia’s luggage was lost en route but it was delivered to the boat before it left the dock. With the Willis’s at tulip time to Amsterdam, Vole dam, Friesland, Kinderdijk, and Keukenhof bulb gardens. Plenty of windmills.

Also visited the war memorial in Arnhem. During WW11 16,500 British paratroops and 3500 in gliders were sent to Arnhem to capture bridges from the Germans. They were forced to withdraw with 1000 killed, 2000 escaped, a large number fought on and 6000 taken prisoner.

November, Cruise on the Noordam, from Ft Lauderdale to Nassau, Panama Canal, Costa Rica and Acapulco with the Norcross’s.

2000 To Phoenix Arizona for a month. Sylvia had a stroke during one night. The ambulance took her to a local hospital where they quickly diagnosed her having had a slight stroke. She was released a day later with medication. To Sedona, Carefree, Tortilla Flat with the Norcross’s.

At home, made desks for Ethan and Allyssa. Tall ships in Boston harbor. Frank and Jan Sprogell visited in summer. Also this summer first water ski by Ethan.

2001 June, Whale watching from Provincetown. July 4th parade in Orleans.

2002 Christmas here with Duncan & family. I think we had our last and final Christmas tree decorated in the TV room. This was a live tree about four feet tall. I planted it at the front of our driveway. It is now a monster maybe forty feet tall.

2003 May. Trip to Europe and UK. Switzerland, Germany and France. Visited Colmar (France), Basel, Black Forest (Germany) and Schaffhausen (Germany). Dinner with Rolf and Heidi Schlatter and Walter Holzer and daughter who travelled from Zurich to visit with us.

To Boynton Beach for Christmas.

2004 Josie Willis visited. Went to Plymouth to see the replica of the Mayflower, and Nantucket. Great Marine band performance and July 3, parade, both in Orleans.

2004 New parking lot at Church.

2005 May, Cruise from NJ to Bermuda, This was my second visit to Bermuda. The first was when a London to New York flight I was on became diverted to Bermuda because of bad weather at New York. It was a one night stay in relatively cool weather. I did not see much of the island except from the air.

2006 November, Cruise from Fort Lauderdale, with Caroline & Rick, Erin and Ashley to the Caribbean. This was a great cruise including various activities on different islands.

When we returned we found many trees down in the back yard due to a storm.

2006 I was a member of the Orleans Town Hall building committee for many months. The new Town Hall was built and completed in 2006, within budget.

2007 September. Visit from Josie and Jane Willis. Went to Sesuit Harbor for lunch.

2008 Also 2009, 2010 and 2011. Florida family here for summer vacation. Great!!! Anyis and Layani are growing up too fast!

2011 April. A surprise visit from Caroline. Without informing us ahead of time Duncan arranged to pick up Caroline from Florida, at Bradley Field, Hartford then drove to the Cape. It was a wonderful surprise for us to be greeted by Caroline when she arrived completely unannounced. It was like the best Christmas present …. ever.

Christmas 2011 Flew to Florida to visit with Caroline, Rick and family. Found services at Logan and West Palm airports for handicapped passengers were excellent. Jetblue even gave us special seats with extra leg room.

2012 October, Sylvia taken to Hyannis Hospital due to pneumonia. There a week then transferred to Epoch Rehab center in Brewster for another week before going to Pleasant Bay Nursing Home in Brewster about 10 minute drive from East Orleans. Released to go home on Sunday November 25. 2012. The VNA nursing service was very efficient as they visited Sylvia at home on numerous occasions to check her vital signs and conduct exercises, check oxygen level and bathe her. They supplied equipment to supply a steady flow of oxygen to Sylvia’s nose including two bottles of oxygen to be used when she was outside the house. This service finished at the end of January 2013 as Sylvia was stable again.

2013 February 9 saw a concentrated snow storm engulf the Cape. Our power went out and the house soon was very uncomfortable as temperatures fell rapidly with no heat. When I called the police department for help they responded rapidly by sending a van and a highway department truck to our house. They took us to Nauset Regional High School in Eastham where the Red Cross team greeted us and welcomed us to stay with food and shelter until power was restored at home. They provided cots, blankets, pillows and food for about 150 people that night. They were very well organized with many assistants to meet our every need. A Registered Nurse often checked on Sylvia. Food was basic but plentiful. The cots were not as comfortable as our bed back home but we slept well. On Sunday morning, February 10, a neighbor called to say power had been restored. When I advised the Orleans representative at the School he said he would arrange for a police car to survey our house to ensure that in actual fact power had actually been restored. Soon afterwards he advised everything was OK and half an hour later the Senior Center mini bus arrived to take us home. Quite an experience. Hats off to the American Red Cross, a job well done. The telephone was still out on the 10th.

