President Chittock

 

Susan Howe, President Chittock, Scott, Rodger Macfarline.

Last night's fireside was with President Chittock. He is actually the Executive Secretary but has been a Stake President and served in the Stake Presidency for years. He has also been a Bishop four times! Busy man...Anyway, he spoke about his experiences here in England during WWII. I just LOVE learning about WWII. I don't really know why. My dad liked it too so maybe it was his influence. It was definitely a time of patriotism so maybe that's it too. The things he spoke about are well known facts but he also interjected his own personal experiences. Here are some of the notes I took.

He started by telling us that when the German's came and bombed, they did so at night. London was basically on fire, but you could see St. Paul's Cathedral through the smoke and fire. He said it gave them heart. I believe Heavenly Father protected it so that the British could have hope. This may be a well known quote, I'm not sure, but President Chittock said that there was a long poster put on the top of St. Paul's saying: "You might be able to break our glass, but you can't break our hearts."

I knew that many children were sent to the countryside for safety. I didn't know it was 1 1/2 million. That's a lot. President Chittock had a power point presentation and showed the children at the train station with their gas masks packed in boxes in hand. I couldn't help but get emotional. I can't even imagine sending my children away to live with strangers who really didn't want them. (I'm pretty sure they were required.) President Chittock and his younger brother were sent to Wales. He had no idea who he was going to stay with. He said it was an old couple. He was only a young child himself and admitted they may have just seemed old. Who knows... He was gone for 8 1/2 months. He said his dad came and got them and felt that if something happened President Chittock and his brother would be orphaned anyway, so his dad thought it would be best if they all died together. (Scott said that he's pretty sure most of the kids were sent back after 8 months.)

He talked about the 57 nights in a row of bombing (can you imagine?), black out curtains (he said the planes would fly just over the rooftops, so black out times were 13 minutes before sunset. I don't know why they didn't just say 15 minutes), the Anderson shelters people had in their gardens, rationing, and the tube being used as a shelter. Using the tubes as shelters was illegal, but as President Chittock described, "People Power" took over. They just did it anyway. I totally would. Families and others would just camp out. The trains were still used during the day. People would go to work and then go home to the underground.

He told us many things and then ended with a classic Churchill story. Some of you may have heard this. I like it because it gives an example of Winston Churchill's personality. Churchill had a bad drinking problem. One day after work he was on the bus and a female colleague was on the same bus and said, "Mr. Churchill, you're drunk!" He said to Mrs. Bessington (I think) "And you're ugly! but in the morning I'll be sober." I firmly believe that Heavenly Father wanted Churchill for the job and inspired him and guided him, but I'm not sure I would have liked to know him. lol!

There were many other facts that were discussed and it was all fascinating to me. To actually meet someone who was here and listen to them talk about it with his cute British accent and funny personality. Lovely man.

Here's a link I plan on using to help teach the kids about WWII.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/world_war2/wartime_homes/

The wartime house you see is in the Imperial War museum where we will go at some point. (I'm actually teaching the middle ages now and trying to finish the American Revolution!) I broke down in the Holocaust section last time I went (6 years ago). Lets hope I do better this time. It was as I was watching the film they showed of the Jewish children being sent to England for safety. I was in England, away from my own kids for the first time since Heather was born. I just have a love of children. I still felt dumb!

I have a bunch of pictures posted on facebook of the places we've been. They should available for everyone to see:
http://www.facebook.com/#/profile.php?v=photos&ref=name&id=1622855889

I will start posting pictures on the blog too.