A CHRISTMAS act of giving 76 years ago is being hailed as a reminder that “hope and kindness” can prevail - even in the most difficult of times. As people in York prepare to celebrate Christmas as best they can in the midst of the Covid pandemic - they are being reminded of a heartwarming story from another crisis three quarters of a century ago - the Second World War. In December 1944 French servicemen were based at RAF Elvington near York, now home to the Yorkshire Air Museum, flying wartime missions in Halifax bomber aircraft. The French squadrons were in exile, far from their homeland and separated from their loved ones.