This Is Your Life: Gladys Aylward

Gladys AYLWARD (1902-1970)

THIS IS YOUR LIFE - Gladys Aylward, missionary, was surprised by Eamonn Andrews at the BBC Television Theatre, having been led to believe she was taking part in a programme about missionary work.

Gladys, who was born in London and worked as a housemaid from her early teens, spent her life savings on a train passage to Yancheng County, China, in 1932 to fulfil her ambition to become a missionary. Initially, she worked with an older missionary, Jeannie Lawson, and together they established The Inn of the Eight Happiness, a hostel for muleteers.

In 1938, when Japanese forces invaded the region, Gladys led over 100 orphans to safety over the mountains, despite being wounded and sick herself. After returning to the UK in 1949, where she toured the country preaching and caring for Chinese students, Gladys returned to China in 1957, establishing an orphanage in Taiwan. A Hollywood film based on her life, The Inn of the Sixth Happiness, was released in 1958.

programme details...

Edition No: 226
Subject No: 227
Broadcast live: Tue 14 May 1963
Broadcast time: 7.55-8.25pm
Recorded: Mon 1 Apr 1963 9.25pm
Repeated: Wed 18 Sep 1963 9.25pm
Venue: BBC Television Theatre
Series: 8
Edition: 31

on the guest list...

Eileen Younghusband
Violet - sister
Evelyn Jago
Jean Davies
Rev David Davies
Frances Major
Dr Handley Stockley
Dr Olin Stockwell
John Lu
Gordon
Laurie - brother
Wong Kwai
Rev Michael Chang

production team...

Researcher: unknown
Writer: unknown
Director: Vere Lorrimer
Producer: T Leslie Jackson

related page...

A Charitable Life

the unsung heroes

Photographs of Gladys Aylward This Is Your Life

Phyllis Thompson recalls This Is Your Life in her book, A London Sparrow...

Then she continued,

"I am also, on top of all this, trying to clear up, for on 28th I fly at invitation of BBC to London. I prayed for an open door to see my loved ones there, and here it is." She did not say what the BBC wanted her to do when she got to London, for she did not know! Letters and cables had been speeding their way to America and Asia, as well as in England, in preparation for the This Is Your Life programme in which Miss Gladys Aylward was to appear, but she knew nothing of it.

She boarded the plane on 28th March, 1963, to go to London, and she had the chubby little Gordon with her. Couldn't leave him behind! She took him along to the BBC, too, although not until she arrived did she know what it was all about.

The millions of people who viewed that programme saw her just as she was - an excited, uninhibited little woman in a Chinese gown, squealing with delight, bright bead-like eyes nearly popping out of her head, as one after another people were introduced to her who had played a part in her life - Violet, her sister, Laurie, her brother, David Davies her fellow missionary in Shansi, Handley Stockley the doctor who had saved her life in Sian, and others ... and then, crowning joy of all, there was handsome young Son-in-law! She could scarcely believe it! She had left him in Taipei only four days before, and here he was, with her, in London. To everybody's delight, she leapt at him, he swept her up in his arms, and the BBC brought to a triumphant unrehearsed conclusion one of the most successful This Is Your Life programmes they had ever produced.

Vera Cowie recalls This Is Your Life in her book, Girl Friday to Gladys Aylward...

In the next year or two letters arrived from the Far East, containing intriguing mementoes - lovely life-sized butterflies skilfully pressed into coloured leaves of all kinds, a coloured map showing the various products Taiwan had to offer by way of export or tourism, a beautiful jacket in Chinese silk with exquisite patterns of flowering trees, lakes and pagodas, conjuring up in my mind an alluring picture of life in that faraway place.

I was now working at Keele University, having left the youth centre, feeling that I should be at home for a short time after the death of my father. My mother and I were living with my sister and brother-in-law and I drove to the university offices each day.