The storm dumped about 15 inches of snow in Orleans but Duncan had much more, about 25 inches.

A great visit from Caroline and Duncan in May. They were wonderful cooks so we ate well and they left our refrigerator fully stocked.

The Timeline from 1923

1923 Born, Gourdie Farm, near Dundee, Scotland

1928 July, Harris Academy, Dundee

1937 March, Maldon, Essex, England, Grammar School

1939 September 1939, to July 1940. Mid Essex Technical College, Chelmsford.

1939 WWII September 3

1940 Summer, Battle of Britain.

1940 October, Dundee, University of St Andrews

Pay ….. During summers at Sigma and BTH pay was one pound to three pounds per week.

Total pay for summers of 1940, 41, 42 and 43 was 39 pounds. (About $62 in today’s dollars)

1943 July, Graduated from St Andrews University, enlisted in Royal Air Force September 17, 1943.

1944 June, Normandy invasion

June 13, First V1 Buzz Bomb to hit London

September 15, First V2 rocket to hit London

1944 November to Cairo, Egypt

1945 V1 and V2 ceased.

To Algiers

June, to Malta

July, End of war in Europe

August, End of war in the Pacific

1946 Malta, met Sylvia

1947 August, To UK to be demobilized. On leave from August to November 1947.

Pay …. In RAF 1943 11 shillings and 10 pence per day (about 80 cents today)

In RAF 1946 23 shillings per day (about $1.70 today)

1947 Holiday at Torquay with Sylvia then employment at Sigma in Letchworth. Pay about $3.00 per day in today’s dollars.

Rick Blaser born October 4, 1947

1948 Attended Carswell Jones wedding to Jean, with Sylvia in Dundee.

Married Sylvia October then honeymoon to Isle of Wight and to “With dean” in Letchworth.

1949 To Hampton Court with Carswell and Jean, to Paris with Sylvia. To Sweden on business.

1950 April, to Milan Fair and Lake Como, Italy, with Sylvia.

1951 March 19, arrived USA, Glen Oaks, Long Island. Worked in the Chrysler Building.

1952 Angus, (my brother) and Aunt Jean visit Glen Oaks in winter on their way to New Zealand.

July 17, left USA, Returned to UK to Sigma

Caroline born in Hitchin, UK, hospital October 7, 1952

1953 Arrived USA June 23, to live in Fleetwood, NY.

1955 Duncan born January 21, 1955

1956 Move to Hartford to work for Pratt & Whitney Machine Tool Co.

1957 Built and moved in to new house on Grant Hill Rd. Bloomfield

1960 Promoted, I/C overseas sales at P & W.

1961 Mother died

1964 Around the world trip

1967 Father died

1967 November, sold Grant Hill house. Moved in to new house at 3 Arnold Drive, Bloomfield

1971 Duncan attended as day student at Avon Old Farms School to 1973

1972 Attended an exhibition in Moscow

Bought lot in Woodland Park, E. Orleans.

1973 Duncan at UNH to 1977

1974 Caroline married Rick Blaser

1976 To Charlotte, NC, to work as VP Marketing at Elox, in Davidson.

Sold 3 Arnold Drive, Bloomfield house in November

1977 After living in a rented condominium in Charlotte, while new house was being built, moved in to new house, 3 Fox ridge, Charlotte

Sold Woodland Park lot in E. Orleans.

1978 April 4, Erin born

Duncan graduated with Masters in Civil Engineering at NC State to Dec 1979

1979 October. Bought lot at 24 Country Crossing, E. Orleans

1981 August 20, Ashley born.

November. Sylvia’s mother visited. Went to Florida via Savannah with her and Duncan to visit Sea World and Disney World.

1982 To P & W West Hartford CT as VP of Marketing.

February, Sold house in Charlotte.

