大象传媒

Last week I watched the 大象传媒 documentary about Operation Manna. I was born in 1947, but I know from the stories of my family that things were black indeed near the end of the war. My mother remembered the confusion in March 1945 when the Bezuidenhout was accidentally bombed by the Allies, and then, near the end, another "bombardment" that literally saved thousands from starving, including my family.

What I will always remember was a visit with my mother to Salisbury in 1997. We met a visitor's guide there, an old chap with wonderful stories about the Cathedral and its history. And then he discoverd that we were Dutch, and before we knew it he regaled us with stories about that last month of the war, and how he, as a gunnery, flew over Holland, over The Hague and Delft, and dropped tons of food.
My mother was never one to talk much about those dark years, but this time the floodgates were opened. She was not very good at English, but I needed not to worry; those two people understood each other so well that they needn't any translation.
Later that day we were allowed to sit in the choir at Evensong, and he sat right there, on the opposite site, with his lined old face and those twinkling eyes. Maybe it has something to to with Thomas Hardy country, but there and then everything came together, the war and the survival, the choir and those fantastic choristers in that great Cathedral, where two old people just had met and shared a deepseated memory. It was breathtaking, and some of it returned when I watched the documentary, knowing that it was probably the last time that this fellow's comrades and the Dutch would meet.

For that, and for saving so many lives, I wanted to say a heartfelt thanks to those crews (and the Lancasters as well). We forgot the name of this crewmember but for once it didn't matter; what mattered was sharing this timeless moment.

漏 Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.