Reporting for Duty, page 16
‘As soon as the sutures come out, I’m hoping to return to Baddow and do desk duties until I’m fully fit.’
‘Excellent idea, young man. You can take over from me. It will be good practice for you when you get your next promotion.’
‘That’s splendid news, sir. I’ll do whatever’s needed. The quack said I’ll be able to walk on it in six weeks and all being well this time I can then return to active duty after that.’
‘Desperate to get back on the front line? If I was you, I’d stay in Blighty until you’re quite sure the inner workings of your leg are going to remain intact. You’re likely to lose the leg if anything happens to you overseas. It happens to plenty of men, unfortunately.’
‘That’s true,’ Ben said. ‘Corporal Ruffel’s one of them. His wife’s Private Ruffel, who is based with us. A damn shame that she’ll have to leave the army when he’s discharged from hospital as from what I’ve seen and heard, like Lance Corporal Wolton, she’s an asset to the ATS.’
‘Absolutely, my boy, we need more like those two. Wolton is going to be promoted to corporal and will be leaving to attend that course next week.’
‘I’m sure that she’ll make an excellent senior NCO in time. Thank you for taking the trouble to visit. I hope to be back with you in a week.’
Ben could hardly salute when in pyjamas so didn’t bother. Bentley patted him on the shoulder and with a benign smile around the ward marched out. The major was a relic from the last war, but was a decent sort of chap. Ben knew he was lucky to be under Bentley’s command.
Eileen couldn’t believe that she’d missed Minnie and hoped her friend would return on the next bus. They were both off duty until the following morning and she was looking forward to spending the evening together.
Her head was still whirling from her stolen kiss with Ben. This was something she couldn’t, wouldn’t even, tell her best friend. She believed that everything happened through God’s will, but how could falling for Ben be that? No, it was a temptation from God to see if her faith was strong enough to resist her feelings.
She must put aside these thoughts and focus her entire attention on being the best wife she could be to Danny. Maybe a nice hot bath would clear her head and stop her from doing something she knew to be wrong. It would be at least an hour and a half before Minnie could be back, which gave her ample time to have a quick bath. She intended to sneak into the bathhouse despite the fact that this wasn’t her allocated time for such a luxury.
Eileen washed her hair whilst she was there and couldn’t help thinking about what Ben had said – calling her red hair her crowning glory. Danny had never told her she was beautiful, that her hair was pretty or ever told her that he loved her. She’d asked him and he’d said love wasn’t words but deeds and until now she’d been happy with that.
How was it that just spending a short time with Ben had opened her eyes to the woeful inadequacies of her marriage and shown her how wonderful a relationship with a man you loved could be? She’d made her bed and would have to lie in it, as her mother would have told her, regardless of the circumstances. With any luck, when Danny was discharged, he wouldn’t insist on his marital rights – he’d never been keen on intimacy even when he had both legs.
That would mean Eileen’s dreams of having babies of her own would be dashed too. But there were bound to be lots of unwanted babies, especially in London, where the GIs could take their pick of eager girls. Maybe she could persuade Danny to adopt one or two? She doubted he’d agree, but the thought of being able to have children to love, even if they weren’t her own, made her feel a little more optimistic about her future with him.
Fortunately, there were no American bases near Chelmsford at the moment as most of them were near the coast. That made perfect sense as when the Allied forces invaded it would be mainly from Kent, which was only twenty miles or so from France.
Although the Luftwaffe were no longer dropping bombs every night as they used to, there was the constant drone of aircraft in the sky as huge American bombers, called Flying Fortresses, accompanied by their own fighter planes, were rehearsing flying to Germany to bomb their cities.
Dropping bombs on innocent civilians was a horrible thing to do. The invention of aircraft had changed the way wars were being fought.
Eileen emerged from the ablutions with her hair neatly pinned into a French pleat on the back of her head – it would still be damp when she took it down for bed but she couldn’t walk around with it wet. ATS were expected to be immaculately turned out at all times, as were the soldiers.
