Uncle Alex, Ceylon

I am working my way through all my old family photos in preparation for scanning them, then I'm planning to give the originals to other family members who can look after them and hopefully pass them on to other generations.

These shots are of my Uncle Alex (well Great Uncle really as he was my gran's brother) and were taken in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) sometime in the 1940s (I am guessing the date going by how young he is as there's nothing on the back of the photos to indicate when they were taken)

I have quite a few of him in uniform in Ceylon, as well as some taken back home, including his wedding photo.  All the photos were sent to my gran by his wife Lily, who sadly I never met as she died before I was born.

I only knew my Uncle Alex as an older man so I adore these glimpses of his young self, making his way in the world at the start of his adult life.  My gran loved all her brothers but she had a soft spot for my Uncle Alex.  

By all accounts he was a bit of a adventurer and heartbreaker and although my gran never said this explicitly, I think joining the army was the making of him otherwise I suspect he may have headed down a rather hedonistic path.

Whilst in the army he married Lily, a lovely Yorkshire lass and they settled in Bispham, near Blackpool.  This is where all my memories of him stem from as I never, ever remember him coming home to Scotland.

I spent many wonderful family holidays at his house in Bispham and as I got older, would take my best friend with me.  Uncle Alex was so much fun and a great entertainer whether doing magic tricks or telling enthralling stories.  He was also a great believer in everyone having their own "party piece" that he insisted on having you perform of an evening when we were all gathered in the living room, with the adults  having a "wee libation" and us youngsters an American cream soda.

My party piece was to stand up and sing Bonnie Wee Jeannie McColl - THIS rendition is probably pretty similar to what I delivered!!!  :))

In grateful thanks for my efforts or more likely a bribe to get me to shut up! uncle Alex would reward me with a stalk of Blackpool rock and a hug, whilst announcing to the assembled family and friends that I was indeed Scotland's answer to Shirley Temple those curls have always been the bane of my life.

Aye, it must have been good whisky right enough!  :))