"He said after the war that the Red Cross kept him alive and his embroidery kept him sane." Discuss. What might the speaker mean? Is there anything surprising about it?
Anthony Casdagli is speaking of his father, Major AT Casdagli, who was detained as a prisoner of war in Germany between 1941 and 1945. On capture, the keen needleworker managed to get hold of some canvas and strands of wool. Among other things he created this embroidery, available to download in a powerpoint:
©Info
Ask students to spend some time examining it. Talk about the words first. They reveal the embroidery's origins.
Then look at the large symbols that border the text. Can students make out a lion, a hammer and sickle, a swastika and an eagle? Can they associate them with the combatant countries of World War II? Answers: Britain, Soviet Union, Germany and Italy.
Mental health
Discuss how the craft, known as cross stitch, might have helped keep Major Casdagli in good mental health during captivity. Being a prisoner of war is boring. Think for a minute about how you might fill the hours, days, weeks, months and years of detention? What kind of activity would help you cope?
Power of making
The embroidery is currently in an exhibition at the V&A in London called the Power of Making. Discuss that power. Making skills are a form of self-expression, a way of maintaining social contacts and help define cultural identity. How important do you think those things are?
Other exhibits at the V&A include a life-size crocheted bear, a dry stone wall and a flute. Which of those, or other artefacts, would you most like to make? Find, from personal contacts or library research, examples of everyday crafts from previous generations. Include items such as furniture, clothes, decorations, food and drink that are now mainly bought readymade.
Finish the sentence, I would like to learn a craft skill because...
Improvisation
Another skill that Major Cadagli had was that of improvisation. No one supplied him with an embroidery kit. He somehow acquired needles, canvas and wools, probably from being observant, optimistic, adaptable and alert to possibilities. He didn't complain about what he lacked. He evidently just got on with it and made the best use of what he could find. These abilities are regarded as core survival skills in difficult situations. They can be learned.
Write down a recent occasion when you or someone you know was stuck because you didn't have the right equipment or materials. Thinking back, what might you have used instead?
Decoding
Yet another skill that Major Cadagli had was the ability to communicate in code. This was standard for service personnel and others. Note the dots and dashes around the inner ring. This is the repeated pattern:
--. --- -.. | ... .- ...- . | - .... . | -.- .. -. --.
This is the messaging system Morse code. Different combinations of long and short marks represent letters. They can be tapped out as an audible signal, flashed as a light or, as here, as written dots and dashes. Get familiar with the code. Spell out your own name in dots and dashes.
Then decode the secret message in the inner ring shown above. Such messages were not allowed in prisoner of war camps. What satisfaction might it have given the major and other inmates?
Important. Check before use and exercise extreme caution: Major Casdagli introduced another message into the embroidery, on the outer ring. This reads:
..-. ..- -.-. -.- | .... .. - .-.. . .-.
Be careful, though. Anthony Casdagli described this as a rude message about Hitler. Some would say that is an understatement. It is an extremely rude message. Check organisational policy on obscene language before decoding.
SOS
Point out that it is from Morse code that the "I need help urgently" message known as SOS derived. The letters don't stand for anything. They are just a memorable, distinctive signal of three short, three long, three short. Practise them.
Bayeux tapestry
A famous conflict-related embroidery has a curious, not strictly accurate, name. The Bayeux tapestry is not a cloth made up of a woven pattern, which is what a tapestry is. It is an embroidery, with the figures and decoration stitched into the cloth. Make a habit, when you see patterned material, of noting how it is made – stitched, woven or printed.
Notes
The book, A Stitch in Time by Anthony Casdagli, gives an account from his father's diaries and illustrated with examples of his embroideries.
The free exhibition Power of Making is at the V&A till January 2012.
This activity, part of the free newsthink email for teachers, was written by PJ White and published in September 2011. We would like to thank Anthony Casdagli for his help with this resource and permission to share his father's embroidery with teachers and students.