3 comments/ 13326 views/ 3 favorites Norma Rogers Ch. 01 By: northlander The characters in this story are fictional, the invention of the writer, and are not meant to represent any factual person living or dead.The story is the property of the writer and no part of the story may be used without the express permission of the writer. I thank my editor Yellow Peril for his efforts in making my thoughts and work make sense. For those who are looking for slam bang sex or cheating wives/husbands, please look elsewhere, this story will not satisfy you. Hello there. My name is Patricia Rogers. Some of you may remember me from my work with John (Jake) Rogers when I was called on to assist him with a nasty case of incest. So quickly that it took my breath away, we established a relationship, I took my prospective mother's advice about becoming pregnant (with twins - Jake didn't tell me that twins ran in the family) and we were married three months later. I gave up work to spend time with my new family and, while I was thus occupied, I learned the story of a remarkable woman, Norma Rogers, the matriarch of the Canadian branch of the Rogers family. Norma called me just after Jake and I returned from our honeymoon (well, as much of a honeymoon as morning sickness allows), and we met for coffee at Oliver's. After the usual 'How are you I'm fine,' rituals, Norma got right down to business. "Pat, would you be interested in being the official biographer of James and my story of how our family started? I have never told anyone the entire story. It may contain a few surprises for the family, but mostly I would like it to be written down for the children so they would know their own history as well as have a sense of continuity with the family's past." Surprised by her question, I hesitated before asking Norma, "Are you sure that you want me to do this? I'm not a writer by any means." "Yes," she replied. "I've heard you talking to the children, and have been impressed by how you are able to take complicated issues and turn them into simple tales that are easy for them to understand, so I don't think I could make a better choice." I agreed to do it, of course, and this is the story of Norma and Jim Rogers, just as Norma told it to me while I visited her over the course of the year after Jake and I married. Being pregnant and after the twins were born, I had lots of time on my hands during school hours to get together with the woman who was the heroine who took Jim Rogers as her husband and helped forge the family company that had, I soon realized, become a seminal influence in Clearville and the surrounding area. Their story began in war torn London during the Second World War. To make their story more intimate, I have attempted to tell it from Norma's point of view. October 14, 1940, London, England The searchlight beams were snapping out and the sirens were sounding the "all clear", telling us that the air raid had ended. The rough drone of the engines of the German bombers had ended as I edged my ambulance forward, the light thrown from the slits in the tin covers over the headlights illuminating the road for only a few feet ahead of the van as we crawled along. The dust in the air didn't help, nor the wan light of a quarter moon as Nancy Olmsted, my co-driver and I peered through the windshield, trying to avoid the piles of rubble that had been thrown into the roadway either by the exploding bombs or by the Civil Defence Wardens trying to reach people trapped in the rubble of their homes. I found the street I was looking for and felt a pang of dismay - not much was left standing of what had been a street of terraced houses. On the one side of the street where the bombs had mostly fallen the rubble was almost flat, on the opposite side where there was blast damage all that seemed to be left were the common walls between the houses, some with remnants of the second floor hanging down. The German bomber crews had been their usual thorough selves. This wasn't an effort to damage the factories or docks, as the anti-aircraft fire around them was much too hot for the pilots to risk if they could avoid it. No, this was strictly a concerted effort to terrify the population of London in an attempt to make them put pressure on their politicians to bow to German wishes. It wasn't working, though; anyone could see that in the tired but determined faces of the local people as they trudged nightly to the nearest Tube station to sleep through the night down below the city in some semblance of safety. By the way, my name is Norma Walker. When the war started, I was working in a solicitor's office, but I soon became a volunteer ambulance driver with the London Auxiliary Ambulance Service. My job was to drive a Bedford van that had been taken over by the government and roughly converted to an ambulance. Nancy and I had both been taught advanced First Aid so that we could try to stop bleeding and stabilise injuries before transporting the injured. I wondered once again who the usual driver of the van had been. It had been expropriated from the former owners, and the words Co-Operative Stores were still visible beneath the coat of green paint and Red Crosses that had been slapped on by the Army workshops during the conversion. In all likelihood, the former driver was serving in one of the branches of the services somewhere. Driving a delivery van wasn't likely to be a reserved occupation; it wouldn't contribute much to the war effort. I sighed and thought yet another male temporarily lost to the women of Britain. How is a girl to find a husband if she wants one when most of the eligible males are in uniform? Not that we had a lot of time to worry about finding husbands anyway, that was the last thing on the minds of most of us. The job we were doing came first and foremost. "Ah, there we are," said Nancy, pointing over to the right. Ahead of us I saw the blue overalls and steel helmet of an air raid warden. He was signaling us to stop. I wound the window down and asked, "Is this the house?" while looking at a pile of rubble next to the van. "No, the house is further down on the right; a woman, her mother and her three children are trapped in the cellar. The floors have fallen in, leaving a small space where they are. We can't start work on it yet because there is an unexploded bomb in the house next door and we are waiting for the bomb disposal people to defuse and remove it." As he spoke, two army lorries, one equipped with a heavy lift winch and lifting beam, pulled past the ambulance and stopped beside a pile of rubble that had recently been a house, about 100 feet ahead of the ambulance. A squad of soldiers jumped down from the lorries, pulling equipment after them. Nancy and I got out of the ambulance and waited alongside it with the Air Raid Wardens so we would be protected from any potential blast by the vehicles. After about 15 minutes, a young Sergeant in a Royal Engineers uniform came to us and spoke to the senior warden in a faint, soft Irish accent. "The bomb is a 200 pounder and, unless there have been any modifications, we should be able to remove the fuse. Then we will remove the bomb and explode it safely out on the marshes along the Thames. Where are the people trapped?" "In the next house to the bomb," said the senior warden. "We can't even begin to try to get them out until the bomb is gone; it would be too dangerous for everybody." The soldier walked back to the Army vehicles and gave orders to his men. They pulled out a roll of wire while the Sergeant put on a headset and a throat microphone before picking up a set of tools. He then began rolling out the wire behind him as he walked into the rubble of the building. "Now, that takes guts," the senior warden said as we watched the Sergeant disappear. We continued to watch the site with bated breath until, about half an hour later, the Sergeant walked out of the ruined house. He handed one of the soldiers a small object about 6 inches long that the soldier immediately wrapped in padding and placed in the lorry with the winch. Then the troops took out long heavy beams with heavy grease on one side. Other men were clearing around the bomb, which was dug into the floor of the cellar of the house. The driver of the lorry backed it up across the curb, threaded a cable through the roller on the end of the lifting beam and then winched the beam out so that it overhung the cellar. After a few minutes we saw the cable tighten as the soldiers cranked the winch and began to pull the bomb out. The soldiers placed more beams between the lip of the cellar and the bed of the lorry and, to our relief, the bomb slid up the beams from the cellar and into the bed of the lorry with deceptive ease. The soldiers then jammed it tightly in place. I quietly chuckled to myself. The army was using the same tried and trusty method used for more years than anyone could say on hundreds of brewer's drays all over the country when lifting and lowering the barrels of ale into the cellars of the local pubs. Last from the rubble was the sergeant, now dusty and rumpled from his efforts. He spoke to a corporal and several of his party before the corporal, the driver and the men climbed aboard the lorry and pulled away, making the run to the Thames marshes where the bomb would be detonated. We breathed a sigh of relief as the bomb was carefully driven away. When the bomb was finally safely gone, the senior warden spoke to us all. "Right! Now let's get at it, let's go down into the cellar and see what we are faced with." Nancy and I went with several wardens over to the house and looked down into the cellar from what was left of the front door steps. We stopped as we saw the enormity of the task that was before us. The ground floor joists had collapsed along one side of a big room and were lying at an angle with their far ends held up against the wall between this house and the next with the collapsed ends on the cellar floor next to the hallway. Evidently the hallway wall had flexed enough in the blast to pull away from the ends of the floor joists, allowing the floor to collapse on that side. The floorboards were still attached to the joists and were covered in rubble. The collapsed floor formed a kind of lean-to shelter over the women and children, whom we could hear shouting from beneath the bricks and mortar. A wrong move could cause the whole floor to finally collapse on the people below it and possible bring down the common wall as well, sealing their fate The senior warden looked at the mess we had to clear, saying, "I have never had to deal with something this complicated. Has anyone any new ideas? Our usual methods would likely bring that lot down on top of them." The Royal Engineers Sergeant came over and looked down to see what the problem was. After taking a moment to size up the magnitude of the task, he walked over to the senior warden and introduced himself in a soft Irish brogue. "I'm Jim Rogers. I don't want to step on your toes and take this over and out of your hands, but I think that our experience in this kind of work stands us in a little better stead. By the looks of it, if we can dig a short tunnel under the lower edge of the collapsed floor, starting at the hall doorway and support the joists above the tunnel, we should be able to let the collapsed floor continue to take most of the weight of the rubble. If we try to lift the floor joists, the upper ends could slip, bringing the whole lot down. We have the tools to do the job and can do it as carefully as if there were a bomb in there. This is something we have to do regularly to get at bombs." The senior warden turned to him and smiled. "Jim, I'm damn glad you are here. Anything we do would be slow. It would likely take us hours just getting rid of the rubble bit by bit. I have no problem turning everything over to you and, honestly, if you don't mind, I would like to watch. We never know when we might be called upon to do the same thing again." "Alright, then!" Turning to one of his men, the Sergeant continued, "Jones, I want you and Davies to go next door and get a couple of floor joists. Cut a piece just over three feet long, and with the rest make two 'U' shaped partial boxes with the sides about 3 feet on a side. Jenkins, get a ladder down into the cellar on the hall side of that wall that is holding the bottom edge of the collapsed floor in place. Take some small shovels and a couple of crowbars down there. Also, take some buckets, as we are going to be digging out some dirt and tiles." The Sergeant then looked over at me. If the times had been normal, I would have melted into his deep blue eyes. "Miss, I may need you down there. Would you come down with us with an aid kit?" "Certainly," I said, and walked to the ambulance to get my kit. I slung it over my shoulder and walked back just as the soldiers slid the ladders down into the hallway of the cellar. The Sergeant went down one ladder, and once he was down and steadying it, I followed him down, thinking to myself I'm glad I'm not wearing a skirt, he would be getting a real eyeful, not that I would mind a whole lot. He is quite good looking, but I'll bet he's married. Jim placed me on the far side of the doorway while Jenkins came down the ladder, holding the tools and a piece of wood that was passed down to him by another soldier. Jim crouched in the hall doorway of the room and started clearing the area by the collapsed ends of the joists with his hands. Then he levered up the clay-tiled cellar floor for two to three feet across the hallway from the doorway. He dug down about 2 inches below the ends of two of the joists that ended in the doorway before sliding the single three foot long piece of wood under them to help hold them up. Then he started digging on the near side of the piece of supporting wood making a trench across the hallway and continuing under the board into the area under the joists. He slowly opened up a space under the piece of wood supporting the floor joists. Another soldier had brought down the two three-sided 'U' shaped partial boxes that he had requested. He placed the first one down flat on the rubble above the collapsed floor in front of the doorway with the open side toward the doorway and braced against the partition wall on each side. Then he carefully began to remove the rubble inside it and beneath the edges it. As it settled into the rubble slowly, it began taking the pressure of the rubble surrounding it. Eventually it settled below the top level of the rubble, so he put the other partial box on top of the first and continued removing material. Eventually the bottom box was in contact with the floorboards and he removed the debris from inside the box leaving a clear area so that the debris could not drop into the trench. This cleared a three foot square working area on top of the bottom end of the collapsed floor. Then he took a tool that I heard later was a keyhole saw and removed a couple of sections of floorboards so that he could get the crowbar in, break the cellar floor tiles from above and shove the debris back into the hole he had dug in the doorway. Then shoveling it into the bucket so it could be hauled out. He cleared away a small area about two feet in depth and about four feet long under the collapsed edge of the floor, creating a small access trench under the floor and extending into the area where we could hear the children. Suddenly we heard a woman's voice crying out in distress. "My daughter's unconscious. I think she is bleeding as