大象传媒

I was a babe in arms when war broke out, and when I was only 18 months old my father volunteered to serve his country. "Don't worry", he told my mother; "I'll be back in time for Christmas".

My mother would not see him again for three and a half years. He fought, and was captured at Tobruk; so much for his brave promise to be home for December's festivities. During this time, my grandfather and grandmother helped to bring me up, as they lived with me and my mother, and I suppose it was normal not to have a dad, as such; as I was so young when he left, I had no memories of him anyway. Granddad would take me for long walks in the park, and taught me to ride my bike and looking back, he obviously tried to make life as "normal" as possible for me.

One day, as we walked back from the woods, a neighbour shouted that mum had received a telegram. Everyone dreaded the messenger coming with a telegram for you, as so many times he brought tragedy and heartache. Granddad quickened his step - he wanted to know the news, whatever it may be - and when we got home we found out that my father had been repatriated to England; he was coming home!!

A couple of days later, I was playing on the window bottom when a man came walking up the street. The neighbours started to shout, and I remember mum running up the hallway and out into the street to greet her husband, my father. They hugged, and then my dad reached out to me, for me to go for a cuddle.....and I didn't want to go to him. It upsets me even to this day, but he was a stranger to me; I didn't know him, he went before I could form proper memories of him.

Of course, it didn't last long and I soon found the strong bond between father and daughter, but it makes me sad to think that I didn't want to go to him when he came home. One of my proudest possessions is a clipping from the local newspaper, who covered our story. They ran a picture of me and dad in the park, with a caption along the lines of sun-tanned soldier takes his daughter for a walk in the park, after missing 4 years of her life.

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