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The F.N.F.W. Club: The Russian House

Club notes: All the Actual Members of the Friday Night Foyle’s War Club will be watching tonight’s episode of Foyle’s War except for Lady Egality who is driving her Auntie Bing back home. Auntie Bing who has been staying with Lady E and Sir Plym this week, was a Land Girl during WW2.

The Women’s Land Army:

WWILandArmyPoster Although only 18ish when war first broke out, Auntie Bing could already drive! Swopping her car for a tractor, she was tasked with ploughing up loads of previously uncultivated ground to help increase UK wartime grain production. So much north american wheat was lost in the war years during trans- Atlantic crossings, that acres and acres of extra wheat were sown in the UK to help fight food shortages.

In December 2007, (source: Wikipedia) the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) announced that the efforts of the Women’s Land Army and the Women’s Timber Corps would be formally recognised with the presentation of a specially designed commemorative badge to the surviving members.

The badge of honour was awarded in July 2008 to over 45,000 former Land Girls including Auntie Bing who says it is a rather beautiful brooch!

International Friday Night Foyle’s War Club Minutes:

Apologies: Lady Egality

Attendees: (Virtual): Martha from America, MohairMK, Kitchentease, C. Nelson, Digby D, ayresorchids, Miss Peppermint and British Detectives from America.  (Actual): The Graf von Blommehön (Chairman), Lady Liberty (Club Secretary) Lady Sebright and Colonel Pyncheon

Venue:  Castle Coop and various international locations.

Announcements:

1. This will be our Chairman’s last opportunity to attend our meetings in person for a couple of months as he leaves Castle Coop on Monday to summer in Scandanavia. He will be back at the end of August but we shall miss him very much in the meantime.

2. During tonight’s episode, we are planning a celebratory feast in honour of our Chairman. The Committee will be drinking snaps and eating a smörgåsbord prepared  for us all, by the Graf.

Smögåsbord:

I have never, ever shared an authentic smörgåsbord before with friends and I shall be very interested to find out what it will be like. I’ve looked it up on Wikipedia which says: A traditional Swedish smörgåsbord consists of both hot and cold dishes. Bread, butter, and cheese are always part of the smörgåsbord. It is customary to begin with the cold fish dishes which are generally various forms of herringsalmon, and eel. After eating the first portion, people usually continue with the second course (other cold dishes), and round off with hot dishes. Dessert may or may not be included in a smörgåsbord. Gosh…eel ??? eek!

 Snaps:

A group of people are clustered around a table for a typical lunch that will include several courses and a clear, fiery drink. The host pours the ice-cold liquid into frosty, conical glasses with long stems. He raises his glass, at which point the diners turn to one another and make eye contact, making certain not to leave anyone out. “Skål!” calls out the host, and everyone takes a sip. Again there is eye contact, and then the glasses are set on the table, not to be lifted again until the host raises his. The liquid is aquavit. The ritual is virtually the same throughout Scandinavia. The snaps sounds as if it should be approached with extreme caution…we’d better make sure not to say “Skål” until the end of the Foyle’s War episode or we won’t be able to concentrate on the plot.

 

3. A reminder to all Club Members – don’t forget to place a Foyle’s War picture in the room where you are attending the meeting. The Graf has chosen our picture for tonight; it is a huge one of Sam Stewart as he has such a massive crush on Honeysuckle Weeks!  

Tonight the International Friday Night Foyle’s War Club will be watching: Episode 1 , Series 6*: ‘The Russian House‘!

Plot: Keen to step out of Foyle’s shadow and prove himself as a detective, the newly promoted Detective Inspector Milner in Brighton is called to investigate the death of Sam’s new employer, a famous artist. He is disappointed when Foyle, on the trail of an absconded Russian prisoner of war, arrives at the scene. Foyle’s investigation leads him to a supposed safe house in London for members of the Russian Liberation Movement (aka “White Russians”), seeking to avoid repatriation to the USSR. He encounters an international cover up which, if exposed, could bring down the British government.(source: Wikipedia)

*N.B. The Episode categorisation is a complete muddle – The I.F.N.F.W.C. Committee has decided for clarity’s sake to categorise each episode as it is named on the ‘Foyle’s War: The Complete Collection’ dvd disc set. Wikipedia however, categorises ‘The Russian House‘ as Episode 1, Series 7

 

Yours,

a) hoping that all actual and virtual members enjoy tonight’s meeting very much,

b) suspecting that if I’d been a Land Girl and had had to plough up fields, my furrows would have been very wiggly and

c) particularly looking forward to the opening sequence as it was filmed in Odiham – hurrah!

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This post is dedicated to Auntie Bing who worked incredibly hard in the Land Army while still only a girl!

See Lady Egality’s comment below to find out more….

4 Comments

  1. Lady Libery Hen – Auntie Bing sounds like a game old bird. 🙂 Diana from PaintSewGlueChew

    • Oh yes, she certainly is; I think her generation were and luckily some still are, the absolute salt of the earth! With any luck, Lady Egality might be able to persuade Auntie Bing to send across a photograph of her commemorative brooch. If so, I’ll add it to this post.

  2. Auntie Bing! Well I never. She has stories that could keep you on the edge of your seat for days. There’s even one about a spy whilst she was in the Land Army. She had a dreadful accident whilst ploughing. The tractor had been supposedly fine tuned by some lads but they slackened off the brakes by mistake. She was ploughing up to the edge of a quarry and braked to turn near the edge and nothing happened. She tried to wrench it round but couldn’t so had to bail out. The tractor went over her leg and both tractor and plough went down into the quarry. She lost most of the calf muscle in her leg and got septicaemia but lived to tell the tale and was soon back in the saddle. Rule Britannia Auntie Bing!!

    • Wow: Yay for Auntie B – she’s awesome!

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