The Quonset Hut

Of the trips themselves, there are no diaries, no journals, and none of the living witnesses have come forth to identify themselves, much less provide any details.
OK, that’s not entirely true. There is one witness to the second trip who has shared what he could. We know him in these pages as “O’Riley.”

We know from Dr. Brown's passport when he arrived in Paris, when he went to England, and when he sailed home.
…the second [trip to Europe] begins with his arrival at Orly on the 5th of March, 1956 and ends with his departure from Southampton, England aboard the French liner Liberté on March 29.

Townsend Brown was still in France for his fifty-first birthday - March 18, 1956 - when he was photographed outside a Paris Bistro with four unidentified sailors and a smartly dressed civilian about a half-a-head shorter than Brown. That’s O’Riley, who was again assigned to accompany Dr. Brown during his travels as an escort and liaison.

The final days of the second trip to Europe were a whirlwind tour through England.

“I had some buddies there and knew we could get into the barns for this lesson he was expecting from me. I did not expect that he would insist on getting up at four in the morning so that he could watch the morning works. He wanted to watch the way the horses were cooled off and bedded down. He talked to the stable boys and the jockeys, he asked me many, many questions in rapid fire.”

Later that day they watched the running of the Gold Cup, the crowning event of the Festival. O’Riley recalls Dr. Brown made a remark that it was too bad that the track seemed so hard, that it must be terrible on the horses legs. “That was a very astute observation considering that course had a bad reputation for breaking horses down. I think he bet on the winning horse. Then he went back to the work at hand and he thanked me very much. I wondered after that how many busy fathers would have taken the day like that to ‘cram’ on information so that he could keep up with a ‘horse crazy’ daughter.”

Geoff wrote:
I was rather surprised therefore to discover that the Cheltenham Racecourse official records show that the 1956 Gold Cup was run on Thursday, 8th March, 1956.

Geoff


* “O’Riley” posted under the name “twigsnapper” on Paul Schatzkin’s Forum. “O’Riley” has also been referred to as “Boston”, “Harold Garrity” and “Harold Quinn” on the various forums and/or in the two books.

Linda wrote:Re: Dads March 5th trip........
by Linda Brown » Mon Mar 05, 2012 12:09 pm
This is an excellent opportunity to point some changes out that have happened since Paul published his manuscript.

"Referring to Dr. Brown’s 1955 and 1956 trips to Europe, Paul Schatzkin writes:
Of the trips themselves, there are no diaries, no journals, and none of the living witnesses have come forth to identify themselves, much less provide any details.
OK, that’s not entirely true. There is one witness to the second trip who has shared what he could. We know him in these pages as “O’Riley.”

None of the living witnesses have come forth to identify themselves, much less provide any details.... thats what Paul believed then but take note that the entire French Experiment has been translated now into English by Mr. Raymond Lavas and the family of one of the principles of that meeting has released previously held classified material to the public. So we are not exactly in the same boat as Paul Schatzkin was at the time. Paul goes on to introduce the man he named in his pages as " ORiley" Remember that was a name that Paul gave this character.

And suddenly I see ........... read this carefully............and especially you Geoff

Geoff wrote:

I was rather surprised therefore to discover that the Cheltenham Racecourse official records show that the 1956 Gold Cup was run on Thursday, 8th March, 1956.

Linda wrote:Dads March 5th trip........
by Linda Brown » Mon Mar 05, 2012 4:57 pm
Thanks to Geoff in a post to the Hut... we have been reminded that TODAY is the day that Dad left for Europe. I thank him for giving us this informationand for also presenting us with another puzzle that needs to be looked into... this is from the forum of ttownsendbrown.com

I am going to mark in red the things that I noticed were really important. Thank you SO MUCH Geoff!


by Geoff » Mon Mar 05, 2012 10:43 am

[color=#FF0000]Fifty–six years ago today, on Monday, 5th March 1956, Dr. Brown landed at Orly Airport, Paris.
His passport shows he had previously flown into and out of Orly in the summer of 1955. [1]

