Dear All

We had a wonderful re-union at the Grand Hotel in Brighton in June, with excellent weather and a festive group of Whitniks enjoying every minute.   As usual because tempus fugit, some of us have been lost, including Lance Charkham and Miss Mary Howell, who was a matron for almost the whole of the period after 1948.

We started the proceedings with a wonderful simplified-science lecture by Jacob Israelachvili, with Eli Harari in the chair.  As expected Jacob talked about many things, including lubrication and friction, but was most entertaining when explaining how gekkos can walk rapidly when upside-down on ceilings, and why this ability is so carefully researched nowadays.   The large lecture theatre at the de Vere Grand was full to overflowing, and afterwards some of us supped at the grand and other groups supped ay other  places nearby.

These inaugural lectures are popular. Perhaps Dan Gillerman who has just returned to Israel after six years of sterling work at the United Nations, may be available to talk to us at the next re-union.

I can remember meeting scores  of Whits , but am almost certain to have missed some.   All the pictures taken will be available shortly on www.whittingehame.com ,and I will have study them carefully. BY THE WAY if you haven’t yet looked at the DIRECTORY on the web-site (user name “William”, password “the cook” DO SO IMMEDIATELY.   Eddy Edelsbutg and Louis Mandel have done a really wonderful job.

   At the re-union I remember seeing Emile Abdulezer 50-57, Jack Abrahams 58-62, Ivi Adler 62-67, Eli Aghababa 57-60, Azouri Ainatchi 57-62, Jamshid Alaghbandzadeh 51-56, Michael Alfasi 62-64, Michael Arwas 58-63, Jacob Asnin 57-60, Dibo Attar 54-59, Tony Belford 60-64, Gordon Bloom 61-67, Nissan Boury 61-64, Leslie Brown 47-58, Eddie Clein 42-50, Martin Berger 57-58, Edward Cohen 49-56., Iraj Cohen 59-62, Richard Cohen 51-66, Robert Cohen 53-64, Stanley Cohen 53-62, Manfred de Vries 64-66, Dan Dee 57-61, Ron Dee 60-65, Eric Dickman 60-66, Eddy Edelsburg 62-66, Jeffrey Freeman 48-55, Jacob Fuchs 57-61. Henry Gehl 57-62, Mansoor Gilardi 59-62, Leo Gitbud 59-63, Dan Gladstone 58-60, Barrie Goldstein 56-61, Ziggi Gonczarowsi 60-64, Gideon Hamburger 59-63, Eli Hahari 58-63, Michael Howard 53-59, Eli Ishag 57-59, Jacob Israelachvili 52-62, Mordecai Israelachvili 49-53, Barrie Jacobs 51-56, Michael Keidan 55-59, Fabio Kertzer 62-65, Haim Klein 62-66, Izi Kogan,56-60, Chaim Labenski 63-66, Colin Lee 47-55, Henri Levy 61-64, Eddie Levy 58-61, Hoshael Levy 56-59, Yuval Levy 45-49, David Lewin  52-55, Aaron Lichtschein 61-65, Louis Mandel 59-66, Basil Mann 50-55, Jack Melroy 51-58, Soli Missri 51-61, Isaac Mizrachi 56-59, Ron Moss 54-57, Micky Munzer 60 -63 Daniel Nemeny 58-62, Farid Nonoo 58-67,  Amnon Paldi 60-63, Joseph Pinto  62-65, Philip Prashner 52-57, Izi Rozov 57-63, Jacqui Safra 60-64, Isaac Shamoon 51-55, Jack Shamoon (Abdulnabi)53-57, 52-57, Raimundo Shayo 52-57, Dubi Shiff 59-64, Edward Shirazi 60-64, Jacob Skopicki 60-65, Zev Solomon 57-61, Dan Spiro 40-46, Axel Stawski 61-67, Avram Stockhammer 62-65, Sasha Tesler 63-67, Nahum Vaskevitch 62-66, Amnon Weiser 59-61, Sam Wine 33-37, Ron Yelloz 60-62, Joseph Zajdman 52-55, Eli Zubaida 60-64, Chaim Zukerman 61-66

The only staff members able to attend were Peter Copson 44-47, Simon and Kirsten Hatchwell, and Paula and Renee Herssohn, who were holiday staff members in the late fifties.    Our daughter Beti Wyn (b. 1951) was also present and remembered as a little girl in Surrenden Road.

Michael Howard deserves our warmest thanks for (once more) making  the necessary Brighton arrangements.

There were lots of speeches, of course, though time did not allow Michael Keidan, out capable M.C., to call on everybody who wanted to contribute.  The usual collection was made for a local synagogue.

 A good number of  all the people listed I had not seen for very many years; many were accompanied by family members – and I am always amazed at how Whits were able to father such beautiful daughters !

 Some items of news had escaped me  - for example Professor A.P. Cohen F.R.S.E. (55-63), Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh had been recently awarded the C.B.E. (Companion of the British Empire) for services to higher education in Scotland.    Congratulations to him.

SO PASSED THE BRIGHTON RE-UNION,2008….    ROLL ON THE NEXT