Ww2 Letter Written During London Blitz 1940.

Discussion in 'United Kingdom' started by Maywalk, Aug 30, 2005.

  1. Maywalk

    Maywalk Junior Member

    I have had a letter passed over to me to put up on my memorylane site that was written in 1940 during the London Blitz.

    A very descriptive letter that portrays it as it was.

    If anyone is interested in reading it go to my memorylane website and go into "A Wander Down Memory Lane" section.
    Its the second story in.

    Its living history.

    http://www.memorylanehf.oddquine.co.uk/

    Cheers
    Maywalk
     
  2. spidge

    spidge RAAF RESEARCHER

    Lovely story May.

    I can just see them cheering on the Spitfires.

    Funnily enough, when reading that I thought of the movie "In Which We Serve" with Noel Coward, John Mills & Bernard Miles.

    It was quite poignant showing the loss of loved ones when they finally come back from the sea safe and well, yet their loved ones are killed by the blitz.
     
  3. Maywalk

    Maywalk Junior Member

    Thanks for the reply Spidge.

    Yes that was a great film.

    I have just had a book published which takes my true story about being bombed out twice during the London Blitz and being machine gunned twice. Once while on a train.

    Its gone like a bomb ( pun ) :D :D :D :D

    God Bless
    Maywalk.
     
  4. jimbotosome

    jimbotosome Discharged

    Wow. That's pretty wild, May. As a child, did you have any understanding of what kind of trouble Britain was in? I mean, did people realize that they could actually lose the war and be conquered by a dictator? Britain has a history much like the US. They only knew freedom for centuries so was the idea of being conquered actually a realistic possibility to the average person? We know in retrospect that the British did rise above it and defeat a foe that was, at least on paper, stronger, but surely you folks couldn’t have known that back then. Were the people in despair or were they confident, what was their general demeanor?
     
  5. Maywalk

    Maywalk Junior Member

    We had NO intention of a dictator like Hitler taking our land Jimbo.

    Yes we knew what was on the horizon because of the news that was coming in on our relay wirelesses.
    How Hitler was marching into various countries and proclaiming them as his. :angry:
    Having German Jews fleeing to our counrtry away from concentration camps.

    The trouble was we were NOT prepared for war.
    That did not deter us from fighting back.
    I must say here that NEVER have I felt the same community spirit since as I did then.
    Everyone helped each other no matter what creed or denomination.
    Rich and poor mixed together because we were all in the same boat.
    It was a unison that to me was something that I have never come across since.

    I feel honoured funnily enough to have lived through that war even though I was only 9 years old when it started.

    No we were not in despair Jimbo. Worried yes but not in despair.
    Perhaps you could get the mood of those years if you visited my memory lane site.

    God Bless
    Maywalk.
     
  6. jimbotosome

    jimbotosome Discharged

    I had read your site before I posted May. I was just thinking the letters were part of the "stiff upper lip" you Brits are notorious for and as such masked the real feelings.

    I understand completely what you mean about being honored by living through the war. Sure you see the worst of mankind in that there is a brutal war, but you also see the best as well. Without trying times, you never see this side of people. And although it’s not worth the suffering associated with it, but if it is trust upon you, you at least get to see that side of people that you would never have seen otherwise. Your account seems to corroborate Sir Winston’s claim that this was Britain’s “Finest Hour”.
     
  7. Maywalk

    Maywalk Junior Member

    Hi there Jimbo,

    A lot of it was defiance against a dictator and I have just pulled this excerpt from my book to show that defiance from my own mother.



    { September 3rd 1939 was a lovely sunny Sunday morning and to me there seemed to be a hush over everything. At 11am it came over the relay wireless that Mr Chamberlain had said we were now in a state of war with Germany. I can still hear my mothers anguished voice saying " Oh sweet mother of mercy! My boys, my boys."

    The hush from outside suddenly became a cacophony of voices. All the neighbours gathered on their doorsteps talking about what would happen if old Hitler got to England. I felt terrified in case I was sent back to the Sisters of Mercy home.
    I was relieved when my mother said that Hitler or no bleeding Hitler she was still going hop-picking the next day and taking her kids with her. } A typical Londoners way of treating Hitler with the contempt he deserved. :D :D :D :D


    It was while we were in the hopfields that a German plane got through our defences, such as they were, and decided to use us who were pulling hops of the vines as target practice.
    It was all systems go as we dived into the hopvines.LOL

    It was also a sight to be remembered as a Spitfire came to our aid and shot the jerry down. I will never forget that dogfight going on overhead.
     
  8. jimbotosome

    jimbotosome Discharged

    They strafed citizens? What kind of coward was flying that plane? Looks like it cost him his life, a little poetic justice, if you ask me.

    You know, collateral damage I can understand, missing the target zone I can understand, even navigation and planning erros I can understand, but specifically targeting unarmed civilians in broad daylight, I going to need a little help with that one.

    May, I love flying. Any kind of airplane. I often go to air shows and stare at the old vintage fighters and dream about taking one up for a spin, imagine performing manuevers in it, the rush of speed, and even how you would use it in combat (though I wouldn't really have the guts even if the owners would allow me, they are a tad out of my league). I have often imagined that had I have lived in that generation, I would have wanted to fight in the air rather than on the ground. If you are going take a chance dying in war, at least try to do something you love. But, in these fantasies, there is always a measure of introspect. I have always wondered how I would deal with the fear of death enough to overcome it and function properly. You have to really have your head on straight to handle hi-performance aircraft like WWII fighters, especially if you are fighting for your life.

    But, reading your account here, I have become acutely aware that the anger one would develop over cowardly acts like that would make a fantastic mechanism to mitigate fear. There is nothing like a little righteous indignation to make one forget about oneself and the fear of death. In fact, there is probably no better therapy for fear. Now I know why they climbed into the bombers day after day, endured the extreme cold, loss of buddies, climbed into tanks, climbed into foxholes, and went against the odds to do their duty.

    Nobody truely wins a war. One side merely out loses the other.
     
  9. Maywalk

    Maywalk Junior Member

    Hello Jimbo.

    Yes they did strafe civilians and trains with evacuees in them.
    You are quite right about anger being an instigator of NOT being afraid.
    Its surprising what our emotions can make us do if pushed to the brink.

    If you go into this site http://www.warvetsweb.oddquine.co.uk/ and go into the Home Pages section you can read my evacuee story on there.
    Its the first one on the page.

    Cheers Maywalk.
     

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