- Contributed by听
- duxford04
- People in story:听
- Joan Carmichael (nee Blackburn)
- Background to story:听
- Civilian
- Article ID:听
- A3310435
- Contributed on:听
- 22 November 2004
Sixty years after World War II 鈥 with its horrors for civilians as for the military 鈥 it seems the longest, clearest memories are just the funny things that happened.
In 1938 I went to the Dewsbury District News 鈥 one of a group of four weekly papers in the West Riding of Yorkshire owned by Batley News 鈥 and I, at the age of 19, was the editor of the women鈥檚 page called (incredibly!) 鈥淲oman about Town.鈥
I remember a lovely hot summer in 1939 鈥 why do we always remember summers long ago as being warm and full of sunshine? One afternoon, Hubert, our very Yorkshire chief reporter, sent me off to do an obituary of a well known local Roman Catholic lady. I had to interview her husband about her life and charity work. As I walked a long way to Ravensthorpe, passing en route a lovely little corner shop selling home-made ice cream, I vowed to treat myself on the way back to the office.
My destination was a Victorian terrace house where I was invited in by the husband. He took me into a big old fashioned kitchen where we sat and talked at the kitchen table and I took notes about his wife鈥檚 full and interesting life.
Time to get back to the office. I thanked him warmly and was about to leave when he begged me to stay and see his wife. Astounded, and a little apprehensive, I was taken into the front parlour where the coffin seemed to fill the room, and within lay his wife in a sort of monk鈥檚 habit, her calm face framed by the hood. The first dead person I had ever seen. Behind me her husband now shook with sobs and moaning and I had to comfort him and lead him out into the narrow, dark hall, wondering what to do next as there was no one else in the house! We sat on the stairs side by side for a long time until I went out to seek a neighbour and found a kind lady next door who came in to comfort the old man. By then I had lost my appetite for home-made ice cream and it was late when I returned to the office.
鈥淧lease, please Hubert! Don鈥檛 send me out to view dead bodies again鈥, I pleaded. 鈥淓eee luv, you鈥檒l be seein鈥 a lot more dead bodies from now on. 鈥-itler鈥檚 just walked into Czechoslovakia!鈥
漏 Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.
Recommended story
Story with photo