Basic form of the Calderon coat of arms
Figure from Gauguin’s 1899 painting ‘Tahitian Women with Mango Blossoms’ (left); George Calderon’s pencil sketch ‘Manu’ (right)
George Calderon c.1901
The entrance to Fort Brockhurst (picture from Britain’s Past)
Patrick Miles in his summer house, 11 December 2016
A happy memory of Trinity College: undergraduates breakfast together in Downy V. Green, p. 77.
George and Kittie Calderon 1905
Book sent to George Calderon in Russia by his mother, Christmas 1895.
K.N. Das Gupta and Margaret Mitchell in an Indian Dramatic Society production of The Maharani of Arakan, 1913?
Christmas 1901 Cartoon by George Calderon
Monarch Butterfly Madeira
Unpublished watercolour by George Calderon, Tahiti 1906
Michel and Vera Fokine in “Scheherazade”, 1914 (The Music And Theatre Library of Sweden, creative commons)
Sir Richard Vincent Sutton c. 1913
George Calderon, 1912
Frontis piece by Frank Calderon
Captain of the 11
Colonel Sir Walter Coote Hedley c. 1920
Jean Ryckaert, May 1916.Recent Comments
- Jim D G Miles on From the diary of a writer-publisher: 28 Excellent entry, Dad. I like the escape room picture, of course, but the story about the Russian and the hole-in-the-wall is exceptional! (28/03/2024 at 9:58 PM)
- Patrick Miles on Short story: ‘Crox’ Thank you, dear anonymous Theo...it is so refreshing to hear the reaction of a Man of the People! Keep a good grip on those cords! 'Part II'?! The rest is secreted in lines (18/12/2023 at 10:33 PM)
- Theo on Short story: ‘Crox’ Delicious! "Are you being Served?" meets "Keeping up Appearances" via Calderotica. But Patrick, you cannot leave us dangling like that just before Christmas! One thing - c (18/12/2023 at 1:35 PM)
- Patrick Miles on Cambridge Tales 8: ‘Black Tie’ Thank you, Damian, for sharing your problem with us. It's difficult to know what to prescribe. Perhaps try examining the facts of the story (e.g. there are not 6 medics in the (20/11/2023 at 9:44 AM)
- Damian Grant on Cambridge Tales 8: ‘Black Tie’ Patrick: I read your story 'Black Tie' on Monday, and knew immediately that it didn't work for me. There was something forced, factitious; something that didn't let the elemen (17/11/2023 at 2:26 PM)
Tag Archives: Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry
16 May 1915
May 16th. R.M.S. “ORSOVA” […] when I woke … Continue reading
Transfiguration and parting
Today, 10 May 1915, which was a Monday, George and Kittie set out on the 140-mile journey by train from Gosport to the naval base of Devonport, where he was to embark for an unknown destination. Five other officers from … Continue reading
8 May 1915
Today Kittie accompanied George to Brockhurst, where they stayed two days, probably at a B&B called Warwick House run by a Mrs Seymour. On the train journey, it is highly probable that George bought The Times and read a sensational letter … Continue reading
21 April 1915
Fortis est veritas 9th Batt. Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry Wednesday My dear Mother, Haven’t I been writing regularly? Well, you know there’s plenty to do here, and once I’ve got off a sheet to … Continue reading
10 April 1915: A professional soldier
Today the 9th Battalion Ox and Bucks at Fort Brockhurst near Portsmouth was converted from a Service Battalion to a Reserve Battalion. It comes as a shock: George Calderon’s training as a lieutenant was over, and he could volunteer or … Continue reading
Two separate biographies
As I have explained on several occasions, apart from his machine gun course on Hayling Island we know nothing specific about George’s training as a lieutenant with the 9th Battalion Ox and Bucks at Fort Brockhurst from the middle of … Continue reading
Posted in Personal commentary
Tagged Battle of Neuve Chapelle, biographies, biography, British Expeditionary Force, Fort Brockhurst, Gallipoli, George Calderon, Helles, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, The Great War, Third Battle of Krithia, Training, trench warfare, World War I, Ypres
Leave a comment
Weekend work: ‘The Lamp’
If, as I have suggested, George used his long weekend leave to put his literary manuscripts in order, then as well as working on a detailed synopsis of Tahiti (see my posts of 14 and 21 March) he must have done something … Continue reading
Life with the 9th Ox and Bucks
It is not quite clear from the wording of Kittie’s memoirs whether George had been coming home every weekend from Friday to Monday before starting a ‘machine gunnery course on Hayling Island’, or whether he was able to take such long weekends … Continue reading
Posted in Edwardian character, Edwardian marriage
Tagged Arthur Maxwell Labouchere, Fort Brockhurst, George Calderon, Hayling Island, Henry Newbolt, Kittie Calderon, Major Benson, Manolo Ordoño de Rosales, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, Peel family, The Great War, William Rothenstein, World War I
Leave a comment
They all fall down
Suddenly, in early February 1915, the inmates of Fort Brockhurst were struck by influenza. Kittie says the ‘whole regiment’ went down, but presumably this is figurative. Certainly hundreds were affected, so perhaps the whole 9th (Service) Battalion was garrisoned in … Continue reading
Apple apple apple apple apple
In his first letter to Kittie after embarking on the R.M.S. ‘Orsova’ at Devonport on 10 May 1915 (she was probably still watching the ship with other wives whilst he was writing), Calderon seems to have summed up his time … Continue reading
The training of Lieut. Calderon
We can assume that George’s training with the 9th Ox and Bucks now began in earnest. Unfortunately, apart from a machine-gun course on Hayling Island in March/April, it is difficult to ascertain what exactly the training consisted of. We know … Continue reading
Fort Brockhurst
If my dating of Calderon’s ‘Sunday’ letter to the Sturge Moore family is correct, then today, Monday 18 January 1915, George’s company (about 250 men) of the 9th Battalion Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry moved into Fort Brockhurst, which is … Continue reading
17 (?) January 1915
Fortis est veritas 9th Battalion Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Belgium, Dan Sturge Moore, Daniel Sturge Moore, George Calderon, Henriette Sturge Moore, Kittie Calderon, Marie Sturge Moore, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, Portsmouth, Riette Sturge Moore, The Great War, Thomas Sturge Moore, World War I
Leave a comment
15 January 1915: The move to barracks
I conclude, by a process of the usual ‘triangulation’, that the newly commissioned Lieutenant Calderon travelled down by train to report to the Portsmouth base of the 9th Battalion Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry today, Friday 15 January 1915: 1. … Continue reading
9 January 1915: Commission
This is the final state of George Calderon’s application for a commission: The writing in red ink across the left hand side of the form reads: ‘Temporary Commission as Lieutenant in 9 Battln Oxford & Bucks Light Inftr & order … Continue reading
Posted in Edwardian character
Tagged anti-suffragism, Anton Chekhov, Brian Harrison, commissions, Coote Hedley, Francis Newbolt, George Calderon, Henry Newbolt, Julia Bush, military interpreters, Oxford, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, The Great War, Trinity College Oxford, World War I
1 Comment
De-appling
In my 22 January post I explained the meaning of the Edwardian verb ‘to apple’. I mentioned that five lines in George’s letter to Kittie of 10 May 1915 were ‘appled out’ and I was following up ‘forensic programmes’ for … Continue reading →