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 41

Evening: We reach Le Mans at last. I like the town immediately. Mostly because it is stuffed full of English soldiers. It’s an English town. Maybe Bill and Sinclair are here!

We’re having dinner. It’s 9 p.m. Air-raid warning! No electricity. We go out and it’s pouring with rain. We sit down against the wall. I have my new hat on—completely ruined. Mummy is covered in mud from head to toe; the rain spreads it everywhere. There’s a terrible smell. We find a shelter and stay till 1 a.m. It’s warm and dark, good for sleeping. People move around from time to time, children cry out. The pot of honey came open in my bag and everything is covered in it!…I open my eyes and then I go back to sleep.

Darak, the dog, is a darling. He never whimpers, even if someone steps on his paws. The station guard moved us from the shelter. We spent the rest of the night on the station platform, where we couldn’t sleep. At every sound, Mummy woke me, saying, ‘Is that an air-raid warning?’ English officers and soldiers go past sometimes. There’s a lieutenant with glasses and an ugly girl who are getting to know each other and I bet they will love each other madly as soon as we are gone.

At 4 in the morning we take the train to Angers. We lost the Brunetiers in the shelter, but met up with them again in Rennes. We change trains in Angers and I take the opportunity to wash the honey out of my bag.