In 2011, Bill had a business trip to London and Paris and asked if I would like to come along. “Bien sur,” I replied, and quickly figured out how I would extricate myself from daily life at our house in Connecticut.
By sheer chance, I mentioned the trip to my sister, Tina. It turned out that she had a free ticket to fly anywhere in the world that was in danger of expiring, the result of a cancelled flight her husband Brian experienced the prior year. I asked if she’d like to join us on our upcoming trip and she replied, “Bien sur!” Kismet!
A lot of great stuff happened on this trip. This was the real beginning of my book journey, and the research behind writing the story of my mother’s WW2 work for the Office of War Information (OWI). I’ll report on the other parts of the trip in additional posts.
On this day in London, March 16th, 2011, we planned to visit Shepherd Market where our mother lived during her time in London from March 1944 – March 1945. Early that morning, we headed out to our destination, a short walk of about four blocks from the Inter-Continental Hotel where we were staying, thanks to an economical pre-buy on Priceline. We started the day with a proper English breakfast. Hungry travelers make for cranky companions, myself included.
Shepherd Market is a charming little square located in the Mayfair borough of London. It was developed in the mid-1700’s, after a notorious fifteen-day fair, “the Mayfair,” was burned down after too many boisterous and lascivious parties. According to the history of Sheperd Market, “James II originally established the fair in the 1680’s, mainly for the purpose of cattle trading. Over the years the fair grew in popularity and size, attracting both rich and poor.”
Enter the architect Edward Shepherd, who developed the square, complete with a two-story market, paved alleys, a duck pond and a theater. It is located between Piccadilly and Curzon Street and retains an intimate flair and old-world ambiance to this day.
For the pop culture fans out there, Mama Cass, of the Mamas and the Papas, died right around the corner on Curzon Street, as did Keith Moon (drummer with the Who) four years later. Shepherd Market is also the setting for the 1924 Michael Arlen best-selling book, The Green Hat, made into a successful play and also, a movie starring Greta Garbo.
Steps away from the apartment building Mom lived in with her fellow OWI’er and lifelong friend Margaret McElderry (aka Elsa in The French Desk) stood the Kings Arms pub, which held court at one corner of Sheperd Market square. Marg, as Mom called her, became a well-known children’s book editor and publisher. Mom and Marg lived on the top floor of Shepherds House, which is the door I am pictured in front of, above. It was a happy home for the two American girls working at the OWI, a half-hour walk away. Mom’s many letters home detail how they saved various food ration coupons to have friends, co-workers and soldiers over for a small party or dinner. They were also lucky to receive tin meats, nuts and dried fruit sent from Brooklyn to London. These get-togethers made the stress of the war abate for a few hours.
Her letters also speak to the prospects of being bombed by the V-1 rockets, used by Nazi Germany over London beginning in mid-June June 1944. “There goes the siren, again” Mom would write in the letters home, sometimes going to the basement of her apartment building but after a while, ignoring the sirens and getting under the beds. In one letter, she complains to her sister about how her father was sending her clippings about the V-bombs “…Dad keeps sending me all those lugubrious pictures about them – is that his way of letting me know that he is worried? So far, his letters have been wonderful and do not sound as if he is worried. But I wonder.”
After our visit to Shepherd Market, we all took in the Tower of London. It was a great day, all around.