大象传媒

My cousin鈥檚 letter inviting me to visit was more of an SOS begging for company to relieve her boredom of the tiny cottage her husband Amos had managed to rent 鈥渋n this God-forsaken middle of nowhere鈥� were her words, meaning actually Empshot Green, Hampshire. Amos was a Quartermaster Sergeant at Longmoor Army Camp and was happy to live in the countryside 鈥� Gladys liked towns and cities. I didn鈥檛 want to bother to go - my boyfriend had been killed some weeks prior and I was still wallowing in self-pity, but my mother finally persuaded me and I wrote accepting the invitation. It would be good to get away from the pitying glances at work, not to mention air raids, bombs and shelters 鈥� and get a good nights sleep.

I journeyed to London then crossed to Waterloo from whence it was a slow local service stopping at every station where the tannoy bleated out all the names of the further stations to the end of the line 鈥� became quite a recitation!
My destination was Liss! Everywhere were posters glaringly stating 鈥� Careless talk costs lives鈥�.

鈥楪ood Grief鈥� and 鈥楺uaint鈥� were words brought to mind when first sighting the cottage. It was semi-detached 鈥� I should think each holding the other one up. The enthusiastic welcome from Gladys covered any first impression of the inside, but within a very short time conveniences were totally summed up. One large room - stone floor devoid of covering 鈥� no grate, just a huge hearth which wouldn鈥檛 have been out of place in a baronial castle 鈥� one small Primus stove 鈥� large low yellow stone sink with cold water tap, the latter was very temperamental I was to find out later. The toilet was a bucket closet in a shed way down the long garden. Said garden was in good order full of all sorts of vegetables. This was Amos鈥檚 domain and delight; he certainly did his bit of 鈥楧igging for Victory鈥�.

I had a sandwich of pork dripping and a drink of tea made from the little tea Mother had given me out of the rations, then went to bed. There were two bedrooms 鈥� one being open to the stairs 鈥� I was to have the other one. The floor sloped at a decidedly dodgy angle and I was nervous of getting into bed in case it ran and tipped me through the low window. I resigned myself to sitting on the wicker stool all night but kept nodding off so after a while I risked the bed, which promptly collapsed to the floor. Gladys rushed in on hearing the noise and it appeared the very large 鈥楩alstaff鈥� type linen basket at the foot of the bed was the thing holding the bed together. I had moved it to get my large suitcase out of the way. We just looked at each other then started laughing 鈥� couldn鈥檛 stop 鈥� until suddenly I was ashamedly sobbing which went on till I slept.

Next-door neighbour was Dean, whether Christian name or Surname no one knew. I couldn鈥檛 understand what he was saying when he came to the door on the first occasion. The poor man was short-tongued, and appearance-wise very off-putting. I kept catching the word 鈥榓g鈥� as he spoke which really confused me but I managed to call Gladys from the garden who soon dealt with him. Then she told me he was asking for her. Apparently the name Gladys had been abandoned when first arriving at Empshot in favour of 鈥楳ag鈥� a shortening of her middle name Margaret. So no one knew her as Gladys! I鈥檓 ashamed to say I tried to avoid being alone with him, as I was hopeless at understanding almost everything he said. I gathered he was an extremely nice man but a bit eccentric. One day I saw him teaching someone to drive a car 鈥� not on a road but in one of the ploughed fields.

I did have some embarrassing moments during my stay; one was in the only general store, which was some distance from the cottage. Gladys gave me a list of goods to get, instructing that if they came to more than the coupons I had just to tell the shopkeeper Mrs Pickard would give them to her later. The shopkeeper refused, and in a very loud voice stated she鈥檇 had some of Mrs Pickard before, and forewarned is forearmed. Everyone was staring and I scuttled out of the shop 鈥� very red! When I told Gladys she just laughed and made some uncomplimentary remark about the shopkeeper, which made me a bit huffy for a while.

Food was quite a problem, especially making it look and taste edible. One did manage, but with great difficulty. At the cottage just the Primus meant food invariably went in one pot, which looked decidedly messy sometimes, especially when Amos had been shooting wood pigeons and there were loads of bits of bone to contend with. Rabbits were not so bad! (Later on they were to devise some sort of tin oven contraption, which dealt with the pigeons and rabbits much better). I did get used to it but then one day I saw Amos emptying the closet all over the vegetables in the garden, which put me right off. Gladys, as ever down 鈥攖o 鈥攅arth, called me stupid remarking, 鈥渨hat鈥檚 the difference whose manure is used, it all does the same job鈥�.

I did a lot of walking by myself! Once I walked, deep in thought until I suddenly became aware of the smell of garlic, then the sense of being lost. A soldier whose name was Winkie directed me back to the cottage. When I was telling Amos in the evening he said I must have been near to Hawkley as the wild garlic grows abundantly around that village more than any other place in the area.

It really was some trek to get to the main road for a bus but this was the only means to visit various places. The large family home of Leonard Cheshire was near to the main road junction. I believe this place became his first 鈥楬ome for Disabled鈥� He later became known for being in the plane that dropped the Atom Bomb on Hiroshima, being awarded the VC and marring Sue Ryder.

Buss passengers used to sing whilst travelling as if on some seaside outing and having no cares in the world, trying to forget the heartaches of the times. I was somewhat abashed the first time I was on a bus but later journeys found me joining in. The favourite song at that time seemed to be 鈥� I don鈥檛 want to set the world on fi-yugh- great emphasis on the 鈥榶ugh鈥� . One time we went to the Army Camp Pictures 鈥� it cost all of 3d per seat, but 6d if sitting with Officers.

I visited Empshot on several occasions between 1942-1945, but now in my 81st Year still think of that first one with the greatest affection. For me, despite the inevitable inconveniences, it was a time of healing, and a strengthening towards whatever life had in store for me, thanks to the philosophical outlook passed to me from my dear most exasperating cousin Gladys (Mag). She was truly a 鈥榞lass half-full鈥� person, never 鈥榟alf-empty鈥�.

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