well. It is so dark I can't see to do anything. Help us, please!" I quickly turned to Jim and volunteered, "I'm small enough that I'm sure I could wriggle through between the tiles and the flooring with a light and my kit. Please let me try." Jim looked at me quietly as he thought over my request. Oh those eyes; they would be the death of me! Some other time, though. "Are you sure you want to do this?" He asked. "For sure twil be really dangerous. If anything shifts, the whole damn lot could come down on top of you." I just nodded, took a light, put it in my kit and dropped down into the trench on my back. Sliding under the support beam that Jim had put in place, I twisted my body around with some difficulty so that I could crawl into the space under the floor. I pushed my bag ahead of me until I had enough room to rise to a crouch. Taking the light from my bag and shining it around the space under the collapsed floor, I found two women sitting on the floor over by the fireplace with dirt stained faces and clothing, their faces streaked with tears. Three children were lying on the floor with them. One was a boy of about 5 and the other two were girls, one aged about 3 and the other about 7. The seven year old was unconscious and, when I started checking her I found a large cut on her left thigh. I checked it carefully and found that the cut was only oozing blood, so it did not appear to involve either a major blood vessel or broken bone. I put a pressure bandage on the cut and bandaged it tightly to stop any further bleeding. Then I had all of them move over against the fireplace wall where the headroom was greatest and was the safest choice to temporarily increase their safety in case of any further collapse. The floor over us was groaning, and puffs of dust were constantly falling from the spaces between the floorboards down on us and onto the tiled floor. I quickly shouted out to Jim, "We have five people, two adult females, one boy of 5, and two girls of three years and seven years, all with apparently minor injuries. They are all showing signs of severe shock and the seven year old girl is unconscious. We have to get them out of here and into hospital as quickly as possible, especially the unconscious girl." Jim yelled back, "OK, we have started widening and lengthening the trench, hopefully before long we will be able to get through to you with a much better trench." I heard the digging and removal of tiles going on, and in about 20 minutes I was relieved to see Jim's smiling face pop up from the trench as he grinned and climbed out. "Come on, colleen, let's get these people out of here and get you all to safety and cleaned up." I sent the two conscious children across to Jim, who told them to get down into the trench and crawl out to the other soldiers. Then, one by one, the two women left. Finally, I was able to crawl over while dragging the older girl, who was unconscious. Jim squeezed in and had me get into the trench so he could pass her through to me. As he did, there was a creak and a cloud of dust came down. "Hurry," he said, "Sounds like it is coming down." I quickly passed the girl through to the waiting soldier outside, then slid after her and jumped out of the trench. Jim was right behind me and, just as he stood up in the trench, there was a crack as the boxes broke and a large amount of debris cascaded down into the trench. A few pieces of it hit Jim on his legs as he jumped out behind me. We raced for the ladders, Jim limping as he ran, and we quickly climbed them while the other soldiers began pulling them up even as we were climbing. Just as we got over the top and back on to solid ground, the hallway wall that was holding the lower end of the joists collapsed and the rest of the house fell into the cellar, filling the area where we had been working with tons of debris. The senior warden walked over, shook hands with Jim, thanked him and then came to me and hugged me. "I can't thank you both enough," he said. "I didn't want to say anything before, but the people that you saved tonight were my wife Ellen, my daughter Sue and my grandchildren. My daughter was sick, and they didn't have time to get to the shelter. That is why I didn't want to try to dig them out. I was afraid that I would be in such a rush to get them out that I wouldn't think clearly enough and would make things worse." Norma Rogers Ch. 01 I noticed that Jim was limping quite badly. After Nancy and I had the family loaded into the ambulance, I turned to him and ordered him into the ambulance, too. "Alright, you as well! You took quite a battering there, so you had better come with us and get treated, too." I waved at him to get into the ambulance. He tried to get out of it but, much to the amusement of his men, I was adamant. "Your men can go back to base and tell the duty officer where you are. I'll take you back after you have been seen by the doctor. You deserve to be looked after." I looked across to his men. "He will be at the Royal London Hospital for treatment, and I'll bring him back, okay?" The corporal grinned at me and winked. "Far be it from me to argue," he laughed. Jim climbed aboard and we went to the hospital as quickly as we could with all the debris littering the roadway. After we got the family and Jim into the Casualty Department, I went out into the hallway, grabbed a mug of hot tea and sat down to have a cigarette. Nancy came over and joined me. "Isn't that Sergeant a great looking man? I wonder if he's married." I don't know where it came from, but I suddenly heard myself say, "Nancy, if he isn't married or engaged, he is mine. Those eyes of his just make me feel limp, and he could do whatever he wanted with me whenever he looks at me." Just then something caught my attention and I glanced over at the Casualty door. Standing there on crutches was Jim, face and uniform covered in dust, one foot swathed in an elastic bandage, holding a boot in one hand. Not knowing if he had heard me or not, I asked him, "How is the foot?" "Well, if the Doctor here has his way, I'm off it for a whole two weeks, but the real answer will come when I see our Medical Officer tomorrow. There aren't enough of us that they can be liberal with leave, so I'll be lucky if I get a week off. Still, that means a few less bombs to deal with." He swung his way across to us and sat beside me, putting the boot down and asking where we got the tea. Nancy jumped up, "I'll get you one; what do you take in it?" "Thank you. Milk and a lot of sugar, please." He lit up a cigarette and sat back with a sigh. "I'm glad that is over, and for once we got everyone out safely. That surely is thanks primarily to you. If we had had to wait to get the trench wide enough and long enough to get a man through, the women and children would not have been ready to go, and likely would have been trapped as the floor gave way. The first thing I saw when I got in there was how much those joists were bending under the weight of the debris. I wanted to get you out of there as quickly as we could without scaring everybody." "What was the Colleen thing?" "Well, I hope I didn't offend you, but as you can tell, I'm Irish, hailing from Galway. I looked at what lifestyles I had to choose from when I was growing up, and saw it was a case of being on one side or the other. Even though my Ireland was free, the fighting was still going on, only now it was between Irishmen, and sometimes it was even brother against brother. That wasn't for me, so I joined the Army at 15 as a boy entrant to learn a trade. Both my father and mother supported me because they were as sick of the troubles as I was. Funnily enough, so did the local brigade of the IRA. I think they saw me as a future leader bringing what I learn back to them. Six years in the Army knocked a lot of the Irish accent out of me, but at times, especially when I get emotional, back it comes. Early this morning when I popped my head up out of that trench and saw you in the torch light, my first thought was, Jamie boy, now there is a colleen to have at your side for life. That is why I said colleen. Now you may think I am being forward and you can always say no, but as I won't be working tonight, would you do me the honour of having supper with me and maybe going to the pictures? Judging by what I heard as I came out of the Casualty Room, I believe that may not be too much to ask." My cheeks blossomed red. "Well, you sweet talked me into it," I laughed. "It must be the Irish in you. I am off tonight, so where shall we meet?" "How about under the clock in Piccadilly Circus at 5:30? We can go to the Lyons Corner House Tea Rooms and then the pictures. While I like to dance, I don't think this foot is going to let me do that for a while." "That sounds good to me - I would love it" Suddenly a weird feeling came over me and I started shivering, felt sick to my stomach, became dizzy, my heart started racing and I burst into tears. Jim quickly swept me into his arms, pulled me in to him and abruptly ordered Nancy, "Quick, get a nurse or doctor, she is having a delayed shock reaction. Get her a blanket, we have to keep her warm." He held on to me, and I gradually calmed down, helped by the warmth of his embrace and the quiet confidence in his voice. Nancy came out with a blanket and tucked it around me. Quite frankly, Jim's arms did just as good a job as the blanket, and his voice completely calmed me down. Eventually I settled down, and the Doc told Nancy to get me back to our billet. I assured Jim that I would meet him later, though. Nothing was going to prevent that! Nancy helped get me on the bus and home to our billet. After some tea with toast and jam, I went to bed for the day, wishing very much that the handsome Irishman I had met still had his arms around me. Snuggling down under the blankets, the words 'Jamie boy, there is a Colleen to have by your side for life' echoed through my mind as a smile drifted across my face and I fell asleep I got up at around three in the afternoon, made a cup of tea and, for once, had the time for a long lazy soak in the tub before I had to get ready to meet the soldier who had so completely taken my interest during the previous night. The threat of German bombs wasn't going to be enough to stop us going up to the West End and enjoying ourselves as much as the war would let us. As I lay back drinking my tea, I thought about Jim. He had to be over six feet tall and I am sure he weighed around eleven stones as he was built more like a boxer than a soldier. He had a rugged look as if he spent most of his time outdoors. His ruddy complexion emphasized the look of fitness that he had. On top of that, his deep blue eyes almost brought a shiver to the soul of a woman, this woman anyway. Altogether quite an interesting man for any girl, and I was no exception. Nancy would have gone out with him like a shot, but I was the one he asked, I thought with a smile. At around five I began the short walk from the billet I shared with Nancy to the Holborn Tube Station for the two-stop trip to Piccadilly Circus, and by five twenty five I was standing under the Guinness clock waiting for Jim. I only had to wait a couple of minutes before I saw him stepping down from a bus, crutches under his arms. He swung his way over to me, apologizing for being late. "I'm awful sorry that I wasn't here to meet you, Norma; sure, the bus was late after having to divert around some holes in the roads from last night's raids." Yes, there was that touch of an Irish accent again as he apologized. I reassured him, "Don't worry about it, nobody gets anywhere on time these days." It was strangely attractive to hear his Irish brogue creeping in when he was excited, as if it were laying just under the surface, waiting to take over his speech. We slowly walked to the Lyons Corner House on Coventry Street. He told me it was his treat as he was usually so busy that he didn't get the chance to spend his pay, or not very much of it, anyway. It was quite different going to Lyons later in the day, like this. Usually the only time that I was there was early morning when Nancy and I would walk over from the Ambulance station at Weymouth Street for an occasional breakfast of beans on toast. It was always nice to have a filling, cheap breakfast that didn't come off our rations. A hostess showed us to our table and gave us menus. They had three hot meals, two with meat and one of fish. Jim had roast beef, or what passed for beef these days, and I took the cod. At least fish was still in good supply. We both had sides of potatoes and peas. This was the usual meat and two vegetables that the Ministry of Food recommended that everyone eat. Luckily for us, it wasn't boiled cabbage today! At least getting the food at a restaurant didn't count off our rations, though it was more expensive than what I could make at home in our lodgings. We sat and chatted as we ate, after the Nippy (That is what a Lyons waitress was called then) had brought our food and our tea. "You know, that was a very courageous thing you did, crawling under that floor and helping that family. I'm sure that it was not part of your job. One thing, Norma, you don't lack courage when it's called for. You could have just said 'that isn't my job,' and nobody would have criticized you at all." "You're a fine one to talk about things like that! Since when have Sergeants begun to disarm bombs? All the others I have seen who disarmed bombs were commissioned officers, and the sergeants just stood by at the other end of the telephone to make sure the rest of the squad did their jobs right. I'm sure you are the very first NCO I have seen do that!" "True enough, Norma, you have obviously done your homework. Normally there would have been an officer in command, but lately we have had a number of officers killed or wounded, and there just aren't enough left to handle the job right now. The Germans have been getting tricky with the bombs lately, too. Some have fuses that we haven't seen before, and others have been booby trapped with the intention of killing bomb disposal personnel. So, the powers that be have decided that, what with it being cheaper and easier to train NCOs, we could handle the smaller munitions. I did my bomb and mine training before the war. Besides, we had to get that family out if we could do it, hopefully without further injury. If I had thought there was any problem with the bomb last night, I would have called an officer in, but there didn't seem to be anything out of the usual. I have stood by watching on about 50 of those things, so there wasn't anything I didn't know about the fusing, and I knew to be careful in case of booby traps." He continued with a laugh, "I just don't want them making me an officer, or I would have to do it all the time." We continued to chat until we had finished our meal, then we left Lyons and walked across to the London Pavilion. The Pavilion had been a Music Hall for a long time, but now it had been converted to a cinema. The main film showing that night was Citizen Kane, starring Orson Welles, and the other was a western, I forget its name. Actually, if it hadn't been for the strength of Citizen Kane, I wouldn't have remembered seeing it either. We sat at the back in one of the double seats. All that was going through my mind was the closeness of Jim, and I could feel his leg alongside mine. As the lights went out, his hand sought mine and we clasped our hands, and we sat like that for over an hour. We watched the Pathe News first, fifteen