Much of “Defying Gravity” Chapter 70 deals with Dr. Brown’s 1956 trip to Europe, for which Paul Schatzkin had to rely heavily on testimony from “Morgan” and “O’Riley”. *

Referring to Dr. Brown’s 1955 and 1956 trips to Europe, Paul Schatzkin writes:
Of the trips themselves, there are no diaries, no journals, and none of the living witnesses have come forth to identify themselves, much less provide any details.
OK, that’s not entirely true. There is one witness to the second trip who has shared what he could. We know him in these pages as “O’Riley.”

From the stamps in Dr. Brown’s passport Paul Schatzkin was able to write:
We know from Dr. Brown's passport when he arrived in Paris, when he went to England, and when he sailed home.
…the second [trip to Europe] begins with his arrival at Orly on the 5th of March, 1956 and ends with his departure from Southampton, England aboard the French liner Liberté on March 29. [2] [3]

Although he does not give the date on which Dr. Brown went to England, he does write:
Townsend Brown was still in France for his fifty-first birthday - March 18, 1956 - when he was photographed outside a Paris Bistro with four unidentified sailors and a smartly dressed civilian about a half-a-head shorter than Brown. That’s O’Riley, who was again assigned to accompany Dr. Brown during his travels as an escort and liaison.And towards the end of the chapter he writes:
The final days of the second trip to Europe were a whirlwind tour through England.Paul Schatzkin then relates “O’Riley’s” recollections of Dr. Brown’s activities at some of the places he visited.

One of these details the day Dr. Brown took a break from whatever he was doing in Cheltenham, England, to visit the Cheltenham Racecourse during the Cheltenham Festival in order to learn as much as he could about horses so that he could keep up with his ‘horse crazy’ daughter.

Note that he does not mention the day he is there. Just that he took a break from "meetings"“I had some buddies there and knew we could get into the barns for this lesson he was expecting from me. I did not expect that he would insist on getting up at four in the morning so that he could watch the morning works. He wanted to watch the way the horses were cooled off and bedded down. He talked to the stable boys and the jockeys, he asked me many, many questions in rapid fire.”

Later that day they watched the running of the Gold Cup, the crowning event of the Festival. O’Riley recalls Dr. Brown made a remark that it was too bad that the track seemed so hard, that it must be terrible on the horses legs. “That was a very astute observation considering that course had a bad reputation for breaking horses down. I think he bet on the winning horse. Then he went back to the work at hand and he thanked me very much. I wondered after that how many busy fathers would have taken the day like that to ‘cram’ on information so that he could keep up with a ‘horse crazy’ daughter.” ( Mr. Twigsnapper told me later that the winning horse was named " Gay Donald" ..... so Geoff in your research does that horse show up and what date?)If that horse ran and won on a different day that might be Mr. Twigsnappers way of telling us that there were other meetings there on that day too... I remember when he told me that I kind of snorted.... well, with a name like that the horse had better run fast in some neighborhoods....Thats why I remember the name..... can you find out for me? Or I will try looking too. I think its important or he would not have bothered to give me the horses name!


The Cheltenham Festival (from Wikipedia)
The Cheltenham Festival is one of the most prestigious meetings in the National Hunt racing calendar in the United Kingdom. The festival takes place annually in March at Cheltenham Racecourse in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. The meeting usually coincides with Saint Patrick's Day, and is popular with Irish visitors. Until 2005, the Festival had traditionally been held over the course of three days. [4]

Geoff....Mr. Twigsnapper as I remember was asked to take Dad to this race.... "during a break from his meetings there in Cheltenham..... so what has happened here is that YOU have been able to give us the exact day of the meeting which I am sure then was very secret and might even still be classified. Yahoo!!!!!![/color

]The Cheltenham Gold Cup (from Wikipedia)
The Cheltenham Gold Cup is a Grade 1 National Hunt chase in the United Kingdom. The race is scheduled to take place each year during the Cheltenham Festival in March.
It is the most prestigious of all National Hunt events, and it is sometimes referred to as the Blue Riband of jump racing. [5]

sorry the red type just kinda got away from me here. Don't know how to put it back to black.



