大象传媒

A Fine Romance

The Summer of 1940 was very hot and having been evacuated to Worcestershire from Essex I found the undulating tree clad countryside some comfort when I was feeling homesick and I often wandered alone along the lanes and canal paths. All the other evacuees were billeted in pairs but I was the only one allocated to a very elderly couple. They were extremely kind and looked after me well but they were very strict Methodists, and their lifestyle and values were almost Victorian, so when their nephew arrived on his bicycle one Saturday afternoon to bring potato peelings for the hens it was quite an event. There were very few scraps left on our plates for the hens, so we relied on contributions from those without hens and in return they would be given new laid eggs.

After enjoying afternoon tea together, auntie Flo (as I now called my host) suggested that her nephew might like to take me for a walk over Kinver Edge, which was a local beauty spot. This unexpected adventure was very exciting .I was sixteen and about to take my School Certificate exams. He was twenty two and tall, dark and handsome. I had gathered from earlier conversations that he was a much loved nephew who had failed his medical for the army, and had recently been appointed organist at the local church. As we set off to explore unknown territory on this glorious summer evening something magical happened. While we chatted easily I felt the first stirrings of an unfamiliar emotion. This was a person that I was so happy to be with and for the next few weeks he was constantly in my thoughts. A few weeks later he invited me to a concert given by the 大象传媒 Light Orchestra, which was also evacuated to Kidderminster, and this was followed by more concerts, cycle rides and long walks, the intervals between each getting shorter. I had left school and as it was still not safe for me to return home I had taken local employment and he would often be waiting outside the office to escort me home in the blackout.

Eventually we became engaged in1945 on the day the war ended and I was twenty. The event was marred by the fact that although his aunt loved us both she couldn鈥檛 accept us being married. We finally got married in my home town,Clacton, in 1947 but she and her husband refused to come to the wedding. She took to her bed on our wedding day, and while on my honeymoon I received a telegram from my husband鈥檚 sister telling me the aunt was very ill and I was needed to look after her .Reluctantly I returned to Cookley leaving my new husband to travel to Essex where he was due to start a new job. I followed him two weeks later, using as a reason that my monthly return ticket was due to expire. Aunty鈥檚 illness rapidly improved after I left.

Pat
June 2005

This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by Pat Oakley and has been added to the site with her permission. She fully understand the site鈥檚 terms and conditions.