Brigadier Edward Aubrey Glennie

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Brigadier Edward Aubrey Glennie

It is with sadness that we record the death of Brigadier Edward Aubrey Glennie, C.I.E., D.S.O. on l5th February 1980.  He was in his 91st year and had suffered a long illness.

Edward Aubrey Glennie was born at Eastbourne on July 18th 1889, the eldest son of Edward Glennie. When he was two years old, his mother, who was French, took him and his sister to France where his education began. He returned to England at the age of four and in addition to the 3 Rs started to learn Latin. At six years of age he went, to Cheltenham where he had private lessons and then on to Blair Athol in Scotland, attending the famous Dollar Academy. His first boarding school was Amesbury House School in Kent, after which- he went to Haileybury College and followed his father's footsteps to Woolwich, Chatham and a commission in the Royal Engineers- He always had a fascination for living things and. the surrounding countryside and from Amesbury House School he and a friend made secret excursions to the Chislehurst Cave, then only a small opening in the quarry face.

Following his commission into the Royal Engineers, he was posted to India and at the outbreak of war went on to Mesopotamia where he was put in charge of Military works. His accuracy to foretell what would be required made such a contribution, to the campaign that he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order as a Captain. In his free time he visited caves about 10 miles from Baghdad where he found carvings of fish, the ancient Christian symbol, on the walls

After the 1914-18 War, Aubrey Glennie decided to specialise and in 1919 he joined the Survey of India which lead to his long study of the Gravity of the Earth with the Geodetic Survey and to his becoming Geodetic Director and eventually Director of the Survey of India. The office where he did most of his work was at Dehra Dun in the United Provinces of N. India 2,225 feet above sea level. He enjoyed walking in the surrounding hills and discovered entrances to caves he was to return to during the 1930?s and 40's. Rumours of potholes over 1,000 feet deep, took him to Buina Dhar in the Chakrata District where he found and descended a 110 foot pothole.  Altogether, he found 6 or 7 caves here, most of them with pothole entries with pitches varying from 70-150 feet.  He made his own lengths of ladder and an ingenious device to help with long- climbs - a pair of hooks attached to his body with leather straps, which he would hook onto the rungs of the ladder and take a rest.

During the Field Seasons of each year, when his work brought him to many places in Peninsular India, he visited or acquired information about caves and published a series of papers in the Newsletters of the Cave Research Group. These caves .often had shrines or Temples connected with them and many have probably not been touched since his visits.

Every 3 years he came home on long leave and went caving in Britain - at Mendip, South Wales, the Peak District and Yorkshire, collecting fauna for his speleobiological work.

At the beginning of the 2nd World War, he was made Director, Frontier Circle of the Survey of India, a civil department of the Government of India, and later became Military Circle Director. On January 7th 1935 The National Institute of Sciences came into being and he became a Founder Member. In December-1960: the General Committee of the Institute elected him a Foundation Fellow on the occasion of its Silver Jubilee.

When he retired in 1914 - 46 he was awarded the order of Commander, Indian Empire for his great work with the Survey of India and the Gold Medal of the Royal Geographical Society for his work in India.



He came home to England in 1946 and helped in the founding of the Cave Research Group. He hunted unusual Molluscs, studied Bourne risings, Bourne Flow and the level of Well water for which he kept data. He collected a great deal of information about the fauna of the water tables, and wrote many papers which form landmarks in the study of Biospeleology in Britain.

Brigadier Glennie was a dedicated scientist, a warm and compassionate person with a marvellous sense of  humour, and by his death the caving world has lost a. great character.

from BC 77 pages 5-6

 
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