These ranged from the daughter of General de Grancey in France (he was once a POW and later Governor of Les Invalides, Paris) who said she would definitely be celebrating with champagne; to 'Great Granny Flo' in England now aged 91 who said she might have a small glass of Baileys.
From Sergeant John Nichols, the only Chelsea Pensioner to have a No. 9 hit in the 'Top of the Pops' charts with 'Scotch and the Rock' in 1961, to Griselda K., whose father Brigadier Jock Hamilton Baillie was a POW in Colditz and who saved it from being bombed by sewing a HUGE Union Jack placed on the top of the castle.
From Sir Richard Stagg (ex. British Ambassador to Afghanistan) whose favourite war poem is The Soldier by Rupert Brooke to a retired British General who still adores his NAAFI tea (the standard forces tea bags since 1921!). From Corporal Ted Roberts who remembers well his older sister Sheila running into a shop doorway to hide from the bombing
raid down Meeting House Lane in SE5 on her way home from school; to my cousin Felicity Hindson who was at school the day before VE day and remembers being taught by Mrs MacLean - Hugh Grant's grandmother.
As we chatted, I asked them all to tell me their favourite war films, war poems and how they would celebrate on Friday. Here are a few of them...
Drink to celebrate:
- Champagne
- Tea
- Plymouth Gin (The chosen drink of The Royal Navy)
Favourite war films:
- The Great Escape
- The Longest Day
- A Bridge Too Far
- Carve Her Name With Pride
- Dunkirk
- Mediterraneo
- Bridge On The River Kwai
- Life Is Beautiful
- Brief Encounter
Favourite war poems:
The Life That I Have by Leo Marks...
- Anthem for Doomed Youth by Wilfred Owen
- In Flanders Fields by John McCrae
- The Soldier by Rupert Brooke
- The Waste Land by T S Eliot
- For Johnny by John Sleigh Pudney
- The Naming of Parts by Henry Reed
- El Alamein by John Jarmain
Some of the Cassandra Goad team's favourite war poems, war films and drinks to celebrate...
War Poems:
- The Send Off by Wilfred Owen
- Spring Offensive by Wilfred Owen
- Here Dead We Lie by A E Housman
Drinks to celebrate...
The French 75
Recommended by AMK (Workshop Manager)
The French 75 has a wonderful history as well as being very yummy and easy to make. The name comes from the French 75mm light field gun, which was a very popular and effective field gun used a lot by the French in WW1. It was very much talked about and used as a symbol of hope by the French to win the war against Germany. The drink itself is composed of 50ml gin, 1 tbsp. lemon juice, 1 tsp sugar and then topped up with champagne.
The Gin Bramble
Recommended by EJL (Marketing Assistant)
The Gin Bramble is a typically British cocktail, created in 1984 in London. It is very easy to make and delicious! It contains 50 ml Gin, 30 ml freshly squeezed lemon juice, a dash (10ml) of sugar syrup, a drizzle of Crème de Mure/Cassis, topped up with soda water and crushed ice and garnished with berries and lemon
Pinkster & Tonic
Recommended by JLG (Marketing Assistant)
To make the perfect Pinkster & tonic all you need is a bottle of Pinkster Gin, Fever Tree tonic, ice and a few raspberries and fresh mint leaves to garnish. The UK based Gin company grow all its raspberries here close to their distillery in Cambridge. A Pinkster and tonic is truly the perfect drink to quench your thirst… especially in the British sunshine!
From the workshop...
Great Granny Flo's silver ring being made and a VE day cake made by her great granddaughters:
