The last two posts in this series were centered around Henry and Bea’s life in the United States after they had been released from internment in the Brenner Park Hotel in Baden-Baden, Germany. First Bea (here) and then Henry (here) told their individual and shared stories to the wider Mennonite public. We pick up the story at that point, in mid-1944.
Within a few months, The Mennonite reported that Henry was on his way back to Europe to resume his work on behalf of the Mennonite Central Committee.
26 September 1944 (page 15 here, lower left column)
Buller Granted Passage to England
Henry Buller, still awaiting passage to England at the time Ellen Harder and John Thut left Akron headquarters, was able to leave the country with John Thut. Brother Buller will assist in relief at the London Center, until such time as permission is granted to carry on relief in areas familiar to him in France.
According to an earlier issue of The Mennonite (here), farewell services had been held for Ellen Harder and John Thut on 4 September, when Henry was still awaiting authorization or a ticket (we do not know which) for his own journey back across the ocean. Fortunately for Henry, whatever was delaying him was resolved within a few weeks, and he and Thut had departed for England by mid- to late September.
Although we might have expected Henry to travel directly to France, he went rather to England to work alongside Thut in the London MCC Center. The note explains that he did not yet have permission to go to France. Why? Recall that the Allied forces had landed on the beaches of Normandy only a short time earlier, on 6 June 1944. Paris had been liberated only a month prior, on 25 August. Granted, the Germans had been pushed out of most parts of France (except in the southeast) by the end of September 1944, but it is not hard to appreciate why nonresident civilians were kept out of what had recently been a combat zone.
The next mention of Henry comes in the 24 October 1944 issue (page 14 here, lower left column):
Thut and Buller in England
By letter it has been learned that John Thut and Henry Buller arrived safely in London on September 28. John has gone to Taxal Edge to assist Peter Dyck with the convalescent boys there and Henry is located at the London Center.
Although we hear nothing more about Henry specifically for the remainder of 1944, we can imagine his life based on MCC reports about the England work. The 12 December 1944 issue (page 13 here, middle right column), for example, carried the following report:
Robot Bombing Accelerated Relief Work in England
In a summary of the May, June, and July relief work that our Mennonite organization carried on in England, our representative reports that the hazards of the flying bombs brought increased demands for clothing, and particularly bedding. Forty quilts were distributed in the Children’s Hospital at Yorkshire. This hostel gave accommodations to cases of difficult evacuated children. Nineteen quilts, clothing, and financial assistance has been given to an organization to aid its welfare work in the very poor and much bombed sections of London, Liverpool, and Manchester.
The “robot bombing” of the headline was no doubt German V-2 rockets, which were first launched against England on 8 September and continued through March 1945.
A 31 January 1945 letter from Sam Goering, an MCC worker who had recently arrived in England, fills in additional details—and lets us know that Henry was still in the London Center during this time. The second half of the letter, quoted below, was published in the 8 May 1945 issue (page 8 here, lower left column); the first half of the letter, interesting in its own right, is available here.
It was snowing as I arrived at the Center; Henry Buller, looking out of the window, noticed me, and he and Glen Miller came out to meet me. Soon I was in the house. The warm fire and hearty welcome made me feel at home. I was glad I got here early enough to spend some time with Glen Miller and Joe Byler who are to leave for the U.S. in about a week. Here at the Service Center I met all but four of our relief workers the first night. They are a fine group and deeply concerned about fulfilling the mission for which they are here.
Within an hour after I got here I heard the crash of a V-2 bomb, but it seemed far in the distance. The one next day at noon was not so far away. But the general feeling seems to be that, dangerous as these bombs may be, things cannot stop because of them, and so folks are bravely carrying on.
Shepherd Hill, where the MCC headquarters is, is a ridge with large houses on it, of which our place is one. In this building they have a group of children who were bombed out of their homes besides the clothing depot and rooms for workers and helpers; so they need a lot of space. My room is on the top floor which means four flights of stairs to climb.
