On May 8th, the Airbus A300 I was riding in slowly descended (after several sharp turns) into London Heathrow Airport. This was the end of a journey that started in Columbus, and I was relieved. To say that I hate flying would be an understatement, and I was white-knuckled against the arm rest for the full duration of the flight. I was a bit surprised at the people who were able to sleep for the ride as I went in and out of bouts of vertigo. Nonetheless, I made it with a friend, and met more as we waded through the UK passport check line.
After this, I went to a London Underground stop on the Piccadilly line. After seeing the Tube map, my memories of it and the way it works immediately came back to me. Based on experiences with a previous study abroad, I was able to lead my friends from Heathrow to Queensway station. Riding the Tube was a great experience, especially when you hear the British accented voice reminding one to “Mind the Gap,” or think of Londoners sheltering in the Tube during a Blitz attack in the 40s.
We have just arrived from England to France and I can not help but to think of what I experienced and learned. We toured quite a few sites during our time, including places like the Churchill War Rooms and HMS Belfast. The most awe-inspiring part of this trip happened at the Imperial War Museum during the World War I exhibition. Most of the museums that I have visited in the United States poorly cover that war, but the memory of it still seems fresh in Britain. One item that shocked me was a man’s glove which was left out during a gas attack and had shrank severely due to the chemicals. In another portion, an interview with a former soldier was highlighted, in which he claimed the war did not change him nor the country, asides from a poor job market. It seems that the human element gets washed away in
Result of WWI Gas Attack on Man’s Glove
favor of battles, casualty figures, and dates. Further from the Museum, my roommate and I found a monument that had been damaged by a German WWI bomb.
My best World War II experience came from Bletchley Park, where German Enigma was decoded for the Allies. The secrecy of the site is incredible, as it had some 10,000 workers but the purpose of the area was never disclosed. I was able to give a site report there based on an expertise paper I did last semester about the Double Cross system. This system found every German spy in Britain and either imprisoned them or gave them the opportunity to become a double agent to benefit the UK. The system was then used to lead the Germans to believe that an invasion was imminent in places like Bordeaux, Norway, and the Pas de Calais. One agent even was able to convince the Nazis that the D-Day landings in Normandy were a diversionary attack, meant to draw out troops from the Pas de Calais. This pinned many German divisions in the area and likely helped save numerous Allied lives. Bletchley also houses a recreation of the complicated Bombe machine, which was created by Alan Turing to crack the Enigma code. Bletchley itself was lovely, being a short train ride from London and situated in a sleepy village. After seeing all this, it is undeniable that Bletchley was one of the most important points in the war.
We now go onwards to Bayeux, where we will be able to see the Normandy beaches, and after that Paris. After learning so much more about the War and culture in England, I am excited to do the same here in France. I also look forward to reflecting on my experience there in the near future.
Sincerely,
Beau Bilek