London: Tea Time in Wonderland

Walking through London, you’ll meet countless monuments dedicated to WWI/II, to the soldier’s courage, bravery, strength. They’re sometimes impressive, others dark, proud, full of hope. But always, praise is on those whom left for the real fight.

On Whitehall, this amazing bronze sculpture by John Mills is less known and what a shame! Rounder shapes, a little shyer but so vibrant with peacefulness and determination… It was dedicated in 2005 to the 7 millions women who fought, in their own way, during WWII. Husbands were in the army, of course, and they rolled their sleeves taking over as much as they could: they volunteered for military service, drove ambulances, buses, traijns, helped to build planes and ships, made munitions, dug coal… The title uses the same font as the ration books at the time.

I love, in this work of art, the movement in the uniforms, the very strong presence of this feminine force, ready to jump back into action any time…

Intrigued? Rush to the Imperial War Museum close to Waterloo (ironically, previously and asylum) – I have always been fascinated by the collection of WWII slogans such as Dig for Victory, the wonderful unity of the British nation. You’ll also learn how children were massiveley evacuated from the capital to the countryside during the Blitz, with only a suitcase and a label with their name around their neck…

Alternatively, try this book: Can any mother help me? A group of women, feeling isolated, corresponded and created a magazine. Each would write an article on any subject would add it to the pile and send it to the next person on the list. Each reader would leave annotations. This covers WWII -  an extraordinay insight on how they coped, welcomed evacuees, their political views, their regions at the time, how they struggled to keep their family together. All true – no fiction at all!

7 Responses to “V for Victory, W for Women ”