大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by Bill Ross of the 鈥楢ction Desk 鈥� Sheffield鈥� Team on behalf of Vivienne Smith, and has been added to the site with her permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

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Part Two is at: A4474244

My husband joined the army in 1937, and in 1939, he was in France, stationed at Lille. He came out through Dunkerque, for which he was awarded a medal because he came out the right way. Those who didn鈥檛 come out that way, didn鈥檛 get a medal.

After that, I lost track of him because I didn鈥檛 know where they鈥檇 let them go. I鈥檇 heard that there were some refugees from Dunkerque in Sheffield. I wasn鈥檛 married to him at this time, just courting. His sister came by one day and told me to write to him. I said, 鈥淲ell, I don鈥檛 know where he is.鈥� I found out however, that he was stationed up in Scotland, so I started to write to him. He used to come here to visit when he was on leave.

It got to 1943, and he was still in Britain. He thought, 鈥淥h, we鈥檒l not have to go away now, the war will soon be over.鈥� It seemed to have been going on a long long time already. Anyway, after the third time of asking, I said, 鈥淎lright, we鈥檒l get married.鈥� So we were married in February 1943. The next news that came was that he had to go back to Scotland; he sent me a card in a letter. On the back of this card, he鈥檇 written, 鈥淒o you believe me now?鈥�

The note came from a ship, the ship that he went back to Africa on. He was on the water when he rang me again. That was only a week after we鈥檇 been married. I鈥檇 seen him for four days and I never saw him again until the war was over. That was a long time, from 1943 to V.E. Day.

In 1943, I got to know that he had been taken prisoner at Anzio Beach, in Italy. He鈥檇 written and told me that he鈥檇 been to Africa, where he鈥檇 landed, and he went on to Tunisia, where the eighth army came off, and George was with them. Some of the Eighth Army joined up with the First Army, which George was with. They went across to a place called, Pantelleria, which is a little island off Malta. From there, they went to Italy where there was such a big fight going on. They were trying to get the Germans out of a convent, but they didn鈥檛 succeed in evicting them. My husband and the other men, who were on Pantelleria, were squashed; they hadn鈥檛 a chance. Whoever didn鈥檛 die there was taken prisoner. They were taken up to Rome, and from then on, I never heard another word from George.

The War Office sent me a note that said, 鈥淢issing, presumed prisoner of war.鈥� Following this, I received 42 letters from people who had been in Rome, and who had seen these soldiers marching past. They were shouting to them, 鈥淣umber ---- ---- ---- etc.鈥�, followed by my address and my name. A lot of these people picked it up and they wrote letters to me. I then wrote to the War office and asked them if they had any information, and they said, 鈥淣o.鈥� They said that we could take this as information and 鈥溾�︹�︹�ould you please not write to us, unless it鈥檚 the soldier himself or we tell you where he is?鈥�

I was still working for Huddersfield Corporation, and being married, I wasn鈥檛 made to do any other job; I could choose my job through the army. My sister had to go in the army, and my brother and two cousins were in. But I could stay with my job because I had taken a man鈥檚 place, so I was in Huddersfield Corporation for the full six years鈥� duration of the war.

When the war was over (it was V.E. Day), and I鈥檇 had no word from the army, or anywhere else, until a policeman came to Huddersfield Corporation and asked for me. He said, 鈥淢rs. Smith?鈥� I said, 鈥淵es.鈥� He said, 鈥淰ivienne Smith?鈥� I said, 鈥淵es.鈥� 鈥淩ight,鈥� he said, 鈥� you鈥檝e got to go home.鈥� Well, home to me at that time was in Huddersfield, which was where I lived, but I would still go home to see my mum and dad, when I could. The policeman said, 鈥淣o, you haven鈥檛 to go there, you鈥檝e got to go HOME!鈥� I said, 鈥淲hat, to Wombwell?鈥� So, I set off with a few more women who were coming this way. We couldn鈥檛 get a bus because there weren鈥檛 any running, because of it being V.E. Day. We practically walked it to Barnsley, which we did by stopping for frequent rests. A man picked us up in his van at one stage, and in that van, he鈥檇 had meat, raw meat. I can tell you that it really did smell. There were four or five of us sitting in that van, sitting on paper of course, but even so, there was still a smell. Eventually, we got to Wombwell Town Hall. I kept wondering if my dad was ill or something, because he worked at the pit. I didn鈥檛 know anything, so, I walked through my mum鈥檚 back door, and who was sitting at the table enjoying his tea? My husband.

They had sent a telegram to my mum鈥檚 house, my home address, but the policeman wouldn鈥檛 give me any information, he just told me I had to go home. And that鈥檚 how I found my husband, whom I hadn鈥檛 seen since February 1943 until V.E. Day; we were virtual strangers. After that, he still wasn鈥檛 out of the army; he was still in the regular army, so he had to go back up north for a while.

He鈥檇 been a Prisoner of war from the fourth of February 1943, to the seventh of May, 1945. He was demobbed in 1946 and they put him on paid reserve, so technically, he was still in the army. He did get a job and from 1946 to 1950, he was paid all of that time, but in 1950, they sent him a letter saying that he had to report to Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, and from there, he went to Korea. He came home from there in 1951 or early 1952.

So, to recap, he had been in a Prisoner Of War camp from him being captured near Rome, then he was taken through Germany to another camp, then into Poland, where he finished up in Upper Silesia, and all that time, I never knew where he was.

I have a photo of George and me together, he in his uniform; we had gone to my brother鈥檚 wedding in London. My brother was taken to London to help replace doors and windows, so that people could move back into their houses. He was able to join the army because of his sight, so he went there with a building firm from round this area. They had him fetching bodies out of rooms, y鈥檏now, people who had been killed by the bombings. That task was in addition to sorting out the windows and doors etc. But he still lives in London; he stayed there after the war.

George was retired from work at the age of 49 and he died from a chest illness ten years later. One doctor said that it could have been caused by his being in Korea, but we didn't do anything about it. I went back to work; George received 8 medals which are displayed in another posting, located at: A4474244

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Addendum: A4535219

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