The Western news. [volume] (Libby, Mont.) 1933-current, 1944-07-20

was the reception the prisoners got
when they were brought in the tow
er.
The Norman chapel in the Tow
er is exactly as it was when Will
liam the Conqueror built it. Here is
where the Knight Commanders OF
Bath, selected by the King to be his
personal guard, used to come and
/ leave their armor in the adjoining
room and spend the night in prayer
and in the morning they would arise
and battle in the wooden tubs pro-
vided for that purpose and the King
would come and dip his finger in
the water and make the sign of the
cross on their back and this was a
sign of absolute faith and trust and
the knights were then ready to
guard the King on his journey. This
custom was carried out until the
reign of Queen Elizabeth, who had
no husbands to continue the cere-
mony and since then it has been
taking place in Westminster Abbey.
1t might interest you to know that
General Macarthur and General Els
enhoWer are honorary members of
the Knight Commanders of Bath
and the ceremony wont take place
until after the war.
Our guide took US through the
parts of London that had been
blitzed and block after block had
been laid to the ground The ruins
were really quite picturesque. They
reminded me of some old ancient
ruins. | made the remark that af-
ter seeing some of the buildings
that were standing and seeing the
ruins | thought London needed
few bombs. You don't think they
would throw me off their island
If they heard me made that remark?
Well | think they would.
Westminster Abbey is everything
| had expected it to be. Built in
the year of l245, wonderful archi-
lecture, and although we didn't see
IT at its best as the display in the
museum was put away and also the
sculptured busts of some of the
famous people buried there, and
portions of it were sand bagged off
to protect It in the event of bomb
ing. The Abbey has never been hit
by bomb but one fell in the vi
cinity Of it and they got the blast
and a small amount of damage was
done. Our guide told us that if it
hadn't been for the repair work
done on 1t before the blitz it would
not have stood it so we'll. There are
many rooms to it. One is the room
where all coronations take place
and it is the most beautiful thing
! have ever seen. King Henry Wis
chapel at present isn't open to the
public but the little man that
showed us around took us in any
way and / won't attempt to describe
it as my feeble attempt couldn't be-
gin to do justice to such beauty. It
was also sand bagged and the price
less things that could be removed
had been for the duration. | loved
the poets corner and it did my heart
good to visit the place where some
OF my favorites, such as Charles
Dickens, Robert Burns, Alfred Ten
nyson, and so many others if not
buried there at least there was
memorial in honor of them. The Abb
hey is naturally very dirty and cold
but that is also to be expected. II
almost failed to mention that the
grave OF the Unknown Warrior i'm
pressed me very much. That ended
our little tour of Westminster Alb
hey | have quite a number of pic
lures OF it; will send some of them
on.
THE City of London is the orig
lnal part of London and that IS
where the Lord Mayor Of London is
supreme ruler; even the King has
to have his permission to enter.
There is a new Lord Mayor each
year chosen from the wealthy bust |
ness men of the City Of London. |
They have to be wealthy as they
don't get much pay and the cost Of |
entertaining is terrific The police or |
hobbies as they are called in Eng
land, are distinguished from the rest
OF the London police in the City Of |
London by the Roman helmets they
wear We had our picture taken |
with one of the boobies, hope it
turns out well.
We visited few of their shops
but really didn't have the time as
we had to hurry back to the club. |
have a bit of tea and cake and hur-
ry to catch our train.
While at the Red Cross we were
looking at the large map of the
Y. S. A. on the wall where visitors
have put their names on a piece of
paper and pinned it on the spot
where they are from. Imagine my
when | looked on the map
and found Ralph Rothstein's name
and also girl from North Dakota
that | used to know at Forrest. We |
also met two girls at London we
knew at Forrest, and | saw medi-
cal officer that / used to 20 out
with at Forrest. London is the place
to 60 if you want to meet people
you know as everyone goes there If
it is at all possible.
Il hope | have written this SO
you can enjoy my trip just little.
! only wish you could have been
with me as | surely thought of you.