A Visit to the Battle Fronts

              Brooks Hays Reports ...  ARKANSAS BAPTIST  OCTOBER 25. 1944    A VISIT TO THE  BATTLE  FRONTS     "The Destruction Was Apalling [sic] " [photograph caption]   When Congressman Judd and I took off in the palatial flying boat of the British airways on September 2, I hadn't been so excited since Ringling Brothers came to Russellville in 1911.  We occupied the "tail cabin" which was as large as some hotel rooms I have seen.  The first night we flew to a North Atlantic base, and the second lap required just 13 1/2 hours to get us into the harbor of Foynes, Ireland.   The last lap of the trip was in a land plane, completely blacked out, and we landed near London in a driving rain-I had only expected fog.   London covers a tremendous space-perhaps 30 miles across-and we drove through several areas where the air raids and the robot bombs had done their worst damage.  The destruction was apalling [sic].  The Government recently revealed that more than a million [sic] homes had been damaged, perhaps a fifth completely destroyed, but to me the amazing thing is that so many buildings remain undamaged.  As one man said, "You can see the Gerries missed more places than they hit."    Getting Acquainted    It was late in the afternoon when we registered at the hotel, but we did not wait to eat.  We wanted to see the Parliament buildings and Westminster Abbey, so we started out without a map or guide.  Suddenly we came upon an imposing building and I asked a guard what the building was "Buckingham Palace," he said disgustedly, and I resolved immediately not to ridicule again about the two ladies who stopped me in front of our own capitol in Washington to ask "What can this building be?"  We had been told to carry our flashlights ("torches,' the British say) but we had not realized how badly we would need them.  The London blackout is no sham.  The spirit of the people of Britain is magnificent.  They had suffered really beyond the power of visitors to describe, but they have an amazing ability to take it without complaint.  Underneath the calm exterior, however, I think there is a feeling of righteous wrath that such barbarities should have been practiced.  A few of the flying bombs came over while I was there, and I learned that they are terrifying things.  It is like being in a dark room with rattlesnakes, not knowing when one will strike you and realizing that people are dying on the next block.   Praise for Home Life   London newspapers reported one day that 13 children had been killed by a single bomb -and speaking of children, nothing impressed me more than Britain's care of her children in wartime. It is in keeping with the tradition of Britain concerning family life.  I once heard Dr. Len Broughton, the Georgia Baptist pastor, who occupied a London pulpit for many years, say that that England's greatness lies in this tremendous concern for its homes.  That is something to think about, because it seems to me it was a part of our own heritage and that we have nourished the idea as the English have, and the Scots, too.  One of our first visits was with the American Ambassador, Mr. Winant, the modest, but interesting Republican from New Hampshire.  He had impressed me previously in America by his quiet manner and profound philosophy.  One time I heard him say in conversation that a man's life should be full of intelligent and energetic action but that the chief quality of life is "devoted self sacrifice."  I recommend that to anyone who might be surrendering hope that modern politicians can cultivate ideas.  The British Foreign Secretary, Mr. Eden, was a guest at Mr. Winant's luncheon and we liked him.    Visits Parliament    We had an opportunity later to see how Parliament functions, having seats in the gallery at the opening on September 26.  We had expected only short formalities and quick adjournment but found quite a lot of business to be conducted, including a personal appearance by Mr. Churchill who answered a number of questions from critical members.  Our own Congress has nothing resembling the questioning of the ministers and I was convinced from observation that the practice has real merit.   We saw a lot of American soldiers in London, though they told us it was nothing to compare to conditions before D-Day.  The first Arkansawyer to stop me was Lt. Col. Graham Hall of Little Rock, member of the Judge Advocate's office.  Later I was able to contact many more from Arkansas.    Air Operations Observed    One day we rode to a bomber base in North England, arriving there just before a mission of a hundred planes was to return.  The general in charge took us to "the tower."  When we went into the room we sensed an obvious anxiety and tension which we were told is always evident when the planes are coining in.  The ambulances were at their stations and the chaplain walked back and forth in front of them to see if any men were wounded.  A major identified him.   "A fine lot of men," he said of the chaplains.   The ground crew gazed nervously at the flecks in the sky.  The officer near us counted the planes-two missing.  "Maybe they're safe," he hoped aloud. He called to one of his staff, "Check with the captain"-and in a moment he was told the pilots had telephoned from France that they had made forced landings but were all right.   We ate with the officers, but the fare is substantially the same for all the troops, and it is excellent. None of the men I talked with during the entire trip had any serious complaints about the food, except on the boats, and after our week on the British civilian diet it looked like Utopia to us.    Orange for Dr. Rushbrooke   Civilians have almost forgotten what oranges look like, and I saved two which an officer gave me to serve Dr. J. H. Rushbrooke, president of the Baptist World Alliance, at breakfast the morning I left London.  It was the first he had tasted in months, he told me.  I saw luscious peaches in a window in Glasgow and received the shock of my life when the clerk told me they were eight shillings apiece ($1.60).  The grapes lying in the next basket were priced at $6 a pound.   On the whole the English farmers have done a grand job of stepping up food production.  They are quick to give credit to the United States however for the farm machinery and fertilizer without which their marvelous record would not have been possible.  The Minister of Agriculture said last year's production in most of the essential crops showed an 80 percent increase over previous years.   Food importations will be necessary, however, for an indefinite period, which explains the desire of British statesmen to establish satisfactory economic ties with the continental countries whose productive capacity is great.  France, if provided a stable government and balanced economy, can supply some of the food requirements.    Buzz-Bombed at Dover    Something must be said, too, for the women's land army.  It was a novelty to see the women pitching hay and gathering crops in Kent County, east of London, and we were told that the farmers could never have met the demands upon them except for these women workers.  Women are serving as farm   (CONTINUED ON PAGE EIGHT)    Mr. Hays, a Baptist layman and Congressman from Arkansas' Fifth District, has just returned from Europe where he visited with our troops and viewed the battlefields of World War II.  He also was privileged to have several conferences with leaders of the British, government.   Mr. Hays was accompanied on the trip by Congressman Walter Judd, a former medical missionary to China, and was joined in London by ten other American Congressmen.  In this installment, Mr. Hays tells of his trip in a manner of interest to all readers.  Next week he will delve into the war's effect on religion in Europe and look toward, prospects for a Christian order after the guns cease firing.  - Editor.