She dropped her wet towels into the laundry basket that sat outside their dormitory and returned her wash bag to her locker.
‘Eileen, there you are. What a palaver – but I’m back now.’ Minnie rushed over and they hugged. ‘Have you asked Davies if you can stay when everyone else leaves next week?’
‘I’m off to speak to Davies now, will you come with me?’
‘Give us a minute. Just want to dump me gas mask and haversack. You going to ask about stopping on?’
‘I am. Danny’s unlikely to be discharged for a couple of months so I’m praying I’ll be allowed to remain until then. I’ve got to find somewhere for us to live as well.’
They marched to the admin building and their CO invited them in immediately. She listened to Eileen’s request and smiled.
‘I’ve just been asked to locate someone capable to help out at the main admin block. I think you have relevant experience. Didn’t you keep the books for your local Co-op fuel depot?
‘I did, ma’am, I took a course at night school in bookkeeping and accounting. I am also a capable typist but don’t have shorthand.’
‘Perfect. You will report at eight o’clock on Monday. I’m glad your husband’s going to make a good recovery.’
‘Thank you, ma’am.’
‘Lance Corporal Wolton, here’s your travel warrant. Your course starts tomorrow. You need to report by three o’clock. You should have ample time to get to London.’
Minnie took the slip and saluted, and they about turned perfectly and marched out. Once outside, they relaxed. Eileen clapped her hands like a child at a party.
‘It couldn’t be better. I know it’s Sunday but if maybe I could go into Chelmsford tomorrow, I can look around and see where I might be able to find a house to rent. I’ve got £500 in the bank so want something nice.’
‘Blimey, you’re rich! You’ll get a blooming palace for that much.’
‘I want somewhere with a garden and a workshop so when Danny’s feeling up to it he can use his carpentry skills. He won’t be able to make furniture, but ladies love sewing boxes and children are desperate for toys at Christmas, aren’t they?’
‘None to be had in the shops, that’s for sure,’ Minnie said. ‘He could make little wooden trains, fire engines, tanks, Spitfires, things like that.’
‘I’m sure he can but the thing is I don’t know if he will. He’s a very proud and stubborn man and I have a nasty feeling he’ll refuse to do anything if he can’t go back to making his wonderful cabinets and so on.’
‘You’ll win him round. I’ll be staying here at least for the next few months, maybe for longer. It’ll be grand having you living so close so I can nip in to see you when I get a few hours free.’
Eileen went to bed that night feeling happier than she had since the dreadful news had knocked her sideways. She couldn’t leave Danny so had to find a way to live that would suit them both. If he would agree to them adopting, then she was sure eventually she could learn to be reasonably content with her new life.
However much she’d rather stay in the ATS and make a career for herself, that was no longer possible.
17
Minnie had said goodbye to her squad last night and would be sorry to see most of them go. Clara had hugged her, but Grace had just smiled. She was pleased to discover when she arrived at the bus stop on Monday morning that she wasn’t, after all, the only lance corporal being sent away to train for promotion. Sandra Thomas was a decent sort and they’d got on all right when they were both promoted two weeks ago.
‘It’s going to be jolly good fun doing this with you, Minnie,’ Sandra said with her usual booming voice. She was a few inches taller than Minnie, had very short brown hair and nice blue eyes.
‘Why didn’t Davies tell me you was coming too? We could have walked down here together if I’d known,’ Minnie said with a smile.
‘I didn’t know myself until last night. Bit of a surprise, but a good one nevertheless.’
They were joined by a few soldiers but none of them were NCOs so they didn’t cause them any grief. To be sure there’d be no trouble as they left the barracks behind, they sat at the front near the conductor.
‘Are you staying at Baddow to train new girls like what I am or going to do something else after?’
‘I’m going to do something a bit hush-hush, at least I’ve put down for that. I think this is why the decision to send me with you was so delayed,’ Sandra said.
