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From the Rector - “Moving On”
It’s not just the Parish Office that will have moved on
last month, now more accessible to the public in its new
location at 2 North Street, but so have other aspects of
our church life.
Shortly after going to press last month representatives
from the PCC met with diocesan authorities to make a
case for moving the Rectory from its Meadowlands address
into St. Faith’s Church House in the Pallant. Subject to
costings the diocese agreed to use proceeds from the
sale of the present rectory to renovate the exterior and
remodel the interior of the eighteenth century part of
Church House. Further monies will be needed to then
reorganise the inside of the remainder of the building
and the adjoining Coach House as well as making some
significant improvements to the Church Hall. Far from
being just a conservation exercise which realises a more
advantageous position for a rectory at the heart of the
town the vision for these buildings is driven by our
parish’s determination to fulfil its mission statement
by offering newly developed support services and social
enterprise opportunities to the people of the borough.
The diocese recognise that the strategic importance of
these centrally located buildings can enhance the vision
we have for the parish church itself; church, church
buildings and rectory working together to carry forward
our mission and contribute to the revitalisation of the
town centre.
Havant Borough Council officers are encouraging us to
take the next steps forward by assisting us with social
needs assessment work in addition to site inspections.
The University of Portsmouth Schools of Architecture and
Business Studies respectively are working in partnership
with the diocesan Council For Social Responsibility to
support the steps we shall be taking to clearly identify
the useful long term uses that these building
developments can be put to. Work is already in hand to
develop a Project Plan for the development of Church
House and its adjacent buildings.
Existing users of our facilities will be included in the
complex work of identifying the community needs that we
shall seek to meet. We recognise that the management of
what could be two major projects running together – St
Faith’s Church and Church House developments – will
stretch our human resources and are keen to involve any
one in Havant who could volunteer time and expertise to
help move us on.
On March 11th the university’s architecture
diploma students held their final ‘community charrette’
at St. Faith’s Church so that their test designs for the
church, the churchyard and Havant town centre could be
informed by the views of stakeholders. This month will
see the final fruits of their year long labours and will
provide us with a plethora of ideas for the regeneration
of our significant spaces.
working in a small section of the churchyard where they
are creating a Rights, Respecting and Responsibilities
garden to showcase their UNICEF status. Warblington
School students also intend to use their ‘Make A
Difference’ week in June to develop another section to
reflect their desire to invest in their community as
young people. Watch that space!
And watch out for our new space in church for
celebrating the Parish and Family Eucharist's. On Sunday
1st May we embark on our six month trial of
celebrating the Holy Communion in the body of the church
to help us rediscover the intimacies of the Lord’s
Supper which the first disciples experienced themselves.
Preparations for this way of worshipping, common in all
our neighbouring churches, has provided us with the
chance to open up our north chancel. We are creating an
area within which you can drop by for coffee and a chat
during a weekday as well as after Sunday Worship. It
will also accommodate our Sunday Club when they join in
family worship and offer a welcome and resource area
that makes the most of our church being open every
weekday.
Patricia Mann, our assistant curate designate will soon
be moving on from her home in Bishop’s Waltham and from
her studies in Salisbury to join us in July following
her ordination to the diaconate in the cathedral on the
2nd of that month. Please come and support
her at 12 noon that day. Most importantly remember Pat,
her husband Nigel and their son Richard in your prayers
as they contemplate their very important ‘moving on’.
Peter Jones
Preparing for Sunday 1st of May
The start of our experiment with a movable nave altar
begins this month.
Exactly eleven months after last Pentecost’s Holy
Communion around a south side nave altar we shall be
using a large number of Sundays over the next six months
to present the best features of that celebration.
Obviously an easterly facing congregation is always
preferable and so we are positioning a portable altar on
a dais beneath the westward tower arch at the east end
of the nave. The lectern, servers’ sedilia and seating
for the choir will also be brought forward.
It is now 50 years since the Church of England began,
with our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters, to
encourage its parishes to reinstate the Lord’s Table in
the body of the church which was the original
preference indicated in Cranmer’s Book of Common Prayer
(1662).