March. San Diego at a convention in the Hotel del Coronado with Sylvia. Visited San Diego Zoo.

March. Purchased new house at 4 Thomson St, Glastonbury, CT

1983 Duncan and Rick Mackowaik formed Summit Hydro Power

1985 Florrie’s visit and Caroline had a new golden retriever puppy named Lacey.

1986 Built new house at 24 Country Crossing E. Orleans, MA.

Caroline and Rick moved from East Hampton to Orleans

1987 To Florida, Epcot, Disney World and Nassau

1988 October, Duncan and Susan married in Glastonbury. Moved in to new house on Rocky Hill Rd. in Woodstock

1988 Retired, November

1989 March, sold Gastonbury house

Moved from Glastonbury to 24 Country Crossing, E. Orleans, MA.

1990 Ethan born

1990 Erin & Ashley rode Go Cart's in Harwich

1990 September Josie and Ray Willis visited

1990 Took Erin and Ashley to Washington. Tour included the White House, all the monuments etc in Washington, Smithsonian, Kennedy Center, Mt Vernon, the Zoo, Arlington, Gettysburg and the Tidal Basin. That was a fun trip, wish we could do it again.

1991 Erin, Ashley, Caroline and Duncan in the Boston Whaler in Nickerson Park

1992 Caroline & Rick sold their house in Orleans to go to Florida where they moved in to a new house in Boynton Beach.

Alyssa born

1995 A month’s holiday in Phoenix. The Norcross’s stayed in the same condominium complex with us. Met the Norcross’s daughter and her two children who live in Phoenix. Visited Carefree where Sylvia purchased jewelry and a beautiful jacket. Had a great time but would not like to live there. Adrian Norcross died in January 2013.

1998 Trip on Danube with the Willis’s. Great to be on a river cruise as we did not have to pack and un- pack

1998 August, Tall ships, Boston. Holiday with Duncan & family on Lake Winnipesaukee.

1998 September, Peggy Broatch visited from New Zealand. Went to Wellfleet, to visit with Jean and Bill Barker as Peggy knew them both.

1998 October, Diana and Mike O’Brien visited. Went to Newport. Gave us a beautiful crystal paper weight with our names inscribed to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary.

2000 Duncan & Susan moved in to a beautiful new home at Maybrook, Woodstock

2002 Anyis born October 17, 2002

2004 LaYani born March 1, 2004

2005 Caribbean Cruise with Caroline, Rick, Erin and Ashley. A great time.

2007 Duncan & Susan moved in to new home at 6 Far Hills Dr. Avon CT.

Alyssa to the Ethel Walker School in Simsbury

Ethan to the Avon Old Farms School in Avon

2009 Ethan entered Merrimack College

2010 Alyssa entered UCONN then transferred to the University of Hartford

2011 In August Duncan and family went on a Tauck tour to British Columbia in Canada. Florida family here for a week in July.

2011 Duncan announces he is building a house in Newport RI.

2011 Christmas, to Avon with Duncan, Susan, Alyssa and Ethan then to Florida to be with Caroline, Rick, Ashley, Erin Anyis and Layani. Another great time!!!

2012 January, Duncan and Susan purchase a house in Newport

Family of five from Florida, again visit with us this summer. Great times.

We go to the July 4th parade in Orleans. Great crowds and good weather and a Scottish Pipe Band.

October, Sylvia to hospital with pneumonia, home in November

2013 February, heavy snow storm in New England.

Sylvia falls and hurts her knee. In hospital, then Pleasant Bay Nursing Home.

Duncan buys a Tesla all electric automobile.

Caroline and Duncan arrive to visit with us for a few days in early May. Great times and great cooks.

Ethan graduates and starts work in Boston at State Street in June. Ethan is living in a small apartment on Beacon Street within walking distance to his work.

Alyssa has a summer job helping at the sailing boat pier in Newport.

Sylvia celebrated her 90th birthday on June 24, 2013.

The gang from Florida arrived at the end of July. The weather during their weeks stay was perfect and we all had a great time.

A BACKWARD LOOK

As I enter my 90th year and look back on my journey, I wonder what I could have done better.

A good question!

