Chapter Nineteen

     The lives of my close family by this time had changed considerably. My beloved mother, who had given my brother and me such a love of learning, sadly died of a recurrence of breast cancer three years after the end of the war. It was thanks to her efforts that the link with the French side of the Le Croissette family was found. She had walked around London during the war years, visiting old churches and French schools where the Huguenots had taken refuge in the years after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. She managed to trace an unknown branch of the family, owners of an old bible, The Benfleet Bible, giving details of the early settlers in London. From this the web site on the family has grown, thanks latterly to Gwyneth Cheeseman, (see her website at www.lendingtheway.com/croisettes). We found our forefathers lived near Senlis in Picardie. We have even found a coat of arms.

My mother had suffered greatly but fought the terrible disease of cancer to the bitter end, even maintaining her beloved household budget records to the final weeks. My father later re-married, unable to face living alone. He was a gregarious person and Dennis and I were happy for him when he set up home with May Martin, a widowed friend of my mother’s. He moved away from London to Wokingham, having given up his cabinet making business to go pig-farming with May’s brother. This however was never a great success. But he was kept busy as always making and mending everything possible for the farm.   

     Dennis, my brother, after his two years National Service in the RAF, (happily post-war) had continued his studies in electronics, gaining an external degree from the University of London, followed by a teaching post at the then Regent Street Polytechnic. There he obtained his Master of Science degree and wrote many scientific papers together with his much respected mentor, Dr. John Yarwood. On the strength of his growing reputation, he was offered a post as Reader at the newly chartered University of Southampton. Whilst there he undertook special research in gas discharges related to Geiger Counters. This formed the subject of his thesis for his Doctorate. In those early post-war years, there was no money available for research and he had to find assistance in the private sector.

     Thanks to the company, 20th Century Electronics, he was able to secure the equipment necessary for his doctorate research, gaining his PhD degree in 1953. After several years at the Southampton University, he felt he was being held back by the lack of investment in Science and the constantly delayed decisions by academic committees. This was a common complaint in post-war academic circles.

     The sight of the liners departing for the USA stirred his desire to visit that vast country. He remarked to me that he wanted to see the other end of the “bus route”. By 1957, he had secured a teaching post at the University of Kansas at Lawrence. I always remembered him coming to Swindon to say goodbye before his departure. I asked him if he would like a photograph and his answer was “Why, I am going to see you again”. Little did he know then how ultrasound photography would figure largely in his life in later years. Although we had been working and living apart for some years, I knew I would miss him tremendously and it would be some long years before we met up again. But I knew he was ambitious and I wished him well. 

     Meanwhile, Clive, our only son, had been at a Preparatory Boarding school from the age of eight. Hotel life, when one is moved around from place to place, is not congenial for a young child’s education. Changing schools so frequently in his early years did Clive no favours. So reluctantly we decided, if his home kept moving, al least his school must remain the same. Thus, from 1954 to 1958, he attended Presentation College in Reading and at the age of thirteen, moved on to Ryde School on the Isle of Wight. It took him some time to settle as shown by one of his letters in which he says ‘Two boys escaped today’.

   In later years he complained to me that we did not visit him as frequently as other parents. I felt sad about this but we had acted in what we thought was his best interest since we were so tied by our work. The alternative would have been a constant stream of changing schools. The hours one worked in the hotel profession in those days were penal. As Manager we had no fixed days off and little chance of ever being off together.

      Peter’s family meantime were having great success at the Stanmore Riding School. Their horses were used in many of the films of the day at Pinewood, Lester and Denham studios. Derek, Peter’s brother was working for J. Arthur Rank Screen Services and by now had married a glamorous showgirl called Rusty. They had just had a son named Quentin. Unfortunately, neither of us saw much of our families in those days.

What about the rest of the family?

Bridging the Centuries 

By Eileen Younghusband