Elinor Florence's Blog, page 21
December 24, 2013
My Dad's Best Christmas: 1945
A few years before he died, I asked my father Douglas Florence what was the very best Christmas he could remember. I expected him to recall his childhood, or a time when his own children were young. But without hesitation, he answered: “Christmas 1945!” I asked him why, and here’s what he told me, in his own words.
December 17, 2013
Sacrifices Honoured in Stained Glass
Homesick servicemen found comfort and community inside churches during the war years, especially at Christmas time. And after the war ended, hundreds of churches, both large and small, installed stained glass windows to thank their defenders. This lovely example erected in the Welsh town of Pembroke Dock features the badges of units from the British and Commonwealth air forces, and the U.S. Navy.
December 10, 2013
RCAF “Rancherette” Blazed the Trail
When war broke out, Canada’s Parliament refused point blank to allow women into the armed forces. Two years later, it finally gave in and women flocked to recruiting centres by the thousand. But only a small percentage earned the coveted overseas posting. Nancy Lee, from a remote ranch in the Rocky Mountains, was one of the fortunate few.
December 3, 2013
Letters From a Lonely Airman
Damn this war anyhow, why can’t people just get along?
This was the heartfelt question posed in a letter written the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, by a young Canadian airman who didn’t want to fight but was determined to do his duty.
November 26, 2013
The Star Weekly At War
As a child, I loved to pore through the colourful, patriotic and often amusing images pasted into my mother's wartime scrapbook. Most of them were clipped from the covers of the popular Star Weekly newsmagazine, published by the Toronto Star.
November 19, 2013
Dambusters Dog
has Unspeakable Name
What shall we call the dog?
That’s the dilemma facing the makers of the new Dambusters movie, who must choose between historical fact and racial sensitivity.
November 12, 2013
Hobbit Movie Producer
to Remake 'Dambusters'
When the third Hobbit movie is finished next year, veteran producer Peter Jackson of New Zealand will tackle a remake of that wartime classic, The Dambusters.
November 5, 2013
Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mum:
'The most dangerous woman in Europe'
This sweet-faced woman boosted morale so vigorously during the Second World War that Adolf Hitler himself called her “the most dangerous woman in Europe.”
