0:00:07 > 0:00:11'In 1939, the world stood on the brink of war.
0:00:11 > 0:00:14'As the country issued gas masks and filled sandbags,
0:00:14 > 0:00:16'the citizens of Greenford in Middlesex were laying
0:00:16 > 0:00:19'the foundation stone for a new church.'
0:00:37 > 0:00:39Seven weeks later, Britain was at war.
0:00:39 > 0:00:43Undaunted, the local community here kept calm and carried on.
0:00:43 > 0:00:46By the time of its dedication, back in 1941,
0:00:46 > 0:00:49the new church had faced two wartime Christmases,
0:00:49 > 0:00:54and the worst of the London Blitz, and so many others had not.
0:00:59 > 0:01:02'Holy Cross Church not only survived, but thrived.
0:01:02 > 0:01:07'And as the present-day congregation sings Advent hymns by candlelight,
0:01:07 > 0:01:11'we hear wartime Christmas memories from the home front.'
0:01:20 > 0:01:22AIR RAID SIREN BLARES
0:01:23 > 0:01:25'In wartime Greenford,
0:01:25 > 0:01:28'as the searchlights on nearby Horsenden Hill pierced through
0:01:28 > 0:01:31'the night sky to illuminate the incoming threat,
0:01:31 > 0:01:34'the lights of Christmas trees in every home
0:01:34 > 0:01:36'were extinguished by the blackout.'
0:01:40 > 0:01:43But Christians believe that even in the darkest times,
0:01:43 > 0:01:46the light of the world can never be put out.
0:03:35 > 0:03:42The story of Holy Cross is not just a tale of new churches,
0:03:42 > 0:03:43it's a tale of two churches.
0:03:48 > 0:03:52'Throughout the 1930s, Greenford had grown from a village
0:03:52 > 0:03:53'to a London suburb.
0:03:53 > 0:03:56'The churchgoing population grew accordingly
0:03:56 > 0:04:00'and could no longer fit into the old Parish Church.'
0:04:00 > 0:04:04So, this is Greenford's mediaeval church?
0:04:04 > 0:04:06- It is, yes, yes.- It's tiny! - It is.
0:04:06 > 0:04:09It seemed to be quite early on that they decided
0:04:09 > 0:04:12they wouldn't get rid of the old church,
0:04:12 > 0:04:14but eventually they came up with this idea of having a new church,
0:04:14 > 0:04:18but linking the two together, so they would always exist as a pair,
0:04:18 > 0:04:21and always be treated as one, in a sense, one church.
0:04:23 > 0:04:26Obviously the new church was needed for the numbers,
0:04:26 > 0:04:29but I don't think people wanted to lose the sense of continuity
0:04:29 > 0:04:32with the past by losing this older church.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35And obviously there was a lot of dedication in the area
0:04:35 > 0:04:36to build this new church,
0:04:36 > 0:04:39because it wasn't built in the easiest of times?
0:04:39 > 0:04:42Yes, yes, I mean, there was a sense other churches
0:04:42 > 0:04:45were being bombed, people were being made homeless all round,
0:04:45 > 0:04:48and this church somehow survived,
0:04:48 > 0:04:50and could be seen to be going up
0:04:50 > 0:04:53during the Blitz, and that was, yes,
0:04:53 > 0:04:57a tremendous sense of expectation and hope, and comfort,
0:04:57 > 0:04:59I think, to people.
0:05:00 > 0:05:04I'm sure there are times when Donald Harris, the rector, thought,
0:05:04 > 0:05:06"I'm never going to do this.
0:05:06 > 0:05:08"I've taken on something bigger than I can cope with,"
0:05:08 > 0:05:11but I suppose that's your Christian faith, isn't it?
0:05:11 > 0:05:14That you can believe that you can do something, and if you just
0:05:14 > 0:05:19keep going, and put the energy in and the effort, then it will come good.
0:05:19 > 0:05:21- And it did.- And it did.
0:05:21 > 0:05:23Can you imagine what it must been like for those young families?
0:05:23 > 0:05:26That first Christmas in their new church?
0:05:26 > 0:05:28Oh, yes, it must have been wonderful, I think.
0:05:28 > 0:05:33Christmas is a wonderful time anyway, but to have so many people
0:05:33 > 0:05:38together under one roof, in this brand-new church, all singing
0:05:38 > 0:05:41to the glory of God, must have been a really wonderful experience.
