Читать книгу We Were Young and at War: The first-hand story of young lives lived and lost in World War Two - Sarah Wallis - Страница 29

Dear Trudie,

Thanks for the mags. You want a snap of me, do you? Why to look at my face? Wouldn’t it be better if you did not? I am afraid you might stop writing to me, and that would never do. Anyhow I have not got any good ones so I will get one taken. Have you a new one of yourself?

Seven months of war and nothing has happened, it’s very depressing you know. Dad and I think Chamberlain’s an old woman. We want more men like Churchill.

I am sure your new dress looks very sweet, so let me add another compliment to your collection. What colour is it? No the boys don’t take much interest in girls clothes here, but we would not dream of taking a girl out who was not smart.

I am looking forward to the time when we will meet. It certainly would be fine.

We have a lovely pine forest only 6 miles from home. We went through it two weeks ago and it nearly broke Mother’s heart to see that they were chopping lots of the trees down for war purposes. One of the damnations of war.

Our district is getting more war-minded. Wincham Hall only 3/4 of a mile away from home has been turned into a training centre for troops. The first batch of men arrived last Wednesday. Real raw recruits marched from the station by a sergeant.

I have got a German helmet that father brought home from the last war. I have decided to paint it with red, white and blue stripes and wear it if air raids come. Mother is ashamed of me for touching it.

I went to the end of term dance last Thursday, the first one for about two months. I and the boys arrived a little late and the best girls had been picked up and some chaps weren’t letting them go. So the only dances we could enjoy were foxtrots and general excuse-me dances. So being, I and the boys went home by ourselves. We decided to sing and make a noise until a policeman arrived and told us to shut up.

I am enclosing two newspaper cuttings one about Jitterbugs and the other a picture of our top-score fighter pilot. Don’t you think he’s a fine chap?

Yours,

Brian

Though in Britain it still seemed as if nothing much was happening, by the spring five newly created divisions of the British Expeditionary Force were ready for combat and had joined the troops already stationed in France. In Normandy, Micheline and her mother were having increasingly frequent rows. After one, in which she was accused of being selfish, Micheline decided she needed a new confidante and began to keep a diary.