Saturday, 31 January 2015

Make it Stop!



I took my frostbite across the park to the market this morning, spent vast sums (£4:50) on fruit and veg and shivered my way back home.  Next thing the snow returned and according to the forecast is on for 24 hours.  
It's good to be alive!  



The intention was to write up some stuff from yesterday but frankly I just canny be bothered today. Carol questioned whether memory was influenced by others memories or stories and it is an intriguing thought.  A memory of an event can be very clear but time makes the edges fuzzy.  Those who spoke of aircraft passing overhead have clear memories of the event, sometimes bombs are dropped, bullets fired, explosions and damaged houses or people stick in the mind.  However if the memory was to be compared to a film of the event it would be clear some things have altered with time.  The 'gist' of the event will be clear, the facts amended somewhat.  I don't think this removes authenticity from the memory but it does require confirmation and 'cleaning up.'  
Luckily someone took photographs of bomb damage in the town after the event, this enables memories to stay sharp. The events such as a local lorry driver delivering goods to the airbases or taking POWs to local farms to work depend on memories alone.  The stories will be true but no confirmation can be provided, which is a shame.  
One man incidentally,  a German POW in a camp a distance from here,  was involved in a administrative error.  He should have been repatriated at one point at wars end but the paperwork failed.  He ended up sleeping near the camp and making his own way home.  Till he died he claimed he was still, legally, a Prisoner of War!  Many such men however remained in the UK alongside Poles and others afraid or unable to return home.  Their memories would be interesting.  One such lives near here but age and weather made it impossible for him to visit.
My memory is of course perfect, well, I cannot remember where I left my pen but 1956 is quite clear in my head!




3 comments:

carol in cairns said...

Love the story of the German POW. I can just see you with your huskies and sled, ploughing through the snow with your trusty little cassette tape recorder, to get the oral history of your older folk in the community ~ mush, mush mush!

Adullamite said...

Carol, I went out this morning as the weather was OK. It began to snow/hail/ yuck the minute I left until the minute I got to my destination. It's no fair.

Lee said...

Do you require a food drop, Mr. Ad-Man? Just send me your list and I'll see what I can do! :)