0:07:32 > 0:07:35I think the feeling of Christmas during the war was that everybody
0:07:35 > 0:07:40was in the same boat, nobody came to school with large presents.
0:07:40 > 0:07:43Nobody came to school with spanking new clothes.
0:07:44 > 0:07:47With rationing at Christmas, everyone was the same,
0:07:47 > 0:07:50no-one had more than anyone else.
0:07:51 > 0:07:55I remember the first wartime Christmas was a very cold one.
0:07:56 > 0:07:59I'd always wanted a Christmas tree,
0:07:59 > 0:08:01but my father was unemployed
0:08:01 > 0:08:02for a great deal of time
0:08:02 > 0:08:08when the depression was on, so we'd never been able to have one,
0:08:08 > 0:08:14and I got up and I went out into the living room, and there,
0:08:14 > 0:08:19on top of a very big gramophone, was a very small Christmas tree.
0:08:19 > 0:08:24And I was really thrilled, and I remember that all my life.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28It was a very nice, warm, friendly place here.
0:08:29 > 0:08:33Oh, the whole church would be decorated with things.
0:08:34 > 0:08:37And of course we took part in doing all the decorations,
0:08:37 > 0:08:40which was great fun.
0:08:40 > 0:08:43This has been part of my life for so long.
0:08:45 > 0:08:49Christmas in wartime was very austere, in every respect.
0:08:50 > 0:08:54You didn't have many presents, they could be second-hand.
0:08:55 > 0:08:59Mums had an awful job trying to concoct a Christmas dinner.
0:08:59 > 0:09:01We had rabbit stew.
0:09:01 > 0:09:05I don't think many people would enjoy that these days,
0:09:05 > 0:09:08although it is lovely, I must admit I enjoyed it, I loved it.
0:09:09 > 0:09:16I can remember a rabbit pie once, and we did make Christmas puddings,
0:09:16 > 0:09:21but we had lots of carrots and things grated up into the pudding,
0:09:21 > 0:09:24and you know, sort of whatever suet you could get off of the butcher.
0:09:24 > 0:09:26And the butcher was very careful
0:09:26 > 0:09:29that it was all shared out regularly to everyone.
0:09:29 > 0:09:33Parents generally tried to keep things as normal as possible,
0:09:33 > 0:09:36but obviously there was rationing,
0:09:36 > 0:09:43so there wasn't as much food around, and toys were limited, because
0:09:43 > 0:09:45a lot of toys had been imported,
0:09:45 > 0:09:48and of course that didn't happen in the war.
0:09:48 > 0:09:52But we tried to celebrate.
0:09:52 > 0:09:56We went to Christmas services, we went carol singing,
0:09:56 > 0:10:00and we listened to the radio, because there was no television.
0:10:00 > 0:10:02I mean, the only entertainment was radio,
0:10:04 > 0:10:07and the programmes then, apart from ITMA,
0:10:07 > 0:10:11and one or two of those popular programmes, and that was always
0:10:11 > 0:10:15annoying, because the transmitters shut down when the sirens sounded,
0:10:15 > 0:10:20and if that was in the middle of ITMA, it made everybody very cross.
0:10:22 > 0:10:26My happiest memory, of course, would be getting married on Christmas Eve.
0:10:27 > 0:10:33My boyfriend and I had been going out together for about 18 months.
0:10:33 > 0:10:36Out of the blue he got this letter from the Army to say
0:10:36 > 0:10:38he had to go and join up,
0:10:39 > 0:10:43and that was to take place in about ten days' time.
0:10:45 > 0:10:49So, we had a little powwow, and he said,
0:10:49 > 0:10:51"how about getting married before I go?"
0:10:51 > 0:10:55So I said, "hmm, I'm quite ready for that."
0:10:57 > 0:11:02That particular Christmas, '41, obviously was very special to us,
0:11:02 > 0:11:08and we had 45 years together, so that was lovely.
0:11:09 > 0:11:11Although I still miss him, of course.
0:11:17 > 0:11:23'Both in peacetime and in war, some are taken and some are spared.
0:11:26 > 0:11:30'In Holy Cross churchyard is the war grave of a young airman,
0:11:30 > 0:11:35'who made the supreme sacrifice, and of his broken-hearted mother,
0:11:35 > 0:11:38'who was laid to rest with him just two years later.'
