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Eulogy for my Father-in-Law Brigadier Rupert Crowdy OBE

March 1910 – January 2017 Firstly, thank you all for coming from far and wide across the UK as well as Switzerland and Guernsey. A while ago, Rupert asked me to deliver a Eulogy of his ‘life and times’ but he said “For goodness sake keep it short!” So, I’ll do my best! According to his Birth Certificate, Rupert Crowdy was born in Amersham on 12th March 1910, four years before the outbreak of the First World War. A happy childhood ensued with his sisters Cynthia & Joan…. He attended the Hereford Cathedral School and St Edward’s Birmingham before being packed off to the Northumberland Fusiliers (the Fighting 5th) where he enlisted as a recruit. He won a scholarship to Sandhurst in 1930. In addition to the normal military curriculum, he gained a Blue for shooting, a Distinguished in Mechanics and was a Whipper-In for the Beagle Pack! He needed to graduate in the top 20 to win a place in the Indian Army. He was delighted to achieve this and sailed for Bombay in 1932. He joined the 17th Dogra Regiment, stationed at Shagai Fort in the North West region near the notorious Khyber Pass. In his own words: “It was a wonderful life being chased by tribesmen and hunting with the Peshawar Hounds!” In 1936, after a spell of leave in UK, he opted to fly back to Calcutta with Imperial Airways to Athens - then onwards via Bagdad in a Horsa Biplane. However, after leaving Bagdad, the plane developed a fault and crash landed on a sand dune in the Trucial Oman Desert. Amazingly, everyone survived. Luckily, after 24 hours their fuselage was spotted by an RAF search and rescue plane and the passengers were eventually airlifted to Bahrain. It had been a lucky escape – had they been spotted by local tribesmen, they could well have been eliminated. Rupert had taken a series of photos of the crash with his new camera for which the Daily Mail paid him £10! In 1939, Rupert went to Ceylon on leave to see a young lady named Norah. She lived on a tea plantation with her parents at Meddecombra. They had originally met whilst holidaying in Guernsey when she was then just 15 years old. Later, when he proposed she wouldn’t answer immediately and he had to set sail for

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Australia on leave without knowing. Two days into the passage he received her Cable … Yes! Thus, Rupert (aged 29) and Norah (aged 24) became engaged in July 1939, but due to the outbreak of war, were married in St John’s Church at Lindula, near Meddecombra on 14th November that year, a marriage which lasted sixty-six years! Rupert declared they were the happiest years of his life. Rupert and Norah’s first borne son, Mike was born in India at Quetta in July 1941 whilst Rupert was serving in the 1st Burma Division at Toungooi (in Burma). During this time, he had a lively episode with the Japanese forces who were hell bent on destroying the oilfields. On the journey North to Imphal, Rupert was handed a copy of the Statesman Magazine and his attention was drawn to a paragraph announcing the death of his son – an absolute and total tragedy. The General immediately authorised Rupert to send signals to Norah and take 10 days’ leave to re-join her in India as she was on her own. In due course, the 1st Burma Division was relocated to Shillong on the Indian side of the border and Norah was employed in intelligence work at Div HQ. Later on Rupert, who had received a Mention in Despatches for his distinguished service against the Japanese in Burma, was posted to GHQ in Delhi and promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. Both he and Norah were able to live together. Sue was born at Dehra Dun and the family moved to Agra, an idyllic time – a lovely bungalow with 11 servants, 2 cooks, a bearer, a water carrier, a sweeper for the loo, gardeners, a dhobi Walla and a khidmatgar (type of butler)! Rupert managed a chukka or two of Polo and the family always enjoyed wonderful picnics looking at the Taj Mahal. At the beginning of the Berlin Air Lift 1949, because of his logistics experience in Burma, he was initially posted to Gatow in Berlin at the receiving end of the coal supply chain. After a year, he was transferred to the forward supply organisation at Fassberg. The problem was that the combination of the RAF Dakotas and 4 train loads a day simply couldn’t supply enough coal for the two power stations to keep the city of Berlin going. So, Rupert requested the support of the US Air Force whose B52 bombers promptly flew 30,000 sorties with 250,000 tons of coal airlifted in 190 days and turned the whole operation around. Together with his US Air Force colleague, he was awarded an immediate OBE for his exceptional contribution to this vital operation.

