大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by Teresa Cammock from CSV Action Desk on behalf of Julia Anderton and has been added to the site with her permission. Mrs Anderton fully understands the site鈥檚 terms and conditions.

My dad Fred was called up to serve in the army on 15th February 1940, just after his 21st birthday and joined the Royal Engineers. I know he was in France and Germany and then eventually arrived in Belgium in January 1945. He was stationed in a school in St Armandsberg Ghert.

My mum Leontine or Tina as my dad called her lived with her mum and dad who ran 鈥淐af茅 Pilgrim鈥� (a pub to us English.) On one of his nights off he went into the caf茅 with a few of his mates for a drink. My mum must have made an impression with her white hand knitted socks, because a few days later dad was back on his own. He came in a few times and one Saturday afternoon, mum says he was really polite and seemed really nice. She said they had American soldiers stationed previously; they thought because they had plenty of money any girl they asked would go out with them! So this charming English man who wasn鈥檛 flash was very different.

My grandmother must have thought the same, also she wanted to mop the caf茅 floor. So as dad was the only customer she suggested my mum took him to see where a bomb had landed a few days before. The ploy worked and dad asked mum if she would go to the pictures with him on his next day off.

Mum said as she got to know dad, they fell in love and happiness was good after all the bad things that had happened since 1939. Belgium had been occupied by the Germans, mum was working at a tailors learning the trade but because they were Jews, the Germans took them away. About the same time the Germans came and took her dad and brother. Mum says she can remember them being loaded on lorries that were taking them to Germany. They found out later they were split up and sent to work in factories on the German war effort and were given very meger food... So mum helped my grandmother run the caf茅 so they could survive.

My mum's uncle Achillo lived in Brussels and worked on the railways. He was part of the resistance group and his first wife was killed helping the resistance. He worked with Edith Caffell and later was arrested by the SS and tortured because he was caught using a radio. After the war, he married auntie Nellie a fellow resistance worker and had a daughter, Paula.

So back to the happiness for mum and dad although not for thousands of others on another continent, dad was told that he was going to be sent to Japan. So he proposed to mum because he wanted to marry her before he left. After lots of form filling they married on 1st August 1945 with a guard of honour, mum looked beautiful in a silk suit made for her with some material they managed to acquire and dad was handsome in his uniform. They were lucky and had a nights honeymoon in Brussels.

Hiroshima was bombed by the first atom bomb on the 6th August 1945 so dad didn鈥檛 have to go to Japan, but I am very glad they got married and I know they both were.

On January 23rd 1946, (dad's 27th birthday)dad bought mum over to live in England - I was born 2nd June 1946, 10 months and 1 day after they got married.

Dad promised mum when he bought her here that he would take her back to see her parents at least once a year and that promise was always kept. Grandmother and grandfather were fantastic. I used to spend all my summer school holidays there with them and as an only grandchild I was spoilt to death.

Sadly dad died in July 1991. Mum now lives near me in Bedworth, Warwickshire and is now 81. Dad was lovely and really the best dad in the world. I was so glad he met mum.

Julia Anderton.

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