0:11:43 > 0:11:47But they also served, who never fought on the frontline.
0:11:47 > 0:11:50The lamps outside the church are a rare memorial
0:11:50 > 0:11:51to honour the Home Guard.
0:11:51 > 0:11:56Created in 1940, this band of civilian volunteers, immortalised in
0:11:56 > 0:12:00Dad's Army, of course, first began to lighten the burden
0:12:00 > 0:12:03on civil defence in the darkness of wartime.
0:12:04 > 0:12:08'And visitors crossing the threshold are reminded that God's word
0:12:08 > 0:12:12'is a lamp to our feet and a light to our way.'
0:14:21 > 0:14:25'Not every place of worship in Greenford survived the war.
0:14:25 > 0:14:29'The Baptist Church was destroyed by a direct hit,
0:14:29 > 0:14:32'but its congregation pinned a note to the door of the ruin,
0:14:32 > 0:14:36'declaring that "the church is down, but we are not".
0:14:36 > 0:14:40'Another survivor was Greenford's Salvation Army Hall.
0:14:40 > 0:14:44'Like Holy Cross, it had also been a new build to accommodate
0:14:44 > 0:14:47'the fast-growing community.'
0:14:47 > 0:14:49In wartime, the Salvationists were really
0:14:49 > 0:14:52the Church militant on the home front.
0:14:52 > 0:14:55The enemies of this army were loneliness and despair,
0:14:55 > 0:14:57and their weapons were practical,
0:14:57 > 0:15:02social and spiritual support, in the form of tea, fellowship and music.
0:15:05 > 0:15:09My husband was Aubrey James Alfred Creesey,
0:15:09 > 0:15:18and we got married in Greenford Hall on Boxing Day, 1941.
0:15:18 > 0:15:22He had a couple of days off, and then he had to go back,
0:15:22 > 0:15:27and it was four months later when we got together again.
0:15:28 > 0:15:35And then we had the photos taken, both in our uniform.
0:15:35 > 0:15:41The white strap is what the Salvation Army calls the "white wedding."
0:15:41 > 0:15:47And that's what I had, I wanted to be a full Salvationist,
0:15:47 > 0:15:52and I wanted to be a loving person for Christ.
0:15:53 > 0:15:58Oh, he was a great man. We never argued hardly at all.
0:15:58 > 0:16:00Well, I don't think we did.
0:16:00 > 0:16:05We just seemed to fall in one another's ways, that's the truth.
0:16:06 > 0:16:11He was the sergeant major of Greenford corps
0:16:11 > 0:16:13for quite a number of years.
0:16:14 > 0:16:19And when you're a bandsman, you have a commission,
0:16:19 > 0:16:21and you live to that.
0:16:22 > 0:16:26We wanted to serve God, and we did that.
0:16:26 > 0:16:31In different ways. I've never played an instrument.
0:16:33 > 0:16:38When he come to Greenford, he played the drum for a little while,
0:16:38 > 0:16:42and then he asked if he could try an instrument,
0:16:42 > 0:16:46and he tried the instrument, and that's how he went on.
0:16:46 > 0:16:49Right until the passing away of him.
0:16:52 > 0:16:56Oh, it means a lot, playing carols and that.
0:16:56 > 0:17:03I even asked, the other year, for our one or two bandspeople to come
0:17:03 > 0:17:08and play at my front door, because I couldn't get out to get to them,
0:17:08 > 0:17:10and they come and did it.
0:17:12 > 0:17:18Christmas is the birth of Christ, and Christ is with us all the time.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00My parents had a hardware shop in South Ealing,
0:19:00 > 0:19:03a western suburb of London.
0:19:03 > 0:19:08My two older brothers were called up to the forces,
0:19:08 > 0:19:12but prior to that I'd been one of the evacuees,
0:19:12 > 0:19:15and I guess I can remember 1939 and 1940
0:19:15 > 0:19:20particularly well, due to the dramatic circumstances.
0:19:22 > 0:19:26On Christmas morning I can clearly remember receiving,
0:19:26 > 0:19:29among other things, a box of dominoes.
0:19:29 > 0:19:32And it's very nostalgic, they're all there,
0:19:32 > 0:19:36to think that I last played with those 73 years ago.