My education was limited by WW11. I only had 3 years at the University before being drafted in to the

RAF for four years. I wish I could have had more education to get a Master’s degree like Duncan. I

consider my four years in the RAF a complete waste of time. When I was demobilized from the RAF I did

not consider going back to college. I should have done this but I married instead. I was lucky

to be sent to the USA by Sigma to get involved with large companies. I think I could have become

president of either Elox or Pratt & Whitney, or both, if I had had more financial experience. I also found

it a handicap at not being able to speak a foreign language fluently. I should have taken courses for

French or Spanish and a Chinese language. I highly recommend our grandchildren and great grandchildren learn to speak Chinese as this is the up and coming language. Today, now that the world is getting much smaller, everyone should be able to speak a foreign language.

My time with my mother and father was very limited. After finishing high school and a few months of Tech College while living in Maldon, I immediately went to Scotland to stay with my aunts while at the University in Dundee for three years. Then I went off to the RAF for four years and getting married. Being in the USA was another distraction which made visits to the UK, to be with my parents, less frequent. I really did not see much of my parents after finishing high school. Suddenly they were both gone. I should have attended my mother’s funeral although both Sylvia and I visited with her in Lochmaben, Scotland, shortly before her death in 1961. I did attend my father’s funeral. I wish I had taken the time to visit often with my parents.

As I look back, my aunts in Dundee were very good to me but I did not appreciate them as I should. I did not attend their funerals except for Aunt Jean. I decided to visit her in a nursing home but she died before I arrived from the USA.

My brother and I were never very close. He was five years younger than me and I do not remember too

much about our relationship. Our paths never crossed after I finished high school until I met him in New

Zealand. At that time he was in a nursing home due to a heart condition. I wish I could have taken time

out to be with him often. Even communication by letter would have been a good idea but I never

thought of doing that. I guess I was more concerned with my own life than to be interested in any

other. As the years progressed I began to realize the importance of communication with family and

friends.

I now try to be a good communicator by greeting people with a smile, by checking up on people by

telephone, by visiting people in hospital or nursing homes, by driving folks to appointments or by just

saying Hello. Keeping in touch often with family is a wonderful idea. The telephone and Email are

great inventions. (Also, all these other high tech gizmos which are a little beyond me)

I discovered extensive travel opens up the mind to different cultures and ideas. It was very enlightening

to be exposed to different ways of life in Egypt, Japan, China, Russia, India and Iran for example. Much

of the differences, especially in the Middle East, centered around the various religions of the countries.

With all the turmoil in the world today it is surprising for me to find that the USA may be trying to change the way people live in other countries under the pretext of introducing democracy. Trying to change the political structures based on centuries old different customs and religions, is a daunting task. But I guess this foreign policy is meant to make the USA more secure. Nothing is stable in this world.

Since retiring I have taken an interest in the Town finances. I have made comments at a few Town

Meetings which centered around the proposed capital budget that always seemed an absurd pie in

the sky wish list to me. One year my comments criticizing the capital budget must have been heard by all

as it was voted down.

Sylvia and I have had a great time together. Throughout the years she has painted many velvet paintings

and early American on tin ware. Much of her work is now displayed on the interior walls of our house. She had a great eye for color coordination as many times she would tell me I had on the wrong clothes because the colors did not go with one another. Then of course I had to make a change until she was satisfied with my attire. For many years she went to Flora Arnold’s class each week in West Hartford for Early American Painting. Sylvia loved to cook which I really appreciated without putting on too much weight. Also, she loved her garden especially taking freshly cut flowers to make floral arrangements and making wreaths with shells which she collected at the seashore in New England and Florida. She has supported me on my many travels away from home always welcoming me back with a great hugs and smiles. She must have been very lonely while I was away but never complained. During my working years Sylvia and I had the opportunity to attend many conventions at different locations including Hilton head, Miami, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Hawaii. We went on many vacations together including travel to Hawaii, Mexico, Canada, Italy and other countries in Europe, and of course many times to the UK. We have been fortunate to have visited with our extended families in Connecticut and Rhode Island with Duncan and in Florida with Caroline. It is always amazing to watch how our families increase and grow up so fast. Suddenly they are no longer “children”. Our great grandchildren are nearly teenagers already.

