Interview with Radclyffe Sidebottom [sound recording]

Audio recording of oral history interview with Radclyffe Sidebottom, covering the period 1929-1946. Cassette side OA1/60/1: Background of Bengal Pilot Service. Restrictions on pilots' fees after 1927. Voyage to India 1929; shipboard flirtations. Tradition of ensuring children born in Britain. Attit...

Full description

Archive & Special Collections OA1/60/1-8 Closed

Date(s) of creation: 1972-1974
Level: Item
Format: Archive           
Main author: Sidebottom; Radclyffe (fl 1929-1972); pilot
Other authors: Allen; Charles (b 1940); historian and interviewer

collection SOAS Archive
id OA1.60.1-8
recordtype archive
scb_item_location Archive & Special Collections
item_location Archive & Special Collections
scb_loan_type Reference only
callnumber OA1/60/1-8
callnumber_txt OA1/60/1-8
callnumber-sort OA1/60/1-8
prefix_number 1-8
title Interview with Radclyffe Sidebottom [sound recording]
scb_date_creation 1972-1974
scb_level Item
level_sort 8/Collection/Sub-Collection/Sub-Sub-Collection/Sub-Sub-Sub-Collection/Series/Sub-Series/Sub-Sub-Series/File/Item
scb_extent 3 hr. 48 min.
author Sidebottom; Radclyffe (fl 1929-1972); pilot
author_facet Sidebottom; Radclyffe (fl 1929-1972); pilot
Allen; Charles (b 1940); historian and interviewer
authorStr Sidebottom; Radclyffe (fl 1929-1972); pilot
author_letter Sidebottom; Radclyffe (fl 1929-1972); pilot
author2 Allen; Charles (b 1940); historian and interviewer
author2Str Allen; Charles (b 1940); historian and interviewer
format Archive
scb_admin_history British civilian pilot in Bengal Pilot Service.
description Audio recording of oral history interview with Radclyffe Sidebottom, covering the period 1929-1946. Cassette side OA1/60/1: Background of Bengal Pilot Service. Restrictions on pilots' fees after 1927. Voyage to India 1929; shipboard flirtations. Tradition of ensuring children born in Britain. Attitude to servants. Ayah's treatment of children; children's power over household. Description of servants; privacy accorded their quarters; their trusted position. Story of losing temper with servant. Methods of addressing servants. Social status of Calcutta suburbs. Cassette side OA1/60/2: Calcutta's old colonial houses. Sidebottom's Ballygunge residence. Enjoyment of food and entertaining; care in choosing food. Stories illustrating excessive drinking habits of British. Importance of club life in Calcutta; varieties of club. Social hierarchy within Calcutta club and society. Position of Anglo-Indians. Cassette side OA1/60/3: Social life; arrival of 'fishing fleet' girls from England; dropping of calling cards; neglect of less eligible girls during cold season. Explanation of 'poodle faking'. Calcutta's red light districts. Clothes: kitting out; large number needed; wife's use of Indian tailor to copy original trousseau from England. Shopping in Calcutta: bazaars; department stores. Famous Calcutta hotels and restaurants. Cassette side OA1/60/4: Importance of sports, recreations and gambling. Bengal Pilot Service uniforms. Work as pilot; difficulties in piloting Hooghly River. Recruitment. Causes of pilot wastage; story of two alcoholic pilots. Seasonal changes in river's behaviour. Cassette side OA1/60/5: Techniques of pilotage of Hooghly River. Boarding vessels. Hierarchy of pilots. Life in mess awaiting business. Gambling records of pilots. Luxury of pilot vessels. Lack of real necessity to learn Indian languages. High standards of qualification required for recruitment; prolonged training. Delayed Indianisation of service; arrival of first Indian pilots. Mess traditions. Effects of strain on pilots; their heavy drinking; story of two alcoholic pilots. Cassette side OA1/60/6: Continues story of alcoholic pilots. Effects of strain on pilots. Eccentric pilots. Recollections of brilliant young Anglicised Indian. Calcutta lifestyle; segregation of Sidebottom's Indian and European friends. Political ferment: nature of Indians' anti- British feeling; friends killed in disturbances; origins of riots. Continuing piloting regardless of roits; seeing bodies in river. Story of Gurkha orderly's drastic action against Bengali taxi driver illustrating Gurkhas' contempt for plainsmen. Cassette side OA1/60/7: Social freedom provided by elite nature of pilots. Smells, sounds and sights of Calcutta; lack of sanitation. Reactions to riotous situations. Social life in hot season; acceptance of associations with 'B Class girls'. Visits to local countryside and villages. Evocative memories of travelling down River Hooghly from Calcutta. Exaggeration of personal relationships in India. Trust for servants; story of murder of friend's wife by servants. Cassette side OA1/60/8: Dangers posed by snakes and scorpions. Story of hill peoples' use of drums to communicate. Amusing story of man mistaking hen peck for snake bite. Stories of shooting on Sundarban sandbanks. Special social occasions. Forms of transport socially acceptable to British. Morality of British in Calcutta.
scb_access_status Closed
scb_conditions_gov_access Access to sound recording of this interview is currently unavailable at SOAS Library. The transcript can be consulted. Researchers can access a copy of this sound recording at the British Library Listening & Viewing Service. Reference: C1510/60/01-08. For more details see www.bl.uk/listening or contact listening@bl.uk / 020 7412 7418.
scb_copyright Copyright held by British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
scb_use_restrictions Private study only. For publication or broadcast please refer to Archivist
language English
language_search English
scb_copies Copy available at British Library Listening & Viewing Service. Reference: C1510/60/01-08 Copy available at Imperial War Museum. Reference: 004959/08
scb_related_material Transcript available at SOAS Library. Reference: OA1/60/T
hierarchy_top_id_raw OA1
hierarchy_sequence OA1.0060.001-8

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