During the experimental period Holy Communion will be
administered from both the west and north side of the
sanctuary around the altar. In the early stages we shall
provide communion rails on the north side for those who
prefer to kneel as they receive the sacrament, with
those content to stand receiving from the open west
side. The balance of this provision may change as we
proceed and people’s preferences are taken into account.
A marked difference to a previous (2006) experiment will
be that communicants will approach communion rails via
the transepts (outside the great crossing pillars)
rather than by squeezing between pillar and altar. This
should address the congestion problems of the previous
trial and should also offer more time for reflection in
the sanctuary whilst, at the same time, actually
shortening the time it takes to communicate large
numbers.
The experiment will occasionally be interrupted when we
need to revert back for Civic (22nd May) and
other special services or when the theme of the day
places emphasis on the ‘otherness’ of God rather than
his ‘immanence’.
Because of obvious restrictions on funding and the
temporary nature of some aspects of the arrangements an
experiment of this kind can only deliver the central aim
of the exercise and not include all of the details which
inevitably make the experience the best it can be. If we
can improve the experiment as it progresses by
responding to suggestions without introducing anything
that is of a permanent nature, we shall do so.
I hope that you will derive the kinds of benefits that
this arrangement affords to all of our neighbouring
churches’ congregations at St. Alban, St. Francis, St.
James, (not its sister church Warblington where it is
spacially impossible!), St. Thomas, Bedhampton and, most
notably and recently, St. Mary’s Hayling (recently
visited by our PCC).
At the end of the experimental period the views of the
congregations who have regularly participated in the
experiment will be sought by the PCC so that they can
consider the way forward.
Peter Jones
Tunisia after the revolution
Continuation of the story from April’s FM by Michael &
Sybel Laird
Sybel and I flew to Tunisia on 18 February expecting to
spend six days there followed by four in Libya, where we
wanted to visit the Roman cities of Sabratha and Leptis
Magna. It soon became clear however that it would not be
sensible to continue to Libya, so we ended up with a
more comprehensive tour of Tunisia.
Following on from part one in April’s Faith Matters we
continue our story..
We saw towns in which Muslim and Jewish refugees from
Spain had been resettled – a reminder of the centuries
in which Jews generally got much better treatment from
Muslim regimes than from Christians. There was endemic
piracy and enslavement of captives, by both Muslims and
Christians. But there was also trade, and it was not
just a simple matter of Muslim vs Christian conflict –
on the Muslim side there were divisions between
different sects and rulers, and essentially the same in
Christian Europe: thus in the 16th century
both France and England established good relations with
Muslim states in an attempt to counter the power of
Spain.
The French took Tunisia in 1881, and promptly built a
flamboyant cathedral on the hilltop at Carthage in
memory of King Louis IX who had fallen sick and died
there on his crusade in 1270; it became a cultural
centre after Tunisia regained her independence in 1956.
The French did leave some more durable legacies,
including their language – widely spoken – and of course
culinary influences: we certainly enjoyed our food, and
some decent local wine too. During World War II the
French authorities took their orders from Vichy, and
Tunisia became a battle-ground in the winter of 1942-43
as the Germans and Italians tried to make their last
stand in North Africa in face of the British advancing
from the east after Alamein, and the Americans from the
west. We inspected Rommel’s defences on the Mareth Line,
between the coast in the south-east and the mountains,
where he had hoped to hold up Montgomery. Later we saw a
Commonwealth war cemetery.
We paid our respects to the memory of Tunisia’s first
post-independence president, Habib Bourguiba, at his
mausoleum in the attractive coastal town of Monastir. He
opposed any manifestations of Islamic fundamentalism and
extended rights for women; then in 1987 he was shunted
into retirement by General Ben Ali, who ruled until 14
January 2011. Ben Ali’s regime became increasingly
dictatorial, repressive and corrupt, with his wife’s
family a prime target for mounting public anger from the
way in which they used the influence and power of the
presidency to accumulate wealth. One has to say that
both the post-independence presidencies have some
achievements to their credit – there is some industry in
addition to the rash of touristic development down the
coast, the infrastructure is not bad, the population is
reasonably well-educated – it has the feel of a Second-
rather than a Third World country - but education made
resentment against the dictatorship all the more likely.
And particularly in the drab country towns of the
interior, there seemed to be a lot of young men standing
around with nothing to do.
As we toured around we saw some traces of the recent
revolution, such as a plinth from which a statue of Ben
Ali had evidently been destroyed. In some ways the
climax of our visit was our visit to Revolution Square,
as the area in the centre of Tunis has been renamed –
the focal point of the demonstrations which have
triggered change across the region. A tall building
loomed up behind the square – it had been the
headquarters of the RCD, the ruling party, from which
Big Brother could keep an eye on what was going on.
There had been a big demonstration on the previous day,
but it was quiet when we got there – the soldiers and
tanks of the Army were much in evidence, as at other key
points around the country. The situation is unlikely to
stabilise for a while, but we found reason to hope that,
like Indonesia after its revolution in 1998 or indeed
Turkey, Tunisia will find its way to a functioning
democracy. There is an Islamist movement, but it’s
difficult to imagine that fundamentalism will come to
the fore in that society, and in any case there is no
Ayatollah Khomeini waiting in the wings.
Apart from visits to historic Roman and Muslim sites,
and discussions with our excellent local tour guide on
the current situation, we had a trip to Tozeur on the
edge of the Sahara, where the Atlas Mountains start to
rise out of the desert. We scrambled up to waterfalls on
the streams emerging from the mountains and went through
oases of date palms. Sybel ventured on a camel ride: she
started on a small and docile creature, but had to
transfer to a much larger one which foamed at the mouth
and kicked out at the little one. At least it did not
try to run away with her into the midst of the desert.
From there we travelled back to the coast – to the
island of Jerba, identified as the land of the Lotus
Eaters in Homer’s Odyssey, but there was no lotus-eating
while we were there – a cold wind was blowing. It has
the nearest airport to the Libyan border, and was
shortly to be in the news as the departure point for
mainly Egyptian refugees being flown back home. In some
of the hotels we encountered groups of men from East
Asia who had been working in Libya and had managed to
get out. The news from Libya went from bad to worse, and
we were thankful to get home on schedule and without
difficulty – and were very touched to find that people
at St Faiths had been praying for us. Your prayers
evidently were heard!
Three Former
Colleagues Re-united by Mozart
Mozart’s 19th Piano
Concerto (K 459) is the link that will bring former
colleagues at South Downs College Music Department
together in Havant Chamber Orchestra’s concert at
Ferneham Hall, Fareham on Saturday 14 May.
For former lecturer
Terry Barfoot, now the director of Arts in Residence and
a very successful musical author, lecturer and educator,
it is a welcome return to the Havant Orchestras’ scene
to give the pre-concert talk about the Concerto (at
6.30pm). Next comes Peter Craddock also a former
lecturer at the College, who retired several years ago
and is still Musical Director of the Orchestras to
conduct the Concerto. Finally, Peter Rhodes will take
the soloist’s part in the Concerto. He is probably best
known in this part of the world as the current and very
busy Head of Performing Arts at the College but in the
wider field of professional music he is a recital and
concerto pianist, harpsichordist and conductor in
addition to accompanying international singers including
Dame Kiri te Kanawa and undertaking work in operatic and
musical theatre productions.
The concert will
begin at 7.30pm with Ravel’s exotic Suite Le Tombeau de
Couperin followed by music from the first part of Manuel
de Falla’s ballet the Three-Cornered Hat. After the
concerto and the interval, the final work will be
Beethoven’s 8th Symphony which will be conducted by
Samuel Draper the Orchestra’s Bursary Holder.
Before the concert
younger listeners are invited to join in the activities
of the Upbeat Club at 6.30pm and there will be a Musical
Interlude for everyone at 7.00pm by clarinettist
Emmeline Foster, a student at South Downs College, until
the concert begins at 7.30pm.
