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PARTITION - additional recordings I
Andrew Whitehead I
_____________________________________I
CD-9
Tom Dykes
eldest son of Col. Tom and Biddy Dykes
interviewed by Bhavna Kumar in Jo'burg, 22 Jan 2001
Band 2
0'12 - 'just to introduce myself i'm Tom Dykes, eldest son of Lt Col Tom Dykes of the
Indian army. He was in one of the Sikh regiments ... a Scotsman, bom and bred in
Ediburgh. My family served in India for several generations'
0'35 - 'my mother came out from Eng to Ind as a nurse. My parents met, married
during the early part of 2nd World War. I was bom in 1942'
1'06 - 'I think they were fun loving people ... had quite a close rel'ship with my Mum,
I think, I didn't see my Dad too much cos he was in the army ... I do rememebr he was
a v keen fly
fisherman, we used to go fishing sometimes in the hills of Kashmir'
2'08 - memories of Kashmir, staying on houseboat
2'40 - 'adults were always talking about the goings-on... it was v tense, I do rememebr
that, and I remmebr well the marching thro the streets, waving banners'
3'32 - 'we went to the convent because my mother was about to have a baby ... and I
remember quite well, there was nice countryside all around ... I can remmebr climbing
up a nearby hill with my other... we named it windy hill... I remember riding a pony
... I remember my servant Feroze meeting me at the hospital... I remember being
carried up the mountains with my mother in a sedan chair'
5T0 - 'there did seem to be tension in the air... and even as a small boy I was aware of
it'
BAND 4
OTO - 'I have a letter in my possession which was sent by m mother just a few days
after James ... was bom; she sent the letter to her sister in England and it must have
been one of the last letters out of Baramulla before the invasion; it was a rather
poignant letter; my mother sounds very stressed because she didn't have any money, it
seems; the cheques she had were not honoured by the bank ... and she didn't have any
money to pay the nuns with'
1'38 - 'James was bom 12th October 1947 and it was just a few days after James was
bom that the Pathan tribesmen invaded K; B'mula was on their route, and they raided |
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