Gerry raised the interesting subject of smells that
bring back strong
memories. For me one of the most evocative smells of
the World War II is
that of burning painted wood. As an eight-year old in
London in 1943 I
played on bomb sites which often were still had
smoldering fires. On
occasion, the clean up crews would collect all the
combustibles at the
site and have one great bonfire, which, of course, we
kids thought was
great.
It was not until much later that I realized that the
very pungent and
distinctive smell was due to the fact that painted
wood was being
burned. There have only been two or three occasions
since the war that I
have come across that distinctive smell, but it always
brings back
memories of the bomb sites in South London. Since open
burning has been
banned in the States for at least the last twenty
years, it is unlikely
that I will come across that smell again unless, of
course, I start my
own illegal bonfire!
One smell we definitely will not come across again is
that of the London
pea soup fog. Does anyone remember the great fog of
1947(?) that killed
five thousand people and was instrumental in bringing
about the banning
of coal fires in London? As I recall, it lasted at
least three or four
days, was green in colour, and had an absolutely awful
smell.
Brian Kiernan
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