大象传媒

46 - Jean Abelson tells about her time in England and America during the War:

"Well I was in England when war broke out, in Buckinghamshire, and the man that I worked for, it was a I suppose a sort of secretary come whatever. I mean, he was an inventor, he was doing some work for the War Office some gun emplacements or wherever it was, and it was quite interesting because all the information came through 鈥�, you know I had to decode it, you know through Dun & Bradstreet and that was it you know. And they had this very nice house in Buckinghamshire, and Felix, this chap, he had a lot of interests in Hong Kong he was born in Hong Kong, and he and his brother owned a tremendous lot of property, includes Prince鈥檚 Building which was one of the foremost buildings in Hong Kong, and when he married in nineteen 鈥�, what was it, twenty or whatever, he lived in London and then he decided that he would want to go out and live in Hong Kong for a bit, so he took his wife and his younger son and daughter out there, and he built a beautiful house for her at Repulse Bay in Hong Kong, and there they stayed for two or three years at least and then they came back to England, I mean he still retained his interest in Hong Kong, and so he was 鈥�, that was when I went you know to work for the family.
And then war was declared, and he was Jewish you know, and I mean he didn鈥檛 follow the Jewish religion very 鈥�, you know, but there was that feeling, and you know we had Jewish, oh I suppose refugees if you like, on the staff, two women from Austria. I mean they had been dressmakers, and another one came, and he was a sort of groom, because you know, with horses there.
Anyway Felix didn鈥檛 like the way things were going, and he decided that he, well he and his wife and family should go to Hong Kong via Canada really, so in June 1940 鈥�, I mean I was allowed to go because I was working for him, I got special permission 鈥榗os I mean I was an age, I was what, 21, you know and I would have been called up, but anyway because I knew all about this thing they said no I could go. So he didn鈥檛 come with us, I went with his wife and 3 children, Anthony was about 16, and Geoffrey was 14 the little girl was about 11. And we went over from Liverpool on this very crowded ship, mostly unaccompanied children you know. And we went very far north, because, you know it was quite dangerous, and we saw icebergs. Anyway we went to Canada, we landed in Montreal, and then we went through to Toronto, and then Felix came over on a later ship, and we went to New York, and there, you know, there we stayed a bit. And then of course America came into the war you see in December 1941, Pearl Harbour you see, and of course Hong Kong was out, you know we couldn鈥檛 go to Hong Kong, so all his money was frozen you see.
So anyway he was a very clever chap, and he had invented an ashtray, where you put the butt in the holes and it goes out and there鈥檚 no smell, and it was made in sort of Pyrex stuff and plastic. Anyway he redesigned this ashtray in porcelain, I mean I have still got lots of them here anyway you know, and so, you know, that鈥檚 how he sort of made his money you know.

And so we were in New York, and by then. We went to California actually, which was quite interesting, and we were actually there when, you know, America declared war.

