IN THE pale dawn light, I leaned on the rail of the cross-channel boat and gazed at the smudge on the horizon. My brother and I had left Southampton, England, the previous evening and were heading for Saint-Malo, France. Tourists? No, we were intent on taking the message of God’s Kingdom to France. On arriving at Saint-Malo, we collected our bicycles and pedaled south.

Thus it was that my younger brother John and I set out for foreign missionary work over 57 years ago. What had led to our entering full-time service? What impelled us to leave a settled life in a comfortable English home?

Our first assignment was the town of La Rochelle and the surrounding territory on the west coast of France.

Pioneering by Bicycle in France

As we cycled south from Saint-Malo, we enjoyed seeing the apple orchards of Normandy and sniffing the ripe odors from the cider mills. Little did we realize that the nearby Normandy beaches 13 years later, during World War II, would be ravaged by some of the bloodiest battles in history; nor did we realize that our full-time ministry would last so long. I jokingly said to John: “I think we can manage five years as pioneers. Armageddon can’t be too far away!”

After three days of cycling, we arrived at La Rochelle. Both of us had some knowledge of French, so we had no difficulty in finding a modest furnished room. On our bicycles, we covered all the villages within a radius of about 12 miles [20 km], distributing Bible literature. Then we moved on to another city and repeated the procedure. There were no other Witnesses in that part of France.

In July 1932, John, who had learned Spanish in school, was sent by the Society to serve in Spain. I continued in southern France and for two years had a series of partners from England. Because there was no other association with Witnesses, regular prayer and Bible study were vital to maintain our spiritual strength. We also returned to England once a year for annual conventions.

In 1934 we were expelled from France.

When World War II was declared in September 1939, John was serving in Bordeaux, France, and I was the congregation overseer in Derby, England.