The Postcard
A carte postale that was published by L. Rousselot.
The card, which has a divided back, was posted in Leyr, Meurthe-et-Moselle, France on Thursday the 23rd. September 1920 to:
Miss Kitty Chapman,
199, Wharncliffe Gardens,
St. John's Wood Road,
London N.W.8,
Angleterre.
Wharncliffe Gardens
Wharncliffe Gardens were built in the late 19th. century on the site of Edwin Landseer’s house and garden, by the Great Central Railway – chairman, Earl of Wharncliffe – to house the workers whose homes had been demolished when the line arrived at Marylebone station.
There were 6 five-storey blocks of flats facing north/south, with the 2 eastern blocks smaller than the others in order to leave room for the existing School of Industry for Female Orphans. Each flat was designed so that sunlight entered at some part of the day.
The frontages of the flats were paved, with clipped hedges and huge carriage entrances in the middle of each block for horse drawn vehicles to enter. A typical flat had three bedrooms, a sitting room with an open fire, a kitchen and an inside lavatory, which was an innovation for “model dwellings”.
Laundry could be hung out to dry at the top of the buildings, and milk and coal were delivered. The residents were mainly in regular work with good wages, and Charles Booth said:
"It is the only model dwelling in London
in which I conceive life as bearable.”
33 people were killed, 38 were seriously wounded, and 107 had minor injuries after a flying bomb cut out above the estate on the 21st. August 1944. It landed at 8.18 p.m., and by 8.45 p.m., six heavy rescue parties, three light rescue units and several ambulances had arrived. By nine o’clock, the first of 3 cranes, 12 skips and 17 tipping lorries had arrived plus listening apparatus.
The last body was recovered at 8 a.m. on the 23rd. August 1944. Fifty flats had been demolished and many others were rendered uninhabitable.
All the flats were demolished after the War, and a new council estate was built in the late 1970's, with 4 storey blocks as a reaction to the, by then, unpopular tower blocks.
The Message
The message on the divided back of the postcard was as follows:
"Arraye on the 21st. of
September.
My Dear Friend,
Thanks very much for your
welcome letter. I read your
letter to my sister and she
will be very glad to hear
from your sister as soon as
she will be able to do it.
I am sending you a view
from Arraye.
It is already eight days I am
here. It's the village I spoke
to you about some months
past and which has been
nearly destroyed by German
shells.
I am at my aunt's house in a
wooden house. The house I
pointed out by a cross is the
old house of my aunt and that
is the one in which I was born.
I think to be coming back to
Mazeville in three days.
Yours very sincerely,
Ernest".
Arraye-et-Han
Arraye-et-Han is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in northeastern France.
It lies 27 km (17 mi) north of Nancy and 40 km south of Metz. The river Seille runs along the western side of the commune.
In 2015 the population of Arraye-le-Han was 350.
Jean St. Clair
So what else happened on the day that Ernest posted the card to Kitty?
Well, the 23rd. September 1920 marked the birth of the English actress Jean St. Clair.
Jean St. Clair was born in Dublin, Ireland as Jean Margaret Alice St. Clair. Her father was a Lieutenant in the 21st. Lancers, stationed in Co. Kildare.
She made several film appearances, including The Great St. Trinian's Train Robbery in 1966.
Jean married the art dealer Jack Baer in 1952 and was divorced in 1969. They had one daughter.
Jean died in Kensington, London on the 29th. June 1973 at the young age of 52.
Selected Filmography of Jean St. Clair
Notable films of Jean St. Clair include:
-- The Gentle Gunman (1952) - Rosie O'Flaherty (uncredited)
-- The Oracle (1953) - Young Girl
-- Meet Mr. Malcolm (1954) - Mrs O’Connor
-- Impulse (1954)
-- Eight O'Clock Walk (1954) - Mrs. Gurney
-- Aunt Clara (1954) - Alice Cole (uncredited)
-- John and Julie (1955) - Miss Forbes
-- Doctor at Large (1957) - O'Malley's Char (uncredited)
-- Hell Drivers (1957) - Spinster
-- The Young and the Guilty (1958) - Mrs. Humbolt
-- Dentist in the Chair (1960) - Lucy
-- The Great St Trinian's Train Robbery (1966) - Drunken Dolly
-- Carry On Doctor (1967) - Mrs. Smith
-- Fumo di Londra (1971) - The Gentleman (final film role).
Jean also appeared on TV in an episode of Dad's Army (1969) playing the role of Miss Meadows.
Horst Günther
The 23rd. September 1920 also marked the birth of Horst Günther.
Horst was a German World War II prisoner of war. An Afrika Korps Gefreiter, he was captured on the 9th. May 1943 in Tunisia and murdered in Camp Aiken Prisoner-of-War Camp, South Carolina, United States.
Horst was suspected of collaborating with the American authorities, and was strangled by two fellow German prisoners-of-war on the 6th. April 1944.
His murderers were Erich Gauss and Rudolf Staub, who hung his body from a tree in order to make it seem that Günther had killed himself. Gauss and Staub were hanged on the 14th. July 1945 at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. They were buried in the prison cemetery.
Staub is alleged to have said just before his execution:
"What I did was done as a German
soldier under orders. If I had not done
so, I would have been punished when
I returned to Germany."
