she loved him all the more for it.
‘I was afraid there’d be a row,’ she said when they were in the train on the way back to Cottlesham. ‘How did you manage to win Father over?’
‘By keeping my temper and being as cool as he was. I’m not sure he is convinced I am good enough for his daughter, but at least he accepted the inevitable.’ He laughed. ‘I had to assure him I was a churchgoing Christian.’
‘Tony, that’s a whisker.’
‘No, it isn’t. I go to church at Easter and Christmas and for weddings and funerals.’
‘That wouldn’t count. You didn’t tell him that, did you?’
‘No, of course not. Look, sweetheart, I don’t think this phoney war will last, something is bound to happen before long and then everyone’s lives will change. I don’t think we need to worry too much about your father’s stuffiness.’
‘Oh, Tony, I’m so glad I’ve got you.’
‘And I you.’
Tony’s prediction proved only too true. The following month Hitler, whose occupation of Poland was complete, invaded Norway and then Denmark, ostensibly to protect the neutrality of those countries against a French and British invasion. The Allies did go to the aid of Norway but had to withdraw in the face of more compelling problems in the rest of Europe. Hitler ignored the neutrality of Belgium and Holland and sent his tanks and guns across both countries and into France. At the end of May, the British Expeditionary Force, which had been in France all through what had come to be called ‘The Phoney War’, was driven back toDunkirk. Three hundred and thirty-eight thousand troops were evacuated, thanks to the little pleasure craft which went with the naval ships to bring them off the beaches. But they had to leave all their guns, ammunition and equipment behind.
There was no doubt that it was a military disaster but the rescue was claimed as a miracle. Winston Churchill, now prime minister, while warning that ‘wars are not won by evacuation’, was at his most defiant and promised that the country would defend itself at whatever cost and would never surrender. France signed an armistice with Germany on the 22nd June, and everyone knew the British Isles were next on Hitler’s agenda and prepared for invasion. In Churchill’s words, the Battle of Britain was about to begin.
Chapter Three
Louise bade a tearful farewell to Tony whose call-up papers had come through, and settled down to teach those London children who were still in Cottlesham, including Tommy and Beattie. Their mother came to visit them occasionally, but not as often as she would have liked. She was now working in a munitions factory and, having no one to look after Beattie while she worked, was glad to leave her with Jenny. The two women got on well, mainly because Jenny, though she had come to love the children dearly, never tried to usurp the place of their real mother.
Some of the other children were not so lucky and Louise and Edith had had to soothe ruffled feathers on more than one occasion. Freddie Jones and Harry Summers had set up a gang of Londoners dedicated to fighting the village children and the battles were fierce and unmitigating and the two boys had to be separated at school, but it was impossible to keep an eye on them out of school hours. The situation was eased when Harry’s mother decided to fetch him home.
Tony was training somewhere in the north of England. Hewrote loving letters to Louise as often as he could and she replied, telling him about the happenings in the village and the school, trying to amuse him and not be too gloomy. ‘Several of the young village men have gone into the army, even though farming is a reserved occupation,’ she reported. ‘The farmers have taken on land girls in their place, and Stan has joined the Home Guard. They are digging trenches all over the place and learning to shoot with their new rifles and to throw hand grenades, so you can be sure we will be well defended.
‘Half the
‘I was afraid there’d be a row,’ she said when they were in the train on the way back to Cottlesham. ‘How did you manage to win Father over?’
‘By keeping my temper and being as cool as he was. I’m not sure he is convinced I am good enough for his daughter, but at least he accepted the inevitable.’ He laughed. ‘I had to assure him I was a churchgoing Christian.’
‘Tony, that’s a whisker.’
‘No, it isn’t. I go to church at Easter and Christmas and for weddings and funerals.’
‘That wouldn’t count. You didn’t tell him that, did you?’
‘No, of course not. Look, sweetheart, I don’t think this phoney war will last, something is bound to happen before long and then everyone’s lives will change. I don’t think we need to worry too much about your father’s stuffiness.’
‘Oh, Tony, I’m so glad I’ve got you.’
‘And I you.’
Tony’s prediction proved only too true. The following month Hitler, whose occupation of Poland was complete, invaded Norway and then Denmark, ostensibly to protect the neutrality of those countries against a French and British invasion. The Allies did go to the aid of Norway but had to withdraw in the face of more compelling problems in the rest of Europe. Hitler ignored the neutrality of Belgium and Holland and sent his tanks and guns across both countries and into France. At the end of May, the British Expeditionary Force, which had been in France all through what had come to be called ‘The Phoney War’, was driven back toDunkirk. Three hundred and thirty-eight thousand troops were evacuated, thanks to the little pleasure craft which went with the naval ships to bring them off the beaches. But they had to leave all their guns, ammunition and equipment behind.
There was no doubt that it was a military disaster but the rescue was claimed as a miracle. Winston Churchill, now prime minister, while warning that ‘wars are not won by evacuation’, was at his most defiant and promised that the country would defend itself at whatever cost and would never surrender. France signed an armistice with Germany on the 22nd June, and everyone knew the British Isles were next on Hitler’s agenda and prepared for invasion. In Churchill’s words, the Battle of Britain was about to begin.
Chapter Three
Louise bade a tearful farewell to Tony whose call-up papers had come through, and settled down to teach those London children who were still in Cottlesham, including Tommy and Beattie. Their mother came to visit them occasionally, but not as often as she would have liked. She was now working in a munitions factory and, having no one to look after Beattie while she worked, was glad to leave her with Jenny. The two women got on well, mainly because Jenny, though she had come to love the children dearly, never tried to usurp the place of their real mother.
Some of the other children were not so lucky and Louise and Edith had had to soothe ruffled feathers on more than one occasion. Freddie Jones and Harry Summers had set up a gang of Londoners dedicated to fighting the village children and the battles were fierce and unmitigating and the two boys had to be separated at school, but it was impossible to keep an eye on them out of school hours. The situation was eased when Harry’s mother decided to fetch him home.
Tony was training somewhere in the north of England. Hewrote loving letters to Louise as often as he could and she replied, telling him about the happenings in the village and the school, trying to amuse him and not be too gloomy. ‘Several of the young village men have gone into the army, even though farming is a reserved occupation,’ she reported. ‘The farmers have taken on land girls in their place, and Stan has joined the Home Guard. They are digging trenches all over the place and learning to shoot with their new rifles and to throw hand grenades, so you can be sure we will be well defended.
‘Half the
Similar Books
