大象传媒

1942

Back in London the house next door to Joe鈥檚 had been bombed and was totally destroyed. His mum was so frightened that she wouldn鈥檛 live there any longer and they took up residence at Reading Football Club where Joe鈥檚 dad was manager. When I went to see them I stayed at the club and slept on two benches pulled together. In Melton even though it was a highly productive agricultural town, rationing was very intense. I used to skim the top of the milk for a few days and make a small amount of butter, which was a real treat. Rations didn鈥檛 go far but we had a cousin who worked with her daughter in a canteen in Grantham so when we visited we always got a good meal and some little luxuries to take away - a tin of spam or a bag of sugar.

In January my son Michael was born, Joe was in India and Burma. Sometimes it was months before I received a letter form him telling me that he was all right. He never mentioned the war, the fighting or the hardship and the fact that some of his friends had been killed. I knew he never wanted me to worry, but we all did, as all we could do, was pray for them.

I was kept busy at home and helped out making sandwiches for the troops who were stationed locally. They all missed their wives and just wanted to talk to someone. Time went by and Michael began to walk and talk. My father doted on him and spoiled him rotten. We all tried to stop him but my father took no notice. It wasn鈥檛 long before Michael was calling my father Daddy and my mother Mummy and referring to me as Peggy. Looking back it must have been very confusing for him. One day my sister came home from the market with two bright yellow chicks for Michael. He was fascinated with them and loved to watch them on the table. However, one of them died but the other turned out to be a gamecock and we called him Sammy. He was a very fiery bird and loved Michael. When I went out with the pram Sammy would perch on the pram handle as if standing guard over the baby and if anyone came near he would shriek aloud and chase them away. Everyone was petrified of that bird but it was a great guard dog and we all loved him dearly. Sadly his aggression led to his downfall. The doctor came to the house and Sammy attacked her, biting her legs and drawing blood. That was the final straw for my dad who went straight out and wrung his neck. The house was full of doom and gloom but even though we rarely had any meat, Sammy was given a dignified burial at the bottom of the garden.

1943

At last the war started to go our way on all fronts and the allies landed in Italy. I used to take Michael for long walks in the country, as he loved animals. One day as we were out walking a young Italian prisoner of war came over to talk to him. He wanted to know Michaels name and when I told him he rushed back to the barn where he was living and brought back a faded photograph of his own son who was also called Michael. The episode brought home the sadness and futility of war to me. I always hoped that he made safe journey back to his home and that his family were all there to welcome him.

Michael was growing up fast and was a very pretty child. It was of no surprise to anyone that the local artists Dora and Cecelia Webb asked if I would let him model for them. They had a beautiful house with a large garden and we spent many hours there, as they painted, sketched and made models of Michael, some of which were displayed in major galleries throughout Europe after the war.

Letters arrived infrequently from Joe and we all prayed that he was all right.

1944

The war continued to go our way and people were starting to speak of victory and an end to the fighting. I longed for Joe to return and the days dragged on. Melton was full of soldiers from the airborne division. They seemed to be real soldiers, fighting fit and much bigger than the infantryman. I suppose that they weren鈥檛 really but only appeared to be so because of their proud stature and self-confidence. On one summer night there was constant activity in the air and it was only afterwards that we heard of Arnem and realised where they had all gone. I had served tea to some of those men and as many as three out of four never came back. Everyone in the town was very sad at the outcome.

1945

The war was eventually won and I waited for Joe to return. One night in the early hours of the morning there was a knock on the door and he was home. He brought presents for everyone, purple silk pyjamas for me, new clothes for Michael as I had told him we couldn鈥檛 get any at home, and luxury items that we couldn鈥檛 get hold of like tea. I wore the pyjamas that night and the following morning my body was totally purple too as the dye had run out!

We had hoped to move back to London but we couldn鈥檛 get anywhere to live and so we had to come back to Melton and get rooms to live in. Joe got a transfer to the local army base and we started a new life together. It took Michael some time to realise who his daddy was and I felt sorry for Joe and all that he had missed. After the war, times were still hard with rationing and a lack of housing, especially it seemed for those who had fought so hard for their country, but at least we were together and ready to start our life once again.

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