On completion of this enquiry and our report I left on leave for England. As I have said Aileene had already left with Helen, not solely because I was going to be constantly on tour with Twynam, but also to let her sort our her love life. Before I left India Kenneth Maclnnes had taken leave and had pressed his suit with Helen and they became engaged. They were old-fashioned enough to await my return and formally obtain my consent though Helen added “Of course it doesn’t really matter as I shall be of age this year.” I was in fact very happy although it meant that much of my leave would be taken up with providing a trousseau and making arrangements for the wedding. Aileene had succeeded in finding a very nice house in Havant which she took for six months from the owner, a retired Surgeon Rear-Admiral. It was a beautiful summer and with a tennis court in the garden and the sea not far away and Southsea near enough for more sophisticated amusements we all had a very happy time.

As we had no permanent home in England it was decided that the wedding should take place at Shenley in Hertfordshire, Kenneth’s home where his mother had a large house which incidentally has become their home since Kenneth retired from the Burmah Oil Company106. As the bride’s parents we, of course, were responsible for all the arrangements and the reception and for once I felt sympathy with the Indians who one had formerly blamed for the lavish expenditure they incurred in marrying their daughters and landing themselves generally in debt!

They were married on the 19th September 1935107 and went off for their honeymoon to Cumberland where the Maclnneses had a family home near the Solway Firth.

Donald was now at Sandhurst where I had been fortunate enough to obtain for him a King’s India Cadetship. Having seen the other children back to school, the two boys to Bedford and Jill to Eastbourne, Aileene and I set off for Scotland to stay at Millburn Tower 108 the lovely home of our friends the Renwicks whom we had seen so much when we were at Sardah. Their house was between Edinburgh and Ratho. After a fortnight with them we went to the Isle of Man to stay with other India friends. I found the island very attractive and the people very friendly and hospitable.

At the end of October Aileene and I returned to India. At the wedding we had met Kenneth’s brother, Ian109, and his wife. Ian was in the Royal Scots Fusiliers, then stationed at Ismalia on the Suez Canal and they had invited us to spend a day with them on our journey out. They met us at Port Said and motored us to Ismalia, this wonderful oasis in the desert. After lunch Ian and I went to the Club for a game of tennis while our wives spent the afternoon in the garden gathering the while masses of sweetpeas. After a drink Ian drove us to the canal where we boarded the pilot launch and returned to the ship in time to dress for dinner after a refreshing and enjoyable break in the journey.

On our return to Calcutta I was appointed Deputy Inspector General of the Presidency Range which covered the districts of the 24-Pargannahs, Jessore, Khulna, Nadia, Murshidabad and the Sealdah Railway Police. This was to be for six months only as I had been selected to act as Commissioner of Police, Calcutta, during the leave of Colson, the permanent incumbent. There was no official residence for the D.I.G. so we stayed with Frederick Robertson and his wife, Dodo, in Theatre Road. Robertson was Commissioner of the Presidency Division - my opposite number as it were in the civil administration. This we had arranged beforehand and they had housed some of our better articles of furniture while we were on leave.

Nothing of special import occurred during the few months I was in charge of the Presidency Range. I learnt something of these districts in none of which had I served and particularly of the Railway Police system. The Sealdah Government Railway Police covered the whole of the broad gauge system from Calcutta to Silguri and Calcutta to Khulna.

Life in Calcutta was very pleasant to come back to. In leisure hours there was tennis and squash at the Saturday Club as well as the dances and occasional balls - the Caledonian Ball on St. Andrew’s night, the Calcutta Light Horse Ball and the New Year’s Eve fancy dress ball. I was elected to the Committee of the Saturday Club of which I later became President from 1939-41. There was racing most Saturdays either at the Calcutta course or the Gentleman Riders racing at Tollyganj and the Christmas fortnight of polo. There were also three good golf clubs just south of the city though I played very little in those days.

At the end of March, 1936110 I took over from Colson as officiating Commissioner of Police, Calcutta.

106 Pound House, Shenley.

107 In fact in 1934.

108 Amy Johnson and her husband Jim Mollison visited Millburn Tower after the Melbourne Air Race. Jim Mollison was the nephew of Mrs Renwick, who resided at Millburn Towers with her husband at this time. Mr Renwick whose sugar business was in India had retired. However, on the outbreak of World War II he returned to India to look after the business. His son who had been in the jute industry joined the army and remained in the services until 1951 when he and his wife returned to Millburn Tower to look after his parents.

109 Lieutenant Colonel Ian Dashwood MacInnes. Awarded DSO on 21 Oct 1943 in Sicily. Killed in action 23 January 1944

110 May in fact have been 1935.