FHE July 20

After Hampton Court we went back home, grabbed some dinner and then headed over to the BYU London Center for a fireside. It was given by the old stake president of this area. He talked to us about growing up in London during the Second World War. He had a lot of fascinating stories. He told us about his memory of being evacuated from the city, also about where they would have to hide when there was a bomb threat. They had a bomb shelter in their backyard but for those that didn’t have that “luxury” they often retreated to the underground or even crypts of churches. He remembers some nights where they would hear the siren in the middle of the night and have less than ten minutes to get the whole family outside to the shelter. Sometimes they would be down there for over a day at a time. He recalls that the noise of the bombers flying over them was nerve racking and something that he could not even describe to us. Something else that he talked to us about that I just couldn’t believe were the food rations that they enforced back then. During the war food was hard to come by, all of the staples like bread, butter, cheese and milk all were rationed. One rule that blew me away is the rationing of eggs. Every adult in London was allowed ONE egg every TWO months. I can’t even imagine…
He also told us about the rules at night. No visible light was allowed to be seen from houses at night. He recalls having large thick black curtains in his house as well as the houses in his neighborhood. The reason for this is that it made the city harder to detect from the air. He said that there were police that would walk around at night and look for houses that were showing light. But apparently this didn’t work as well as they thought it would because planes looking to attack found other ways around this. They would simply wait for a clear night when the moon was bright, and find the Thames River and follow its path until they ran into the city. If there was a threat of attack the way of communication was through the churches. This is because it was guaranteed that every town in England would have at least one church. So during the war years, it was illegal to ring the bells of the church. If there was an attack they would sound the bells and the noise would ring from town to town. That was their form of a siren. I can’t even fathom living in a time where this was such a real threat.

I want to end today’s blog with a funny joke that he told. It is about Winston Churchill and his drinking days. It is a conversation between Churchill and a lady he met on the bus after left a bar one evening.

Lady on the bus: Mr. Churchill, I believe you are drunk.
WC: Well miss I believe you are ugly, and the reality of it is, is I will be sober tomorrow…
Lady on the bus: (upset) Mr. Churchill if you were my husband I would poison your coffee.
WC: Well if I were your husband I’d drink it…