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Whilst commanding No1 Training Battalion RASC in Aldershot, the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II took place. He commanded 300 all ranks of the RASC, the RAMC and the Chaplains! Rupert recalled that it was a very wet day for the Coronation … as he put it “wet-wet-sweat!” He was congratulated for his precision. After the Coronation, Rupert was posted to Egypt but delayed his departure from Guernsey until the family, which now included Jill and Pippa (plus their wonderful Nanny named Dah) were ready to fly. They loved the sailing with the Royal Army Service Corps YC on the Bitter Lakes and swimming on tap. He was selected to the rank of Colonel and acquired ‘Tall Chimneys’ at Little Faringdon. Employing his natural mechanical flair, Rupert went on a course to enable him to incorporate small bore heating into the house, the first in the area which was a great success. After his tour as Colonel ‘Q’ in MOD, Rupert was promoted to Brigadier and Director of his Corps in Rhine Army at Monchengladbach, the Army HQ for BAOR. The whole family had happy times there and Norah’s dinner parties were legendary! She also ran a very successful tennis club and loved her flower arranging. When Jill was suspended from her UK boarding school Rupert never bollocked her – he put his arm round her and said “Well done! I never liked that headmistress either…” Later on, Rupert narrowly missed promotion to Major General but was invited to become an ADC to her Majesty the Queen. And thus his career ended in 1963 at the young age of 53… Rupert plunged straight into civilian life by opening Lechlade Vintners. He always said that it would be just about viable until the arrival of a supermarket. He bottled his own wine and older people could fill up their own bottle with sherry from the cask! He made just enough to cover his shooting and fishing… Rupert always had to have a project, be it a car, a boat, or a new gadget. He loved tuning a car and managed to win the Northern Army Group Car Rally in 1956. Over the years, he had a string of impressive motor cars including a convertible 3 Litre Bentley Vanden Plas in India, a Jensen Interceptor and MGB GT V8 which Norah found a little too powerful! She much preferred her Mini and they both had enormous fun in their VW Campervan, touring the UK. To get afloat, he acquired a smart little family motor cruiser for the Thames called ‘GNU.’ This was where the 3 girls learnt to row and sail. Then, he shared a

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Westerly Centaur with me before embarking on a whole string of larger Westerlies which he shared with various close friends. Later, he had several motorboats. All his boats were named ‘Nonie’, his nickname for Norah who opted to keep the ‘home fires burning’ whilst he was at sea. She cultivated an excellent fruit and veg garden at the ‘Malt Shovel’, their lovely family home in Bampton where Rupert was also Chairman of the local Branch of the Royal British Legion. With such skilful hands, he always had a model of some kind on the go in his very well equipped workshop. From steam engines to aeroplanes to boats to a model railway - all beautifully made to a very high standard. Animals always played a key part in family life. From Brumus to Splinters to Ben 1 & 2, Rupert always said that he couldn’t imagine life without the ‘wag of a dog’s tail!’ And in case you wondered where his nickname ‘Bom Bom’ came from, his granddaughter, Natasha, when she was a little girl! Rupert spent his last 14 years in the Cotswold Home where he was looked after superbly by professional and caring staff many of whom are here today. As well as the special themed lunches in the Home, he loved going out for a pub lunch with the family and we have such fond memories of his last one with us, sipping a ‘Bloody Mary’ and munching oysters by the river at the Fox in Great Barrington. He maintained his standards throughout his 106 years with 3 catch phrases that are worth a mention: “Work Hard, Play Hard & Drink Enough!” After a long and happy life at Rupert’s side, Norah died aged 92 in 2006 after a spirited battle with Alzheimer’s. It is Rupert’s wish to be laid to rest with her in Bampton Churchyard. Their combined innings of 198 years is truly remarkable. They leave behind 3 daughters, 9 grandchildren and 14 great grandchildren + 1 on the way! And so, in the words which Brigadier Rupert, alias Bom Bom, often used on the telephone: “That’s it, thank you for ringing … OUT!”