We travelled across by car. I mean, his wife and son driving you know, it was no hardship, by car all the time you know. Across鈥�, we did that several times actually by car. And then it was interesting because, in California, you know, most of the gardeners were Japanese and they were all interned, they were all interned you see.
And so we were in California for quite a long time, and then it was decided we, you know, it鈥檚 better to be in New York because of his business you know, the people who were making the ashtrays and so forth, and so that鈥檚 when we came back to just outside New York, in a suburb of Scarsdale, very nice, you know like an English 鈥�, sort of, a bit like what, you know, like Wimbledon or somewhere like that, but about 20 miles of New York City. And they rented a house from somebody who was in Washington, you know he was doing a war job, and then so it went on. And from there it was quite interesting because, I mean there was no rationing, you know, I mean plenty of food, never wanted for anything like that, and occasionally, you know English troops came over to New York and there鈥檚 a 鈥�, I don鈥檛 know what Society it was some worthy women you know, decided they should be entertained, so you know we used to go down there and entertain them.
And then a relative of the family, he came over, he was on his way to Canada, he had been in the army and he decided he wanted to change to the air force, and he was training in Canada. And then a relative came over who was in the Royal Navy and of course he wasn鈥檛 allowed to say, you know it was all sort of secret, and he just wrote a postcard to his little niece and said 鈥淯ncle Bad Penny鈥檚 turned up again鈥�! So that they met him, and of course all our mail from UK was censored, so you received letters with great chunks cut out! Oh yes, anything that they thought would reveal anything in England you know that was suspicious or whatever; and I mean I think they went over the top a bit sometimes you know, well anyway so that was that.
And as I say, one really 鈥�, well you did know of course because we followed it very closely naturally, you know, and you know we had letters from home and what people were doing, and the war, and you know where bombs were falling, and the sister in law of the lady, she lived in a house near Tring, and a bomb fell there, an unexploded bomb, and of course they had to vacate the house you know while the house was 鈥�, you know. So obviously we did follow the news very, very closely, you were bound to. And people, you know, were interested you know, and of course they would love to hear us speak, you know an English accent! And I was quite sort of fair haired at the time, and they thought I was Swedish or something like that, and so it went on.
And then of course getting towards the end, President Roosevelt you know died.

It wasan enormous shock, it was, it was. You heard it on the radio you thought oh my God, you know, yes it was.
But before that, an old school friend of mine, she was in the Wrens I think, one of the services, and she was my contemporary at school, and she knew that I was in New York so she got in touch with me, so that was nice, and we met once or twice, and we went to Carnegie Hall to go to a concert you know. And yes, and so as I say, life sort of went on, you know, I never say regardless because of the troops you know, but you heard everything, but I mean you know one never sort of lived a fairly normal sort of life.

Everyone was pro-British,oh yes, oh yes, oh yes, absolutely.
A most extraordinary thing going back to Canada, there was more anti-Semitism in Canada, they had never experienced in England. Especially joining of a country club, yes, that was 鈥�, you know, and the children had never encountered that, you know somebody said to one of them, you are Jewish, you know, they鈥檇 never had that, it was quite extraordinary.
And then of course Churchill, you know, go beaten - they were absolutely astounded, they could not understand that, they thought that was terrible, it really was you know.
And yes there were one or two Jewish families who were 鈥�, who lived there, who had come over you know like our family had done.
And then of course, where we lived in Scarsdale, which was a very nice sort of location, I mean anybody who lived in that district, I mean the children could go to the high school you see, and I mean several people had coloured servants with children, and so of course those children you know were allowed to go to, you know, go to the local high school, but there weren鈥檛 many of those. But still at that time, coloured people were not allowed to go into the shops in Fifth Avenue, you know like Saks, yes.

Jean Abelson Yes Churchill's arrival made a difference, it did, but we didn鈥檛 sort of know too much about that you know, I think they sort of downplayed that in a way. But I know somebody, she鈥檚 no longer with us, who was working with Churchill, she went over you know, as a secretary you know, it was interesting you know, with that. I don鈥檛 know


And we, I suppose I was lucky in a way, we did things. I mean we went to the tennis which was in Forest Hills you know, and saw Helen Wills Moody play. And when we were in California, you know we saw a lot of tennis at Laquia ??, yes. And we 鈥�, the summer we spent in California near Santa Monica, that was interesting because, you know, the family were all very keen on tennis, and so we spent several days a week at a sort of little tennis school if you like, which was run by somebody called May Sutton Bunday, who won Wimbledon in the year dot you know, and she came from a family, there were five girls and they were all tennis players, and two brothers as well you know. But May Sutton, anyway she was 鈥�, she actually you know, my back hand, she taught me that, you know, sort of shouting at us all the time, but yes that was interesting.
And then just after the war her daughter who was a tennis player, Dodo Bunday came over and we met her at Wimbledon, but she was quite a good tennis player but May said oh she will never make Wimbledon, she鈥檚 too fond of the social side you know, having a good time.

