Tag: Mr G

Blowing the Whistle on ARP.

*Air Raid Precaution Whistle. photo by Mr. G.*

Last weekend we kept the annual Remembrance for those who died/gave their lives for their country in both the First and Second World Wars. Increasingly, and sadly, we have added further conflicts for our remembrance, since 1945. From Aden to Afghanistan (and now in Europe and the Middle East) the battle for peace and justice continues to need both our prayers and our participation.

Last weekend, at the UK Festival of Remembrance in the Albert Hall, London, there were deeply moving moments as, through the medium of television, we joined in thanksgiving for all who in the armed forces, the support groups who worked with them, and the Merchant Navy contended against evil. In different ways, all of us were involved. This included those who worked in the munitions industry and in farming, as well as others in reserved occupations in civilian life.
One group, however, has rarely got a mention beyond being classed with the ‘civilian services’.

As I looked for the family medals, I came across a ‘whistle’ with the inscription ‘A R P’. I was immediately reminded of ‘Auntie’ Annie, who, though unable to join the Army, could at least do her bit. The letters ARP stood for Air Raid Precaution and the whistle was a vital part of the equipment given to those who ‘volunteered’ as Wardens.

The main role of an ARP Warden was to protect people during air-raids when enemy attacked by dropping bombs, especially on our cities.
After the bombings began in 1940, in what is known as the ‘blitz’, ARP wardens became important and necessary members of our communities, especially in highly populated areas.

They received prior warning of the raids and shepherded the population into shelters, either purpose built or designated such as the London Underground.
They were also in charge of making sure that the ‘black out’ was observed, checking that every light was switched off or blocked with heavy curtain. This was to ensure no naked lights could be seen by the enemy. After the bombing, wardens led the rescue of any caught in the rubble, trying to reunite families and seeking those who were on their own. The wardens would also try to find temporary shelter for those made homeless. All this, as well as tending the injured with First Aid and even helping to put out any fires alongside fire-fighters.

The Whistle was provided to alert people of an incoming raid. Most were made in Birmingham by J. Hudson & Co, in brass and then chrome-plated. The company also made police whistles and in order to distinguish them, the ARP whistle was given a less sharp and shrill sound. An ‘Air Raid Warning’ pamphlet produced by the government in 1939, explains:

‘When air raids are threatened, warning will be given in towns by sirens, or hooters which will be sounded in some places by short blasts and in others by a warbling note, changing every few seconds. The warnings may be given by the police or air-raid wardens blowing short blasts on whistles.‘

As in the photo above, the letters ARP were engraved on the body.

All in all, in some areas particularly, being an Air Raid Warden was a very demanding and dangerous job and many communities relied on their service. Most of those who became Wardens were part-time and voluntary and over 7,000 were killed during raids in the 2^nd World War.
It has been estimated that over a million Wardens served over the whole period of the war. One of them was Annie Chiverall whose ARP whistle is in my possession.

Winston Churchill said, in 1940, that “it was not only soldiers who were engaged in battle but the entire population, men, women and children”. Those who served in as ARP Wardens responded to that call to serve alongside so many in the Civilian Services. They deserve a recognition for what they did and why they did it. It is often said that wars begin and prosper where, in the face of tyranny, good people do nothing. Dear ‘Aunty’ Annie was a good person who did her bit and more.

I hold them in loving remembrance and share in a peace and a justice that they worked for and know that this isn’t something confined to times of war. It is now and it is always.

And weep

The hand of a little girl clutching a cross at the siege of the School in Beslan, Russia
in September 2004. She was rescued and was a survivor.
This photo taken by a journalist at the scene went viral and spoke of the horror
and also the hope which often emerges in the most evil of situations.
In our current world of darkness and on a day of Remembrance we too must hold on to hope
and strive for peace and and work for love to prevail.
(Remembrance Sunday 2024)

and weep

Photographers and film-makers
take their images of devastation,
and weep.

Reporters, clad in flak jackets,
tell their story of human failure to live in peace,
and weep.

Old people,
once more sift through the rubble of their homes,
heavy with despair.
and weep.

Medicine men and women
try to bind up wounds,
and weep.

Parents watch children play
among diseased and crumbled streets
of a lost childhood,
and weep.

Mothers, fathers, grandparents
hold bundles of the dead,
hearts bursting with grief,
and weep

We, who cannot bear their pain,
switch our televisions to football matches
and bake-offs
and try not to weep.

And God …
seeing once again
what his children are doing to one another,
climbs upon a cross
and weeps.

[Mr. G. ]

Pondering about water

*Mist over Windermere, Lake District, photographed by Gill Henwood.*

The BBC reported last week that a water company responsible for supplying water and treating sewage in Cumbria has been pumping untreated waste into Lake Windermere. This was between 2021 and 2023. It was illegal dumping of sewage and it has damaged the water quality in the biggest Lake in the area. The figure reported is over 140 million litres of waste poured into the Lake at times when this was not permitted.

Britain’s water companies are under scrutiny for the pollution of lakes, rivers, streams and ultimately, the Sea.
One campaigner said that Windermere, the jewel in the crown of the Lake District
National Park is being used as an open sewer.
Hopefully the Water company concerned will be taken to task by OFWAT, the Water Services Regulation Authority and will be sanctioned to act responsibly in service to their customers. and keep our water supplies safe.

