Tag Archives: World War II

2000

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Priscilla Rawson Young in the 1990s. photo: Eric Roth

19 June.  Priscilla Rawson Young died in Needham MA and was buried in the Rawson plot at Skiff Mountain Cemetery, Kent CT.  Our angel bequeathed $100K to sustain our mission and $1M for our music program.  The Young Fund today supports Emmanuel Music‘s series of Bach cantatas, which can be heard in our services on Youtube and on Sundays in our sanctuary during the academic year. See also 1909 1939, 1942, 1971, 1973 & 1994.

Nov. 12.  A devastating fire due to faulty wiring near our sacristy was reported by women in Safe Haven. The Burnham Window, designed by the English firm of Heaton, Butler & Bayne, was broken by firefighters. Given in memory of Marian Burnham, who drowned at a young age, the window has been restored by Serpentino Studios thanks to a generous grant from the George B. Henderson Foundation.

fire damage

Photo credit: Don Kreider

burnhamWindow175

1945

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  • 8 May. Germans surrendered, leading to the end of World War II in Europe.
  • 15 July.  The Rev. Dr. H. Robert Smith, formerly of Grace Church, Newton MA, accepted the position of Minister-in-Charge and served until a new rector could be called.
  • 6 & 9 August. US dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, leading to Japanese  surrender a week later.
  • 28 November.  The vestry assigned the church’s reading rights at the Boston Athenæum to rector-elect, The Rev. Robert Gifford Metters.

1942

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10 August.  Our benefactor Priscilla Rawson married Henry Melvin Young in Kent CT.  They had known each other since he had attended Kent College there before going to Trinity College, Oxford.  Known as Dinghy Young, he had been awarded Britain’s Distinguished Flying Cross and Bar.  Killed returning from a 1943 RAF bombing raid on dams in the Ruhr Valley, Squadron Leader Young of was played by Richard Leech in the 1955 movie The Dam Busters. For a more technical description of 617 Squadron’s achievement, see this documentary, which mentions him at about 39 minutes.  See also 1909, 1939, 1971, 1973, 1994 & 2000.