War did not affect the American West Coast,not really. I mean there were no sort of defences or anything like that, no nothing. I say mainly life went on you know as usual, it didn鈥檛 sort of touch people which was extraordinary in a way, but having such a big country.
yes. I mean Pearl Harbour, you know they are showing a lot on television about World War Two, I mean that was a terrible shock you know. I think they had all been celebrating hadn鈥檛 they, the Americans, or something and they were unaware that this was going to happen, or they didn鈥檛 heed the warning I think.
And they felt safe, a long way from Japan, and protected by missiles. And you know they were so far away they didn鈥檛 believe it could happen.
Well I think they wanted to, this was if you like an excuse, well not an excuse, yes it was an excuse, yes, yes, a legitimate excuse you know, Roosevelt wanted to get into the War and finish it by then, he wanted to, yes.
Then of course you know the Americans came over here, you know, over here and over sexed! You know.
I know one laddie who lived in Stratford, he obviously you know was a product of, you know, a coloured soldier and a white girl, you know, they it was bound to happen you know.

I was aware that Roosevelt was crippled, very much so, very much so, yes. That was extraordinary. And Eleanor, she was quite an extraordinary woman you know. She used to travel a lot, and of course he had 鈥渙ther interests鈥�, which we now know about.

But yes she liked to go abroad a lot you know, what was her quotation you know? Travelling broadens the mind.
Obviously mother was very upset you know when I left. Well my father had died a long time ago, my father died in 1932 when I was 13. And mother was living in Sussex, Sussex and in London. And the thing was that after my father died, we moved about so much, Sussex, London, back to Guildford where we came from, back to London again, and I think she was back in London by then in a flat on the Edgware Road, and you know I didn鈥檛 realize 鈥�, well I did realize it at the time, but you know I wanted to go to America, I didn鈥檛 have to, and when I was there I used to write and say you know I am sure Gladys and Felix you know will let you come back, and you know if you wanted to, and I wrote back and said well no that was difficult anyway, because of travel hardships, you know, it was dangerous you know by then. And I couldn鈥檛 really tell her you see why, but my brother was free, he was in England, and he really wanted to be a doctor but he failed and so he had to join up, yes so I was away for five years and it was a long time.

When she was bombed out of London, she took a job at the Ronksford Hospital in Worcester as a telephonist you know, they were called, and then she went to Hereford or Wales, in that direction, and she ran a hostel for the land army girls you know. So, you know, so, you know, she did her bit you know, yes.

And my brother was in England, yes, he was in the army. Yes I mean, he didn鈥檛 sort of go abroad at all, he was just, you know, just in the army. So there was sort of five years, sort of missed years you know. And then when we got back, came back in 1945, and then in 1946 I actually married into the family you see.

Evenmtually my employer got his property back in Hong Kong. His brother was interned in Hong Kong, Joseph, and I mean 鈥�, he was, well I don鈥檛 say he was quite frail, but I mean you know he was quite getting on in years, and he died you know. And subsequently, my sister in law Gladys, I met people, she went eventually to live in the south of France, she was a widow and we used to go and stay with her a lot, and there were one or two people who had been in Hong Kong, and had been interned, and they went through a dreadful time, dreadful time. And somebody sent to her, to this lady, you know you should write down all your memories, and her doctor said no don鈥檛, it鈥檚 too painful to relive those memories. I mean they were all marched out to the camp where they were interned, and as they walked past, in one case the house their boy was at the gate crying, you know, holding the dog, you know, sobbing you know to see them all. And there was one, it was a French lady, and she was allowed into the camp and she used to take them, you know, the prisoners, goods and whatever, and it had a devastating effect, it really did.

And you know, nobody should be interned anyway, but you know they were sort of, you know, in their forties or fifty years old you know, deprivation, and the Japs were really cruel to them."

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