Notes on Society Meetings

Wednesday 28 September: ‘Memories of life as an evacuee’
In 1939 at the age of seven Ron Lewis was transported in a double decker bus with his gas mask round his neck in a cardboard box, from his home in West London, to live for the next five and a half years near Chalfont St Giles in Buckinghamshire. Ron reminded us that, at the start of the war, three and a half million children were evacuated from cities considered vulnerable to enemy bombing to the countryside. He remembered most seeing his parents standing forlornly on the pavement, near their home in London, not knowing when he would see them again nor exactly where he was going.

On arrival at their destination the children were met by the ladies of the Women’s Voluntary Service, who sorted them, inspected them for nits and placed them with families. Ron’s first hosts turned out to be not very welcoming to their seven year old guest and before long he was moved to an altogether different house in the village of Jordans. A house with a telephone and refrigerator neither of which Ron had seen before and three indoor lavatories not to mention a housemaid / cook called Gertrude who was from the Black Forest and became his mentor and friend. Gertrude’s internment in the Isle of Man at the beginning of the war, as a German National, with her subsequent release, is another story.

Ron remembered his time in the well-ordered and formal household with fondness. Initially he went to school in Chalfont St Giles a two mile walk each way on his own and then finally for two and a half happy terms at the Royal Grammar School High Wycombe.  When Monty had received the surrender of the German Forces on Luneburg Heath, Ron was told to go home. He had quite forgotten that children were expected to help around the house and had some preliminary problems in settling back to life as a London kid.

In 1946 the family who had been his host during his time as an evacuee moved to the West Country, but Ron never lost touch. He and his wife Joan last visited them with their baby son, 20 years later.  Gertrude finally returned to Germany where she died at the age of 95 having just received an early Christmas present from Ron.
Ron kept us riveted with his dramatic and polished talk which was much enjoyed by those who could remember the war and equally by those who could not.       Martin Turner

Saturday 1 October:- ‘In the Footsteps of Nelson’
A full coach set out early from the Greyhound for the Society outing to Chatham Dockyard. Apart from a hiccup with the guides - in period costume - the day proved very rewarding. Starting with a fascinating tour round parts of the dockyard, including the excellent museum, we broke for lunch - picnics or food in the restaurant. After that there was time for individual exploration—the bold [or fool-hardy] crawling through HM Submarine Ocelot, others took the easier tours round the World War II destroyer HMS Cavalier or the Victorian naval sloop HMS Gannet. Then on board the paddle steamer Kingswear Castle for a river trip down the Medway to the Thames, full of unexpected sights - and the usual entertaining, and occasionally boozy, company that we have come to expect on our outings.

Wednesday 2 November: ‘Nelson - the Myths and the Truths’
This was the title of Heather Woodward’s delightful well illustrated and highly relevant talk given very close to the 200th anniversary year of the battle of Trafalgar - 21 October 1805. We were told that Nelson’s mother died when he was only 9 years old and at the age of 12 he went to sea starting on a merchant ship. He suffered from depression, ill health and seasickness. Three months before his 21st birthday he became a Post Captain and then had 8 years in continuous command of various ships. He was inordinately vain, loved to dress up in his uniform and medals, had an insatiable appetite for praise, was a maverick and as flawed as most people are.

Nelson’s popularity with those under his command stemmed from their admiration for him as a bold and courageous leader and their awareness of his concern for them. He had a deep interest in the lot of the ordinary seaman and particularly their health, much of which Nelson attributed to their diet.  For example he instituted a daily ration of lemon juice for all the sailors in the fleet to ward off scurvy. As for his captains, he allowed them to exercise their own skill and judgement; once battle had been joined, he never overrode their decisions nor undermined their authority. All this made him a leader and commander without equal at the time. Possibly the fact that he was a bit of a maverick helped to make him so well loved.
After he had met and fallen for Emma Hamilton, he was particularly cruel to his wife Fanny and treated her with contempt, as did Emma. Fanny on the other hand continued to look after Nelson’s ailing father and indeed did so right up to his father’s death in 1802.

Emma we were told came from humble origins and probably earned her living as a young woman as a prostitute. Despite the ménage à trois which existed with Nelson, Emma and Sir William Hamilton, Hamilton seemingly accepted the situation without outward complaint. Emma for her part remained loyal to Sir William up to the end of his life in 1803. After Nelson died at Trafalgar, Emma was ignored by English society and ended her life in 1815 in Calais in poverty. Emma and Nelson had a daughter called Horatia. She eventually became the wife of the vicar of Tenterden.

Heather lead us expertly through Nelson’s sea battles, through his long pursuit of the French fleet and in considerable detail through the battle of Trafalgar itself. The training of the British Fleet was superior to the French and Spanish; for example the British were able to reload in 90 seconds whereas the French and Spaniards took about 5 minutes. The British seamanship was also superior as was demonstrated in the speed with which their ships were manoeuvred. It seems inevitable that all this should lead to victory, but the battle was still a close run thing.

What other myths and truths did Heather tell us? Nelson never did say “I see no ships”, he did say “kiss me Hardy” but his last words were “God and my country”. It was his right eye that was damaged, but he never wore an eye patch. It was his right arm that he lost - not always portrayed correctly in films and in pictures.  Even before this anniversary year, there had been 1000 biographies written about Nelson and 30 monuments erected world wide. Winston Churchill idolised him and had a bust on his desk.      Martin Turner