*The boy is trying to catch a few drops of water in Gaza.* (Getty Images)

Keeping water safe to drink combined with making it available to those in great need is a different but not unconnected story. The Global Commission on the Economics of Water report that more than
2 billion people lack access to safe drinking water, and 3.6 billion people – 44% of the population – lack access to safe sanitation. Every day, 1,000 children die from lack of access to safe water. Demand for fresh water is expected to outstrip its supply by 40% by the end of this decade. Over half of the world’s food production comes from areas experiencing unstable trends in water availability.
For the little boy in our other picture (reproduced last week in the Guardian Newspaper) it makes no difference how much water is wasted in the Lake District. He could well be dead by the time the balance between making money for shareholders and honest and responsible service to its customers gets sorted out.
In Gaza, Lebanon, Ukraine, Africa and so many other dark places in the world, the basic right of innocent people for clean water is making the situation far worse. So we have to work for a fair distribution of God’s provision of natural resources making them available to all. Failure to do this would be yet another sign of our misuse of the Planet which is not ours to do with as we like but is for all to share.

Loving God, we ask for Your blessings on children,
mothers, fathers, and communities who are thirsty.
Purify, protect, and multiply their water sources.
Strengthen their resolve so they may fully enjoy the benefits of clean water
— essentials like education, gardens of fresh produce, and good health.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Heavenly Father, source of living water,
Proverbs 25:21 says, “If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat;
if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.”
Please convict our hearts to help children, families, communities,
and even our enemies to receive clean, accessible drinking water.

[Mr G]

For the beauty of the earth.

*Langdale Pike*s from Grizedale Forest, Lake District. Photo by Gill Henwood

My friend Gill Henwood has sent me the photo posted above. It is a view of Langdale Pikes from Grizedale Forest, in the Lake District.
There is a certain broodiness about it with its different shades of light and dark which is rather in keeping with the extremities of weather at present in the UK.
The Lake District is a microcosm of our weather patterns and it is always wise, when walking in the Lakeland hills, to have a healthy respect for what Nature offers us. At one level we may call it fickle in that the conditions often change quickly. In another sense, it is a reminder that Planet Earth, and therefore its weather, is not something we can control. Sadly, we are messing things up with our human attempts at superiority over everything on earth.
The current preoccupation with the Northern Lights and with rare sightings of spectacular comets, along with other special things such as solar flares, remind us that these amazing displays from the cosmos are not of our making. They tell us, in fact, how small we are in the Universal scheme of things.
Unfortunately, the human race isn’t very good at learning lessons and applying them with humility to our borrowed and temporary life on earth. It was the poet T.S.Eliot who coined the phrase, humankind cannot bear very much reality so perhaps we shall continue to destroy the earth – and, of course, each other!

It would be good, therefore, if the human race might wake up to itself and accept that, as tenants with a life-span lower than many trees, a bit of humility might not go amiss.
As T. S. Eliot puts it in in his poem East Coker, “The only wisdom we can hope to acquire is the wisdom of humility: humility is endless.”

A large part of the lesson of humility can be found in contemplating the gifts God gives us through Creation. How can we not look at the scene depicted in the Gill’s photo above and be unmoved by what nature is trying to tell us about the Planet which is our home for the time being.
The light shimmering on the hills and the blue sky quietly folding itself around the clouds offers us a message of hope. It is just as true of a tuft of grass or a tiny flower pushing aside the tar of an urban footpath.
When the warmongers of the Middle East and the Russian invasion of Ukraine come to an end, they will leave desolation but it won’t be long before a blade of grass or a microscopic flower spring to life.
Gill’s photo gives me hope. I have added a few words from a lovely hymn by Folliott Sandford Pierpont. He sat on a hill near Bath and was exhilarated by the beauty of creation which was laid out before him. Inspired by what he saw, he was filled with gratitude to God and he wrote his hymn in thanksgiving.

That too is another clue coming from Gill’s photograph ~ thanksgiving.
When we give thanks for Creation and for God who created it, we find ourself in a different place from lordship, conceit and self-centredness. In fact, thanksgiving, turns our attention towards others, towards providence and therefore towards God as Creator.
The photo is filled with the promise. of light and that is a source of joy and hope. If none of this means anything, then perhaps another thought might help – remember the Dinosaurs!

[Mr G] 14th October 2024

The Beauty of Nature

O God, we thank you for this earth, our home;
For the wide sky and the blessed sun,
For the salt sea and the running water,
For the everlasting hills
And the never-resting winds,
For trees and the common grass underfoot.
We thank you for our senses
By which we hear the songs of birds,
And see the splendour of the summer fields,
And taste of the autumn fruits,
And rejoice in the feel of the snow,
And smell the breath of the spring.
Grant us a heart wide open to all this beauty;
And save our souls from being so blind
That we pass unseeing
When even the common thorn bush
Is aflame with your glory,
O God our creator,
Who lives and reigns forever and ever.

– Walter Rauschenbusch