But I felt life was becoming a bit dull. At the youth centre had met young people from all over Europe, travelled to the Continent, opened an office in Germany and eventually seen a German youth centre in operation. Those had been exciting days! Yet, as I reasoned with myself, I knew that I was in the right place. Had I not asked God to guide me when I left the youth centre? Only that morning, 28th April, 1963, I had read on my desk calendar: Thy way is in the sea and Thy path in the great waters (Psalm 77: 19). God's path is in the sea - just where you would not expect it to be! So when He leads us out by unexpected ways, off the strong solid land, out upon the changing sea, then we may expect to see His ways. We are with One who finds a path as He goes.

'There is an infinite variety in the paths God makes and He can make them anywhere!' (C. A. Fox.)

It was not long before I knew God's plan. I was being led out by unexpected ways as God's path opened up before me!

One afternoon as I was about to leave the office, one of my co-secretaries, Jean, who knew of my friendship with Gladys, suddenly said 'Oh, I must tell you. I've heard that your friend, Gladys Aylward, is to be on This Is Your Life this evening!'

I replied doubtfully, 'Are you sure? It's supposed to be a secret, isn't it? I'd have thought Gladys would have written to tell me if she were coming back to Britain.'

Even so, I decided when I got home, that there would be no harm in making sure there was no truth in it, and switched on the TV 'just in case', to discover that Gladys was indeed the subject of This Is Your Life. I was so excited I could hardly sit still!

I sent Gladys a greetings telegram and, a few days after the programme, I telephoned some friends in London where I thought she might be staying. Sure enough, she came to the phone.

I asked how she was. 'Fine.'

'And how are your letters, Gladys?' I went on.

'Terrible - I've got nearly a case full,' she said. 'As a matter of fact, Vera, I've locked it up and thrown it into a wardrobe and closed the door. I know I can't possibly reply to them all.'

How I chuckled! This was typical of Gladys! No amount of fame would alter her. It was all right writing a few letters to friends now and then, but a case full - no thank you. Better forget about them.

However, realising how important these letters might be, I suggested that we meet so that I could deal with them, just as I had done on her previous stay in Britain. There and then we arranged a date for her to travel north and I took the following Wednesday off work to meet her at Crewe station.

On my way to the station in my second-hand car, my mind was working overtime. Was this the faint glimmer of light that I had been looking for? Life would be dull no longer with Gladys on the scene. In my wildest dreams I could never have imagined what this was to lead to and the adventures and problems we were to face together.

The train was just coming in! I waited in the middle of the platform, scanning the windows for any sign of Gladys and Gordon, the baby whom she had personally adopted and who had appeared a few days earlier with her on This Is Your Life.

Suddenly I caught a glimpse of her. She was trailing up the platform with a suitcase almost as big as herself, and dragging, with great difficulty, a push chair in which sat a black-haired, bright-eyed Chinese boy about fifteen months old.

I raced down the platform to meet her and gave her a big hug. Questions tumbled out as we chatted merrily. I took the case and left Gladys with the push chair, not wanting to scare the baby by paying too much attention to him.

'Say hello to Auntie Vera, Gordon,' said Gladys, pitching her voice a little higher as she always did when she was excited. Gordon just stared, not sure that he wanted any more aunties just yet. He had been surrounded by aunts, uncles and cousins by the dozen since he came to this strange new land and they had all tried to make a fuss of him.

The case containing the stacks of letters was safely stored in the boot and, when Gladys and Gordon were settled in the car, away we went to a friend's house in Poynton, for my mother was not well at that time, and I felt that my sister had more than enough to cope with.

There would be plenty of time later for Gladys to renew the friendship she had made with my family when I was working in the Lake District.

Mary and her husband had offered to put up Gladys and Gordon for the night and to see them on their way the next morning. First it was elevenses. Coffee for the grown-ups and milk and biscuits and a quick change of nappy for our bewildered Gordon, who was then whisked off to have a rest in the cot which friends had provided.

And so at last we tackled that suitcase. Gladys had remembered to bring the key. What a pile of letters - where did we begin? With a short break for lunch, we worked till tea time, opening letters, reading them and trying to sort them into four piles for reply.

Some people had written to ask if Gladys could speak at public meetings or schools; many (including old age pensioners) had sent gifts for the children; while others said how much they had enjoyed the TV programme, or asked whether they could adopt a baby like the one they saw on TV.