0:19:38 > 0:19:42I'm totally intrigued by the inscription inside the cover,
0:19:42 > 0:19:46which I obviously didn't look after very well, it's quite tatty.
0:19:46 > 0:19:51"To Roy, with love from Dad." Three kisses.
0:19:52 > 0:19:57Now, in those days, men didn't show emotion or sentiment.
0:19:58 > 0:20:03I guess Dad's stiff upper lip wobbled a little bit.
0:20:04 > 0:20:10'London Inferno. Havoc wrought by mass night raids.
0:20:10 > 0:20:12'This is total war now, stripped of all pretence.'
0:20:16 > 0:20:191940, I can remember it, the height of the Blitz.
0:20:23 > 0:20:26I came home, I guess after nine months,
0:20:26 > 0:20:28when many evacuees were coming home.
0:20:30 > 0:20:35On Christmas Eve it was uncannily quiet.
0:20:37 > 0:20:42All the shelterers arrived at the normal time, early evening,
0:20:42 > 0:20:46expecting normality. Got to be a raid, there is every night.
0:20:48 > 0:20:53The evening dragged on, no sirens, nothing.
0:20:54 > 0:20:57Unbeknown to us, there was an unofficial
0:20:57 > 0:21:02cessation of bombing by both sides until the 27th.
0:21:03 > 0:21:07But what's going on? We didn't know that.
0:21:08 > 0:21:10But finally everybody went to bed,
0:21:10 > 0:21:14and we had the first peaceful night's sleep for months.
0:21:17 > 0:21:21Even at that young age, I could appreciate that
0:21:21 > 0:21:25people's Christian faith was very strong.
0:21:27 > 0:21:32Even in the darkest days of 1940, when possibly all seemed lost.
0:21:37 > 0:21:40The Battle of Britain was being fought overhead.
0:21:45 > 0:21:51And yet people were still wholeheartedly the Christian faith.
0:21:52 > 0:21:57We were opposed to an evil tyranny, but with right on our side,
0:21:57 > 0:22:01and the will of God, we will prevail.
0:23:59 > 0:24:01In December, 1943,
0:24:01 > 0:24:08we had a telegram which told Mummy that my father had been wounded,
0:24:08 > 0:24:12and presumably, we didn't know how serious this was, or anything.
0:24:13 > 0:24:17He was being taken back to hospital in the Mediterranean
0:24:17 > 0:24:21theatre of war, which we discovered was back in Egypt.
0:24:22 > 0:24:25That Christmas must have been really,
0:24:25 > 0:24:27really dreadful for my mother.
0:24:27 > 0:24:30How Mum really coped, I'm not quite sure.
0:24:32 > 0:24:36She loved him desperately, and it must have been very,
0:24:36 > 0:24:38very difficult for her.
0:24:40 > 0:24:42Now, when anything happens,
0:24:42 > 0:24:47you make sure that the children think it's completely as normal.
0:24:47 > 0:24:52We knew Dad had obviously been wounded, but we didn't know...
0:24:52 > 0:24:54That was the awful thing, I think, that we didn't know how seriously.
0:24:54 > 0:24:57We had no indication whatsoever.
0:24:59 > 0:25:03I was a real daddy's girl. I was so close to him.
0:25:03 > 0:25:07I missed him dreadfully. He was so loving.
0:25:08 > 0:25:10Yes, he was an absolutely brilliant dad.
0:25:12 > 0:25:16Luckily, he'd only been wounded in the finger,
0:25:16 > 0:25:20shrapnel I think it was, so he was able to write.
0:25:20 > 0:25:23In each of his letters that were written
0:25:23 > 0:25:25around about Christmas time,
0:25:25 > 0:25:28you can read into it that he would say each time,
0:25:28 > 0:25:31"I miss Christmas and not seeing you."
0:25:33 > 0:25:36It must have been dreadful for him. Dreadful.
0:25:38 > 0:25:44I know Dad particularly had a very deep faith, very deep,
0:25:44 > 0:25:49and I think that would have sustained him when he went away.
0:25:50 > 0:25:54It makes you realise that faith must have
0:25:54 > 0:25:58carried a lot of them through the war. Definitely.
0:26:02 > 0:26:06'God bless Mummy, and Daddy, and Frank.
0:26:06 > 0:26:10'Nana and Grandad, and all my aunts and uncles.'
