Since the moment he set his eyes on her in Visby Arthur never doubted that he and Signe were meant for each other. Signe fell in love with Arthur right at the beginning when she picked him up at the boat in New York. But neither of them knew what the other felt and they never discussed it. They had both lived through World War I and were convinced of the necessity of what Buchman was pioneering and the way he did it. They wanted more than anything else to contribute fully to this. They felt that this was a God-given opportunity that would never occur again if they didn’t grasp the moment.
Marriage would have meant the need for alternatives that involved a home, children and a job to finance it – or family life on the road with the team! Both were impossible for them to visualize at the time and they individually accepted the present challenge for what it was. They chose a celibate life, not knowing where it would lead.
Soon after the end of the war and shortly before leaving for Europe Arthur finally felt that the time had come to propose. But when Arthur asked Signe to marry him she turned him down. She had begun to feel that they were too different and added to that, she was not at all keen on becoming British! She had been out of Norway for most of her life and had now spent the whole of the war in America without knowing how her family was doing. She had by then heard that they were all alive, but she was homesick.
As it turned out her youngest sister Lillan had stood at the window with her parents and watched as the occupying soldiers marched into Oslo in 1939. They marched right below the windows of their apartment on Thomas Heftyesgate. That very night he arranged for his wife Aagot to take Signe’s sister Lillan and flee by train, taxi and a horse-driven sleigh to Sweden until they could figure it all out. By 1941 Kjell realized that he would be needed up north in Sulitljelma to manage the strategic coppermine if it was to be kept from the occupation forces. Eventually Aagot, Kjell and Lillan settled in Sulitjelma so that Kjell could slow down production. He was later decorated by the King with the Kong Olav Orden for his actions. Lillan frequently changed schools as the schools she attended were successively closed down and she travelled from north to south, sometimes on her own, as her parents were determined that she should get the best education despite the restricting occupation. By the end of the war Lillan had completed her schooling and her parents moved back to Oslo where she graduated. Signe’s closest sister Nussa (Anne Karine) had struggled at university during the war years and had a nervous breakdown which led to a broken engagement. She developed schizophrenia which she struggled with all her life. Inger finished her schooling in Oslo and moved to their family friends the Paues in Stockholm where she studied to become a photographer. It was there that she met and married exiled Norwegian Marine Officer Carl August Høy-Petersen – but without her own family being able to take part. Lillan was 12 when Signe left and was now nearly 19. Signe wanted to get back to her roots. She was simply homesick and no longer in love.
Arthur was not deterred and during the days after he proposed they spent time together daily to talk, share their thoughts, fears, hopes and visions. After 3 days, when Signe was resting, a thought shot through her: “You are chasing a rainbow: compatibility. When I put people together, I fit them together!” And from that moment she knew that all would be well. She realized that it wouldn’t always be easy but her values would undergo a natural and necessary change. Arthur had invited her to the opera on the evening of April 13th 1946 and in the interval Signe said yes to his proposal! It was lilac time in Washington DC and next day Arthur gave her a big corsage of lilacs to wear when they drove out to Mount Vernon to spend the day together. After that it was lilac-time everywhere they went, place after place giving them both a great sense of hope for the future.
Several of those who had spent the war years in America had eventually fought with the allies in Europe but others like Signe and Arthur were home in Europe for the first time in seven years and Arthur proudly introduced his fiancé to his family in England one by one. Nothing was said about the past and all were relieved that Arthur would be getting married and settle down!
A memorable picture shows 8 of them in London standing on Park Lane, taking part in the Victory Parade on Park Lane in London, May 1946. They stood there chatting as the most natural thing in the world. But when you see the colour shots taken by Arthur shortly afterwards you can grasp the importance of the moment! King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret were about to pass by them in the World War II Victory Parade.
In this photo you see: Margaret Barnes, Peter Sisam, Dorothea Parfit sitting on a bag, Signe Lund sitting on the pavement and Arthur Strong, ready to capture the relevant photo, Eric Parfit and Dick Haddon chatting together.
It is fascinating to see the styles of hair, trousers, ties and the shoes at the time! Eric and Dorothea had recently been married at the Grand Hotel, Mackinac Island, Michigan where Signe was bridesmaid. Margaret Barnes and Peter Sisam were in love but didn’t actually get married until 30 years later! They all remained the best of friends throughout their lives.
Signe and Arthur took the boat to Norway to meet the Lunds. Lilac-time again! This was the first time that the whole of Signe’s family were together for over 7 years and they received a warm welcome. It hadn’t been easy for the family that Signe had been so far away during the war and they had all had traumatic experiences so there was a lot to catch up on. They were invited for a week at Åsgårdsstrand with Signe’s parents. Signe shared a room with her mother and Arthur with Signe’s father. A challenge for Arthur as Signe’s father didn’t say a word to him!
While Arthur and Signe were in Norway they decided with Signe’s family that the wedding should be held at the newly refurbished conference center in Caux that autumn. All of Signe’s family joined them, and Arthur’s closest brother Tigs was his best man.
The wedding was spectacularly Norwegian. The marriage was held in the huge hall with bay windows overlooking the Dent du Midi. All 10 bridesmaids wore Norwegian national dress.