minutes of doom and gloom showing the bombing in other cities, damaged ships, and convoys limping into port. After the news came the Western film. It was sheer entertainment with the black hatted baddies and the good guy in the white hat. Somehow, just before it ended, I found myself with Jim's arm around my shoulder as he pulled me in to his side. I didn't find this uncomfortable in the least, though his hand was resting dangerously close to the side of my breast. I found myself wishing that he would go a bit further; I wasn't ready to give myself to this man yet, but I wasn't far off. Citizen Kane started and we thoroughly enjoyed the powerful performance of Orson Welles, but all through the film I was mostly conscious of Jim's hand lightly touching the side of my breast. On the one hand, I was willing him to keep going, but on the other I was thinking that he was pretty much a gentleman compared to what I had experienced with other men I had dated. I didn't feel that I would have to fight him off as the evening progressed. But then, if the truth be told, I couldn't say for sure that I would be fighting him off at all. Part way through the film, we could hear the air raid sirens signaling that a raid was coming. A spotlight went on and picked out a man in a dark suit standing at the front. He spoke loudly so we could all hear. "Good evening ladies and gentlemen, there is a raid in progress; if you wish to leave the cinema you may do so. However this is a very strong building and we will continue the performance for those who wish to stay." A few left but most stayed where they were, trusting to the building to protect us. The film progressed to the background sounds of explosions, near and far, accompanied by the bells of emergency vehicles travelling the streets. Eventually we heard the air raid sirens sounding the All Clear. About ten minutes later the film finished and we walked out of the cinema, leaving the world of Citizen Kane and going back into our world of fires, smoke, ambulances and fire vehicles passing on the streets. Jim bent to me and said, "Norma, I'm going to walk you home, but I'd like to stay with you a little longer first. Do you think we can find somewhere to get a cup of tea?" I thought a moment and took him to a Salvation Army canteen that I knew. Here they really looked after service personnel, and they had hot sweet tea with sandwiches available at all hours for emergency personnel, all at a reasonable price. As Jim was in uniform, we had no problems getting in, although they knew me anyway. We picked up our tea and a sandwich and sat down at a table, just talking over life in general. I told Jim that I had been a secretary at a solicitor's office prior to volunteering for the London Auxiliary Ambulance Service, that my parents lived in Bromley, Kent, just outside of London, and I usually spent my days off with them. He remarked, "And this time you stayed in London to spend time with me. Why would you do that for a soldier that you just met?" "Because when we were working together in that house, you were so calm and capable, and you impressed me so much that I thought it was important that I get to know you." "Oh, then, in that case, as the MO says I am off duty for at least a week, will you do me the pleasure of being my date when you are free?" I looked across the table, falling into those deep blue eyes. "I would love to. You make me feel so important, and that makes me sure that the two of us are in some way bound together. Our experience last night when we rescued that family is just burnt into my mind. I am convinced that there will be much more ahead for us." "Norma, in Ireland we call that being fey. It makes me feel good inside, hearing you tell me that sometime there might be not just a 'you and me', but an 'us'." "Let's just take it slowly, Jim, and see what develops. Let's not rush into something or make a mistake. We can go out together and just see what happens. Right now, I should be heading back to my billet as my next shift comes early in the morning." Jim walked me back to Mrs. Wright's, my arm through his. Before I got the chance to walk in to the house, he took me in his arms and held me close, as close as he could with crutches under his arms. I looked up into his face, into those eyes, as he slowly bent and put his lips over mine. He kissed me with a gentle pressure at first, then the intensity began increasing as the warmth of his mouth mingled with mine. It felt like I was spiraling down into a deep hole as my breasts pushed into him, my hard nipples feeling the rough surface of his uniform through my blouse and bra. I put my arms up around his neck, feeing that it was as natural as could be. A warm feeling travelled from my breasts to my nether lips, and I pushed back into him, feeling his hard body against mine. He finally stood back away from me, holding my hands and letting his breath out with a sigh. "We had better leave things as they are before I do something that, right now, I don't think you are ready for. I already know that you aren't just a date, you are someone special in my life, and I don't want to hurry you. Someday it will be our time, and the last thing I would want to do is spoil that. Go now, woman, before I forget me manners and ravish you. For sure I'll be meeting you at your station when your shift ends tomorrow afternoon." I hugged him quickly, whispered, "Good night, Jim," turned to open the door and walked in. I joined Nancy in our room, quickly undressing and sliding into my single bed without waking her. I didn't feel up to the interrogation I knew I would get from her; right then I couldn't even sort out my own emotions, let alone explain them to Nancy. I fell asleep with a warm feeling, thinking about what it would be like to have that handsome man sharing my bed and my body and me sharing his. I woke at 6 to the sound of Nancy busying herself to get ready for the day. I didn't feel like getting up at all. I wanted to just stay in my nice warm bed and think over the previous day, but there was no way that I could; there would be too many people needing our services. While we didn't have a lot of casualties during the day, we did lots of transfers to out-of-town hospitals in order to keep beds open here in the city. After three trips and one interrogation by Nancy the day was over, Nancy and I parked the ambulance in the garage, fueled it up and turned it over to the girls on the night shift. We went into the office and, as we were booking off, Nancy looked out of the window and giggled. "Norma, you've must have made a real conquest. Your soldier is out there waiting for you." As my heart jumped, I looked out, and there was Jim on his crutches, standing across the street. It was really hard to keep my feelings under control and stop myself from running to join him. Where are these feelings coming from? I've never felt anything like this in my whole life. My feelings must have shown in my face as Nancy looked at me. "Norma, you really have it bad for him! You were always the one to resist these wartime romances, as you called them." I could feel the heat in my skin as I flushed bright red, looking at her and our Station Officer. Both of them were grinning at my discomfort and telling me to get going or Jim would get tired of waiting for me. I finally managed to leave and walked across to Jim and asked, "Are you always on time like this?" "When I can be, and when the person I'm meeting already has a grip on my heart, for sure I would have to be dead not to be on time," he replied with that slight Irish accent and a huge grin on his face. He reached out and placed his hands on my shoulders, leaned into me and his mouth covered mine in a kiss. I couldn't help it, my arms went around his neck and I answered him by kissing back with everything I could put into it as my tongue slid into his mouth and touched his. Wolf whistles and applause sounded from across the street where Nancy and the others from my section were watching with huge grins. There I was, the least romantically inclined of the whole unit, holding on to my soldier like grim death, as if I wanted us never to part. Well, that much was true anyway, I wanted him so badly! I wished I could just take him home with me, but that would be against Mrs. Wright's rules. I had to go back to my room to change, so I had him come with me to my billet. I introduced him to Mrs. Wright and asked him to wait downstairs for me while I changed. I hurried into my civilian clothes, thinking that it was such a pity that Jim couldn't wear his as well. I went downstairs and found Jim chatting away with Mrs. Wright and Nancy in the parlour. This man charms all the women, and he must have kissed the Blarney Stone for sure. Mrs. Wright asked me what we had in mind for the evening. Jim replied, "Well, it's a nice night for a change, maybe we will get something to eat and, if it suits Norma, we can hop on a bus to Hampstead Heath and take a walk." That suited me fine and, to my surprise, Mrs. Wright said, "Well, if sausage suits you, you can both eat with Nancy and me." Norma Rogers Ch. 01 I straight away said, "We can't do that, the rations won't allow it. You don't have rations for Jim." She smiled and replied, "Well, last night you didn't eat here, so we have your rations for then. Anyway, I'm sure that we can stretch the rations a bit. Actually, I think the butcher, Mr. Green, put a little more than the rations allowed on my purchase anyway. You know he has been trying to get to know me better for quite some time. Maybe I should show that I'm taking more notice of him. It certainly wouldn't hurt, and it's been quite a while since my Alfred passed on. Surely it's time for a girl to kick up her heels a bit, especially these days when you don't know whether each day will be your last." She grinned at us as we roared with laughter. This was a whole new side to our landlady that we had never seen before; she had always seemed so serious! "Mrs. Wright," I exclaimed, "what has suddenly got into you? Here you have had us thinking that you are just naturally serious by nature, only to find you have been hiding this fun side all along!" "Well, luv, forget this Mrs. Wright stuff; please call me Maisie from now on. Actually, all it took was seeing you and your man. The looks on both your faces when you look at each other made me realize that its been two years now since my Alfie passed on, and the last thing that he would have wanted me to do is to stop being myself because he died. He was sick for a long time, but no matter what, there was nobody for me but my Alfie. We had a baby you know, a son, but he was a sickly mite and he caught diphtheria and died, even though they cut a hole in his windpipe so he could breathe. He just slipped away one night while Alfie and I were sitting alongside his cot in the hospital holding his hand. We tried for another baby, but by that time Alfie was getting sick and we weren't lucky enough to have another. Alfie had something they call cancer and, no matter what they did, it couldn't be beaten." "Alfie tried to keep us cheerful, but just before he died he told me, Maisie, we know I'm not going to make it much longer. Don't cry for me, I'll be in a better place and out of pain. I want you to be yourself and find happiness, the happiness I really couldn't give you. Well, I just couldn't do what he wanted, not until tonight when I saw you two looking at one another and realized that life goes on. I'm still fairly young, too young to wrap myself in widow's weeds for the rest of my life. Thank you for showing me that! The pair of you will always hold a special place in my heart for that. If it isn't too much of an imposition, I'd like you all to come out with me tonight to celebrate. I hear the Dog and Duck got some beer delivered today, so please come out with me to celebrate Maisie Wright's new self." As best we could, celebrate we did. We all went to the Dog and Duck where our new friend Maisie was made extremely welcome, especially by Mr. Green, whose big smile and "Hello, Maisie, nice to see you've come out tonight!" was a total surprise. It appeared that there was a little more than met the eye going on here tonight. Eventually, as happens in most pubs, a pianist sat down at the piano and a sing song broke out as the customers let their worries take a back seat. We enthusiastically joined in, out of tune or not. Jim's voice began to be heard over the rest, and for a few minutes the other singers sat and listened as he sang several Irish songs in a beautiful tenor voice. He started with Galway Bay, then continued into Molly Malone and finished with Rose of Tralee. As he sang the last song, he looked directly at me and I felt like he was singing the song to me alone. When he finished, I leant across the table towards him and said, "Jim, I would have sworn that you were singing your last song straight to me." He bent toward me and whispered, "Well, just maybe that's because that's exactly what I was doing. Your name may be Norma but to me you will always be my Rose of Tralee." I'm sure that Maisie was listening to our exchange, because she whispered to me, "If you want to use my room tonight, I can always sleep in your bed. You have his heart in the palm of your hand; don't lose it if you value it and him." I looked at her, pretty much in amazement. That was the last thing I would have expected from her, the prim and proper Mrs. Wright. She just grinned at me, and I whispered back, "Thanks for the offer but, though I'm sure that it will happen, I'm not quite ready yet." She looked back at me and laughed. "Oh, I'm sure it's going to happen. You look like I did after I married my Alfie. We couldn't get away from the reception quick enough and we were just going to a B&B two streets over." Jim and Mr. Green, Sid as we were to find out, walked us back to our billets. The night was beautiful, clear and dark with the stars shining down on us, and there hadn't been one German bomber. Jim had his arm around me, Sid had his arm around Maisie, and Nancy walked in between. We sang all the old songs as we walked home. Jim and Sid came in and we all sat around the kitchen table and had tea and toast as a snack. Bread was one thing we had lots of, as Maisie baked a lot of her own, but we had no butter and ended up using the sausage fat drippings that Maisie had saved. With a little salt it made quite a tasty meal. After we had finished, Sid said that he had better be going, but not before making a date with Maisie for the following night. Jim stood up as well, and I told him I would walk to the end of the street with him. When we reached the end of the street, we stopped and I put my arms around him and cuddled close. I knew then that I had found the man for me. His arms went around me, and his lips met mine in a kiss that made my knees weak. He lifted his head and said, "Macushla mo cheannsa, for sure I can't think of another woman that I would want by my side for my life, what wonderful páiste we would make together." "James Rogers, if you think for one minute that I am going to let you go now that I've found you, forget it. You are mine and I am yours forever. Now what were you saying in that language I can't understand?" "Macushla is the english version of a chuisle, 'my darling,' a chuisle mo chroi means the pulse of my heart, mo cheannsa means mine, and forgive me for getting ahead of myself, páiste means children, which I would most surely want with you. A first son named John after my