0:26:10 > 0:26:13I mean, we were taught prayers of course as children,
0:26:14 > 0:26:20and I do remember that I especially had a little prayer,
0:26:20 > 0:26:26not a long one, because it was cold up in the bedroom,
0:26:26 > 0:26:28and I said that every night.
0:26:29 > 0:26:32'And God bless all the soldiers, sailors and airmen,
0:26:32 > 0:26:36'and all the men and women who are fighting for freedom. Amen.'
0:26:40 > 0:26:44# I pray you'll be our eyes
0:26:44 > 0:26:51# And watch us where we go
0:26:51 > 0:26:57# And help us to be wise
0:26:59 > 0:27:05# In times when we don't know
0:27:05 > 0:27:11# Let this be our prayer
0:27:11 > 0:27:18# When we lose our way
0:27:20 > 0:27:24# Lead us to the place
0:27:25 > 0:27:29# Guide us with your grace
0:27:29 > 0:27:34# Give us faith so we'll be safe
0:27:39 > 0:27:41# La luce che tu dai
0:27:41 > 0:27:44# I pray we'll find your light
0:27:44 > 0:27:46# Nel cuore restera
0:27:46 > 0:27:50# And hold it in our hearts
0:27:50 > 0:27:53# A ricordarci che
0:27:53 > 0:27:56# When stars go out each night
0:27:56 > 0:27:59# L'eterna stella sei
0:28:02 > 0:28:05# Nella mia preghiera
0:28:05 > 0:28:08# Let this be our prayer
0:28:08 > 0:28:12- #- Quanta fede c'e
0:28:12 > 0:28:14# When shadows fill our day
0:28:16 > 0:28:20# Lead us to a place
0:28:20 > 0:28:23# Guide us with your grace
0:28:23 > 0:28:32# Give us faith so we'll be safe
0:28:33 > 0:28:40# Sognamo un mondo senza piu violenza
0:28:40 > 0:28:49# Un mondo di giustizia e di speranza
0:28:49 > 0:28:58# Ognuno dia la mano al suo vicino
0:28:58 > 0:29:06# Simbolo di pace e di fraternita
0:29:08 > 0:29:11# La forza che ci dia
0:29:11 > 0:29:14# We ask that life be kind
0:29:14 > 0:29:18# E il desiderio che
0:29:18 > 0:29:21# And watch us from above
0:29:21 > 0:29:24# Ognuno trovi amor
0:29:24 > 0:29:28# We hope each soul will find
0:29:28 > 0:29:31# Intorno e dentro a se
0:29:31 > 0:29:34# Another soul to love
0:29:34 > 0:29:38# Let this be our prayer
0:29:38 > 0:29:40# Let this be our prayer
0:29:40 > 0:29:44# Just like every child
0:29:44 > 0:29:49# Just like every child
0:29:49 > 0:29:53# Needs to find a place
0:29:53 > 0:29:57# Guide us with your grace
0:29:57 > 0:30:03# Give us faith so we'll be safe
0:30:05 > 0:30:09# E la fede che
0:30:09 > 0:30:13# Hai acceso in noi
0:30:18 > 0:30:34# Sento che ci salverai. #
0:30:40 > 0:30:42God, whose people wait in patience
0:30:42 > 0:30:45for your coming in justice and bringing peace.
0:30:45 > 0:30:49We long to share with you the work which will bring forward
0:30:49 > 0:30:53the time when these will be a universal reality,
0:30:53 > 0:30:55and the blessing of God Almighty, the Father,
0:30:55 > 0:31:00the son and the holy spirit, be with you and remain with you always.
0:31:00 > 0:31:03(ALL) Amen.
0:31:04 > 0:31:08Not just at Christmas time, not only in time of war,
0:31:08 > 0:31:11but in all the strife and stresses of the modern world,
0:31:11 > 0:31:14the church lights the way for a community of individuals,
0:31:14 > 0:31:18living in the hope of peace on earth and goodwill to all.
0:33:27 > 0:33:30'Next week: Bill Turnbull visits St Davids in West Wales,
0:33:30 > 0:33:33'and joins in the Christmas preparations,
0:33:33 > 0:33:37'from the traditional, to the downright unusual.
0:33:37 > 0:33:40'Plus, there's festive music from Welsh tenor, Rhys Meirion,
0:33:40 > 0:33:44'and traditional carols from the city's historic cathedral.'
0:34:03 > 0:34:06Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd