大象传媒

During the Great War, the most desolate word in the lexicon of horror was missing. For the wives and parents of young men blown up and buried without trace or sunk in a morass of mud, there was never to be the comfort of a closed book, the consolation of a lovingly-tended grave. Thankfully, the Second World War saw fewer such tragedies, but the loss of James Rowland Birds was one. Jim, an accomplished runner and playing secretary of the football club, volunteered for the Navy and rose rapidly to the rank of Petty Officer. On the night of the 6th February 1943, he disappeared from his ship without trace, thought most likely to have been washed overboard to die a lonely death in the dark. His younger sister, Kathleen, now Mrs Skidmore, remembers that her father, William, and Uncle Jim travelled at the invitation of the Navy to meet his shipmates at their naval base in Scotland, but they returned none the wiser. The war ended and Kathleen, sitting with friends in church for the Remembrance Service, was startled to hear Jim鈥檚 name read out among the dead. It was the end of delusion: no longer could she think of him as just missing.

This story was donated by Andrew McCloy and Norman Wilson and was submitted to the site by Alison Tebbutt, Derby CSV Action Desk. The author has given his permission and fully understands the site's terms and conditions

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