father and a daughter Mhairi after my mother, who is the bonniest Scottish lass you could ever meet. Then we can have two more named after your parents." "Do I get a say in this production?" I asked with a smile. "Sure, didn't I ask you to be mine?" "Well I'm still waiting for the 'down on one knee with a ring in hand thing' and Will you marry me? on your lips. You got pretty close, but those are the words I long to hear." His face became serious, "And you surely will hear those words. I will be asking them the day that this war is over and we are together again. I'm one who doesn't think that the war will be over any time soon, and I can't bear the thought of us wed and one of us being taken, or the thought that you and a child might be left alone. You know my job is dangerous. If I were thinking of you and maybe a child instead of my job, and I know that you would be more on my mind than the task before me, I would start to make mistakes and mistakes mean injury or death. While in a way it breaks my heart, I can think of naught better than not to tie you down, so let us keep up our relationship the best we can and hopefully be there for each other when this war is over. I kissed him deeply looking to make his knees weak as mine were. "James, John and Mhairi it shall be when you are home to be their father, and probably if we are blest there will be a Tom and Angela. I'll promise you now, my love, I'll wait for you till the worlds end if I have to. When, not if you come home, I'll be here waiting for you." The rest of that week passed like a flash as we used every chance we had to be together. We used one day to go to the Zoo and see the animals in their cages, all buttressed with sandbags to avoid blast damage. For a time after Jim went back to work, we only had stolen moments. Days off became a memory as the Germans tried their hardest once again to cow the citizens of London. Once in a while we made it to a dance or a movie. As a dancer, Jim was good, so it was really enjoyable and, while we danced properly most of the time, for a number of slow dances we could fit together more than quite comfortably. I wasn't slow to realize that Jim wasn't small in another area either. Mind you, just about each time we did this some security man would come over and tell us to dance properly, no cuddling, no jiving. One day as I reported to work, my Station Officer asked me into her office. She had a huge grin as she reassured me, "Don't worry, I have some good news for you. The Civil Defence headquarters have put you forward for an honour as the result of your work that night you rescued the family in the collapsed house. You and the Sergeant who worked with you are both to be made Officers of The British Empire, yours is the civilian branch and his will be the military. Both of you are to receive your awards next Tuesday at Buckingham Palace. Your parents are welcome to be there to see you receive it and attend the Tea afterwards. Now go find your Sergeant and make your arrangements!" As it was the middle of the day, I hurried over to Jim's temporary barracks at the school. He came quickly to the guardroom where I had asked for him. "Whatever is going on?" he asked with a smile that made my heart lurch. "Haven't you heard that you are being awarded the O.B.E. and that we have to be at Buckingham Palace next Tuesday?" "Now why would I be bothered about that little thing?" he asked with a grin as he reached out and took me in his arms. I hit his chest with the edges of my hands as he pulled me close. "Because we will be meeting the King and the Queen, you great lummox. It's an important day for us. My parents will be there once I tell them, and you will get to meet them." "That's probably why I was talking to my father and mother, inviting them to the ceremony," he said with a laugh. "Just think - you'll be meeting your future mother for the first time and trying to make a good impression. Meeting the King and Queen will be nothing compared to that." His face was transformed by his beautiful smile as I finally took in that he was as proud as I was and had just been fooling with me"I do have news, though," he said. "I think because of what we did that night, coupled with the award, I am being awarded a battlefield commission. The day after our trip to the Palace, I have to report at Gordon Barracks at Chatham for training as an officer. I'll be there for two months, commissioned and then sent to another unit, I have no idea where. It could be here in Britain or overseas, anywhere in the world that I'm needed." My heart sank at this news. My man would be leaving me for who knows where, and when he would be home only God knew, certainly not we mere mortals. Hopefully he would not be far away for a little while. Chatham was just a short train ride if he could get a pass, or I could go there on my day off; surely I could find a bed somewhere there. We could get together for an occasional day anyway and use our time together the best we may. I'd do my best to make sure of that. End of Part 1 Norma Rogers Ch. 02 This story follows the life of London Ambulance driver, Norma Walker, and Sergeant James Rogers of the Royal Engineers, through the Second World War and its aftermath. Norma and James meet the King and Queen, have their bravery recognized and meet each other's parents. Then transfers and training force them to part, so they are able to be together only occasionally. As usual no part of this story is based on any person living or dead, although it is based on actual conditions and events. It is totally fictitious and no part may be used commercially or otherwise, without the consent of the author. Much praise is due to my editor Yellowperil for the time he takes out of his busy schedule to keep me straight. * Tuesday dawned sunny and clear. Since the investiture was scheduled to be at the Palace at 11, I was up early to meet my parents at the railway station at 9:30. I was dressed in my best uniform, and my stomach was full of butterflies at the thought of meeting the King and Queen. Surprisingly, when Maisie served me a good breakfast, I felt ravenous. In spite of all that, my main thought was that I would be spending the day with Jim. His parents had arrived to see the ceremony, and would stay for a luncheon with us. As they had never been to London before, we intended to show them the city, or as much of it as we could. Wartime London was not the best place in the world to spend one's time. My parents and I had actually been provided with one of the ambulance station cars and a driver, so we wouldn't be late getting to the Palace. Once the ceremony and lunch were over, we would be left to our own devices, but until then we were part of the ceremony. We arrived at the Palace at around ten and were escorted to the room where the ceremony was to be. I looked around and saw Jim and his family standing with a group along one wall . He was dressed in the full dress blues of the Royal Engineers. Such a handsome man. His parents were a striking couple. His father was a tall, burly, ruddy complexioned man with light brown hair, dressed in a business suit. His mother was about five foot six and was slim with blonde hair and a beautiful oval face. Her cheeks were naturally reddish toned, and she certainly didn't need to use rouge at all. Jim spoke to them and they smiled as Jim waved us over. As we got to them, Jim said "Mam, Da, I'd like you to meet Norma Walker, the girl I have been telling you about. I know you'll get to really like her as I do; well, you had better, because we have future plans. Norma this is my father John Rogers, and my mother Mhairi ." I shook hands with John, but Mhairi stepped close, put her arms up around me and hugged me. "I've heard so much about you from James," she said. "He has talked more of you than anyone or anything else since we got here. It's nice to meet the lass who has stolen my son's heart. It's not before time." I could do no more than stammer my thanks. Her directness surprised me so early in our first meeting. I introduced Mum and Dad to Jim and his parents and we stood around chatting for a while until the court officials called us all together and told us what was to happen. Our parents and other family members were to take their seats at the side of the room, and we who were receiving awards were to line up across the room, so the King and his aide could walk along the line making the awards, followed by the Queen. After the awards ceremony we were to attend a luncheon in the next room along the hallway. They indicated the doors we were to use so we wouldn't have to go out into the hallway. After the luncheon, we were to wait until the King and Queen had left, then we would be escorted to the palace gates and would be free to do as we wished. We then lined up and our parents took their seats. Jim and I were about in the centre of the line, and he took my hand and squeezed it, which helped me handle the excitement. Just imagine! Me, little Norma Walker, a middle class girl from the suburbs, I'm about to meet the King and Queen of Britain and The Empire! Just then the double doors into the hallway were opened by footmen and King George came in dressed in a Naval Officers uniform, followed by two aides in naval uniform; one carried a tray and the other sheets of paper. Following them, dressed in a long pale blue dress, was Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth. Being indoors, of course, she was not wearing one of her famous hats, and her brown shoulder length hair was a perfect setting for the gleaming tiara set on her head. The King proceeded to slowly walk along the row of honorees. As he stopped at each person, the officer with the lists read off the citation and the other officer handed the King the decoration or insignia for that recipient to pin on their uniform or coat. He stopped in front of me, turned to look at me and the officer read out the citation. The King smiled and said, with some difficulty, "Well done! With citizens like you we will eventually win this war." Then he pinned the OBE insignia on my lapel. He turned to Jim and after the officer had read the citation he spoke, again with difficulty. "I have been told that you are Irish and, like many of your countrymen, you have chosen to fight the Germans with us. Welcome as a friend, and hopefully after all this is over our two countries will be able to make up somewhat for what has passed between us in the past." He then pinned the insignia on Jim and went on to the next person in line. Queen Elizabeth stopped in front of me. "Miss Walker, you went far beyond the call of duty in what you did. The King and I are proud of you and all who are like you. I hope that you will have a few minutes to spare for a private word with me when the luncheon is over." Then she left, following the King. The luncheon passed very quickly. I think that the war had affected even the Palace. It was certainly an austerity lunch, not much different than we would have had at the ambulance station. The only difference was the beautiful china that it was served on. Mum and Dad sat one either side of Jim, and John and Mhairi sat with me between them so we could get to know each other. During the lunch one of the footmen bent over and whispered to me that the Queen would like me to remain for a few minutes when everybody left. I whispered to Jim that I would catch up with him and to wait for me outside with our parents. He raised his eyebrows and grinned at me. "Now what advice would herself be seeking, maybe she wants to become a driver just like you. You are an interesting woman, Norma Walker. Now you really have me wondering if the likes of me will be good enough for you." He said this with such a grin that it was impossible to take any offence. "Well, just maybe she does, or maybe she has some advice for me on dealing with obstinate Irishmen. I need it, I think; why else would I stand by and let you go tomorrow and not know when I'll be able to see you again? It makes me want to just drag you in front of the registrar and make sure that you're mine. Instead, I'll be standing on the station platform with tears in my eyes waving goodbye." A pained look crossed his face almost like a cloud passing across the face of the sun. "I know, and there will be a few tears in my eyes too. I won't be too far away though, not for a little while anyway Chatham isn't that far from London." Just then one of the aides came in, and the King and Queen rose and followed the aide from the room as we stood in respect. Then the people started to file out. One of the footmen came to me and asked me to follow him; I excused myself to Jim and our parents and did so. He took me to a small sitting room just down the hall and ushered me in. As I walked in, Queen Elizabeth stood and smiled at me and held out her hand to shake mine. I felt that I was dreaming, Me, Norma Walters, ambulance driver meeting with the Queen! I'll need to pinch myself to see if I am dreaming! She spoke softly, "Thank you for coming to see me. Once I read your citation I had to speak with you. You are an incredibly brave and trustworthy young woman. To do the job you do and then act like you did that night shows tremendous character. My daughter Elizabeth is doing the same job as you, and I would like to think that if she were faced with what you had to deal with, she would do the same." She smiled again, "Dare I say that watching you and James Rogers, I detect a mutual attraction that could become very serious?" "Ma'am you are right, there is a big attraction; I would marry him tomorrow if I had the chance, but he is too gentlemanly. He wants us to wait until the war is over so that, as he puts it, he doesn't force me into being tied down and maybe losing him, especially if we had a child. For myself, if he regards it as being tied down; I would willingly tie the knots myself. I really can't bear the thought of Jim being killed and me not having anything left of him in my life." "Norma, all that I can say is that sometimes we women have to make decisions regarding our men that they may not necessarily agree with at the time. Being noble is a wonderful ideal, but it isn't necessarily the best thing when all has been decided. However, that is up to you to decide - nobody else can make that decision for you. I was lucky. The only decision I had to make was how to convince my husband, who felt himself a simple naval officer, that he could serve his country as King. He is doing it extremely well, but I can't help but feel that his duties will eventually cut his life short. However, that isn't the reason I asked you to see me. I was looking into the main room earlier when you met James's parents and I couldn't help recognizing his mother as Mhairi McDonald, who attended the same school as I did up in Scotland. She was a good friend even if a little blunt about the Irish and Scottish being ruled by England. I wanted her in my wedding party, but my husband's mother was against her and that was the end of that." "I want my friend back, even if only by mail, and you would do me a tremendous favour if you would take this note to her. It contains a name and the address of a very good friend, and she could send letters to me using that name and through that address without eliciting any comment. Especially in these days of suspicion, it would not look good for the Queen to have a correspondence with a known Scottish political activist married to an Irishman, even though our friendship meant much