A Padre's Wife's Recollections of Wartime Scampton - part 2

I could hear the planes going off on operations when suddenly there was a terrific bang and it felt as if the whole building might collapse

Another tragic event was when so few came back from the famous Dam Busting (sic) raid by the gallant crews of 617 Squadron. We knew these men so well, especially Guy Gibson. King George VI and Queen Elizabeth came to the station after this raid (on 27 May 1943) to decorate the air crews who did return. I was asked by the group captain to arrange the flowers for the whole of the Officers’ Mess, the dining tables, and the Station Church for the reception. It was a great thrill for me to do this, and to be allowed to go into Lincoln and buy all kinds of lovely flowers. I Had to work at great speed as the whole of the Officers’ Mess, dining room and Station Church had to be finished by 12.45pm. I started very early in the morning and I had several airmen to fetch and carry vases and water for me. Some of the vases were enormous and very heavy. The main table in the dining room had a wonderful silver model of a Lancaster aeroplane in the centre of the table. I arranged a ring of displays in small deep red roses round the centre of this.

Our losses at Scampton had been very heavy and I asked the Group Captain (by then it was Group Captain A D Davies who had assumed command of RAF Scampton on 11 June 1943) if he would allow me to produce a Nativity Scene to set the tone of Christmas. He gladly gave his consent but I thought I was optimistic in thinking that it would be well supported. However I went ahead with all the preparations in Faith and with much prayer. I trained a choir of 50, which included my church choir and airmen and WAAF, and also some of the girls from the NAAFI and Salvation Army canteens. Airmen of the nearby station, RAF Dunholme, made a wonderful wooden crib. Airmen on the Scampton station made the Shepherd’s crook and lanterns, and others painted some attractive posters which were put up on all the nearby stations. I went to London to hire all the costumes for the airmen and WAAF acting in the Scene. The proprietress of the Pax church shop lent me a very beautifully carved ‘Bambino’. Everyone who could do so showed great interest and gave help in every way. I borrowed the tripod of bells from Lincoln Cathedral and the Archdeacon of the cathedral came and gave the blessing at the end of the performance. I had a great number of rehearsals both with the actors and actresses, together with my choir before the event. At the beginning of the performance I played the bells and then conducted the choir from the organ. It was held on the Sunday evening before Christmas Day, in the largest NAAFI canteen at 8pm. It was really wonderful how everyone helped.

The lighting was beautifully done by the station electricians. In the afternoon we heard that operations were to take place that evening. Take off was to be at 5.30pm. I remember I was in the NAAFI arranging the stage and putting in the final touches and several airmen were arranging the chairs and cleaning up in readiness for the performances. I could hear the planes going off on operations when suddenly there was a terrific bang and it felt as if the whole building might collapse. I said to myself ‘One must carry on at whatever cost.’ I turned to look down from the stage to find that all the airmen who had been working were not there, why had they gone I thought to myself? Presently they returned and I asked them what the bang was and why they had left me in the hall alone. They answered, ‘We left to shelter. If Mrs Padre likes to stay and be killed, we are not going to be.’ The bang was caused by two bombers from a station nearby which had collided in midair. It was a tragedy, all the crews were killed. I wondered whether this meant that we should not be able to continue.

A voice came over the loudspeaker, it was my husband’s, saying that the performance of the Nativity Scene would commence at 8pm. At 6.30pm airmen and WAAFs started to queue for the performance. All the canteens on the station closed. I was informed that the Air Officer (at that time it was Air Vice-Marshal the Hon RA Cochrane) and officers from No 5 Bomber Group Bomber Command (then based in Grantham) were coming. I could hardly believe it. The hall was packed, airmen and airwomen were even sitting in the windows and standing at the back. I purposely left a gangway right down the hall, as I wanted the Shepherds and Kings to process through the audience. The atmosphere was perfect, there was absolute silence and awe. Some of the men in my choir who were aircrew had gone on operations. They told me afterwards that they thought, when they were over Germany, ‘Here we are dropping bombs and Mrs Padre is producing a Nativity Scene.’

The performance passed off in a wonderful manner – I felt it was a very good answer to all the prayers that had been said. It certainly conveyed the message of Christmas and the birth of the baby Jesus. People talked about it for a long time afterwards. Many lovely photographs of the different scenes were taken and I was presented with a beautiful coloured enlargement of the final scene when all the actors were on the stage. The man who took the part of the Black King was a professional singer who had a magnificent bass voice. There was a tenor from Durham Cathedral, a bass from Wakefield Cathedral, and a BBC professional singer in the choir. They all happened to be posted to Scampton. I was lucky to have them in my choir. The choir sang many anthems and also Stanford’s Te Deum and Nunc Dimitus (sic) in B flat in the Station Church. I remember that on Whit Sunday the station orchestra accompanied me when I sang Atwood’s Come Holy Ghost.

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