‘I reckon you’ll be off for more promotion soon. I’m aiming to be a warrant officer, but I ain’t bothered about being an officer.’
She waited for Sandra to confirm that girls like Minnie didn’t get to be officers even if they wanted to.
‘Golly, why don’t you want to be an officer? You’d be perfect.’
‘I’d rather be with folk I’m comfortable with. I ain’t got a good education. I passed me scholarship, but I couldn’t go to the Grammar school as me dad couldn’t afford the uniform and that.’
‘There you are,’ Sandra said. ‘You’ve got the brains, could be an officer if you wanted. If it’s your choice, then that’s different. I was going to become an officer because that’s what my family would expect me to do. But I’m going to follow my heart and aim for WO2 like you, Minnie.’
‘My friends, Clara and Grace, had to do a lot of tests because they wanted to join Anti-Aircraft Defence. Have you had to do all that sort of thing?’
‘I’ll tell you all about it when we get off the bus. I’d have to shout to make myself heard. I’m surprised this old rattletrap’s still running.’
The bus eventually stopped at the station where they were the only two passengers left on. They jumped off with their gas masks dangling around their necks and their kit bags slung over their shoulders. They had had to take all their belongings with them as they’d be sent directly to their new postings after completing the training. Minnie had asked to return to Great Baddow but supposed the officers might send her somewhere else.
They waved their travel warrant at the ticket collector and dashed up the wooden stairs to the platform just as the London-bound train steamed in. There were a few smartly dressed women waiting to get on but only a couple of suited businessmen – the early-morning rush to get to the city was finished by ten.
They found an empty compartment, slid back the door, and flopped into the window seats on opposite sides.
‘It don’t take long to get to London. I don’t reckon there’ll be anyone else wanting to come in with us, do you?’ Minnie said as she removed her annoying mask and put it with her suitcase on the seat next to hers. She pushed up the armrest to give herself a double space and Sandra did the same.
‘Right, to get back to your question about tests. I had to spot aircraft on film, I had to do things to check how steady my hand was and how good my hand-to-eye coordination was. Those tests were for joining the ack-ack. That said, I’m hoping I’ll go to the School of Army Experiments, which is where the hush-hush work’s done. I’ve got a physics degree and they want people with science degrees in that department.’
‘Crikey, I’ve never met anyone with a degree of any sort,’ Minnie said. ‘That means you must be older than me. I’m nineteen and will be twenty in November.’
‘I’m twenty – I went up a year early and completed my course last summer. I’ve been working with my father in the city for the past nine months – he’s a stockbroker. I wanted to do something more active for the war and signed up without telling my family.’
‘You could have joined the WRNS or the WAAF, so why did you join the ATS?’
‘It was the nearest recruitment office to where I was working.’ Sandra looked out of the window for a moment before continuing. ‘I wanted to work with women – to be honest, I don’t find the male of the species at all attractive.’
For a second, Minnie didn’t get her drift, then the penny dropped. There’d been a couple of spinsters who’d shared a house at the end of her street and Mum had told her they also shared a bed, but no one talked about that side of things.
‘I like blokes as friends but I ain’t had a boyfriend, nor never been kissed by one.’
Sandra’s eyes sparkled. They were really her best feature. ‘What about being kissed by a girl? Have you tried that?’
Minnie was a bit startled by this question, it wasn’t something folk talked about so openly. ‘No, but I ain’t got nothing against it neither. I reckon I don’t have them sort of feelings at all. There’s a handsome young officer all the girls are mad about, but I can’t see it myself – he’s a good mate but nothing more.’
‘You’re good friends with Lieutenant Sawyer? It has to be him you’re talking about as most of the other officers are either elderly or injured.’
‘I’d forgotten you must know him too. Right from the start we hit it off, but he’s not made any move on me if that’s what you’re thinking. I reckon my friend Eileen fancies him, though.’
