Those of us who were in the United States and remember the traumatic days of World War II during the horrendous firebombing of London, England, can recall how touched we were when we saw the burned out, totally destroyed buildings. At that time, there were frightening images on American newsreels and in newspapers that stirred our emotions and sympathy. Individual Americans were sending packages to the victims, "Bundles for Britain", to show support. However, the Americans never felt the horror of personally experiencing those threatening times.
Brenda Maund, of Transylvania, was in London then and can vividly recall those times. How enlightening to hear the personal account of someone who lived though those ordeals. Brenda Vennell-Simpkin was born in 1932. So she was eight years old and has strong memories. When asked if the people, especially the children, were terrified, Maund replied :"The British have a 'stiff upper lip' and could weather such catastrophes pretty well and children can adapt remarkably..
"My recollections of the Battle of Britain include a dog fight I witnessed between English Spitfires and German planes when I was quite young. My brother and I were walking home from a movie and we heard and saw the planes overhead. Since he was 11 years older than I, he was very protective. So he threw me to the ground and lay on top of me to act as a shield.
"I also remember, later during the war after my brother had gone into the army, that we had an air raid shelter built in our back garden. We would go there whenever we heard the sirens go off to warn us of approaching air raid danger. The 'Buzz Bombs', as we called them, with the red lights on them would come overhead with a droning/buzzing sound. However, when the sound stopped the bombs would drop down anywhere, indiscriminately.
"Later, the V2 rockets came and were like projected missiles. I can remember coming out of the bomb shelter and hearing my mother say that the house must have been hit. But, luckily for us, the bomb made a direct hit on a nearby house and just damaged our house, blowing out the windows, So my mother, father, and I survived that one," recalled Maund.
"I was born in East Dulwich in South East London, but was evacuated along with many other children to the countryside when the Battle for Britain began. I was eight years old at the time and was very unhappy with the move and wanted to return to London and my family. After much petitioning by my mother, I was permitted to return home, despite the air raid danger," Maund reminisced.
"In Britain, we had been lulled into a false sense of security by the assurances of Prime Minister Chamberlain, who felt that we would not be involved in war after his appeasement conferences in Europe with Hitler. Therefore, we were not really as prepared for war as we should have been.
"It was the involvement of the United States, through President Franklin Roosevelt, that saved Britain .When the G.I.'s came to our aid from the United States with all the armament and supplies, England was saved from being conquered by the Nazis.
"We never realized how close we had come to being defeated until our family went on a vacation to Jersey in the English Channel after the war. There we learned that Hitler had built underground tunnels on Jersey Island to use as hospitals for his wounded when he invaded England. The tunnels had been built by war prisoners who had been marched across Germany and France to complete the work, The British public never knew how close we had been to being over-run." Maund recalled.
Meanwhile, the general American public did not realize that starting in 1939, large industrial plants were making plans to build facilities which would produce war armament (and setting up the necessary administrative staffs to run them) throughout the United States. In Detroit, alone, which was later called "The Arsenal of Democracy", Chrysler was laying the nucleus for their Tank Arsenal, Ford and American Motors for building planes, Hudson Motor for producing 20mm. guns, and General Motors was working on the Manhattan Project for Atomic Bombs. These plans and the people who worked on them were all done in secret, away from public scrutiny and very few people knew in that metropolitan area that such work was being conducted prior to Pearl Harbor and the involvement of the United States in the World War II against the Axis (Germany, Italy and Japan).
Maund's mother was a frustrated stage mother, and started her daughter's career at age three. Brenda had lessons in ballet, tap and other dancing, as well as piano, accordion, and other musical instruments.
During her young years, Maund appeared in pantomime performances for children, such as "Cinderella", "Prince Charming", "Babes in the Woods", and "Aladdin & His Lamp" where she played the title roles. and in many stage performances as a dancer. In fact, she had her first performance for pay when she was eleven years old under the stage-name of Brenda Vennell.
"I also appeared as an extra in many movies that were made in Britain, including: 'The House on Hanover Square' with Tyrone Power and Ann Blythe. A big thrill was getting to sit next to the extraordinarily handsome Tyrone Power!
"I also was in "Moulin Rouge" with Jose Ferrar & Zaa Zaa Gabor; as well as "Moby Dick" with Gregory Peck. and in"Anastasia" starring Ingrid Bergman," recalled Maund.
The various movie lots are not all in one place in England, as they are in Hollywood. Space for building such studios in London is much more limited. So, the studios were scattered all over town. However, they had underground public transportation all over London, and since she had no car of her own, Maund would travel by train to the various locations.
Maund explains that being an extra in films consisted of long hours of sitting quietly, waiting, So, most of the females spent long hours knitting while hopefully awaiting a call. The hours were long, from early morning to late at night, and appearing at the various studios meant riding all over the town in the subways.
"I performed in my stage solo acts as a 'Soubrette' (singer and dancer) in Variety Shows. However, I made my living mostly by teaching dancing to children. For many years, I owned my own studio in the London area and was able to save enough money to eventually emigrate to the United States," Maund explained.
Maund made the trip from England on the Queen Elizabeth I in 1957 and was sponsored by her mother's brother and his wife who lived in Chatham, New Jersey. "When I first expressed my interest in working as a dance teacher in New York City, my uncle wondered how I would get there without a car I told him I was accustomed to such travel arrangements, and if he could get me to the station, I would ride by train or subways," said Maund.
Maund later moved into Newark and lived at the only combined YM & YWCA in the United States at that time She discontinued her stage career and later opened up her own Dance Studio in Jamaica Queens, "Queens School of Theatrical Arts" which she ran from 1962 through 1982.
In 1957 a friend made a blind date in Queens for Brenda and it was Tom Maund. "What a date! We went into Manhattan and had dinner at the 'Press Box' and later to the 'Copacabana', followed by a ride on the Staten Island Ferry. It was very romantic, in fact we were married the next year, in 1958.
Tom and Brenda then were both employed in Civil Service jobs for the U.S. government until their retirement. They moved to Connestee Falls in May of 1958. Tom is enjoying his golfing and Brenda taught tap dancing for various Connestee theatrical performances until just recently.
She has always had an interest in painting, but never pursued that field before. Now, she is actively involved in creative painting and has a studio in her basement for her work. Her paintings have been exhibited at the Connestee clubhouse and she says: "I am running out off wall space to hang them in my house."
Tom managed to pull a big surprise party for Brenda at the Atagahi Pavilion to celebrate her 75th birthday. She says she doesn't know how he was able to work for months on the planning and arrangements without her suspecting what was going on.
Tom had a huge birthday cake made for her which read:" BUNDLE FROM BRITAIN and underneath was a copy of a picture from her passport when she emigrated to this country in 1957 on the Queen Elizabeth. The message below that spelled out his enduring love: "How much do I love thee - let me count the ways, beloved."
After that, they embarked on a 75th birthday celebration, flying to New York for a stay in Manhattan for five days. Then, off they went to London for five nights, and flew to Paris for five days, then back to London for two more days, and then took the train down to Southampton where they boarded the Queen Mary II for the trip back to New York. Aboard ship, the couple won a Lindy dance contest and a bottle of Champagne.
They found visiting in London and Paris was extremely expensive as the dollar does not go far in those cities..
They both still love to dance and are currently taking lessons in Argentine Tango, hoping to make a trip to Buenos Aires, Argentina in the future.
Lorraine Miller
