Keith Westfall
09-29-2010, 12:38 AM
This is from another forum that I follow. Thought it was pretty good..., and a real "hands on" woodworking story.
THIS WEEK'S HONORARY UNSUBSCRIBE goes to Clair Cline. A U.S. Air Force
bomber pilot in World War II, Cline was shot down in February 1944 over
Germany, and he bailed out just over the border, landing in Holland. He
was sent to Stalag Luft I, a prison camp. After months of boredom,
Cline set out to make a violin -- he had one as a child. He used bed
slats, carefully carved with a penknife. He took little bits of glue
from chairs, boiling it down for reuse. He didn't smoke, and traded his
tobacco rations with guards for the things he couldn't make: catgut for
the strings, and a bow. It took three months, working every day, but it
played, entertaining his fellow prisoners. His favorite memory was from
Christmas, 1944. He played "Silent Night", and "As the notes drifted
through the barracks a voice chimed in," he said, "then others. Amid
the harmony I heard a different language: 'Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht,
alles schlaft, Einsam wacht....' An elderly white-haired guard stood in
the shadows, his eyes wet with tears," singing along with the
prisoners. The following May the camp was liberated by the Allies --
and Cline was able to bring his violin home. He became a cabinet maker.
Cline died September 12, at 92. His son, Roger, who plays double bass
in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, says the violin will go to a museum.
THIS WEEK'S HONORARY UNSUBSCRIBE goes to Clair Cline. A U.S. Air Force
bomber pilot in World War II, Cline was shot down in February 1944 over
Germany, and he bailed out just over the border, landing in Holland. He
was sent to Stalag Luft I, a prison camp. After months of boredom,
Cline set out to make a violin -- he had one as a child. He used bed
slats, carefully carved with a penknife. He took little bits of glue
from chairs, boiling it down for reuse. He didn't smoke, and traded his
tobacco rations with guards for the things he couldn't make: catgut for
the strings, and a bow. It took three months, working every day, but it
played, entertaining his fellow prisoners. His favorite memory was from
Christmas, 1944. He played "Silent Night", and "As the notes drifted
through the barracks a voice chimed in," he said, "then others. Amid
the harmony I heard a different language: 'Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht,
alles schlaft, Einsam wacht....' An elderly white-haired guard stood in
the shadows, his eyes wet with tears," singing along with the
prisoners. The following May the camp was liberated by the Allies --
and Cline was able to bring his violin home. He became a cabinet maker.
Cline died September 12, at 92. His son, Roger, who plays double bass
in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, says the violin will go to a museum.