“IT WARMS ’EM UP”

Waihi Daily Telegraph, Volume XXXI, Issue 8832, 12 October 1942, Page 1

“IT WARMS ’EM UP”

EVERYBODY’S CUP OF TEA CANTEEN WORK IN LONDON “HIGH JINKS” & “LOW JINKS” Two women whose wartime work is that of serving in the canteen of a London underground theatre probably meet more members of the Imperial forces than do any other two civilians. And in years to come they will no doubt be.part of the picture of wartime London that will be “remembered in tranquility” by these boys of to-day.

For Mrs Church and Mrs Williams hand cups of tea to most of the gallant Service men and women who

come from the Dominions and the Colonies, including, -as they proudly claim, nearly all the V.C’s. and bearers of other awards for acts of especial bravery. The theatre is used as a studio for various of the British Broadcasting Corporation’s programmes for the forces overseas. Men from all parts of the Empire come to listen to or take part in a “message session.” Australians, Canadians, Indians, Newfoundlanders, South Africans and Rhodesians, West Indians, and other Colonial forces, as well -as men in the United States contingent, roll up to take the chance the BBC offers them to let their families hear a few words from them in their own voices. It’s a thing that makes a deep impression on the recipients across the seas, as countless letters sent to the BBC tell.

But the young men don’t always find it easy'to express their thoughts. To convey in a few fleeting seconds all one is feeling about separation from homeland and dear ones is somewhat overwhelming. Many of them reach out for tea much like the drowning man for the proverbial straw. Some of them even appeal to the tea-servers to help them word their messages. “Do you think my mother might think this too casual?” “Now, how would you feel if a son of yours greeted you that way from the other side of the world?” are the sort of questions they get put to

them. (Girls in the services seem to be much more exercised about sending messages home). “Of course,” says Mrs Church, “the boys don’t ask us what they’re to say to their best girls.” “And,” Mrs Williams declares, “some of the ones that have done the bravest things quake at the idea of facing the microphone.” “But,” adds Mrs Church, “a cup of tea's a great help. It warms ’em up, and gives ’em confidence.”

Because the one is so tall (Mrs Williams) and the other short, they have been nicknamed “'High Jinks” and “Low Jinks.” ‘Both women worked in this canteen all through the London “blitzes.” So, too, did many of the artists taking part in these programmes to the forces. Members of the bands fitted into the horseshoe promenade round the dress circle; others slept in what were formerly the private boxes; staff, under the stage or behind the stalls. Mrs Church and Mrs Williams always helped to make people comfortable. “And of course we always got them a cup of tea if the noise from outside—or inside —wouldn’t let them sleep.” ('Programmes went out just the same right through the raids, and raidguests sometimes woke up and rubbed their eyes to make sure they weren’t dreaming what was taking place on the stage). A sharp eye has to be kept on cups and saucers. They mustn’t be taken on to the stage. No—not in case they don’t come back. Even though china is getting scarce in Britain- But because they rattle. Worse still, if dropped in the middle of a programme, the crash might reverberate half round the world.

• Neither of the two women had been a waitress before. “Low Jinks (Mrs Church), fair, buxom, and always cheerful, came to London from her native Liverpool fourteen years ago after she was married. As she described herself: “I was just a housewife like hundreds of others. 'But when my husband went on warwork, and my stepdaughter—who was in the BBC—went in the WAAFS, I thought I’d like to do my bit, and so I took her place. It was nice to get this kind of job, because I’ve got a lot of relations in America. I’ve a nephew in Canada that I’m always hoping to meet here one day if he comes over—and some of my mother s

family live in Washington and New Jersey. One of my sisters has just come back to England after many years in Florida. And Mrs Williams, she has relations in Australia — haven’t you, Mrs Williams?” “I haven’t now, because my Aunt and Uncle came over here a few months ago—with their parrpt. It’s quite a famous parrot—well known in Sydney. It used to fly all round Sydney harbour every day.” “High Jinks are in the family, evidently!”

“Well, perhaps they are. My father always said he’d lived in every town in England—visiting the different branches of his firm. Nearly all my family has been in films. I’ve been in many crowd scenes myself. Before that I was a mannequin. But my daughter’s in the Land Army (she went-straight from a Convent school) and my brother’s with the ferry pilots, and my husband, who was in the last war, is.an instructor in tanks in this one. So I thought I’d like to do something for the boys who’re fighting.' Of course, I’m a firewatcher too; in my own street.”