Tickets cost £7 00 -
£18.00, with 50% reduction for students over 19 and
under 19s in full-time education pay just £1.00 and are
on sale now at Ferneham Hall Box Office, open 9.30 -
5.00 Monday – Saturday, telephone 01329 231942 and at
the door. For newcomers to the Havant/Fareham music
scene – the final concert in the Havant Orchestras’
season is on 2 July and full details can be viewed at:
www.havantorchestras.hampshire.org.uk
Fred
Dinenage joins Guinness World
Record holder for the Rowans Hospice abseil 2011
The Rowans Hospice is inviting everyone who fancies a
challenge to join Fred Dinenage MBE and local daredevil
Doris Long MBE to take part in The Rowans Hospice Abseil
to raise money for people living with life-limiting
illnesses in Portsmouth and south-east Hampshire. The
event, which takes place on Saturday 21 May, will give
participants the unique opportunity to get a bird’s eye
view 200 feet / 20 floors above Portsmouth as they
abseil down Millgate House.
Television host, newsreader and Patron of The Rowans
Hospice, Fred Dinenage, will open the abseil with Doris
Long when they abseil side by side at 1pm. Doris, from
Hayling Island, will be looking to achieve her fourth
Guinness World Record for the ‘oldest person to abseil’
at the phenomenal age of 97.
Ali George, Events
Fundraiser for The Rowans Hospice, said: “This is a
thrilling challenge – the atmosphere of pre-abseil
anxiety and post-descent elation is electric. No
previous experience is necessary as everyone taking part
will receive full training on the day. Whatever your age
we’d love you to take part.”
Anyone interested in
taking part must register in advance. Registration forms
are available from the Hospice’s website
www.rowanshospice.co.uk.
Recipe of the month
Let’s see what happens with this month’s recipe from
Hilary Deadman. Taste it at the next St. Faith’s coffee
morning !
Hilary says “I make this cake regularly for the
Coffee Mornings and it appears to be very popular. The
recipe was originally given to my mother by an American
friend more than fifty years ago. I find it a very good
tempered recipe and I am not concerned if the amounts
used are not absolutely exact! The original recipe is
in cups and ounces but I have tried to convert to grams
and fluid ounces. Don’t worry too much about these
though!”
CANADIAN GINGERBREAD
8oz (225g) mixed dried fruit
2oz (50g) soft margarine
9oz(250g) Self Raising Flour
Small cup sugar(7oz) (220g)
1 breakfast cup water (half a pint)
2 tablespoons black treacle
1 teaspoon mixed spice
11/2
teaspoons ground ginger
Boil all the ingredients (except Flour) for a few
minutes. Simmer 10 minutes. Allow to cool.
Stir in flour. Mix well.
Add 1 heaped teaspoon bicarbonate of soda dissolved in
half teacup boiling water (about 4 fluid ounces).
Put into greased and papered tin (7 inch round or
square).
Bake in hot oven gas 5-6, 190C, 375F for 20 minutes.
Reduce to gas 2-3, 150C, 300F for a further hour.
Cool in tin on rack for a further 10 minutes
Notes from Japan
Rod and
Glenda Thomas who are in Sendai, Japan have sent a diary
of events of the Tsunami and life afterwards. The full
notes are on the noticeboard in St. Faith’s church. Here
is a small comment from April’s notes, and some photos
Rod has sent showing the devastation of the area.
“Since the tsunami, we have heard only the radio news
and while we are aware
that this is not a local event we haven’t seen the TV
news so you will all know more about the big picture
than we do. As far as we have been able to ascertain the
Sendai church people are fine though some have moved to
different parts of the country. Joel and I have been
unable to contact long-time enquirer Mrs Kyoko Yamazaki
who lived at Gamo near the harbour.
This week we cancelled mid-week meetings because we had
so few attend on Sunday 13th and I wanted to concentrate
on ministry here.
