What’s your story? - WAR BABY part 1 (Sent from Coventry)

Over the last couple of weeks I’ve been reflecting on the stories we each carry.  Stories of people, places and events; such as VE Day, 400 years of the Pilgrims leaving Plymouth, VJ Day and significant birthdays for family members.  Stories form part of our identity and inheritance, so I’ve invited my Mum to guest blog by sharing a couple of her stories.

Here is part one of her story - one that shows how people, places and events can become inexplicably interweaved.  We often dismiss these coincidences but sometimes they are more than coincidences, they are God-incidences.  We may not always know the significance of them, but I know that, despite the doubt concerning the authenticity of the windows, Mum was comforted by knowing that somehow God was connected to her life personally through these enigmatic signs.  

Akureyri Church (left & main) | Coventry Cathedral & Mum (right)

I was born on the 14th November 1940 in Oxford.  Although my mother, father and older brother were living in Kingston it was decided that due to the fact that Britain was by now feeling the full force of the German blitz and because my birth was to be a breech delivery, my mother would be safer staying at an inn just outside Oxford, I would then be born at the Radcliffe Infirmary in their well known and respected Maternity Unit.

My mum left Kingston secure in the knowledge that she would be living at a nice pub and that the birth would be well away from the German bombs.  Fate, unfortunately stepped in and I was born in a place right in the middle of two of the major attacks of the War.  Apart from the terrible nightly raids on London, that night Coventry was razed to the ground, with dreadful casualties and the destruction of Coventry Cathedral.

Growing up in the 1940s-50s in and around London, I was used to seeing the bombed out buildings and craters but I was more excited about the new baby Prince Charles being born on my birthday in 1948, than any damages that had occurred in the Midlands during the War.  It was not until my thirties when I was watching a documentary that I learnt about the awful destruction of Coventry enacted on the night of my birth.

However, I soon put that away in my memory bank and got on with my life.  It was not until my 50s that I was able to travel to Coventry and see the bombed out shell of the Cathedral for myself.  I must admit I felt quite moved to be in the middle of the destroyed Cathedral with my birth date inscribed there and then to visit the newly built replacement with it’s iconic depiction of Christ.

Moving on another 15 years and I was on a cruise ship making it’s way round the coast of Iceland, we had just left Reykjavik and the Captain had warned us that it was going to get a bit rough.  There was a Force11 gale heading our way straight down from the Arctic.  This was mid-August, so we weren’t too concerned and felt sure it would be fine.  However, the weather was continuing to deteriorate and as we rounded the top of the coast of Iceland, we were hit sideways by the full force of the wind.  Windows were imploding and hand rails and deck chairs were whipped up like matchsticks and sent whirling into the writhing ocean.  We lost most of the ship’s services and most of the passengers were locked in their cabins, hoping and praying we would safely ride out the storm.  With enormous relief, we sailed into the wide entrance to the fiord of Akureyri.  The city is sited at the inner end of the fiord and and  very soon we were back to smooth sailing.  We spent two days there recovering from our ordeal, whilst the ship was repaired and restored.

Akureyri is a pleasant small city and we made our way ashore up and towards it’s fairly modern Church.  At it’s approach is a long and steeply rising flight of steps and we climbed to the entrance for some quiet reflection inside.  Once again and very surprisingly I was reminded of my tenuous link with Coventry and it’s Cathedral.  Apparently at the start of WW2 the beautiful stained glass windows were removed and placed in safe storage for the duration,  where and why is unclear.  They were bought by a private buyer and three were donated to the Church being built in the 1940s.  Since our visit in 2009, doubt has been cast on to the authenticity of this story and where and whence the windows came from is debatable but they are beautiful and the Church is a delight.

I entered my name, place and date of birth in the Visitors Book and as we were strolling back down to the ship, we were arrested by the sight of two modern day jet fighters, followed by a World War Two bomber swooping across the sky towards us in a magnificent flypast.  Do I think this was in my honour, no of course not, it was a salute to the  British cruise ship nestling quietly in the lagoon at the foot of the fiord.   But it was an awe inspiring experience, especially after our long and frightening journey and yet another link to the events of 1940. 

Also check out What’s your God story? On YouTube  https://youtu.be/5DIgpGRFwik