When the last letter was opened and in its appropriate pile, we carefully packed them into the suitcase again and decided that we could make time for tea. After that, I knew I must think of leaving. Having stowed that suitcase carefully in the boot again, and said farewell to Gladys and my friends, I headed home, where mother, Lilian and George were agog to hear what that suitcase really had contained!

Back at work the next morning, my colleagues were also intrigued. Lyn and Mary, two of my secretarial friends, immediately offered to help me with the letters. Each evening after work, we would begin on Gladys's work, and not just a suitcase either. Letters continued to roll in as Gladys sent on her correspondence to us. We worked day and night and still they came! It was quite a problem keeping up and I asked God to show me how to cope with this mounting responsibility, in view of the fact that I had a full-time job. I was having to book up speaking engagements for her, too. When she was asked to three or four different engagements in the same town on the same evening, she just said, 'Pass the letters on to Vera.'

Gradually the realisation came that Gladys needed a full-time helper. As I prayed about this, I knew that I was the one to join her. But would she see it the same way?

'Gladys,' I said when I next met her, 'I feel that you really need someone to help you full time. I'm perfectly happy to leave the university and join you if you feel that this is what God wants us to do.'

'Quite honestly, Vera, I do,' she replied without hesitation, and that was that. It never entered my head to ask how much holiday I would get, how much I would be paid for the job, or how many hours a day I would be expected to work. This was God's plan for my life, and I knew it as surely as if a voice had boomed forth from Heaven.

The next step was to tell my boss at the university and cancel my holiday. The arrangements had been made months earlier with a friend and the holiday was due in only a couple of weeks.

As a result of a quick phone call, however, I discovered that to cancel a continental holiday at such short notice, left me liable for the full fee! I didn't want to let my friend down either, so I decided to go.

After my holiday in July, I would leave the university office at the end of August and join Gladys in September.

Two days later there was to be a repeat of the This Is Your Life programme, on an evening when Gladys had a speaking engagement. The odds were that she would speak for her 'normal' time - anything from one to two hours - and usually the audience did not mind. But not on this occasion! 'Could Gladys possibly speak for a shorter time this evening so that we can see the pro-gramme?'

The request was passed on to her, but she was not too pleased. 'They've all seen the programme once, haven't they?' she said, raising her voice excitedly. 'Why on earth do they want to see it again?'

I tried to explain that it would be good to co-operate as they were obviously so thrilled that she had been on television. Then a further suggestion was made - the preliminaries could be cut down to give her more time, and she finally agreed!

But on the night I wondered - could she finish on time? For time meant nothing to her when she was speaking. I sat 'on pins' as the time drew near for her to end... then heaved a great sigh of relief. She was finishing. There were smiles all round the audience! She announced the last hymn and as soon as the benediction had been said, people hurriedly made for the door. The hall emptied in a matter of minutes, as if a whirlwind had hit it. I looked at Gladys and she looked at me, not knowing what to make of it. Usually folk lingered, vying with each other to have a word with her. Gladys couldn't for the life of her understand what had got into these people, and she sat on. Eventually I went over and whispered to her, 'Come on Gladys. We're going round to Mrs Brown's house to watch your programme. They're waiting for us!'

'Hmp!' was her disgruntled reply, as if to say 'Why does anybody want to see that again?' She came, nevertheless, and was as quiet as a mouse while we sat and enjoyed the repeat of This Is Your Life.

There was such enthusiasm about the programme afterwards that she thawed out and began to talk. The room was filled with neighbours who had been thrilled to watch the television with the subject of the programme sitting in the same room. Now they wanted to talk to her.

Carol Purves recalls This Is Your Life in her book, Chinese Whispers: The Gladys Aylward Story...

She flew back to England on 28 March 1963 and on the 14 May, Gladys was the subject of Eamonn Andrews' programme, This Is Your Life. She thought she was going to the studios to advise on a film about China and had no idea about the real reason for her visit. When she discovered why she was there, she was not sure what to expect as Eamonn led her into the studio. Her whole life flashed through her mind; who would come to speak on the programme?