Anyway please keep us, this ministry at Shichigahama and
the Sendai church in prayer (that they will all live out
their faith at this time especially),
God bless
Rod & Glenda”
The zenith of the tsunami. Takayama carpark in about 1m
water. Note the floating shed and our car
Dynamo Delights!
Dynamo is the oldest established youth theatre in the
area, pre-dating both Chichester Youth Theatre and
Groundlings and celebrating its thirtieth anniversary
this year.
Formed in 1981 by Andrew Bowker, a teacher at Bosmere
Junior School, and a small but enthusiastic group of
adult volunteers, the aim was to develop the skills in
performing arts for the young people of the area away
from a school environment.
Since then the company has gone from strength to
strength, performing at the New Theatre Royal and the
King’s Theatre as well as countless productions at The
Spring Arts & Heritage Centre. The last eighteen months
have seen two high-spirited shows staged at St Faith’s
Hall: The Pirates of Penzance which even the
January snow couldn’t put a damper on and earlier this
year, HDYT’s first foray into the world of pantomime,
Old Mother Hubbard.
Dynamo, which caters for eleven to eighteen year olds
with a senior company, Dynasty Theatre for the over-18s,
has rigorously high standards of performance and a proud
tradition of tackling challenging work, not usually
associated with youth theatre. They also have an
impressive record of premiering original plays and
musicals, often based on local history. John Gleadall’s
One Pride, One People, for instance, was inspired
by the experience of the people of Portsmouth in the
immediate aftermath of the First World War.
Many readers will remember the much-acclaimed and
haunting promenade production of The Roses of Eyam
Dynamo staged in St Faith’s church and graveyard in
2007.
Currently Dynamo are ‘appearing’ on Broadway! They will
be heard on stage at the Music Box Theatre in New York
during the entire sixteen week run of the
multi-award-winning play Jerusalem, by Jez
Butterworth, singing a traditional Cornish folk song
which features in one of the scenes.
Sound Designer Ian Dickinson who made the recording and
worked on both the West End and New York productions, e
mailed the company to tell them “I’m sat here in my
Manhattan apartment just before I go into rehearsals
today and wanted to thank you all again for your help
with the project.”
The company, which attracts members from all over SE
Hants and West Sussex from as far afield as Liss and
Bognor Regis, are currently rehearsing their anniversary
show Thirty Years – a celebration of the triumphs
(and some of the disasters!) of the last three decades
compressed into one packed evening of drama, dance and
song.
Thirty Years
is at The Spring Arts & Heritage Centre from Wednesday,
4 May to Saturday 7 May at 7.30pm with a Saturday
matinee at 2.30pm. Tickets are priced £8 £6
concessions, available now from the Box Office 023 9247
2700.
An Englishman in the French Resistance -
Part two
To avoid attracting too much notice, he based himself in
a hotel in Bourg d’Oisans, a small town in the
mountains. From here he set up a network of agents,
touring the countryside by bicycle (no petrol in those
days). The local gendarmes were aware of his constant
movements, but were pro-British, helping rather than
stopping him, and as he visited the mayors of local
villages, they had no hesitation in rubber-stamping an
assortment of false identity cards. One of these was
for Jasmyn, who was able to spend the rest of the war as
an authentic French citizen, with no need to leave Nice,
while he himself decided it would be wiser to be a
Frenchman born in Algeria, so that there was no way his
birth record could be checked.
He undertook another risky journey across the mountains
to where he could get a bus to Nice, but was dismayed to
find the police were checking the passengers’ papers.
Then he noticed there was a pig in a trailer attached to
the bus, so he went and had a good look at it, and when
the gendarme approached, said, “Have you noticed that a
pig’s eye is just like a human’s?” This caused all the
passengers to come and look, and by the time the
excitement was over, the gendarme forgot to look at his
false papers. He was very proud of this exploit, and
told me the story several times over the years.
