FOGGY CHRISTMAS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 27 December 1939, Page 5

FOGGY CHRISTMAS

TRANSPORT DIFFICULTIES IN LONDON BUSES AND TRAMS CEASE RUNNING. TOO DANGEROUS TO PROCEED. By 'Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright. LONDON, December 25. Apart from the war and the blackout, three days and nights of dense fog have made this Christmas memorable for Londoners. The buses and trams, in accordance with custom, ceased at 4 p.m. today, but there was not the usual Christmas stream of cars and taxis on the roads, which were practically deserted. The difficulties of transport caused many parties to be abandoned. People stayed in their homes, where families gathered in the afternoon listening to the King. The biggest upset occurred on Christmas Eve, when many taximen went home as early as 4.30 p.m. Buses and trams in many places were brought to a standstill and the drivers, after holding little meetings at the roadside, decided it was too dangerous to proceed, and loft their passengers to face long walks home. Long-distance trains in the weekend waited two to three hours after having been brought to a standstill near London. A steamer from the Channel Islands, with 200 passengers, spent three nights at sea on the usual six-hour crossing to a south coast port. CHRISTMAS DINNER AIR MINISTER & SECRETARY VISIT MEN'S MESSES. TURKEY & PLUM PUDDING. (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 10.15 a.m-.) RUGBY, December 26. Among important visitors to various Christmas dinners held in the messes of the fighting forces all over Britain yesterday was the Air Minister, Sir Kingsley Wood, who acted as a waiter when visiting the aircraftsmen’s and Women’s Auxiliary Air Force messes; at a Royal Air Force fighter command station. In a brief speech, Sir Kingsley Wood said: “It must seem strange to be enjoying Christmas dinner in the midst of a great war. But there it is. We are fighting for all that Christianity stands for and what Christmas means to us all.” The Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Air, Captain Balfour, visited men of the London balloon barrage at their Christmas dinners on a number of sites. Captain Balfour found turkey and plum puddings were everywhere standard fare and showed much interest in the elaborate arrangements made for cooking.