Post by Dave Homewood on Jan 19, 2022 16:45:26 GMT 12
Ross Sayers was one of our Cambridge airmen in WWII, and he features on my website here www.cambridgeairforce.org.nz/Ross%20Sayers.htm
You can read his autobiography there, which has been slightly abridged for the website but wonderfully covers his early days in Cambridge and his RNZAF flying career during the war. Just before the war he became a journalist with the Waikato Times newspaper, and he carried on journalism as his career afterwards. I just found this article he wrote just at the end of his RNZAF service about his experiences in Britain. It's a good read.
TRUE HOSPITALITY
THE PEOPLE OF BRITAIN
FLIGHT-LIEUT. ROSS SAYERS’ IMPRESSIONS
In the London Evening News there appeared recently an article written by Flight-Lieutenant R. C. Sayers, R.N.Z.A.F., son of Mr and Mrs A. D. Sayers, of Cambridge, in which he gives his impressions of war-time Britain. Extracts from the article are:-
Nearly five years ago, on the day I landed in the island fortress of Britain, I travelled through the West Country. Was it really England I saw or was I dreaming of the farm lands of my native New Zealand?
Fields and hedgerows, blending greens of pastures and trees, and grazing stock —the placid country beauty of rural England. It was familiar, yet I was conscious of something even cosier, more compact and softer than my own countryside. This was love at first sight.
Homesickness, which had haunted me for weeks at sea, was dispelled and I realised why New Zealanders always had referred to the Old Country as ‘‘Home.”
British Courage.
Her people and my people were one, but during my service with the Royal New Zealand Air Force in this country my admiration for the courage of the British in the front line of war made me even prouder to be a kinsman.
Now the time has come to sail from this England back to New Zealand. In these last few days, just as highlights crowd the mind when one leaves the arena after an exciting performance, the finest hours of the drama of Britain at war throng in retrospect through my memory.
The stars were the ordinary men and women. Was there ever a people so indomitable? Inspired by a great leader, they gave courage to the oppressed world. Perhaps I have looked at Britain through spectacles tinted with the English blood in my veins, but foreigners shared this admiration.
Hospitality Offered.
We had more offers of hospitality than we could accept; no effort was spared to make us happy and good natured; warm friendship pervaded our every leave. Through the years emerged the dominant character of Britain’s steadfastness and hospitality—the humble housewife. No medals for her, but she was mentioned in the despatches sent home by nearly every Dominion airman.
I remember her grim determination and devotion to family well being, queueing day after day in snow, wind and rain, during raids, seeking a morsel of fish to nourish the family rations; her sacrifices to feed husband and child better than herself; monotonous housework and tiring part-time war labours; her canteen service for those of us in uniform, and, above all, the charm and hospitality offered in her home to the men from abroad, regardless of the extra work, the extra mouth to feed.
Broadly defined the similarities of life give truth to the adage that New Zealand is the most English of the Dominions. But, often far ahead in political reform, New Zealand is, incongruously, somewhat conservative and not a little Puritan in social habits.
Social Habits.
I am going to miss the character and fellowship of Saturday night at the local and the charm and comfort of a country pub. I shall feel hide-bound when “Time, Gentlemen” is called at 6 o’clock in the evening to conform with a New Zealand law which, by promoting drunkenness, is the antithesis of its intention. I shall miss feminine company in a bar, although I must confess it seemed undesirable to me five years ago.
There will be a spot in my heart to remember the impressive architecture of England such as St. Paul’s and Salisbury; the historic significance of the Tower of London or the ruins of Dorset or Corfe Castle; the quaint hamlets; the sleepy charm of a thatched cottage; and the humour and fascination of county dialects and customs.
I shall miss London—the only city I know which has a “soul.” There is friendliness in the very street names which were never strange even to those of us who live in the far corners of the earth. London is the heart, the purse, the brains and the very sword of Britain.
“The Compensations"
The compensations? It will be grand to return to fresh, smokeless cities; an income tax of two shillings in the pound; no more “tipping,” one penny telephone call boxes, warm sea swimming for nearly six months of the year, streets in which every house is a distinct design; the cheeriness of brightly painted wooden bungalows; a garden in every home; no slums, and a more open-air life.
Awaiting one is the sub-tropical comfort of Auckland’s climate; the beauties of practically every known scenic attraction in the world—the winter playgrounds amid majestic peaks and the grandeur of snowy mountain-bound lakes. There, too, are the rich farmlands which have produced two-thirds of the butter consumed in Britain during the war.
Britain bore the brunt of the war, but it was an Empire united which defeated the enemies. Now reconditioning itself, the Commonwealth will be on the test bench during the next decade. Its strength must not be impaired, because not only is its survival indispensable to its own prosperity but also the influence is imperative in creating a constructive peace.
Therefore I leave with you a plea for preserving a strong Empire. Let Westminster ensure that Imperial Preferences are not cheaply jettisoned when tariffs come to international arbitration. And now I must embark. For your hospitality, your example of fortitude and spirit, for making me happy and at home in the Old Country I say: Thank you—and God bless England.