After each of his journeys, he took the precaution of
telephoning the hotel when he was nearly back, to ask,
“Do you need a visit from the President?” The reply was
always, “The President would be most welcome.” But one
day the answer was, “There is absolutely no need for the
President to visit.” So he made off hastily to another
village and lay low. He learned later that while he had
been away, two Gestapo officers had appeared at his
hotel, accompanied by an elegant blonde, and asked after
him. When told he was away, they based themselves there
for several days waiting for him. He learned later that
she was “Alice the Blonde”, a particularly notorious
Gestapo officer with a terrible reputation for extreme
cruelty. After a week they gave up waiting, and word
was sent to him that he could come back to collect his
baggage, but he decided it would be better to return to
Nice. By now it was April 1943, when disaster struck.
He was in the flat one evening with Jasmyn and another
friend when the doorbell rang. Not suspecting anything,
he opened the door, and two OVRA agents (the Italian
equivalent of the Gestapo) pushed their way in,
demanding to see M. Hakim. Jasmyn assured them he was
away in the mountains, and the man who opened the door
was a friend who visited her while he was away. After
turning the flat upside down, they eventually decided
the man must be Hakim, arrested him and drove him away
to their HQ in a villa that had belonged to a British
lady, where he was locked in a cell in the cellar along
with three other men. Later he discovered that one of
them was Peter Churchill, and upstairs was Odette, the
famous Resistance agent, who had been working with him,
and married him after the war. For several days Gerald
was interrogated and along with the other prisoners,
subjected to ill-treatment, but he said after the war
that it was still better to be caught by the OVRA than
the Gestapo, since they were less likely to kill their
prisoners. After this, he was transferred by train to
the Central Prison in Turin, by the route over his
familiar mountains, but he was cheered up on arrival to
see that the station and much of the city had been
flattened by the RAF. At the prison, he was put into
solitary confinement in a basement cell, lit only by a
feeble blue light bulb. There he stayed for ten days
before being taken out to be given a shave by the prison
barber. This was the prelude to an interrogation. Not
realising that he spoke their language, the Italians
provided an interpreter, who proved to be an old
acquaintance. He was able to persuade them to bring
Gerald up from his dungeon to a cell with a small window
high up in the wall, and he was also allowed into the
exercise yard. Although prisoners were not allowed to
talk, they managed to exchange brief words. One
particular stroke of luck was a conversation with some
Alpine guides, who were about to be released. He
arranged for them to send Jasmyn a coded postcard, which
was the first time she knew he was still alive. Later
the prison Almoner sent regular news through monks of
his order in Nice.
Meanwhile, his interrogations continued, but after three
months, on 25 July 1943, everything was unlocked and he
was able to walk out of the prison. (If you have read
Eric Newby’s Love and War in the Apennines, you will
recognise this was the day Mussolini fell.) Gerald
decided to take the train up to the mountains again, and
cross to France by one of the passes. But on the final
leg of his journey, he was intercepted by the
Carabinieri police. In fact this saved his life; by
then the passes had been mined. He was taken to the
barracks, where communications were so bad that he was
the first to bring the news about the fall of
Mussolini. The Carabinieri chief was a very civilised
man, living with his wife and young son. He apologised
that he had to put him in the cells overnight, but
treated Gerald as a guest of the family. Good home
cooking was a wonderful treat after starvation rations
for three months in the prison.
Unfortunately, he could only stay for three nights,
after which they saw him off fondly under escort back to
Turin. And in fact, immediately after VE Day, Gerald
managed to track them down in a new post near Genoa, and
thanked him again.
On his return to the prison, he was given a first-floor
cell, and using his climber’s technique, could even look
out of the high window at the view of the Alps.
Conditions were slightly better, though he suffered from
bedbugs until he discovered the spiders ate them. After
that, he refused to sweep up the cobwebs in his cell,
and had a more peaceful life. On the other hand, as far
as Jasmyn was concerned he had once more disappeared.
Once again, the church came to his aid; the Archbishop
of Turin insisted that the Governor allowed Gerald to
see a visiting nun, who was able to pass word back to
Nice that he was safe.
