Category: History

Ewelme

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Sunday afternoon and a beautiful day, so we called into Ewelme and had a wander. Very pretty village in the Chilterns, with lots of interesting history, and watercress beds!

We visited the Church, the School and almshouses and then adjourned to the pub for a cooling ale or two.

To give you some idea of the place, do follow the links above. They are all extracts from a book,

Ewelme – A Romantic Village, its Past and Present, its People and its History by Mrs M Prister-Crutwell.

Mega Joke

WW1 explained using a bar fight as a metaphorical learning vehicle.

From a history teacher in the UK. I wish I had history teachers like that….

Germany, Austria and Italy are standing together in the middle of a pub when Serbia bumps into Austria and spills Austria’s pint. Austria demands Serbia buy it a complete new suit because there are splashes on its trouser leg. Germany expresses its support for Austria’s point of view. Britain recommends that everyone calm down a bit. Continue reading “Mega Joke”

On This Day Forty-Two Years Ago.

L. Wattage and the late Mrs. Wattage wed barely two years before, left the UK for a life in Canada.  We stayed ten years, it seemed longer than that at the time (a single Canadian winter seems to last almost a lifetime).  Some recent work reminiscences have led me back to the slender dusty records of those distant days.

Continue reading “On This Day Forty-Two Years Ago.”

Germany ’48 – ’53 A Child’s Tale Part 3

At the time, I don’t suppose anyone ever thought that they were living through history, and just how important the Airlift would be to the free world! In 1997, I was staying in the Victory Services Club in London, prior to moving down to Wales. My stay coincided with the 50th Anniversary of the Berlin Airlift, many of the surviving aircrews were staying there as well. It was a very moving experience, talking to elderly men, who in their late teens, early twenties had flown those life saving supplies into Berlin! Continue reading “Germany ’48 – ’53 A Child’s Tale Part 3”

Germany ’48 – ’53 A Child’s Tale Part 2

My father did two postings in Berlin, one with his Regiment and one with another Corp, interspersed with a posting with back down the zone. It was whilst living in Berlin that I saw the results of war damage. Whole areas of Berlin were taken up with what us kids called the brickfields. These were acre upon acre of reclaimed bricks as far as the eye could see. The only people you saw working on them were women. In the two years since the end of the war the majority of the bombed out buildings had been taken down, but no rebuilding had started. Another thing that sticks in my memory is large signs on all the major roads stating that it was an offence for military vehicles not to stop and offer a lift to any service person in uniform. Life was very hard for the population. The German boys that I played with all looked very undernourished. If ever I had sweets or chocolate it was a real treat for them. It wasn’t all fun with the German kids though, both communities knew who had won the war! I had many a fight with them, sometimes we won the war, sometimes they did. I remember playing football with the local boys (even then it was England-v-Germany), I was the only one to have football boots. As children do, I grew out of them very quickly and gave them to one of the German boys. He was so emotional, he cried with gratitude. His father even came round to our house to thank us. I have to say, after that, my days of re-fighting the war were over! Continue reading “Germany ’48 – ’53 A Child’s Tale Part 2”