When theft in London turned out be a stroke of luck

Those were the days…

I was selected to undergo training at the prestigious Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, UK (commonly known as Dartmouth or BRNC) in January 1982, on completion of a one-year training course at Naval and Maritime Academy in Trincomalee. I was 19 years old, and the course I had to follow was “International Midshipmen Course”. Fifty two foreign officers, mainly from the Commonwealth countries and Arab nations attended the course with me. I received a Commonwealth scholarship and my fees and payments were handled by the Commonwealth Office.

BRNC, the initial Officer Training Institute is located on a hill overlooking the port Dartmouth, Devon, England. It is the place where beautiful Dart River meets the sea. Training Naval Officers in Dartmouth goes back to 1863, when HMS Britannia, a wooden hull ship was moored at river Dart used for training Royal Navy officers.

A foundation for a new Naval College was laid in March 1902 by King Edward VII (King of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India from 22nd January 1901 to 6th May 1910 and elder son of Queen Victoria). Sir Aston Webb designed the College and built by M/S Higgs and Hill. Work completed in 1905 and the first batch of trainees joined in September 1905.

King George V and King George VI were naval cadets trained at Dartmouth. Prince Phillip of Greece and Princess Elizabeth (Present Queen) met for the first time in Dartmouth when Prince Phillip was a Naval cadet. Prince of Wales, Duke of York and Prince William has undergone training in Dartmouth. The best Naval Cadets from the Commonwealth countries go through training at Dartmouth. A large number of them became Navy Commanders.

The motto of Dartmouth is “To deliver courageous leaders with the spirit to fight and win”.

I met Defence Adviser of British High Commission in Colombo, and he gave me all the air tickets and the train warrants (which were to be changed into tickets at the Railway Station in London). And some cash for my journey. He categorically informed me no one would come to receive me and I had to travel to Dartmouth on my own. All necessary instructions were given in writing, which he said, I might need to read time to time during the journey. Another letter was given, indicating that I was a visitor of the UK government and I should be given maximum assistance in case of an emergency.

I flew from the BIA to Muscat (Oman) to Roissy Charles De Gaulle airport Paris by Union de Transport Airlines (UTA) flight number UTA 567, and then took Channel crossing by Air France aircraft (flight number AF 8110) flight and landed at the Heathrow airport. By the time, I landed there, I was tired, but full of excitement. I had two bags, and one was large. My mother bought me a belt with a small pouch before my departure. She advised me to carry my passport, air tickets, money and any important documents in it.

I hate wearing ties. So, first thing after boarding the plane was to remove the tie and put it in the hand bag. After disembarking at the Heathrow airport, I took the tube, reached the Paddington railway station and got my warrants changed to a railway ticket. There were a few hours for the train and I had some snacks. Now I wanted go to the toilet.

I went to a closeby toilet in Paddington station. I had to take a few steps down to enter the toilet. So, I left the trolly carrying my bags (both hand bag and large bag) at the entrance to the toilet and went in. After a few minutes when I came out, the bags were missing! Someone had stolen them! I panicked. All my uniforms, civilian clothes and other belongings were in those bags. Luckily, thanks to my mother, my passport, tickets, important travel instructions and money was on my hip pouch.

I went to the Police post at Paddington railway station and lodged a complaint. When the policeman saw the letters issued by the British High Commission, he became very serious and took my statement and advised me to travel to Dartmouth. The Police assured me if they found the bags, they would be delievered to BRNC Dartmouth.

Now, I reported to BRNC Dartmouth that evening, without uniform and other belongings, even without a necktie. I had reported a few days before the course started and thankfully that gave time for me to settle down.

The following day I found myself in front of the Training Commander. I explained to him what happened and also said that I never knew London had such thieves. Training Commander had a discussion with my Divisional Chief Petty Officer Quick. CPO Quick, was a huge hulk of a man, a rugby player but very kind-hearted towards foreign officers. He was very upset. Poor Midshipman Wijegunaratne from Sri Lanka had been robbed in London! (He could not pronounce my name. He used to call me Midshipman Wije!). The following day, I went with Chief Quick to “Marks and Spencer’s” shop in Dartmouth town. CPO Quick selected the following civil clothes for me,

Two suits – one pinstripe and one light colour

Blue blazer

Evening jacket

Four shirts – light colour

Four ties

Two pairs of Oxford shoes (one black and one brown)

Four trousers (two light colours and two dark colours)

Four pairs of socks

Two leather belts (black and brown in color)

Four T-shirts

Four sports shorts

Track suit

Good pair of running shoes, socks and underwear

Night dress

Other necessary items

All my uniforms, caps, uniform shoes, belts and epaulettes were purchased from M/S Gieves and Hawkes shop in the college and uniform makers stitched my uniforms. All payments were made by the College!

To be very frank, I should thank that thief at Paddington railway station for the favour he had done for me. Otherwise, I would have been wearing a suit stitched by a Sri Lanka tailor.

Most of the Royal Navy and foreign midshipmen at the time (1982) did not know where Sri Lanka was. They thought Sri Lanka was a part of India. When I donned the newly-bought expensive clothes, they thought I was a son of a wealthy Indian Maharaja!

Those were the days ….