WAIKATO INDEPENDENT, 27 MARCH 1946
You can read his autobiography there, which has been slightly abridged for the website but wonderfully covers his early days in Cambridge and his RNZAF flying career during the war. Just before the war he became a journalist with the Waikato Times newspaper, and he carried on journalism as his career afterwards. I just found this article he wrote just at the end of his RNZAF service about his experiences in Britain. It's a good read.
TRUE HOSPITALITY
THE PEOPLE OF BRITAIN
FLIGHT-LIEUT. ROSS SAYERS’ IMPRESSIONS
In the London Evening News there appeared recently an article written by Flight-Lieutenant R. C. Sayers, R.N.Z.A.F., son of Mr and Mrs A. D. Sayers, of Cambridge, in which he gives his impressions of war-time Britain. Extracts from the article are:-
Nearly five years ago, on the day I landed in the island fortress of Britain, I travelled through the West Country. Was it really England I saw or was I dreaming of the farm lands of my native New Zealand?
Fields and hedgerows, blending greens of pastures and trees, and grazing stock —the placid country beauty of rural England. It was familiar, yet I was conscious of something even cosier, more compact and softer than my own countryside. This was love at first sight.
Homesickness, which had haunted me for weeks at sea, was dispelled and I realised why New Zealanders always had referred to the Old Country as ‘‘Home.”
British Courage.
Her people and my people were one, but during my service with the Royal New Zealand Air Force in this country my admiration for the courage of the British in the front line of war made me even prouder to be a kinsman.
Now the time has come to sail from this England back to New Zealand. In these last few days, just as highlights crowd the mind when one leaves the arena after an exciting performance, the finest hours of the drama of Britain at war throng in retrospect through my memory.
The stars were the ordinary men and women. Was there ever a people so indomitable? Inspired by a great leader, they gave courage to the oppressed world. Perhaps I have looked at Britain through spectacles tinted with the English blood in my veins, but foreigners shared this admiration.
Hospitality Offered.
We had more offers of hospitality than we could accept; no effort was spared to make us happy and good natured; warm friendship pervaded our every leave. Through the years emerged the dominant character of Britain’s steadfastness and hospitality—the humble housewife. No medals for her, but she was mentioned in the despatches sent home by nearly every Dominion airman.
I remember her grim determination and devotion to family well being, queueing day after day in snow, wind and rain, during raids, seeking a morsel of fish to nourish the family rations; her sacrifices to feed husband and child better than herself; monotonous housework and tiring part-time war labours; her canteen service for those of us in uniform, and, above all, the charm and hospitality offered in her home to the men from abroad, regardless of the extra work, the extra mouth to feed.
Broadly defined the similarities of life give truth to the adage that New Zealand is the most English of the Dominions. But, often far ahead in political reform, New Zealand is, incongruously, somewhat conservative and not a little Puritan in social habits.
Social Habits.
I am going to miss the character and fellowship of Saturday night at the local and the charm and comfort of a country pub. I shall feel hide-bound when “Time, Gentlemen” is called at 6 o’clock in the evening to conform with a New Zealand law which, by promoting drunkenness, is the antithesis of its intention. I shall miss feminine company in a bar, although I must confess it seemed undesirable to me five years ago.
There will be a spot in my heart to remember the impressive architecture of England such as St. Paul’s and Salisbury; the historic significance of the Tower of London or the ruins of Dorset or Corfe Castle; the quaint hamlets; the sleepy charm of a thatched cottage; and the humour and fascination of county dialects and customs.
I shall miss London—the only city I know which has a “soul.” There is friendliness in the very street names which were never strange even to those of us who live in the far corners of the earth. London is the heart, the purse, the brains and the very sword of Britain.
“The Compensations"
The compensations? It will be grand to return to fresh, smokeless cities; an income tax of two shillings in the pound; no more “tipping,” one penny telephone call boxes, warm sea swimming for nearly six months of the year, streets in which every house is a distinct design; the cheeriness of brightly painted wooden bungalows; a garden in every home; no slums, and a more open-air life.
Awaiting one is the sub-tropical comfort of Auckland’s climate; the beauties of practically every known scenic attraction in the world—the winter playgrounds amid majestic peaks and the grandeur of snowy mountain-bound lakes. There, too, are the rich farmlands which have produced two-thirds of the butter consumed in Britain during the war.
Britain bore the brunt of the war, but it was an Empire united which defeated the enemies. Now reconditioning itself, the Commonwealth will be on the test bench during the next decade. Its strength must not be impaired, because not only is its survival indispensable to its own prosperity but also the influence is imperative in creating a constructive peace.
Therefore I leave with you a plea for preserving a strong Empire. Let Westminster ensure that Imperial Preferences are not cheaply jettisoned when tariffs come to international arbitration. And now I must embark. For your hospitality, your example of fortitude and spirit, for making me happy and at home in the Old Country I say: Thank you—and God bless England.
WAIKATO INDEPENDENT, 27 MARCH 1946