The 1956 Cheltenham Gold Cup
In view of the above, and because St Patrick’s Day fell on a Saturday that year, I assumed that the 1956 Cheltenham Festival must have been held in the following week, (i.e. from the 20th to the 22nd March), with the climax of the event, the Gold Cup, being run on the final day.

I was rather surprised therefore to discover that the Cheltenham Racecourse official records show that the 1956 Gold Cup was run on Thursday, 8th March, 1956.

[color=#FF0000]So what we are learning then is that the meeting Dad attended at Cheltenham must have happened on the 7th of March???Geoff


* “O’Riley” posted under the name “twigsnapper” on Paul Schatzkin’s Forum. “O’Riley” has also been referred to as “Boston”, “Harold Garrity” and “Harold Quinn” on the various forums and/or in the two books.

[1] “Defying Gravity” Chapter 70.
[2] http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4434803/French% ... -small.jpg
[2] http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4434803/French% ... -small.jpg
[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheltenham_Festival
[5] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheltenham_Gold_Cup


Annotated March 1956 Calendar:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4434803/French% ... lendar.jpgGeoff
Chief Petty Officer

Posts: 152
Joined: Mon May 04, 2009 1:11 pm
Private messageE-mail Geoff Top
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/color]
Re: Dr. Brown’s 1956 trip to Europe
by Mikado14 » Mon Mar 05, 2012 11:08 am

Geoff wrote:

I was rather surprised therefore to discover that the Cheltenham Racecourse official records show that the 1956 Gold Cup was run on Thursday, 8th March, 1956.

Geoff
* “O’Riley” posted under the name “twigsnapper” on Paul Schatzkin’s Forum. “O’Riley” has also been referred to as “Boston”, “Harold Garrity” and “Harold Quinn” on the various forums and/or in the two books.

Getting back to Cheltenham.... what was there that would have been so important that Dad would have flown directly to Paris but then have been attending a meeting without having his passport stamped????? the only way we would ever know about this meeting is this account that Mr. Twigsnapper has told us about the race.... which would have flown under EVERYBODYS radar but yours Geoff. My congratulations to you and my profound thanks!
Rose.... take a look at this and tell me what you think too.

Didn't we have some information once about a secretary for Mr. Stephenson who was involved with the records at Cheltenham????? I vaguely remember that and it would not have bubbled to the surface without Geoffs help here. Remember that they worried about the records she had because she took them home with her and I don't think ever brought them back. Oh, why can't I remember?

I was told that Twigsnapper and Dad visited the Berlin Tunnel too but none of that shows anywhere on his passport. I am beginning to think that much of Dads travels never showed anywhere but for this Cheltenham account we would never know about that meeting either. So what is in Cheltenham that would have interested Dad enough to be there with an armed escort?????

Anybody else? Please wade in here. Geoff has given us a loadful of new information.
Linda

Linda Brown wrote:I have already posted the information about Gay Donald and I think I had already mentioned it to you about the conversation I had experienced with Twigsnapper regarding that....you are missing everything here arn't you Mikado....

Of course Twigsnapper and all those other names are him too. The man has probably a bunch of other names, The ones mentioned here are generally assigned to him by others.... I don't even know his real name and probably never will.

Yes.... I have already posted that Gay Donald won in 1955. What does that mean. Not necessarily what you are trying to say.... but you are so desperate to discredit me and Twigsnapper and everyone else that you will never open your eyes to see what is really happening and I don't much care.
I find it difficult to believe that Paul would have gotten the dates wrong.

Who Paul Schatzkin..... get anything wrong? ...... excuse me while I laugh myself off your forum. Linda Brown