It is amazing the amount of “stuff” you collect which is stored away in different cupboards. Recently (July 2013,) I decided to get rid of some of this stuff. For example I have a number of old cameras and lenses which have been replaced with digital technology. They haven’t been used for about 10 years and are worth zero. Who develops old films these days? Two cupboards in the living room haven’t been opened in many years. They were full of ornaments, plates, dried flowers, tankards, etc., etc. So out they went. In the basement I found many artistic articles used by Sylvia many years ago such as small jars of paint, paint brushes, stencils etc., and although it was heart breaking to make the decision to get rid of them, out they went. I had tried to get Sylvia interested in painting again but she declined. Many other items in the basement went out either to the Church Fair, in August 2013, or to the dump. Of course some closets are full of clothes which are mostly outdated or just not used any more. I will tackle this chore another day! We have moved a total of eleven times to different apartments and houses and we may yet have another move to make.

October 4, 2013 We have decided to place our home up for sale as we are both finding it more difficult to look after this beautiful home at 24 Country Crossing. We both feel very sad to do this as we love our home which houses such wonderful memories but we must move forward. In addition we have located a condominium in the Wise Property in Orleans having about 1300 square feet of space (about half our present house) with two bedrooms a large living room, dining area, two bathrooms and a full kitchen. The property has indoor parking, a library, a large lounge, an atrium, a coffee lounge and a beautiful dining room. A continental breakfast is served daily with optional lunch and dinner. Seven of our friends live there so we will not be alone. We have made an offer which has been accepted so will see what transpires. The big job will be to downsize our furniture and eliminate my work shop. We shall see!!!!!

November 15, 2013 we have closed on a condominium in Orleans and are now proud owners of an apartment about half the size of our house. We believe the best way is not to move in until we sell the house which may take as long as six or more months.

November 18, 2013 Great celebration, my 90th birthday (and Sylvia’s in June 2013) at a party organized by John Burlingame at his beautiful house. Twenty eight of our friends attended all with birthday cards. And the food was excellent including smoked salmon. Both our birthdays were celebrated so Sylvia enjoyed everything. A great evening. Then the Coffee Club luncheon group of eleven friends gave a luncheon birthday celebration on Thursday along with eleven birthday cards. Some very funny cards and a great lunch.

March 2014 In the meantime I am updating the Interior of the condo by painting all the walls and trim, using paint colors recommended by Caroline. Also installing new counters and sink in the kitchen, adding new vinyl floor covering in the two bathrooms, and kitchen, and replacing the old carpet with new in the master bedroom, living and dining rooms and foyer. Caroline also helped to select window shades. The next thing I may do is to install cupboards with shelves, similar to what we have on either side of our present fireplace. These new cupboards would be on either side of the gas fire in the condo.

Getting rid of a large proportion of our “stuff” is very upsetting. For example I have to move out all my woodworking equipment in the basement which has been my life blood for many years. I have made numerous pieces of furniture with this equipment including an entertainment center, two desks and numerous cabinets all in cherry. I have listed everything on the internet and as a result have had one interested woodworker (Dec 3, 2013) I sold the lot for only $2300. I felt depressed at having to give up all my tools which I had coveted all these years. What am I to do now to fill in my spare time?

There are many Sylvia’s paintings and tin ware which I am loath to part with. Will have to find room for them in the condo.

No offers or buyers for our house yet, (July 2014). We have reduced the price to see if this will help. We just keep hoping.

July, 2014.

The sad news today, July 4, 2014, is that Sylvia passed away in Cape Cod Hospital. She was not well on Thursday, July 3, so when I took her to the local doctor he immediately arranged for the ambulance to take her to CC Hospital. On Friday, July 4, she did not get any better and at 12.32pm she died due to a heart stoppage. (Acute Myocardial Infarction). I was by her side along with about 6 or 7 hospital nurses and doctors. We had been very happily married for 66 years and now I miss her very much. We have had great times together. Fortunately both Caroline and Duncan have been here and are very supportive. I could not have handled this all by myself. Numerous friends have called to offer support along with over 50 sympathy cards. It has been a very sad and emotional time for me but time will heal.

I find I have little to do and time is a drag. Fixing up the condominium has filled my time a little and visits by Caroline and Duncan have helped considerably but I need a hobby of some sort. I shall keep searching.

I need to move into the condo, if only I could find someone to buy my house. I think I will move before selling the house.

James Stewart Broatch

PO Box 924

24 Country Crossing

E. Orleans MA 02643-0924

Sept, 2014