For a few days it had been
very quiet. No Yanks were to be seen,
their 82nd Airborne Division apparently were off training again somewhere. But the Poles had also gone and there were
extra masses being said.
What was unusual was the
change in air activity. It was not just
quieter but the pattern had changed and again faces that had become familiar
were not being seen. There had been
lulls before when the faces then changed.
However, it was summer and
the best time to do things and make changes.
There were rumours and the know-alls were saying one thing or another
but there was nothing on the radio or hints in the press.
And there were other things. Would the butcher have something better than
stringy old mutton this week? Would we
be able to trade our sweet ration for more eggs? What was on at the pictures?
Would the stock of
potatoes last until the next crop? Could
we be in time to be at the front of the queue at the fish and chip shop? Would we be lucky enough to get some coal in
during the summer?
Also, we had hoped to be
able to get out a bit more but the weather had been bad.
Five
years ago this was posted about HMS "Boadicea" and it will serve
to explain how the next few days changed everything.
My father was RN and his best friend was killed on HMS Wakeful during Operation Dynamo. He and my father were waiting in line to be assigned to a ship and Dad's friend was the last man sent to HMS Wakeful.
ReplyDeletePurely by chance Dad boarded another ship. Luck of the draw.
Thank you for mentioning HMS Boadicea again, which my Dad was on. Have spent past 5 years in exhaustive research. It seems likely he was one of the very few survivors - an American boat stopped and picked them up - and then they were put on an English ship. He never spoke of the Atlantic and Russian Convoy escort he was on, and little else of the War. So many of my family were involved in WW2, and so many good people died. We should all remember them. My grandchildren know so little apart from what we have told them. History is not strong in state schools.
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