Eamonn introduced her first guest. Dark-haired and calm, Jean Davies, David's wife, walked on to the set. The music played, the audience clapped, but Gladys only had eyes for her old friend. Both ladies knew, that Gladys had been indirectly responsible for their imprisonment in China, but all this was now forgotten and indeed forgiven. They both knew that Gladys had done what she felt was right at the time.

On the show, Jean explained how Gladys had taken the hundred children from the mission at Tsehchow, through Yangcheng, over the peaks, nearly five thousand feet high, to the Yellow River, a walk of 200 miles. Jean explained, that sometimes the slopes were so steep that the children formed a human chain to help the youngest.

As Jean spoke, Gladys could see it all again in her mind's eye. Only God could have got her through that nightmare journey. Jean explained that after such a trek, Gladys had collapsed and been ill for a long time.

Hardly had Gladys got used to the presence of Jean, when the next guests were heralded in. Dr Stockley from the Baptist Mission Hospital at Sian and Miss Frances Major. The doctor explained how ill Gladys had been; suffering from fever and pneumonia. He felt there must have been a reason why, against all odds, she survived. God obviously still had work for her to do, even if Gladys couldn't imagine at that time what it could be.

Miss Major recalled with a smile that when Gladys took the morning prayers, she was asked to keep to fifteen minutes, as the nurses who had been working all night were very tired and needed their sleep, but Gladys always exceeded her time.

Gladys' next guest had been flown from Singapore to be with her. The Rev Dr Olin Stockwell, who had spent two and a half years in solitary confinement at the hands of the Communists, explained how he had advertised for an evangelist to help with his work. When Gladys applied in writing, she wrote in Chinese, so he also replied in Chinese and was therefore amazed when he opened the door to a European woman rather than a Chinese woman as her name Ai Weh Deh had suggested.

Dr Stockwell praised the work that Gladys had done, how she had brought faith and hope to hundreds of people with her work in the leper colony and the city. He recalled one particular Good Friday communion where some lepers who were present, couldn't kneel and many had deformed hands, yet with Gladys they were able to feel the power of God.

Dr Stockwell told how in 1949 when Gladys needed rest but had no money to return to England, he was afraid she would refuse to go, but with the help of many people's generosity they were able to arrange it.

He praised Gladys' humility recounting an incident when she was once asked if she had ever met the Ai Weh Deh in her travels. She simply replied, 'Yes, I've met her. I know her.'

The story of Gladys then moved on to her return to England and how she became the second mother to many Chinese students and helped to establish the Chinese Seaman's Hostel in Liverpool.

A film was then shown of Mrs Wong Kuo from Hong Kong, who was helped by Gladys when she was stranded in Europe. As her words were translated, the audience learned that Mrs Kuo had been thrown out by her employers and as no one could understand her, she was put into a mental hospital. Gladys found her and was able to speak with her. Convinced she was perfectly sane, Gladys arranged for her release, took her into her own home and finally arranged for her to go back to Hong Kong.

Her present work in Taiwan was not forgotten and next in the programme a children's choir from Hong Kong sang in Chinese 'Yes, Jesus loves me.' Gladys sang along with them and then gasped as the Rev Michael Chang's face appeared on the screen. Michael explained that at the age of eight, lonely and frightened, he had escaped from Communist China. Gladys took him into her home and he tried to live up to his Chinese name 'Happy'. Under Gladys' care he had thrived and flourished and today was an ordained minister caring for the destitute children, as Gladys had done for so much of her life.

Eamonn Andrews' explained that four of the children who had trekked over the mountains with her had decided to help her in the work in Taiwan. One of these, Francis, had become a doctor. The others were Pauline and John Lu who had got to know each other on the journey and had subsequently married and had two children of their own.

Eamonn referred to Gladys' new family, which at that time consisted of 96 children. She had brought one of them, Gordon, with her and he was then led into the studio. Gordon had been named as one of the first of a new Aylward family.

The party after the programme was a wonder reunion. Gladys was very grateful to meet up again with those who had been so important in her life. Her prayers were full of praise that night.

Series 8 subjects