On 1 September 1939, driving back from Montreal after two weeks on the Canadian border, he heard on the car radio that England had declared war on Germany — exactly as his father had predicted.
Date (happened)
1 September 1939
unresolved
1 September 1939
stated · preferred
Source
"on September the 1st, 1939", told in Unidentified lecture (passages of 2200) (nid 4430)
between 18 August 1939 and 1 September 1939
stated · probable
Source
passage 557301 (lecture nid 4430), 'I had just spent two weeks on the Canadian border' immediately before the 1 Sept 1939 war news
Reasoning
He directly states the two-week Canadian-border trip ended just before hearing war declared on the radio, an event he himself dates to 1 September 1939 in the same breath; two weeks back from that gives roughly 18 August 1939.
Told / reported
between 17 April 1972 and 22 April 1972
bound · probable
Reasoning
The 1939 war-declaration memory is recounted within this lecture, whose own delivery is bounded 1972-04-17 to 1972-04-22 by a claim independently derived from Neville's reference to a lunar launch the preceding Sunday, matching Apollo 16 (16 April 1972). The telling inherits this same window at the same probable ceiling.
between 17 April 1972 and 22 April 1972
estimated · probable
Reasoning
The lecture recounting the trip is itself only dated by a probable bound (17-22 April 1972, from the Apollo 16 launch reference); the telling cannot be more certain than that delivery claim.
Sources
Source
- Untitled lecture ¶20 (I was driving through from Montreal — I had just spent two weeks on the Canadian border. Went into Montreal, and I had, well, champagne and stout — it’s a delightful drink, by the way.)