All that is soft and cuddly and benign and nostalgic about empire.
If one were to gather up the essence of all things flavored British Empire (India, tea, black pepper, tea plantations, black pepper plantations, Gurkas, war memorials, complaining about the French, Hong Kong, etc) and then distil those essences into a pulp, and then mold that pulp into a man, and then set that man loose on the 21st century, that man would be Dick Scott, and he would live right here in Limbe.
If one were to then add some second-tier, indirectly British Empire-themed essences (love of bagpipes and bird watching, native wife, being the world’s leading expert on some obscure slice of military/naval history,) and add those to the original man, then it would STILL be Dick Scott, and he would manage a hopelessly French-owned banana plantation as well as oversee the pension distribution for the remaining Cameroonians who fought in the World War II.
Today he would over see the Remembrance Day Ceremony at Limbe (formerly Victoria). He did, and it was lovely.
Dick is really a remarkable human being – a true patriot despite scarcely ever having set foot in the UK; born and schooled in Hong Kong, 19 years running Indian tea and pepper, 12 years in military service, single-handed rescuer of the Buea’s (Cameroon’s?) oldest European book collection, leading expert on early 20th century British-Cameroonian military exploits, and father of a Cameroonian son who was good enough to sport a kilt today. Also one hell of a nice guy, although he might never know it because no one else can get a word in.