‘I heard that her husband lost his leg. What a shame as it means she’ll have to leave the service to look after him. If he was a woman, he’d look after himself.’
The ticket inspector paused at the door, and they held up their pieces of paper. He nodded and smiled and continued on his way. The interruption gave Minnie time to think about this strange conversation. There were men what fancied other men; they got arrested if they were caught but police didn’t seem to bother about a couple of ladies doing the same thing.
‘Men are bloody useless on the home front if you ask me. They want their womenfolk to stop at home, have their slippers warming by the fire and the supper on the table as soon as they get home.’
Sandra laughed. ‘And now women are doing a man’s job as well as their own. I’m sure you know that there are women pilots ferrying new and damaged aircraft to and from the factories and the bases. ATS girls are going to be trained to work on the guns, but we won’t be allowed to actually fire them.’
‘I’m not tall enough to apply for that even if I wanted to. I’m going to train the new recruits for now and see what happens. We only joined up three weeks ago and now we’re joining a cadre of lance corporals to train to become corporals. Me mum and dad won’t believe me when I tell them.’
‘I’m no longer communicating with my family, so they won’t hear about my promotion,’ Sandra said.
‘That’s a shame. Me family are one of the reasons I joined up. I can send me wages to them as we don’t have to pay for nothing in the ATS.’
‘You’re lucky to be close to them. I wish things were different for me.’
‘I want to be promoted as often as possible as it means I’ll get better pay. I’m sending all but a few pennies home to help out me family. We was getting 1s 8d a day when we started and that’s already gone up to over two bob. A sergeant gets about 4s 6d a day.’
‘I had £14 5s in my post office book so have that to supplement our meagre wages. I’ll treat us both to a decent lunch at a Lyon’s Corner House. We don’t have to report in Fulham until after three.’ She smiled. ‘Call me Sandy, I prefer that to Sandra.’
Minnie wasn’t going to refuse a free scoff and smiled her thanks.
They talked about their families, and it was obvious to Minnie that she was the lucky one; even though her parents often struggled to pay the rent, they were happy. Sandra’s parents sounded blooming awful and she wasn’t surprised that her new friend had wanted to escape and join the ATS.
The longer she spent with Sandra, the better she liked her, even though they were so different. By the time they arrived at the barracks in Fulham where they would be trained, they were the best of friends.
When Minnie discovered they were to share a billet, she wasn’t bothered that her roommate preferred women. There’d been a couple of instances at Baddow where girls had been found in bed together and they’d been dismissed from the service with no further action taken. She reckoned this was the only time women got the better deal.
Ben was allowed out of bed after three days but only to sit on the uncomfortable upright chair provided for visitors. He was disappointed that neither Minnie nor Eileen dropped in to see him, but he had plenty of company.
There was now an empty bed as the anonymous chap had died with as little fuss as he’d lived for the past few days. Freddie proved amusing company and they shared anecdotes of their active days.
‘I rather wish I’d joined the RAF instead of the army – it seems you have far more fun than we do.’
‘True enough, old bean, but we’re not called the walking dead by the local populace for nothing. Only one bod I trained with is still alive.’
‘Good point – I’ll stick with my regiment.’ Ben grinned and flexed the toes on his injured leg, delighted that it no longer hurt to do so. ‘Not that I had any choice in the matter – I was always destined to be a brown job – as you RAF types call us. I went to Sandhurst, as did my father and grandfather and no doubt countless other ancestors in the past.’
‘You’ll be in the thick of it as soon as you’re back on your feet. Mind you, even with the catastrophic loss of life in our branch of the services, it doesn’t come anywhere near the millions who died in the trenches in the last lot.’
A student nurse appeared with a pair of crutches. ‘Here you are, Lieutenant Sawyer, Sister says you can start practising as long as you don’t put your foot down. Your stitches are coming out the day after tomorrow and then you can be discharged if you’re proficient with these.’