more. Please give Mhairi the note, and if she wants to reply, she can do it. Please don't say anything to anybody though, let it remain a secret between us. Also, if I can be of any help to you in the future, please contact me through the same address." I assured her that I would pass on the note, and thanked her for her kind words. She reached out and rang a small bell. A footman came to the room and escorted me to the door of the Palace where Jim and our parents were waiting for me. I walked out to them, at which point Jim laughingly asked me, "Well, do you have Her Majesty the Queen all straightened out now?" I hit him on the arm, "It's for women only, not for the men's ears at all. Maybe I'll tell you sometime when we are old and grey." Mum and Dad were all set to head for home in case of any raids so we said goodbye to them, but not before Mhairi had arranged to meet Mum in several weeks' time when she was coming over again for the wedding of one of her nieces in Edinburgh. She would come down to London and meet up with us again after the wedding. Mum wouldn't hear of her staying anywhere but at our house in Bromley. Jim interjected, "And what happens if I can't get up to London and miss out on what is going on?" Mhairi smiled at him, "Son, if it means you and Norma getting married and our families joining, as I hope it will, most of the planning will be between Angela and me, and some of it with Norma. All you will have to do is show up at the church in a good suit, scrubbed up as clean as I used to have you when you were a little boy. Now, much as we would like your company to show us what can be seen while your father and I see what is left to be seen, why don't you just take Norma somewhere nice for the afternoon and meet us at the Savoy at 6 for supper? That is where we are going to be staying." The Queen's note was just about burning a hole in my pocket, but I thought I had better wait to give it to Mhairi until I could get together with her alone. Mum and Dad then left, so Jim and I went back to my billet for the afternoon. Maisie was going to be out all afternoon helping Sid in his butcher shop, as his helper had been called up into the Army. We went into the parlour, lit the gas fire and put the kettle on for tea. The Queen had put an idea into my head with her comment that couples' joint decisions are often the best, but sometimes it is up to the woman as to just what happens. I couldn't bear to think of Jim going off to war and perhaps being killed without having some part of him to keep him close to me. I thought of this while I was standing there, and making a conscious motion, I removed the uniform tie I was wearing and undid the top three buttons of my shirt. I put the teapot and cups on a tray and carried it through to Jim. He had removed his jacket and tie, opened his collar, and was seated on the sofa in front of the gas fire. I poured the tea and passed him a cup, feeling as warm as toast, while we sat in this scene of domesticity. We chatted as we drank, arranging the time to meet the next morning at Charing Cross Station to say farewell. Jim sighed and said, "Norma, I'm going to miss you so much. Hopefully while I am at Chatham I'll be able to get to London for some weekends, and if you can come there and see me it would be wonderful. We won't see each other as much, but we will still be fairly close. Will you write when you can to let me know how you are?" "Jim, you have my address, and I have no plans to be going anywhere, so you start off by writing to me and giving me your address. If you can let me know ahead of time when you can make it up to town, I'll arrange to be off duty if I can. If I can't, we will just have to find some way to arrange time together I'll gladly come to Chatham if you can arrange a place for me to stay. Does that let you know how serious I am about you?" He leant forward, his lips closing on mine, and then his arms went around me, pulling me into his chest, his mouth pushing into my neck as he kissed my cheek and neck. I felt even warmer as I put my arms around his neck, exposing my breasts to his hands as his fingers completed the job of opening the buttons of my shirt, his hand sliding onto my breast on top of my bra. Resting where my nipple was pushing against the cloth, his fingers went around the nipple and he started tweaking it, making it stand up even more than it was. Then his other hand started lifting my shirt out of the waistband of my skirt. Once it was out, his hand slid up to my bra and began to unhook it. Once it was undone, he began to work my shirt down off my shoulders. I had no problem making up my mind and I seemed to be tingling all over. No matter what, I wanted Jim and I wanted him right now! I had never felt this way about any man that I had ever known. I stood up, took my shirt off and took Jim's hand pulling him up towards me. "Come with me, I only have a single bed, but it is better than this couch. Nancy won't be home for a couple of hours, so we have some time." I took him upstairs to my room and sat him on my bed. I stood back and removed my bra exposing my hardened nipples, then slid my uniform skirt down over my waist and let it fall to the floor. My slip followed, sliding down over my knickers as I stepped out of it. Jim's hands went around my waist, pulling me to him. I pushed his shoulders back and he twisted so that he was lying along the bed. He pulled me down with him and there was just room in that narrow bed for both of us. I slid my hand between us, opening his shirt and sliding it off his arms, the same with his singlet. He opened his belt and pants and slid them down his legs so that the only things between us were our underpants. Jim laughed at my issue knickers; we called them passion killers, and passion killers they certainly could be. They were navy blue with long legs, and had elastic in the waist and the end of each leg to give maximum protection. At least Jim's underwear was only like a pair of shorts. Jim leant back a little so that there was space between our upper bodies, his hands found my breasts, pulling a little at the nipples, then he slid down and took one nipple between his lips. He started sucking on it and I felt a warm feeling travelling through me, down through my stomach and into my lower body. My hand slid down his body between the elastic of his pants and his stomach, slipping his underwear further down his body until my hand came into contact with his wiry pubic hairs and his penis. In the meantime his hands had slid down my back and in between kissing my lips and nipples he was slowly sliding my underwear over my buttocks. Then his hand was on my thigh, sliding up toward my womanhood, and starting to part the lips. His fingers slid inside me getting wet and slippery. As he hit my clitoris my hips jumped and I pushed my lower body up and toward his fingers, swallowing them more as they went in and out, first one feeling the way, then two curling up to the top of my vagina, then three sliding in and out spreading my juices. "Norma, are you sure this is what you want?" Jim asked in a quiet but excited tone. "I thought that we might possibly get around to this, so I saw the MO and got some protection. I was raised in the church and using it would be against the teachings of the church, but as the MO said, he had discussed with the Padre and decided it also rates as a health protection; in fact that is why it is issued." I put my finger over his mouth, "Shush, this is absolutely what I want. I've never been with anyone else and I trust you, from what I have read, this is the wrong time of the month for me to conceive, so feel free to either use it or not. I just want to feel you inside of me. I've waited for you all my life and now is the time for it to happen." To tell the truth, I had listened very carefully to the Queen's words and had decided deep down that I did not want Jim to go to heaven knows where, not knowing whether he would ever come back from this brutal war, without having some part of him left behind. If I were to conceive, it would be God's will, and I was sure that all our parents would support my decision. Jim moved between my legs and I could feel the tip of his stiff manhood against my lower lips as he slid the head of his penis up and down between them until I was wet. Then he pressed forward gently and I felt him slide into me. I felt a short, sharp pain as he did so, then a warm comforting feeling as he slid further in to me. My breasts were pushed into his chest and he was supporting his weight with his elbows so that he could still stroke and pinch my nipples, adding to the wonderful, warm, full feeling spreading through me. He started moving faster and the feeling increased until I was shouting his name at the top of my voice. "Jim, faster, you're making me yours." I began to push up at him as he was sliding into me, and I wanted to take him deeper, but to try to take any more would hurt. "Jim, not quite so deep, I'm hurting. Can you slow down a little?" "Of course I can." He slowed down and withdrew a little, and I still felt full but without the pressure against me. He moved slowly in and out of me until I pulled him into me as I crested, shouting "Jim push, push. Then he started thrusting in and out as if his life depended on it. Suddenly I could feel his erection pulsing inside me as he shouted "Norma, I love you" and his orgasm took over from mine. Then I felt him slowly softening and sliding from me, leaving his semen inside me. If I conceived, that was fine, but if not then I would know it was not meant to be for a time, so I lay contentedly there beside him as we dozed a little. Norma Rogers Ch. 02 We rested for about an hour, and then I couldn't resist my desires anymore and slid my hand down Jim's body and started stroking his penis. It gradually stiffened as my hand slid along it, noting that it was still a little slippery from our last session. He began stirring and I felt his hand slide between my thighs. I parted them slightly and his fingers slid deeper and closer to my mound. They slid between my labia, finding the little mound at the top and sending thrills though me before his fingers slid inside me, finding another spot that thrilled me even more. I lifted my lower body to meet his fingers, but he took them out and rolled me on top of him. This positioned me with my legs on each side of his and his erection rubbing the area between my vulva and my behind as I moved up and down, lubricating him with my juices. I brought my knees up level with his waist so that I was crouched above him, then reached down for him and slid him into me as I slowly dropped my lower body on to his. This time I was in control and wasn't hurting. I was excited as I felt the fullness increase as I slid down him until our pubic bones were touching. I took over and told him, "Just lay there and let me do the work." I started sliding slowly up and down while circling my lower body slowly so that one minute he was deep inside me, the next just the head of his penis was inside my labia. I kept moving up and down until he burst out, "Norma, I can't stand this anymore," and he began thrusting up into me as his seed rushed out of his body into mine. We lay holding each other until we saw by the clock on the mantel that we had better get moving to get to the Savoy on time. Both of us washed up and we dressed again. As Jim was in his dress uniform, I stayed in uniform as well. When we left for the hotel, I smiled up at Jim and whispered, "This is a fine mess you have me in, you're trickling down my legs. I've never felt anything like this before." He looked at me concerned, and I couldn't help laughing. "Jim, don't worry, I love the feeling. You can do it to me any time." "I will, my love, many times if God wills it and we survive this war. I have never met a woman quite like you, and I can think of no other to spend the rest of my life with." We arrived at the hotel and went up to his parent's room. John poured us a drink of Irish whisky which I found rather strong. Jim laughed as I coughed. "Don't worry you'll get used to it, just wait until Mum pours one of the drinks she prefers, then you will really cough." Mhairi invited me to use the bathroom to refresh the little make up I wore, and as I went in, she followed and locked the door behind us. "Now," she said, "do I get to hear what Elizabeth said to you in that private interview? You know she and I were very good friends at school, even if her father was an Earl." "She told me about her daughter's war work and she also told me you were friends. She gave me a message for you." I took the letter from my pocket and gave it to her. She opened it and read it. She smiled and said quietly, "Elizabeth, you're a wicked woman, but you would have to be to stand at Bertie's side through all this. No wonder Adolf Hitler calls you the most dangerous woman in Europe. Wouldn't Churchill's spies just be delighted to know that you were back talking to Mhairi MacDonald, that firebrand of a woman who is all in favour of Scots and Irish independence, but who is still glad to call you friend." Mhairi then looked at me. "Please tell nobody of this, not even Jim. Elizabeth was and is my greatest friend. Now lass, judging by the smiles on your faces as you walked in, the two of you have anticipated your wedding night a little. Let's talk about us, our and hopefully your family. Jim has told us that he wants to marry you in the worst way, but won't ask you until the war is over and he can be with you all the time. That's all very noble, but if he should die, that would leave us with no legacy of our second son, and really we do want more grandchildren to make the family complete. Now it didn't take a whole lot to see from your face what the two of you were up to this afternoon. Can you convince him to marry?" "I'll do my best over the next couple of months, and you know your son and the stubbornness in him, but this is between us. I would hate to see Jim killed without any part of him with me, so yes, we are making love and I'm not taking any precautions against pregnancy. We are going to be together as much as we can for the next two months, but I won't put him in any situation where he feels that he has to marry me. I agree with him that he is best able to do his job safely by thinking only of the job. If he asks, yes I will marry him, but if he doesn't and I am able to conceive, then I will bear his child and your grandchild, but I ask you right now that you recognize that child as a legitimate member of the Rogers family." "We surely will, and with John's connections in the Government and the Church, I'm sure that not only us but everybody will recognize the child as Jim's. Leave it with John and me. We are well enough thought of in Ireland that I'm sure we can arrange something. I take it you don't mind your child being Irish like his or her father?" "No, not a bit. My great grandparents on my mother's side of the family were from Belfast - they came to England for work during the potato famine. They lived in Liverpool where he was employed by a ship repair company. The conditions they lived in were terrible, so they eventually moved to Chatham where he was employed in the Royal Navy Dockyard and we spread out from there. We are nominally Catholic on my mother's side, but she is perhaps not practicing her religion as she should, but you know yourself the attitudes that have been shown towards Catholics over time." "Well we will have to see what we can