Places of Significance: Kemnay, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

Kemnay, Scotland
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Kemnay is a little village 16 miles west of Aberdeen, situated on a bend in the River Don. Ella’s family would ride the bus to this location in the countryside, for picnics or to pick wild brambleberries. On a scrapbook page Ella had made with some photographs taken there in 1939, she described these summer holidays as “blissful summer days.” Ella said, “I loved it out in the country. My mother used to say, ‘Ella needs to marry a farmer.’”(1)

During World War II, in the early 1940s, Ella spent 2 or 3 summers in Kemnay, to keep her out of the city and further from the danger of German air raids. Ella wasn’t sure how her family became acquainted with the host family - she stayed with the Cheyn family (maybe spelled Cheyne?) - but it wasn’t uncommon that families from the city would arrange for their children to stay in the country during the war. Ella remembers that she stayed in an upstairs room of the farmhouse, and she remembers the host family had a son. She would help with farm chores - milk the cow and collect eggs from the chickens.(2)

High Street, Kemnay
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Ella remembers one night during the war, when she and her host family watched what seemed like fireworks in the sky, but it was really probably the British artillery on the ground firing toward German bombers overhead. "It's still so bright in my memory...the flashing." She wasn't worried for her own welfare; she was far enough out in the country that the planes didn't bother to go there. But she was worried about her parents and sister back in Aberdeen (her sister was in a hospital for treatment of tuberculosis at that time).(3)

Kemnay, Scotland
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Ella enjoyed her summers in the countryside, but she remembers anxiously waiting for her mother at the end of one summer, excited to see her coming down the lane after arriving by bus.

Add to our to-do list on our next trip to Aberdeen: Having a picnic in Kemnay.

These family photographs show George and Katherine (Kate) with 
their children Ina and Ella, as well as George's sister 
Madgie (or Madge) and an unnamed family friend. The bottom left
photo also shows "farmers children" - perhaps this was the family that
Ella would later stay with in Kemnay during the war? Did they have
a relationship prior to the war?

Sources: 

1. From a conversation with Ella on 13 January 2017
2. From a conversation with Ella on 16 January 2019
3. From a conversation with Ella on 30 May 2014

Ina Findlay Slade's Memories of Aberdeen and the Church during WWII

Ina Findlay, Betty Sutherland, 
Helen Edwards (or Helen
then Betty?), and Kate Findlay

The following is a memory posted to the page for Charlesina Findlay Slade (1928-2015) on FamilySearch, written by Charlesina herself. Charlesina, most often called Ina, is Ella's sister.

See also these previous, related posts:

• The Findlays and the Aberdeen Branch in the 1930s and 1940s
• More Memories of Aberdeen during WWII
• The War Years: Air Raids, City and Countryside, and Strength in the Gospel
• George and Kate Findlay Meet the Mormons

..........

When I was 11 years old, there was excitement in our branch in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was September 1939 and the Millennial Chorus was in Aberdeen for one week. This chorus was made up of missionaries touring the mission, giving concerts.

At this time, 1939, the Aberdeen Branch was the northernmost branch in the British Mission. It was exciting to an 11 year old to be around that many missionaries at one time. They had concerts booked all week and at the end of the week there was to be a special treat. The mission president, Hugh B. Brown, would also be in Aberdeen. A room in the Music Hall had been reserved and President Brown would speak and the Millennial Chorus sing. But, alas, events in Europe were to interfere with these plans. September 3, 1939, Britain declared war on Germany. This meant Pres. Brown could not leave London. Plans and preparations had to be made for all missionaries to leave Britain and return to the U.S. This was a sad time. The chorus was advised by President Brown to finish their appointments, and go ahead and give the concert at the Music Hall. Since Pres. Brown would not be there, they had to fill in that time and sing twice as long, then they were to report to London. The withdrawal of the missionaries brought changes in the leadership of some of the branches. My father was made Branch President and mother the Relief Society President. It was a small branch to begin with, but with the withdrawal of the missionaries, this was a test of the faith of the members, and many fell away. During the six years of war, Aberdeen, one of the four branches in Scotland, was the only branch to remain open all through the war years, with only eleven of us usually in attendance at meetings; 5 adults and 6 children. One family evacuated to the country to get away from the air raids. Aberdeen is on the northeast coast of Scotland on the same latitude as southern Norway. The German planes had but a short hop, skip and jump from Norway to Aberdeen, and it was easy to find as it stood between two rivers. Radar had not been perfected yet and as a result, the German planes could sneak in and drop their bombs before the air raid siren blew. It was very frightening, hearing the thud of the bombs, and wondering where the next one would land. During the worst raid, a bomb was dropped just two streets away from where we lived. One member had her apartment damaged in one raid. The members did not have telephones, so Mother, as Relief Society president, had to rely on inspiration to know which sister she needed to visit. One morning after one raid, she felt the need to check on Sister Hendry. When she got to her street, it was blocked and a policeman on guard said a bomb had dropped there. The people had been taken to a Red Cross facility, and Mother found her. She was able to stay temporarily with another member until other arrangements could be made. With only six children in the branch, it was difficult to have Primary or Mutual. The missionaries had been led to my parents in 1930, but it was two years before they were baptized in the River Dee. I was only four years old then but my sister and myself were also baptized in the River Dee a few years later. The baptisms took place at a secluded place along the river. It was not until 1948 that Father came to Arizona and the rest of us in 1949. The faith and testimony of the adults in the branch showed us the way and kept us straight. Those members were: My parents, George and Katherine Findlay Brother Smart Sisters Eliza Edwards and Mary Hendry (the children) Betty Sutherland Houston Ronald Sutherland Helen Sutherland Helen Edwards Ella Findlay Mitchell Ina Findlay Slade To all of them I will be eternally grateful for faith in every footstep.