The times of King George VI

"Too lazy" not to stammer

George VI (Colin Firth) addressing the nation on the outbreak of war. Photo: Momentum Pictures

I remember clearly the day when King George VI died. I was in the office at my first job when the news came through - over the ticker-tape. There was an air of genuine sadness at the death of a man who had had to endure so many stresses and difficulties in his life.

I started having speech therapy at the age of 4 (1938) and I can even remember the name of the therapist - Miss Rutter. Therapy consisted of repeating boring exercises over and over again. My poor mother did her best but I'm sure I was a very unwilling little boy. I hated those exercises!

Therapy in those days did not encompass the whole person as it does today. I was labelled as having 'an impediment' and it was usual to be interrupted by well-meaning people thinking they were helping by finishing the sentence for me. As far as I can remember it was assumed that I stammered because I was too lazy to get out of it. At school some of the staff made life even more difficult for me by imitating the stammer and making cheap jokes.

Thanks to the BSA there is now more 'understanding' of stammering than in the time of the King. Nevertheless I know many people admired him for the way he stood up to the enormous pressures that were put upon him. If BSA had been around perhaps we could have given him the support that would have helped him to know that he was not alone.

Brian Dodsworth, President of BSA

Parents ashamed

When I was growing up in the reign of George VI, I found there was a derogatory attitude towards stammering, even though the King himself stammered. Of course the BSA has been working to change this. My parents, particularly my father, were very ashamed of my stammer, which undermined my self-esteem. I was much more generously treated at school. The teachers were very strict and would not allow others to tease me.

Bryan Hunt

No help available

King George VI had a tutor to help with his stammering. My own stammering was also very severe and I didn't know how to deal with it. So I just kept away from people and places where I had to speak. My school days were dreadful as I could hardly speak two words. When I got a job in 1958, I stuttered and stammered at the interview but they must have seen something in me. I was 30 years old when I first got help with my stammering. I didn't realise at the time but the King seemed to use the 'Silent Pause' a lot when he was trying to speak, which is a technique I only worked out for myself later.

David Seidler The screenwriter of The King's Speech, David Seidler, had a profound stammer as a child. Listening to King George VI's speeches on BBC radio during and after the war inspired him to think that if the King could cope with a stammer, so could he. As a result, George VI became a boyhood hero and role model for David, and ultimately the inspiration for this film.

Hunter Adair
His book is available on our website: 'My silent pause'

King's bravery inspired

I was a young teenager during the Second World War. Someone asked me recently if I ever thought we would lose the war. I said no, because we had Churchill as leader. But afterwards I thought: it wasn't just Churchill but King George as well. You could hear he found it difficult to speak in his radio broadcasts. It wasn't just what the King said that inspired me, but the bravery it took for him to make those broadcasts with the stammer. Also he stayed in London through the war, and let his daughter Elizabeth go into the Auxiliary Territorial Service. I thought that led by Churchill and the King together, we would come through the war alright.

A. Freeman (fluent)

From the Winter 2010 issue of Speaking Out, page 9