The children come and go. Here at the Center we have twelve now, but there are many more if we include those staying at the various places we have away from here. Some of these children come from exceptionally fine homes. The letters and telephone calls they get show that they have ties that bind them closely to loved ones.
I had an interesting little visitor this afternoon, Allen, a little boy who went to S. S. [Sunday school] with me a week ago. On Monday he went to school and did not return. He came to stay with us because he was recovering from an illness and their home had been bombed, destroying all but two rooms. When he didn’t return from school we inquired and found that he took the bus and went home. The reason was that, while he was here, a number of alarms that morning warned people of buzz bombs, and he decided it might be safer at home. This afternoon he came with his father to say he was sorry he left without saying anything. While here the father told us how they had lost everything they had, and now are living in two small rooms that are hardly fit to live in. The other day a family I visited recently, called by phone and asked for clothing for people that had lost everything but their lives. These people know through experience how dangerous these bombs are. Yet it is surprising to see how bravely they carry on after five years of it. Each night many still take their bedding and go into the air raid shelters to sleep. I watched them tonight when we came home from town. The subways are lined with beds.… This has been a busy week. Glen Miller and I were on the go all the time. We are at Taxal Edge—here we say goodbye to Glen Miller and Joe Byler. They go to Liverpool from here, and then back to the States. I have visited Vickerhurst, Manor, and Woodlands, and now we are at Taxal Edge, from here we proceed to South Meadows and then I will have visited all the places.
This has been a quiet day compared to some others we have had recently. You may have heard that the English Presbyterians lost a group of their finest leaders when the building in which they were in conference was hit. Baswick, a Dunkard, who is in charge of war prisoners, had just left the building when the V-2 struck. He had gone there to tell them what the Y.M.C.A. is doing for the war prisoners. Needless to say, he felt very fortunate. Mr. Baswick invited Henry Buller and me over for supper one evening. We had pigs feet, beans and a combination salad—all prepared by him, and it was really good. He expects his wife and children this summer.
Even when danger is near we are confident that we are in His care and keeping.
According to GAMEO (here), the MCC’s London Center was located at 68 Shepherds Hill. The building pictured above is presumably the London Center, since it is an older four-story building located at that address. This, then, is where Henry lived and worked from late September 1944 through early March 1945, under constant threat of a V-2 rocket shattering his world at any moment.
We can say that Henry left England for France in March 1945 based on a report in 6 March 1945 issue of The Mennonite (page 14 here, lower left column):
Passport Validation for France
Henry Buller, along with Sam Goering, has now had his passport validated for France. Both of these workers are engaged in relief work in England but will enter France as soon as French visas can be procured. Bro. Buller was a relief worker in France from 1941 until he was interned early in 1943. He is quite eager to return to the work and people he had served earlier.
According to this brief note, by early March Henry had secured authorization to travel to France (via his U.S. passport); however, he still needed permission to enter France (a French visa). That permission was soon forthcoming, since we next read that Henry and Sam Goering left England on 18 March.
15 May 1945 (page 14 here, lower left column)
Samuel Goering, who left England, March 18, and entered France with Henry Buller, returned to England, April 18. Brother Goering cabled the following message from London, April 19, regarding his investigation and contacts in France:
Returned Wednesday. Found commitments made for eight homes. Three operating now with approximately 200 children. Entr’aide assist equiping places. Caution against over expansion. Agreed supporting plan in general pending your approval. Investigated wide area. Conditions tragic many places. Visited Widmer, Nussbaumer, Volkmar, and others farther north. Impossible visit Gerber. Volkmar will investigate needs among Mennonites and report. Some lost everything. Committee being organized to cooperate in relief program. Goods not money wanted … Holland indefinite. (The original cable used all capital letters.)
There is quite a bit to unpack with the cable message that Goering sent, so this seems a good place to stop before we dig deeper. It is sufficient to know for now that, as of 18 March 1944, Henry was back in France and ready to resume his work of ministering to the needs of the war-ravaged population.
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