He was a Barnardos boy who spent the last half of 1940 flying a Hurricane and during his off time met and married his wife. After the war they emigrated to Australia, took up Australian Citizenship and lived their lives out a long way from where they grew up (with very proper english accents). In their 80's they went 'home' knowing that they wouldn't get the chance again. Went to all the old places, pubs, etc.
He made the point of telling me about his visit to Whitehall.
They went on a guided tour with a group, keen to get up inside Big Ben and see the refurbishment.
Trouble is, the laws had changed after 9/11 so only British Citizens could go on the tour, and they of course they were Australians, not British Citizens anymore.
After a bit of fuss back and forth the security bloke apologised and said that they simply couldn't go with the tour group which was made up of many new British Citizens. My old friend made the point that being English or Australian hadn't made any difference back when he flew a Hurricane in the Battle of Britain, or when his wife's parents had died in the blitz.
This was heard by a Metropolitan Police officer on duty who ushered them into a small waiting room whilst he considered the problem in his office. A quick call to RAF History established the bona-fides, and then a private tour was laid on for the rest of the day of the entire Whitehall complex, Big Ben and culminating with a visit to the then Minister of Defence Office (with RAF Chief of Air Staff attending) for a quick chat, thankyou and photo opportunity. Apparently it made the service paper at the time.
My old friend passed at 92, his wife followed a few years later.
That is the kind of reception people who went through what they went through should get.
Recent arrivals need to contribute a bit more.
A fine story and it's easy for us Colonials to forget how much the Commonwealth contributed their all and suffered during WWI/II. A friend had the opportunity to spend some time in
Crow's nest officers club this last year in St Johns Newfoundland. There was a gentleman there who flew Halifax's and Lancasters in the RAF. Was 92 and sharp as a tack. I believe he passed away this spring.
As far as London, my wife and I were there for a week last year. I have been there perhaps a dozen times alone for work over the last 20 years. There are some significant problems for sure but perhaps because we were there in April before tourist season we really didn't see any of the massive Islamic presence in most places nor did we ever feel like we were in danger. The one exception of seeing noticeably foreigners is the morning we spent over in the shopping district around Harrads where we saw more Russians with mistresses than Islamic tourists. At least that scenery of seeing a Russian mistress waiting on the street is better than a typical BMO!
There is no doubt that the slums of London where the immigrants settled are dangerous but as tourist you're not likely to go visit there anymore than you'd visit Martin Luther King boulevard in Baltimore. The parks were clean and nice, except Hyde the day we strolled through and they were having some sort of pot smoking protest and it stank. What there were was a lot of was French School kids on field trips. The teachers dump the kids at a museum and then go shopping and the kids go nuts. My wife, who is pretty PC, muttered, Hmmm, the "Nazis missed that family, too bad" a couple times.
It's easy to write off a country, state, providence or city as "lost" but reality is often not "ripped from the headlines". The defeatist and the pollyanna fight for your attention but going and seeing for yourself with your eyes open often yields insights that don't meet one agenda or another. I'm always happy to get home to America but rarely do I regret having made a trip overseas (some notable exceptions where people shot at me). I am not a city person anymore (if I ever was) but the history of London and the museums and sights really are not to be missed.