do." Mhairi then handed me a note. "Here is our address; write to me, and I will see you again when I come and stay with your Mum and Dad. We women have to show a united front, in this family anyway." She grinned at me, "Now we better rejoin the men or they will think we are hatching terrible plots against them, even more terrible than we are." We walked out into the room and met the smiles of John and Jim. "Now what have the pair of you been hatching that took so long?" John asked then continued. "Look out Jim; you don't stand a chance, not against the pair of them. I don't care how long it takes them, but believe me, son, they will have you standing in front of an altar. I've seen it before when your brother started courting Mary Anne, and it won't be any different for you." Jim laughed, "If you can use your influence to get the war over, you won't get any resistance from me. I'm all for it! I feel like a lorry hit me, it's that important. In a way I wish that I had never decided to enter the Army, but then I realize that had I not done that I would never have met Norma." John carried on, "You know you don't have to go back don't you? You are Irish, born in what is now the Irish Free State. If you were to go back, the English authorities couldn't touch you," "Dad, I know that, but what kind of life would I be offering Norma if I did? You know that the farm wouldn't support you and Mam, John Junior and Mary Anne and the babies plus us as well. Then I wouldn't be able to come to England, either, as I could be arrested as a deserter. My main concern, though, is that I would be breaking the promise that I made when I entered the Army. If I were to do that, then I certainly wouldn't deserve the honour that I received this afternoon." John smiled, "That is the answer I hoped that I would get from you. I had to say it, but had you decided to go to Ireland, then I would have lost a lot of respect for you." John then turned to me, "Norma, Jim has to do what he does best, be a soldier, at least until this war is over. By fighting for England he is also fighting for Ireland, because no matter what is said, if Britain is taken by the Germans, their jackboots will be the same weight in Ireland as they are in England. Mhairi and I had a long chat this afternoon and we recognized that you have captured our son's heart and ours too, and we want you to know that you are just as much a member of the Roger's family as your own, and we will support you in any way that we can." Then he turned to Mhairi with a grin, "Now, woman, is that plain enough for you? Can a man get his dinner in peace now? Let's go down to the dining room and see if we can get a meal that isn't interrupted by an air raid." With that he opened the door, ushered us all out, and we went down to the dining room where we enjoyed a roast beef dinner. Obviously the Savoy was not hurting as much as some of the hotels were. As a lot of senior officers were staying at the hotel, this wasn't a surprise. The biggest surprise was that the head waiter wanted to stop Jim from going into the dining room as he was in his uniform as a sergeant, and it was supposed to be commissioned officers only. John asked to see the duty manager, and after the manager was advised that Jim was both John's guest and was, in fact, being commissioned, he told him that if Jim was refused admission, no further representative of the Irish government would be staying at the Savoy. There was no further protest, but there were some funny looks from a number of officers when they saw Jim. As he said, that was typical of the forces - some of the ones in command had no regard for the soldiers that actually did the work. Later, we walked through the dark streets as Jim walked me home on the way to his barracks to get his equipment packed. When we arrived at my billet, he didn't come in; he just held me tight and kissed me deeply. We arranged to meet the next morning at Charing Cross Station, and feeling the tears springing up, I went in and read for a while before falling asleep. I will never forget the next day at Charing Cross with the smell of steam trapped under the domed roof and the hustle and bustle as commuters and armed forces personnel rushed back and forth between the platforms and the doors. Jim looked as if he needed a pack animal with two packs on his back, ammunition packs on his belt, a kit bag across the top and a rifle slung over his shoulder. We stood on the platform for the Chatham train along with many couples, army and naval personnel and their wives and sweethearts. The train would be packed. Military Police and Shore Patrol members were checking documents, ensuring that the forces personnel were travelling legally. We saw that it was time for Jim to get on the train, so he bent down and kissed me. "Write soon," I said. "Then I can write back to you and we can arrange to meet again." He stood inside the door looking out at me with the window down. He leaned over and whispered, "I love you Norma, someday this will be over and we will be together for all time." The train whistled and then jerked forward as Jim stood waving in the doorway until the train curved away and he disappeared. Then as I walked back across the station, my tears really started running down my face in earnest. I was surprised when a woman carrying a baby about nine months old on one arm came across to me, hugged me with her other arm and said. "Don't fret love, he'll be back; my man's in the navy, and just when I think he isn't coming home again, there he is. This is my third baby and he was only home for one of them. I wouldn't be surprised if there is a bun in the oven again" We introduced ourselves and Jenny suggested a cup of tea, so we headed for the buffet and got some watery tea; at least it was hot. I was surprised to find that Jenny didn't live far from me, and she gave me her address and an open invitation to visit. "Don't expect anything special though, I'm just a Petty Officer's wife with no airs and graces. On top of that, I live with my Mum as we were bombed out in Pompey and Jack suggested that we move somewhere safer." She laughed loudly and continued. "So, of all places, we come to London, but at least we have the Tube stations and I have my Mum to help with the kids." She was so open and friendly that I could not resist the idea of visiting, so I went home with her, met her family and had tea. This visit was the first of many visits throughout the war, and we became firm friends through thick and thin. Two weekends later Jim was able to get a 36 hour pass and I flew into his arms on the platform at Charing Cross Station. He had left a message for me at the ambulance station, so I arranged to be off duty and booked a room for us at a small hotel close by. He kissed me so deeply that I felt weak at the knees, and then we walked to the hotel. I'm sure I was blushing beetroot red when we were booking in as Mr. and Mrs. Rogers, each with our small cases. I was out of uniform but Jim was in his, and of course the clerk on the desk had a big grin as he checked us in. I was very happy that I had made a trip out to Bromley and picked up my Grandmother's wedding ring that Mum had passed on to me. 'Just in case' was the way she put it. She knew that I was determined to marry Jim and that we had already made love, and as she put it, "I'm sure that you will again; just be careful if you aren't serious enough to bear his child." The room was cold and smelt damp and unused, the wallpaper on the walls was well past its need for replacement. There was one low wattage electric light bulb in the centre of the room and a gas fire in the grate complete with prepayment meter. Jim put some money in the meter and lit the fire to take the dampness out of the air. He stood up and grinned, "Well, this surely doesn't equal the Savoy, does it! The only saving grace is that you are here with me, and we have a whole twenty eight hours before I have to be back on the train. What do you want to do first, get tea, or dinner?" "Food and drink isn't really the first thing on my mind! God I've missed you so much. Your letters are so important, but they aren't you. I want you so much, but I think we should let this room warm up a bit first. I'm shivering without even being undressed. We would have been more comfortable in my single bed at Maisie's. At least it would be a little warmer there." Jim laughed at the thought. We went down to the dining room where we had some weak tea and meat paste sandwiches, and we began laughing about our predicament. I laughed and said, "If we are lucky enough to have a next time, I'm going to go to the hotel and make sure that the room is better. I had no idea what this place was like. I know! I'll come to Chatham and it will be up to you." "There is a pub about 5 miles from the camp that does rooms and meals. It is a nice old place, and if I can get a forty eight hour pass we can book a room there. So, if you can make it down, I'll book a room for us then." "Once you have a date, I'm sure that I can get my days off arranged for then. If not, I'll talk one of the other girls into changing days off with me, even if I have to pay her to do it. I'm sure I'll be able to be there. Now, let's go back up to our room and see if it is any warmer." We went back upstairs and found that the gas fire had really helped. While it wasn't really warm and toasty, it was tolerable. However, it looked as if we would be feeding it coins all night if we wanted to be comfortable. Jim was standing behind me when suddenly his arms went around me. He pulled me into him, and I could feel his hardness pressed against my buttocks. His hands slid up to my breasts on top of my dress, and then he took his right hand and started opening the buttons down the back. Once they were open he put his hands inside the dress and slid the top over my shoulder and down my arms, keeping it going down past my waist till it dropped in a pool around my feet and I was left standing dressed in just a bra, slip and panties. He did the same with the slip and I turned towards him. I lifted my hands and started unbuttoning his battledress jacket, feeling the rough cloth beneath my hands. I slid it over his shoulders and upper arms, then for devilment I left it on so that his arms were partially tied. I slid my hand down till I could grasp his hard maleness, then started moving my hand up and down over his trousers as it became harder under my touch. "Stop it, woman; you'll be the death of me yet. If you keep that up, then I'll be no use to you for a while." Jim let his arms fall back and his jacket slid down his arms until he had to unbutton the cuffs. Then he looked so comical, trying to get them undone as he tried to reach, that I had to smother a laugh. He shrugged the jacket back on to his shoulders, and then he could reach the cuffs. He slid the jacket off, and as I was unbuttoning the front of his shirt, he was looking after the rest, making sure I couldn't tie him up again. I slid his shirt off as he slipped his arms from his suspenders, opening and sliding his pants down, and he sat on the bed to remove his gaiters and boots. "With all those buttons and straps, you are worse than a woman to undress. What would we do if we were in a hurry?" "I'll hurry you, woman! Make fun of me, would you?" He stood and grasped me and his mouth covered mine as he pulled me into his arms. His kiss seemed to last forever and took most of my attention, but not all of it as I still was able to feel him releasing the clasps of my bra and sliding the straps down my arms. I lifted his singlet up over his head and, standing back slightly, let my bra fall away to the floor between us. I slid his underpants down, the winter ones were much like our passion killers, but rougher in texture and close fitting to the torso and legs. I slid them down, and then as they got to his knees, he bent and took them off altogether. Then he slid my panties down. They were a loose, so called French panty, with the elastic only around the waist, so once the elastic cleared my hips they slid right to the floor. Jim lifted me and carried me to the bed, placing me in the middle, which was when we found that the mattress wasn't in the best of shape, either, and definitely sagged in the centre. Jim gave me a wicked grin and said, "Well, you won't be able to escape me tonight! You'll just roll back down the hill." I started giggling, but soon stopped when he leant down and took one of my nipples between his lips and started sucking it. He started rolling the other one between his fingers, so he was driving me wild with passion for him. I could feel his hardness against my thigh as he gently began to trace circles on my body with his fingers while his hand slid down into my pubic hair, then cupped my mound and my sex as his finger slid into the entrance of my vagina and beginning to slide into me. My hips came up off the bed as if I was reaching for his fingers, and two more slipped into me. I was gasping as I panted, "Please! Please, don't make me wait, I need you!" He rolled me over on top of him until I had one leg on each side of his body and his penis was between my legs, pushing into the vee between them and resting against the lips of my vagina as my body slid up and down it. Then I pushed up slightly on my knees and slid my hand between my legs, taking hold of his penis so I could guide the head of it up against my lower lips and into the entrance of my vagina. I then sat back and his penis slid into the depths of my body, filling me up as it pushed up against my womb. I started moving up and down on him with my pace gradually getting quicker, and after a few minutes he began to push up into me as I slid down. Then he yelled out, "I'm coming!" and he pushed right in to the bottom and stopped moving as his penis throbbed and spurted into me. I lost my composure and squealed right then, the feeling was so exquisite, and suddenly my body seemed to flush from the soles of my feet to the top of my head, and I fell forward on to his body as he began to slip out of me. We rolled over on to our sides facing each other, pulling each other into our arms, our bodies in contact and legs intertwined. Norma Rogers Ch. 02 "Tell me," I asked, what are you doing all the time now that we are apart? How are they planning to make you an officer?" "Well, much of what we are doing is advanced field engineering building bridges and shelters, using explosives, laying and disposing of mines and bombs There are not a lot of parades, as we have so much to cover. Some of it has been on the water down at Sheerness, and we can concentrate on either river work on the Medway, or seaborne on the Thames Estuary." "So you won't be doing bomb disposal then?" "Possibly, but not likely; their course is much longer. I will likely be posted to an active unit, but I have no idea where. All I know is I will miss you. I've been thinking, though, that since the letters home are being censored, I won't be able to tell you where I am. I was thinking of a code that we could use. Remember the afternoon we went to the zoo? When I can write from wherever I go, I'll refer to that visit in some way and mention an animal we saw. All you will have to do is find out the country that the animal originates from, and that is where I will be." "That sounds easy enough, and at least I will know where in the world you are. Now, with all of that taken care of, it's time for you to kiss me again." His lips came over mine once again, his tongue dueling