Okay, that fireside was post-worthy. George Chittock, a local member of the Church, spoke about growing up in London during World War II. Holy cow--I have nothing to compare it to. Quite a few times since I've been here, I've realized how different it is to be in a country that is ravaged by war, but his words added a more personal spin. As many of us know, the children in the cities were sent out to the countryside so they would be safer. This happened twice to him and his siblings, once when he was about 3 and a half an again a few years later. Any family with an extra bedroom was obliged to take in children and treat them as their own if they lived out in the country. The government would help with the costs. Imagine the difficulties of that separation--knowing that if either the parents or children were hit, the family would be half gone.
He told us a lot about the legally enforced blackouts during the air raids and how they would sleep in air raid shelters every night. These were weaker than bomb shelters; they were simply intended to protect from flying debris. Many people had them in their yards ("garden" here in England). If they didn't have a garden, they would go to the underground tunnels (for the underground railway) or they would make brick shelters over one lane of a neighborhood street. They would sleep there with other members of the community.
What most impressed me was the sense of unity and community that developed. Everyone was expected to participate in the war effort. Everyone had to sacrifice and do some sort of job to help with the fight. For example, there were people on the roofs of buildings that would watch for fires in the city and report them to the firemen. These people on the rooftops were responsible for saving some of the old buildings like St. Paul's Cathedral (which was iconic for the British in the War) and Westminster Abbey. Sometimes planes would drop delay-release fire bombs (I don't know what they're called . . . they wouldn't blow up, but just ignite and make fires). These firewatchers on the roofs would throw these fire-starters off the roof to save the buildings. That's one of the reasons that there are still old things to see here!
Brother Chittock finished by talking about his gratitude for the United States--for our grandparents and great-grandparents--because we helped save Britain. I hadn't thought of that perspective before.
So, it was a lovely evening. I'm so grateful for the life of peace that I live and for the experiences I have that help me appreciate my many many blessings.
I hope you thought that was post-worthy, too. Maybe my writing of it wasn't, but if you'd been here, the content would have been.
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