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Had Tom Rhodes not been sent to Middleton Hall for convalescence in 1944, he would have been most unlikely to meet Eva Birds, his wife-to-be, despite coming from the same county. He was a gas fitter in Chesterfield when he was called up early in the war. Trained as a gunner in the Royal Artillery, he was detached from the usual regimental duties to find himself at sea behind the gun of an armed merchantman on convoy duty in the North Atlantic. It was constant ‘action stations’. Severely wounded in one fighting engagement, he was hospitalised in Canada before returning to England for convalescence. Off-duty socialising in Youlgrave earned him the affectionate nickname of ‘Mighty Fine’, reflecting his invariable response to the question ‘How are you?’ Meanwhile, Eva was in service at Lomberdale. She met Tom and, while they were not what might be called courting, there must have been a spark of romance waiting to be fanned. However, it seemed to be extinguished when he left to rejoin his regiment, with no plans to keep in touch, and it was quite by chance that, with the war ended, a friend of Eva pointed out a wartime photograph of Tom in the Derbyshire Times. She wrote to his mother in Chesterfield, contact was restored, Cupid took a hand and they were married on his demob in 1946.
It was quite by chance that they made their home in Youlgrave, but it was a chance that did the village a considerable favour. Tom, a bandsman and natural entertainer, used his on-stage talents to wow village hall audiences and, in due course, to enhance the fame of the annual pantomime.

This story has been added to the site by Alison Tebbutt, Derby CSV Action Desk, on behalf of Norman Wilson and Andrew McCloy. The author has given his permission, and fully understands the site’s terms and conditions

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