Memories of Christmas past: A wartime Christmas

Notes: "In September [2012] we asked readers to share some of their most poignant memories of Christmas. Here is but a handful".; "The year was 1944, and I was 17 years old. My parents sent me off to boarding school -- Branksome Hall in Toronto -- because they felt it would give me the opportunity to 'experience life' away from home for the first time". "The most exciting event would be an evening at Chorley Park -- now a military convalescent home. We practised 'In Excelsis Deo', among others, in the library ... and on the appointed night, off went to Chorley Park. Up the grand staircase we proceeded, singing joyfully. And then, we saw the veterans. The face of one man in particular I will never forget. Tears filled my eyes. They ad given us 'Peace On Earth'."