Signe wore a traditional Telemark costume and silver crown which she had loaned. Morfar Lund had the silver crown chained to his wrist throughout the journey to Caux!
They were married by Norwegian priest Sten Bugge and English minister Alan Thornhill and blessed by Buchman. After the ceremony the whole assembly followed the bride and groom and bridal party led by a fiddler up to a round field above Mountain House for traditional dancing and music.
Signe’s mother had taught a baker at a patisserie in Montreux to bake the traditional Norwegian kransekake which was served in the assembly hall afterwards. Signe and Arthur shared a traditional bowl of römmegröt with 2 special spoons chained together – carved out of one single piece of wood. That evening the play The Statemans Dream was performed. Signe and Arthur were in the cast and everyone burst out clapping when they came onto the stage. After the performance they left for their honeymoon at a chalet in Candersteg.
When Buchman first arrived at Caux, he asked, “Where are the Germans? Do you think you can reconcile Europe without the Germans?” He saw this center as an opportunity for Germany to come back into normal life and be part of the family of nations again. Buchman wanted people from Germany to come and to see the possibility of change.
Europe was like an open sore. It wasn’t easy to move around Geremany and food was extremely short. They needed permits to move between the different sectors now under the control of Britain, France, America – the area under Russian jurisdiction could not be visited at all as it was now behind what was known as the iron curtain. But these constraints didn’t stop the MRA team. In a world without TV, internet or social media Arthur and Signe’s skills as press photographer and graphic artist were continually needed to spread the positive news that was growing from the reconciliation work undertaken by Buchman and his team. They created billboards that could be used in Germany to spread the word and by the summer of 1947 the first delegations of Germans arrived at Caux, followed by a steady stream from all over Europe during the following years.
Arthur’s philosophy of photography was not confrontation. ”Confrontation is what every photographer goes for. You only have to look in the papers and you see that the pictures that show confrontation get the space. I decided on the opposite – to get images of bridge-building between people, between families, in factories, industry and also between countries. After the war I was privileged to work with MRA in Germany and saw France and Germany bury the hatchet forever. They made real what people take for granted today – working together. In those days it was almost unthinkable as France and Germany had been fighting each other on and off for the past 100 years. I was fascinated to be able to photograph some of this at Caux when Prime Minister Schumann from France and Chancellor Adenauer from Germany met there and worked out the plans for reconciliation for the good of the whole.”
As the years passed several of the families in the task force settled down and created homes or centers of their own in different parts of the world. My parents helped many others to create their homes but it took close to 30 years before they got a home of their own. These times were a far cry from the 21st century. The role of the family unit had not been defined in the same way as it is today. It certainly hadn’t been defined within the task force as Signe and Arthur were one of the first couples to get married and start a family. They had just emerged from two world wars during which families were split up across the globe. During this time husbands and sons had left home to fight in the wars. Mothers and their children were if at all possible moved to a safe place in order to survive. Many children were sent away from home to stay with “new” parents. Women worked as nurses, in industry, in the armed forces, or as ‘land girls’ producing food. Signe’s own sister Lillan spent a couple of years with a family in Oslo, leaving her parents in Sulitjelma so that she could complete her schooling.
For Signe and Arthur life on the road continued but with some modifications due to Signe’s health challenges. She travelled with Arthur through the coal fields of Britain but when the added strain of pregnancy meant that she was no longer able to carry on in the bustle of the London work, Signe was offered to stay at Tirley Garth, a stately home on an estate in Cheshire owned by Irene Prestwich who had donated her home to the work of MRA. It was used as a meeting place, and during the war to produce food for the Midlands.
It wasn’t easy for Signe to be away from Arthur, her family and her friends, but there was no question in her mind that Arthur was where he was meant to be. The situation in Europe was still precarious. Hatred, despair, poverty and depravity poisoned the post was years and leaders of all nationalities were looking to Caux and MRA to supply the missing factors needed to create peace. Signe said, “I was glad to have a part in the effort to build up a new Europe.” Arthur was photographing a conference in Caux when the time came to give birth. Jean McBain, midwife and friend, stayed with Signe at Tirley Garth during the weeks before and for the birth when local GP Dr Bark helped Jean to bring me into this world and untangle the umbilical cord twice from round my neck. I was born in the guest room. The bathroom was almost as big as the guest room, with dark brown natural panelled wood walls and a huge bathtub at its center. The birth was announced by a proud father at 7.30 during the first meeting of the day in Caux!
When I was 5 weeks old we took the first of many travels and Jean came with us. We flew to Switzerland to meet Arthur where we stayed for a month in a picture postcard chalet in Caux. The view was amazing but they only had cold running water! This village was to become our home base until I was in my teens. After the conference was over it was time for me to meet my relatives. We went to England to meet the Strongs and then Signe took me by boat to Norway where Arthur met us and we spent our first family Christmas with my grandparents, aunts and cousins Kristin and her sister Tove who was born a week after me. Arthur then flew to Washington DC where we joined him in January.
These were the first of 82 times during the first 2 years of my life that Signe packed our bags and travelled to join Arthur, Buchman and his team!
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