Jan Dimmick is a member of the Friends Of The Odd Bods Association committee and an active member of the Bomber Command Association.
She has a tale to tell us about some very special treatment she received during a visit to the U.K. in 2017.
A Wonderful
Day:
"My husband Frank, as a very young man, left school and joined the Air Force. He went to England and flew as a navigator in 460 Squadron of Bomber Command and did seven ops and three food parcel drops to the Dutch. He was home before he was twenty one. Unfortunately because he became ill in 2012 and died soon after he never saw the statue commemorating Bomber Command in Green Park, but he always wanted me to go.
A couple of years after his death I went. I had been to England before but this was the first time to the new monument. I visited a few war monuments with two English friends who started a conversation with a man near the wall for WWI. They told him my father was in WWI in the 58th Battalion at the Western Front and received high honours and Frank’s father was in the medical corp.
The man they were speaking to was the caretaker and he came up to me, asked about my interest and said I should go to the service in Westminster Abbey marking 99 years since the end of the war. I said I would love to but how do I go about it. He wrote down a phone number and passed it to me. I went back to my accommodation to ring not knowing where the phone number would lead me. I mentioned my call to the concierge and they let me ring from their phone. I dialled, a man answered, and asked if I had any contact with the wars. I told him about my father and husband and he said “Oh yes, wait a minute”. Ten minutes later I was just ready to hang up, he came back. He asked if I could meet him outside the Abbey at eleven o’clock, the service started at twelve. He would have an invitation for me. (I later found that the phone number was for the Australian Embassy)
I arrived at eleven o’clock at the entrance of the Abbey. We saw each other and he passed me the invitation, which I still have. The time to enter was approaching so I made my way in and an usher spoke to me and I gave him my invitation. He said follow me. We walked and walked, past the choir stalls and right to the front of the Abbey. My seat was A2 front row opposite the pulpit and what I call the throne seat. Six Chelsea pensioners were opposite and a gentleman came and sat in A3 and I found out he was an ambassador – we were exactly were the Queen and Royal family sit.
The service began with flag bearers leading through the Abbey– one from Britain, Turkey, Australia and New Zealand – followed by the Clergy and the Duke of Gloucester who sat on the throne seat and his security team, one of which sat in A1 – next to me.
We had a wonderful service and a children’s choir from Australia sang, all four countries had their national anthems and I still have the Order of Service.
When it finished I was ready to leave and got up to back away but the Ambassador took me by the arm and said “Madam, you are one of us” so left with all the VIPs. I walked down the middle of Westminster Abbey feeling very shy but very proud and getting to the door of the Abbey the Dean of Westminster and the Archbishop shook my hand and asked where I came from. They let me know that they would love me to visit again if I came back to the UK. They were very polite and made me feel wanted.
After the service while I waited outside Westminster Abbey looking for a taxi, it started to rain. After about a quarter of an hour I decided it was impossible to get a taxi and I needed to go to the toilet. I walked back up the steps and stood in the vestibule when a man came from the Abbey to ask if he could help me (he was an Usher of the Abbey). I told him I wished to find a toilet and he said that unfortunately they were on the far side of the Abbey but to follow him. After a short distance he said “No, I will take you to another one”. It wasn’t far but when I entered the door I saw a crown painted on it. I didn’t ask but I thought it was for Royal use.
This was one of the best days of my life."
The following photo of Jan and her family is one of our favourites. Taken on ANZAC Day 2018 it captures the ideal location and importantly illustrates the generational interest in ANZAC.
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