大象传媒

I was four years old when war was declared, living in Colchester very near to the Barracks, and as there were only three of us living in our house we had three soldiers from C Company 1st Bn The East Surrey Regiment billeted with us for a short while before they went to France in October 1939. They were Tommy, Billy and George and between then and the beginning of June they wrote censored appreciative and chatty letter, always in pencil, to my parents. They did come back on leave during this time and visit us in Colchester. Billy wrote that whilst on leave in London he had seen 'Shepherd's Pie' at the Princes Theatre; 'The Little Dog Laughed' with the Crazy Gang at the Palladium; 'Me and My Girl' which he said was "the best musical in London" and two films, 'Ninotchka' with Greta Garbo at the Empire, Leicester Square and 'Women' with Rosalind Russell at Cheam. In July l940 my parents received a letter from Billy's mother saying that he had been killed in action in France on 22 May 1940. George was wounded but Tommy continued to write throughout the war, his wife visited us and their daughter, born during the war, was named after me. Being so young then I only have vague recollections but I still have the letters.

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