The Braines of Ceylon/Sri Lanka: Work, Marriage, & Family

I was now living with mother at “The Meet” in Boralessa and supervising her properties when a friend Cyril Perera who I met in church suggested taking up a clerical job in Colombo. Mother was not too happy at my traveling to Colombo daily as the war was on. Cyril and I went to the Medical Department office in the secretariat for an interview and were both selected as temporary clerks into the Anti Malaria Campaign on a princely salary of Rs.1.25 per day plus a war allowance of 20%. Colombo was then a deserted city with only a few offices and shops open, with the front entrances hidden behind sand bags and all doors and windows without glass panes. British shops like Cargills, Millers, Whiteways etc. were helping in the war effort by providing essential food to the people.

We were also trained in Air Raid Precaution and First Aid work. No electric lights were to be exposed and all vehicles had to cover their headlights with thick blue cloth or a G.I. shield with a tiny opening. Even the tramcars plying in the city had their lights covered and only the clang of the bell indicated one was approaching in the dark. Practice air raid alarms were held weekly with the sound of sirens and we had to leave our desks and run for shelter or get under tables. Air raid shelters were built underground in various spots in the Colombo Fort and Maradana areas for civilians to seek shelter during an air raid. As a youngster it was great fun to be hiding underground cuddled together in semi- darkness with one’s superiors. Fortunately, the Japanese never raided again, but the British Government maintained their defense of the island by bringing more troops from the Commonwealth countries in defense of Ceylon. In spite of numerous attacks by Japanese submarines on ships bringing food, the people had enough supplies to survive.

From the window of our office we could see warships and cargo vessels in the harbour which had large balloons floating high with steel cables attached, to prevent Japanese dive bombers from attacking. Sir Oliver Goonetilleke was appointed Civil Defense Commissioner. He decreed that the shops and hotels that were closed be opened by owners who were willing to take a risk.

Mother prepared my lunch and I rode my bicycle along the railway line to Bolawatte railway station to catch the office train to Colombo, running the risk of being knocked down by the train which sometimes overtook me. None of the family ever knew the risk I was taking as they all had their own problems.

I found traveling to Colombo daily too tedious and requested a transfer to the office of the Medical Officer of Health (MOH), Nattandiya, in 1945. I had a Morris 8 car and a B.S.A. 500 cc motorbike and used to travel to office in them or sometimes by train. It was here I first met Fernie who was destined to be my wife. She was a field midwife attached to the same office where I worked. There were eight other midwives in the batch. Fernie's full name was Adline Fernie Beatrice Fernando. Her parents were Walter George Fernando, Manager of a desiccated coconut (DC) mill at Pannala and her mother was Rosalind Perera. Fernie had two sisters and four brothers.

In 1948, Fernie was transferred to the Rural Hospital, Hurikaduwa, in Kandy District, nearly 100 miles from where I lived, a great distance at that time. I, too, was transferred to Galgamuwa, in the Anuradhapura District, in the north central province. As a bachelor, I had numerous friends attached to the Anti-Malaria Scheme and we went by jeep to Anuradhapura town every fortnight, bathing in the Kalaoya on our return and shooting hare, wild boar, and wild fowl on the way. The Medical Office of Health (MOH) Dr Mather would join us on the trip and my friends Weerasingham and Herbie Gunasekara were regular company. Such nights would usually end in a booze and feast of venison and singing in my quarters.

Vauxhall Velox

My car now was a 6 cylinder Vauxhall Velox 6 and I had my B.S.A motorcycle, too. On weekends I would either drive (petrol was cheap then) or ride to visit Fernie in Hurikaduwa and return for duty at Galgamuwa on Monday. It was a very tedious trip. Mother had already brought two marriage proposals, which I did not take seriously. Rita Ratnayake a cousin of Ed Wambeek (my brother in law) was also on the waiting list. Rita later became a film actress and passed away recently. During my work in Colombo, I had a girl friend Miss Ivy Hughes, a student of Methodist College. But her parents gave her in marriage to an army sergeant, maybe because I was only a clerk. They should have known better because in a few years she was a widow. The last I heard, she was living in Australia.

On 10th May 1949 Fernie and I were married at the Registrar’s office in Mahagalkadawala, a remote village in the Vanni area. We had a few loyal friends present at the simple ceremony and Mr. Weerasingham was the attesting witness. We held a reception for our close friends at the Galgamuwa Rest House. We lived in a thatched cottage and bathed in the village tank with lots of other simple village folk. Sometimes we could see wild boar, deer and monkeys drinking water on the other side of the tank. It was a rustic life but we were happy.