with mine. I began to kiss his chest and slid down his body, kissing as I went. During one of my conversations with Maisie, she had talked about kissing her husband 'down there'. No doubt they had enjoyed a very varied sex life, but I just couldn't make myself do that. When Jim did the same, kissing and sucking my breasts was great, and even when he slid down my body kissing my mound and my thighs, I really enjoyed it, but when he went to kiss me on my lower lips, I lifted his head away, "No Jim, please don't, come into me instead, that's where I want you. He came up and began kissing me again sliding his engorged penis between my lower lips, and I put my legs up around his back and pulled myself off the bed and onto him taking him very deep as my vagina pointed up toward his body and his testicles ground against my buttocks. "That's better, faster and harder, make me yours, we have so little time," this time he took longer and I felt his size filling me, with his pelvic bone rubbing against my clitoris, making the most powerful feelings rise in me as my muscles flexed around him. I thought to myself, go on, that's it, give me your child, give me a part of you before I lose you again. He slid slowly in and out until at last he pushed into me deeply and I felt the contractions of his penis as he pushed his semen into me. I couldn't help but smile as I thought; I bet that this is the start for me. If I'm not pregnant after this, then it will just take a little longer. James Rogers, you are my man! Regardless of where you may go or what you may do, you will always be a part of my life, and even if the worst happens, you will live on through your child. Jim lay beside me, opened his eyes and rubbed his hand on my breast, keeping the nipple taut as he said, "This course lasts ten weeks and in two weeks it will be Christmas. We just get the one week off for the holiday, and then it is back at it. Will you be off for the holiday?" In spite of the distraction of his hands stroking me, I was able to get out, "Unfortunately I'll be working over the Christmas period, and we have been told that already as that is when there is more moonlight. As I will be on nights, I'll just get a little time to get the train to my parent's home in time for Christmas Dinner. Can you stay in London with me and come for dinner? Mum and Dad would love it if you were there with me. It would be something for them to look forward to. I'm sure that Maisie would not mind giving up her double bed for a few days. In fact, the way she is courting Sid Green, I wouldn't be surprised if they got together at Sid's place over the shop." "Okay, I'll plan on doing that. I can use the extra sleep anyway. At the end of the course, the third Friday in February, I will get ten days of leave. Can you arrange to get some leave and come with me to Ireland? Just in case I'm sent abroad, I would like to get some time with my parents." "Well, I'll be seeing your mother this week, but I'll see about leave as soon as I am back to work. I can let you know in a letter, but I don't think I will have any problem arranging it." We made love again and talked about our jobs and what we hoped for the end of the war until eventually Jim's breathing deepened and I realized that he had fallen asleep with me in his arms. I felt absolutely content and thought to myself, James, no matter what, you are a part of me and always will be no matter how far away you will be. I knew in my heart that there was a little life growing deep inside me, very small yet, but I was absolutely sure, and just like a contented cat I curled into him and slept the night through in our little dark room overlooking the London streets. This night we ignored the sirens and no bombs fell close by, as they were falling more towards the docks area. On the radio next morning we heard that Liverpool, Birmingham and Coventry had suffered big attacks. We made love again on waking up, still in the dark, and then rose to meet the day. Once we had eaten our lunch, all too soon it was time for us to stand on the railway platform, waiting for his train to return to barracks. Once more I stood on the platform, waving as the train with Jim hanging out of the door window slowly pulled out of the station. I turned and made my way back to the garage where I was due to start another shift. The next week, Mhairi came down from Scotland, staying one night in London, then going on to Bromley. We met for supper and we talked about Jim and me. Mhairi felt as I did that Jim and I should marry regardless. If the unthinkable happened as it had to so many, it would hurt without a doubt, but at least I would be left with something of him, and the recognition of his name. If I were to have a child, then I would be in receipt of a family allowance to help raise the child, and, of course, a ration book. Mhairi told me that no matter what, the child would be a part of their family and, if necessary, she felt that John's contacts in the Irish government could arrange something to help us. End of Part 2 Norma Rogers Ch. 03 The continuation of the story of Norma and Jim Rogers, thrust together and then forced apart by war. This story is a work of fiction, the property of the author and the characters refer to no specific person living or dead. I would be remiss in failing to acknowledge the excellent work of my editor and I hope friend Yellowperil2 for the excellent work he does in turning my ramblings into a coherent story. As always, the cautionary message, that the characters are figments of the writers imagination and the story may not be used or copied without the permission of the author. * We spent Christmas 1940 as we had agreed. Maisie went to Sid's for the holiday to meet his family and she planned to stay with him for a few nights, to 'seal the contract' as she put it. They had already decided to make the engagement announcement on Christmas Day and make as big a party out of it as they could. The wedding was to be on Valentine's Day at the registry office, and Jim and I were to be best man and bridesmaid (if Jim could make it). What it meant was that Nancy and I would be looking for somewhere to live, as Maisie was moving into Sid's place above the shop. We didn't know if we could take over Maisie's tenancy, but we were going to try. Anyway, Jim and I would have her bedroom for the length of Jim's leave. Nancy had been given Christmas leave to go to her family in Nottingham, so for a while we would be alone. I was thrilled at the prospect, all that time with him all to myself! On the day before Christmas Eve I found myself back at Charing Cross Station waiting for the Chatham train, the clouds of steam swirling against the darkness of the glass roof. The days were short - with not a lot of daylight to see by, and there always seemed to be dust in the air from the bombing. Whenever it rained, between the dust and the soot in the air, clothes got dirty very quickly. Because Jim was coming, I had been granted the one night off, leaving the girls whose husbands or boyfriends were away to work. As the train pulled in slowly, I saw a door swing open and Jim jumped down from the carriage, a pack on his back and a bag in his hand. I started running, hurling myself into his arms, crying my eyes out. "I missed you so much! Maisie has gone to Sid's, so we will be all alone for the holiday except when we go to Bromley." "I have some bad news sweetheart, my leave has been cut short; instead of a week, I have to report back by noon on the day after Boxing Day. We have fallen a little behind and have to catch up. I'm so sorry, and that is the last thing that I wanted to have to tell you, but...." I had a moment of panic over his leaving so soon, but quickly calmed down after realizing I would still have him for almost three days. "Never mind, at least we have a few days together." We went back to the house where I fried up a quick but satisfying supper of sausage, eggs and beans. We had been lucky to get the eggs as they were in short supply, but Maisie had turned up trumps when shopping. After supper we just sat in front of the fire listening to the music and comedy programmes on the wireless. The fire wasn't much as the coal supply was getting low, but being back in Jim's arms kept me warm as toast. It was wonderful until we heard the wail of the sirens. Our plans for the night were cancelled as we put our coats on, grabbed some blankets and the important papers box, and quickly headed for the shelters. I told Jim that I felt guilty that I wasn't working and should have been, but he gently reminded me, "You have done plenty, my little lucky nurse. It is time for you to take shelter." We headed for the local Tube station just a few hundred yards away; at least it would be light there unless the power was cut off. The platform was packed except for the area close to the edge. Trains were still running and people wanted to stay well back to leave passageways for passengers to get to and from the trains. Some even had camp beds or mattresses. We sat huddled together on a blanket against the wall at the back of the platform and covered up in another blanket to try to keep warm. It was hard to avoid the cold rush of air as the trains came out of the tunnel, but eventually I was able to rest against Jim's shoulder as he read a book he had grabbed from Maisie's. Due to the press of people around us, any plans that we might have had for the night had to be abandoned, though I could feel Jim's hand wandering over my body under the blanket, just as was mine wandering over his. One lady with her family sitting near us just looked at us and grinned. We hoped that the raid would be over quickly, but it wasn't until 5.30am that one of the station personnel came on to the platform to tell us that the all clear had sounded and that it was safe to go home. By the time we got home we were absolutely dead tired, and all we could do was take off our outer clothes and fall into bed. I snuggled into Jim's arms and told him, "Wake me up later. Don't forget I have to go to work at 6." He kissed me and held me tight, with those blue eyes of his staring into mine. "That means I had better wake you up at 12 and give us a little more time," he said with a smile. I just grinned at him, and then I tried to stifle a huge yawn. "Norma just settle down and sleep, I'll still be here when you wake; we have lots of time to be together before I go back." The next thing I remember is waking up feeling a hand sliding up and down my body on top of my underwear; Jim's eyes were half closed as if he was peeking at me. I started doing the same to him, and as I touched his penis over the cloth it started growing stiffer. His hand slid up under my petticoat and over my stomach before he cupped my breast, lightly pinching the nipple. He slid over me, keeping his weight on his elbows and his hands on my breasts so that his fingers could roam and squeeze, then he lowered his head and gave me one of those deep kisses that I so loved. Then just as we were getting into the mood and I was stretching my arms around his neck, there was a banging as somebody was knocking at the front door; Jim grimaced, "Of all the times for this to happen! What can it be?" "I'll go down and find out," I said and quickly slipped on my dressing gown before I rushed downstairs. Opening the door I could hardly believe what I saw. There with a big grin on her face, with one child on foot and two in the pram, was Jenny. "Merry Christmas Norma! I hope we didn't disturb you, but we had to bring over your Christmas present since you'll be going to your Mums. Did Jim make it on leave?" My heart sank at the sight of her oh heavens will Jim and I ever get together but I couldn't turn her away. "Come on in, while you're here, I have some little gifts for the kids." She came in and we took the kids into the kitchen where I started the fire so they could play. I went upstairs to tell Jim what had happened, and he groaned and started to get up. "Go get a shave; I don't think we are going to get a lot of time" I said as I quickly slipped some clothes on. He picked up his bag and went toward the bathroom while I went downstairs again. "Jenny, you aren't going to believe this but Jim is here. Just as we were settling down last night, the raids started, so we had to head for the shelters, and by the time we got back all we could do was fall in bed and sleep. Things were just beginning to get very interesting when you knocked on the door. I'm on nights so I don't know if we will ever get together." "Oh, I'm so sorry, luv, I never thought, though being married to a sailor you would think I would know better. Let me get going so you can head back upstairs." "Jenny, it's alright. It is a bit late now anyway, and by the time Jim and I get something to eat, it will be almost time for me to go to work. I'll put the kettle on, so please stay and have a cuppa at least, and you can meet my man." I grinned at her, "Just keep your hands off; he's mine." Just as I made the tea, Jim came into the kitchen and surveyed the room. "Jim, this is my friend Jenny and her brood, Kenny, Mary and the little one, Thomas. Jenny is married to a petty officer in the Royal Navy" Jenny smiled, "Jim it is nice to meet you after the glowing stories Norma told me, I'm awfully sorry about disturbing you both. As a sailors wife I should know better, but Christmas has me so excited. Bert will be home later, and I wanted to get Norma's gift here cause I won't get chance after he gets here. The kids don't know he is coming, as I just got the call earlier this morning. He is coming up from Pompey now, and his ship HMS Repulse, is getting ready to sail, so part of the crew is getting Christmas leave and the rest New Year. Once they sail, we don't know when we will see them again. At least he is on a big ship; it's much more reassuring than being on minesweepers where he was for his last draft." We sat and chatted for a while, and then Jenny smiled to herself. "I've got a secret; you remember I said at the station that there might be another one in the oven, well I'm positive now. I'm going to be a Mum again, but the only thing is that we won't have room in my Mum's house for another baby. I'm going to have to look for another house. Have you heard of any at all? It is such a job to get a place after all the bombing." "Mrs. Harper, two doors down from here, has been talking about moving to Brighton to be with her daughter. I'd talk to her if I were you, as it's a three bedroom house there would be lots of room for you all. If Nancy and I get this place when Sid and Maisie get married, we would be neighbours. We would even be able to have the kids if you needed, and let's face it, when you have that baby it won't hurt to have a couple of ambulance attendants around." "That's a thought! I'll bring Bert around while he is on leave." We chatted on for a few minutes and I noticed that Jim had been quiet and thoughtful for a few minutes, and I thought maybe he was still upset about being interrupted. Just then he spoke up, "Jenny, how long have you been married to Bert?" "Coming up to seven years; We married in thirty four as soon as Bert was twenty one and could get his skipper's permission to get married." "Don't you find it hard, him being away so much?" "Yes, but that is what being a navy wife is all about. Oh, I was all starry eyed when we were courting, fancy marrying a sailor and all that, but even before we married I knew that he also had another mistress, the sea, something he would never give up. I just make sure that while I have him with me I make the most of it. I know that I'm going to have to raise the kids on my own for a lot of the time, but I make sure that they know he is their dad and they should be proud of him. We were lucky compared to many; at least we had two years in Malta when he had a shore posting" "Don't you worry about him being killed?" "Of course I do, what service wife doesn't? Even girlfriends do, and I'll bet that Norma lays awake nights worried in case you are killed or injured just as I do with Bert. It's what we women do, but if we're sensible we don't dwell on it. However, I've seen women that can't do anything else and they either pressure their hubbies to get out of the service or the marriage breaks up. That doesn't just apply to service wives - what about copper's wives or firemen's? Right now they are just as likely to be hurt or killed. The same thing applies to us. Norma could be hurt really easily, and so could I, just while walking down the street, like a friend of mine who got in the way of a dogfight between two planes. They were in the air, but that didn't stop the bullets from hitting her and the street. If it's going to happen, it will; you just can't stop everything because of what might happen." "Jenny, thank you for answering me the way you have. Your answer has really given me something to think about. Now I think that I had better get ready to escort Norma to her station, and tonight I'll be the one worrying about the one they love. By the way, I hope you get the house you want, because you are a good friend to Norah. I hope I get to meet Bert at least for a pint before I have to go back. What about meeting tomorrow night at the pub at the end of the street at around 8?" 