wartime photographs of french toy story

YORK PRESS today :

FASCINATING photographs have emerged of French airmen based at Elvington carefully making Christmas presents for children in York.

On Christmas Eve, 1944, the handcrafted toys were delivered to York Mansion House to be delivered to children across the city.

The touching gesture of Christmas goodwill was launched after Sous Lieutenant Lemarchand saw the London and North Eastern Railway charity Christmas tree at York station and suggested to his fellow mechanics that they should make some presents.

With just three days to go, the men used any scraps of waste material available and using crude tools such as razor blades worked night and day to produce toys including dolls and cars.

Ian Reed, the museum director, said: “Every toy proudly bore the Cross of Lorraine to mark their heritage and it is not beyond the realms of imagination to suppose that the craftsmen had been making the toys with thoughts of their own children or younger relatives, or even the children they hoped to have, firmly in their minds.

“The humanity of these young French airmen towards the English children, whilst their own families and loved ones were in unknown circumstances within occupied France, shines through the ages as a testament to their fundamental good nature and kind spirit.”

In support and as an incentive, officers put up prizes for the mechanics who made the best toys. First prize, a bottle of whisky, went to the maker of a model Normandie type Liner, which was perfectly accurate and able to float.

Second prize, a bottle of gin, was given to the maker of a doll’s swinging treasure cot made from beaten metal and those who made a fully-furnished kitchen stove, complete with an array of cooking utensils, won a couple of bottles of aperitif.

The toys transformed the Mansion House into a toy shop and the slightly bewildered Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress were said to have warmly thanked the servicemen for their efforts.

Details of the story came from a member of the French Veterans Association, Groupes Lourds, Dr Churet, whose father was the engineer in charge of all the mechanics based at Elvington.

Elvington resident John Nicholson still has one of the toys, and the museum would like to hear from anyone else who has one. Phone 01904 608595.