Fernie, baby George (3 months old), Shelton (Fernie's youngest brother) and me at the Galgamuwa house, 1950. George was 3 months old. The little girl squatting in front is Heen Menike, from the village, who came to look after George and stayed with us till the 1960s. She now lives at Pallama.

Once, when we were bathing at the village tank, we saw a wild figure on the far side, bathing hurriedly and vanishing into the jungle. This must have been Yakadaya (“Iron Man”), who was on the run and hiding in the jungle after committing murder. The search for Yakadaya was considered the “biggest manhunt in Ceylon” at that time. He was later caught by the police. Unlike now, the Ceylon Police and the public services in general were an interesting ethnic mix in those days. The policemen investigating Yakadaya’s case were Assistant Superintendent of Police Van Sanden, Sub Inspector Andrews, and Sergeant de Hoedt, all Burghers (descendants of European settlers). Antonipillai, the barber who shaved Yakadaya, Rajaratnam, the local apothecary, Sinnadurai, the Postman, Nataraja, the acting Magistrate of Anuradhapura, and Sivagurunathan, the doctor who examined the suspects, were all Tamils.
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Only my sister Bee, her husband Eddie, and my brother-in-law Martin ever visited us in our humble home. I must have given mother a heartache when she first heard that I had married. She always wanted me to select a Sinhala partner but had not met Fernie. Therefore I could understand the plight she would have been in. I made amends in later life by providing her a comfortable home and a daughter-in-law whom she loved more than those of my two elder brothers. Fernie and I were later married according to church rites on 4th September 1950 by Rev. Fr. Maximus Fernando at St. Michael’s church, Nalawalana.

One incident fresh in my mind was when we visited Bee and Eddie at in Ranna, a village in the deep South of Ceylon. The government Apothecary of the area, Dr Tissera, suggested going into the jungle to watch wild elephants. The three ladies in the group Mrs. Tissera, my sister Bee, and my wife Fernie were all in an advanced state of pregnancy, each expecting her first child. They readily consented to go on the trip without realizing its gravity, considering their condition. Having walked about half a mile into the thick jungle (munching various sour fruits) and laughing at Eddie’s jokes, we finally arrived at the foot of a huge Palu tree which had a rough platform called “messa” built at a height of over 30 ft. on a branch. A ladder made of jungle creepers was the only way up and down. It was getting dark, the time being about 6.30 pm, when the guide we took with us said we had to climb to the platform before the elephants appeared. Going back was out of the question since we might run into their path as the elephants were making their way to the water tank. But the ladies refused to climb and wanted to go back. It was only on hearing the trumpeting of the elephants approaching at a distance did they consent to climb through fear. Bee (the tom-boy she was) said she would go up first helped by Eddie and me; Fernie went up next with a lot of pushing and swaying of the ladder; Mrs. Tissera had to be virtually carried to the top with much difficulty as she was fairly stout. At last we were seven adults high up on the crude platform only 6ft by 4ft looking very silly but grateful to be above the elephants. In a short while a herd of elephants with young ones entered the water in full view about 50 ft from the tree and enjoyed themselves for over two hours giving us a clear view in the moonlit night. It was only after daybreak that seven hungry souls came down to stretch our benumbed limbs and walk back to the car, and home and straight to bed. In due course the three ladies were blessed with three sons: Premalal Tissera, George Wambeek and George Braine.

Me with Mrs. Tissera in 2005. She was well over 90 years of age and living with her son Premalal at Marawila. She passed away two years ago.

Our first child George was born at the Sandalankawa Maternity Home on 30th April 1950. I was still attached to Galgamuwa office. As our water was not suitable for drinking. I would carry a can of good water from the Railway station to prepare his Lactogen feed. Later, I bought a small Renault car from Mr. T.B. Subasinghe, the Member of Parliament for the area (he later became the Speaker of Parliament) and would drive home to Boralessa with the baby on weekends. My mother took a liking to him at once. He was a very loving child and was petted by everyone he came in contact with. As a little baby we took him to the shrine of Our Lady of Madhu once.

Our second son Roy was born on 28th April 1951 at Pannala, in the home of my father-in-law. From birth he was fragile and had to be weaned on Lactogen as Fernie was still working. Daughter Beaula was born in Negombo on 24th February 1957. We were all very happy at being blessed with a baby girl.