After 11 months in prison, the judge who had performed
the monthly interrogations finally gave up, admitting he
had been unable to prove any case against him. Shortly
afterwards, the judge told him he was to be transferred,
with another Englishman, to a camp near Florence “for
the rest of the war”. They thought this was a sign the
Italians had decided which side would win.
The journey by train took three days – a long time until
you realise the Italian railways had been constantly
bombed by the RAF, and had so little capacity that
civilian trains had to give way continually to priority
troop trains. When they eventually arrived, they found
the camp was based on a magnificent, but very run-down
villa. After prison, this was almost luxury. There
were occasional hot showers, and prisoners were allowed
out (one at a time) to buy small necessities like
toothpaste, writing paper and even extra food.
By now, the Italian campaign was working its way up
Italy. Rome had already fallen to the Allies, so they
were expected to reach Florence soon. Nearly everyone
made plans to escape, but there was a danger the Germans
would transfer the prisoners to the north before the
Allies overran them. Gerald discovered it was easy to
get out by taking a path past the refuse bins. Then he
needed to join the Partisans in the country.
But which Partisans? It turned out there were many
rival groups. In that area there were the Communists
and the Christian Democrats. The Communists seemed the
better option, and he found them installed in the heart
of the Chianti vineyards. They were a great
disappointment; the atmosphere in their camp was more
like a picnic than a warrior band, and when he uncovered
a spy in their camp – a boy who had pretended to be
English until Gerald found he couldn’t speak the
language – the Partisans turned against him for showing
them up. So he moved on the Christian Democrats, who
proved to be lawyers and senior civil servants, but
though they were better organised, they still didn’t
fully accept him. They might have killed him off, if
they hadn’t been visited by their Political Commander –
surprisingly, an old friend from Menton, co-founder of
the Nice Ski Club. At long last, he was accepted as
what he had always claimed to be, but he had the good
fortune to meet a South African group who invited him to
join them. Life with them was less precarious, but when
Florence was half-liberated at the beginning of August,
he was pleased to be invited to go with two companions
to a safe house, a flat in central Florence, and wait
for the city to be recaptured.
This meant passing through the German lines at dead of
night, and they were thankful to be taken into the flat
of Beppo, a Florentine who had stayed behind when his
elderly parents had moved out to the hills. The
neighbours thought he had gone too, so he was able to
hide the prisoners in his flat, and they might have
thought the war was over for them, but on their sixth
day, the SS decided to move in. The flat overlooked a
main route, and it was a good place for a gun post to
resist the Allies. Beppo hastily thrust the three men
into a large cupboard, threw in a quantity of old
furniture (and a large vase, their only toilet
arrangements) to hide them, and let the SS in.
Beppo had demanded that he should stay in the flat, and
in the middle of each night, he would pass a little food
to them without waking the Germans. They stayed in the
cupboard for ten days. But then the SS fled, and they
were able to join the South African troops, who gave
them a warm welcome – and food!
Gerald was transferred to Rome, where all that remained
now was for him to persuade the British Army that he was
in fact himself. Nobody who interviewed him had any way
of proving it, until he asked how he could get some
money from his bank in London. They sent him to the
British Embassy, and there was the former British
Vice-Consul at Monte Carlo, who recognised him at once.
At last, a witness, and as he put it, in a few days he
was transformed from an escaped Prisoner of War to a
Captain in the British Army. He was sent to Genoa to
interrogate the others like him who came through the
lines claiming to be British.
Most of his troubles were now over, except that for some
time he would meet friends who had been officially told
he was dead. In fact, in spite of not having looked
after his health between the ages of 39 and 45, he lived
to the age of 96. He was rewarded by the French with
the Médaille de la Résistance, a very high honour, but
he was most proud of the award later in life of the MBE,
for his services to the British Community in Nice.
And to their great credit, the Ski Club had kept the
position of President vacant, and elected him as his own
successor in 1947.
Alan Hakim
From the Registers
27th March- Baptism of Oluwadurotimi
Chinonso Houghton Osondu-Tggbobo
30th March - Funeral of Irena Russell
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