'I'm sure that Mum will look after the kids so we can get out. If not I'll drop a note through the letter box." After Jenny left, we had a quick supper, before I got ready and we walked across to my station. Jim was very thoughtful and commented, "Jenny is right, you know, we can't let Jerry dictate what we do with our lives. If we do they have won the war already. Tonight I'll be the one who is scared, scared for you knowing full well what you might have to face," he bent, kissed me deeply and as he turned he said, "I'll be waiting here at 6 o'clock in the morning, ready to go to your parents' house." The Germans must have been celebrating Christmas too, as there were no raids, a real change after the last two months. I got back to the house at about 6.30 in the morning. All was quiet in the street, and as I opened the door, I heard Christmas carols playing on the wireless in the kitchen. I crept along the hall and looked in at the door. Jim was sitting in front of the fire, drinking a cup of tea and staring into the flames with the thousand yard stare that servicemen seem to develop. I tiptoed over behind his chair, put my hands over his eyes and asked, "What are you seeing so far away?" "Somehow, I'm seeing a terrible fiery little woman with a wee girl and boy, her brown hair burnished in the sun and her telling me that I have to get home, that they miss me and want them with them. While I have been here thinking, I've also come to realize that after this war is over, I don't think I will be able to continue in the Army. I've found the life I want, and it doesn't include being away from the woman I love if I don't need to be. How I can make it so, I don't know, but I will if I can. Just sit yourself down and I'll pour your tea." He pulled me down into the chair beside him and stood and poured tea. "Now if you drink that quickly, we may have a little time for some tomfoolery before we are off to see your family, the thought of which scares me worse than the Germans." The tea was wonderful - hot, sweet and just what I needed. I finished, stood, took Jim's hand and led him upstairs to our bedroom where we undressed and cuddled together under the warm blankets, our naked bodies intertwined. We were quick and needy, coming together hurriedly in that age old rhythm, our kisses were long and searching, exploring each other's mouths, I felt Jim's erection as he rolled between my legs and slid into me, hurriedly pushing deep into me then as I was being carried away in my mind I felt Jim's penis begin to pulse as his essence flowed into me. We lay together as he slid out of me, holding each other, panting for breath as if the world were about to end. We dozed off that way, waking with the alarm and rushing to wash and race to the station to catch the train. We could have taken it easier as damage to the line had to be repaired and the trains were running a little late. At least we had time to pick up a tea and bacon on a bun at the station café at Charing Cross. The train journey seemed to take a long time for such a short distance. I think the train was diverted to other tracks, as some were damaged and we went through a couple of stations that we wouldn't normally go through on the way to Bromley, but eventually we arrived at Bromley North Station and began walking to my parents' home. While there was some bomb damage in the streets, it wasn't anything like Central London and the East End where whole streets were laid to waste. We arrived at my old home and, opening the front door, I yelled, "Mum, Dad, we've arrived, we can start Christmas." She yelled back, "We are in the parlour; come on in and have a seat. I looked at Jim and laughed, "Well Mr. Rogers, you are honoured, the parlour indeed. Do you realize that you are the first of my boyfriends ever to be accorded that honour? Dad must be seriously going to ask what your intentions are towards his darling daughter." Jim just looked at me and grinned as we opened the door. Surprise, surprise, there was a houseful. Not only were my parents sitting in their chairs beside a roaring fire, but Jim's parents were on the couch while on the love seat were my older brother Andrew, dressed in his blue Royal Air Force uniform, and his fiancée, Ruth. They all stood and we hugged all round. Mhairi looked at Jim in his officer cadets uniform and I could see the tears and pride in her eyes. The room was decorated with streamers that Andrew and I had made over the years while growing up in this house, from somewhere, Dad had been able to get a Christmas tree and it stood decorated in the corner with some gifts under it. It looked so homely that I could actually believe that the nightmare we were living would be over sometime, and that possibly we could make our lives our own choices again. Andrew shook hands with Jim, then looked across at me and winked. "Looks like my little sister has found herself a pretty good guy" he said. I just put out my tongue and made a rude noise at him, just as I did when he had teased me so many times as we grew up. Just then a roasting smell struck me, "Mum, do I smell Turkey? How on earth did you get that?" "Thank Mhairi and John for that. They brought a turkey and a ham with them from Ireland from their farm. We even have a case of eggs that they brought. John and Mhairi were really loaded down, and it was a good job that we met them at the station. I'll give you some of the eggs before you go back. Now I'll just make a cup of tea for everybody, and while Mhairi and I get the dinner ready, you can chat." Mum brought the tea through and she and Mhairi went through into the kitchen where they applied the finishing touches to our Christmas Dinner. While they were doing it, Dad took Jim and his father out to show them the garden where he was growing all the vegetables for the house. I stood at the window watching them and happened to see Jim very intently in conversation with Dad. I wondered what they were talking about. Ruth even giggled a little and said, "It looks as if they are very serious; maybe they are talking about you." She went to help the Mums with dinner saying, "I'll give you a little time alone with Jim. I want to talk to Andrew anyway." I was soon to find out what was happening. Jim came in without either of the fathers. "What was the serious looking conversation about, and what did you do with the Dads?" I asked. "I talked them into giving us a few minutes alone. Norma, I've been a selfish fool. Here's me thinking I was being so noble and I've expected you to treat me as if we are married, with none of the responsibilities of a husband. In the last couple of weeks, I've talked to some of the men that I'm serving with about their lives and their families, and that plus the little chat we had with Jenny yesterday has made me think a lot and change some of my ideas." With a sinking heart I thought that he was about to suggest that we separate and wondered what was going to be next. Then to my surprise he knelt on one knee in front of me, "Norma, though I'll do everything I can to survive this war, I can't guarantee you a long and happy marriage. I've not even had time to shop for a ring, but I can promise this, I love you with all my heart and want to be with you for whatever life we can have together. Will you marry me?" I was taken aback for a minute, and then my heart leapt. "Yes, Jim, I'll be delighted to marry you. As far as the ring is concerned, I'll proudly wear my grandmother's ring until we are able to get one." I slipped the ring from my right hand and gave it to him and let him slip it on to the third finger of my left hand. Then I slipped my arms around his neck and he kissed me in a way that made me want to take him up to my room and have my way with him right then and there. Norma Rogers Ch. 03 It was a good job that I didn't, as Mum was calling us in to the dining room where a fantastic sight awaited us: the golden brown turkey resting on a large platter, vegetables from the garden, small buns, and miracle of miracles, real butter in the butter dish. Mum had gone all out, and it was a feast fit for a king. We all sat around the table, and after Dad had said grace we had a feast that we had not been able to have for several years. We were enjoying ourselves and even though at the back of our minds, there was the thought that this may be the last Christmas we were all together, we did our best to ignore it. Ruth looked over at me as we were eating, and she pointedly looked at my left hand and grinned as she tapped the ring on her left hand. As we finished eating and pushed our chairs back, I couldn't hold it in any longer. "Mum, Dad, everyone, Jim has asked me to be his wife, and I have said yes." Tears of happiness ran down my face and I could see that Mum, Mhairi and Ruth were suffering from the same problem. Everybody hugged us, and as Mhairi hugged me, she whispered "Looking at your face and into your eyes, my son isn't any too early in asking you. You will be bringing new life into the world within seven months and your mother and I will be there with you." She pulled me into her arms and kissed me on the cheek. I was speechless, she had just amazed me with her prediction, but then I thought, yes I had missed one period and the next should be close. I felt so happy inside. Unfortunately it was soon time for us to part, Andrew to return to Biggin Hill where he would be going on alert almost right away, and Jim and I back to the city for the last night before he went back, especially as we were going to meet Jenny and Bert at the pub before Bert went back to Portsmouth. Just before we left, Ruth asked us, "When are you going to get married?" "We haven't set a date yet. I would like it while Jim is on leave, because then we would be married if he were sent overseas." "How do you feel about a double wedding? Andrew and I have been talking about marrying soon, and it would make things a lot easier with three Mums to plan the wedding and three families paying for the reception." "I'll talk to Jim tonight. He has to go back tomorrow afternoon. Can you come to our place the day after Boxing Day so you and I can talk about it?" "I'll be there, and I'm sure that Andrew will be all for it. I know I will, but I don't want to interfere and maybe spoil your day." I smiled at her, "Ruth, I've wanted a sister for most of my life, and it looks like you're the only chance I have. I'll be pleased to share my wedding day with you. I was going to ask you to stand up for me anyway, so standing alongside me with our men there will be great." Somehow I could feel that, unless Jim was vehemently against it that was what our plan would be. On the trip back, Jim and I discussed our wedding. He would find out when his leave would be when he got back to Chatham and he would let me know. We would make arrangements to marry on the first day of his leave, and then travel to Ireland the next day so I could meet all his family. He was quite happy to have a double wedding. Even though this was the first time he had met Andrew, they got on like a house on fire and had arranged to keep in touch. I would arrange everything with Ruth once Jim gave me the date, and then we would get the Mums busy. Jim asked, "As this is my wedding too, what can I do to help?" "Just as your mother told you weeks ago, show up at the proper time and be all dressed up in your best uniform, ready to make me your proud wife!" "It seems I get off easy without much to do, but I'll try and think of some contribution, though." "Who will be your best man?" "Well, as Andrew will be otherwise engaged that day, there is a Lieutenant Dan Mason that I have become friendly with. He is in the Royal Canadian Engineers, who are expanding the camp. I have been palling around with him when we are off duty; I think I will ask him. Obviously, what I would really like is for it to be my brother John, but his wife is pregnant with their second child and if Mum and Dad are here, and they will be, someone has to look after the farm. A couple of our good men have signed up in the Army, so we are really short." As we had planned, we met Jenny and Bert at the Dog and Duck, just around the corner from Maisie's. Jenny had a grin from ear to ear. "We can get the house! Mrs. Harper wants to rent the place as soon as possible, and it will be ideal for us. It has an indoor bathroom, a bedroom for the boys and one for the girls, and Bert and I will be on our own. Such a change from Mum's place, I won't know what to do with myself." Somehow, with three kids and another on the way, I didn't think she would have any problems finding things to do. After another quiet night without bombing, Jim and I got a few hours at home to ourselves before he had to pack, and we were off to the station again so he could go back. I wouldn't see him again until I went to Chatham on my days off in three weeks. I went straight back to the garage where we were to get ready for what was expected to be heavy bombing again. Nancy was back, and once again both of us were exhausted by the time we could get some beans on toast in Maisie's kitchen the next morning. After about four hours in bed, I was up again to wait for Ruth to arrive. She was delighted to hear that Jim was all set for a double wedding, as she said. "Andrew is in one of the worst jobs as a fighter pilot, though he won't say so. So many of his friends have been killed or injured, burned horribly, or lost limbs. I want him to be a part of me, just in case the worst happens, so I can't see any sense in waiting." "Ruth, I agree with you, and just between us, I haven't waited and don't expect you to. Biggin Hill is so close that you could meet Andrew easily. We will be getting married in February, so who but you and Andrew would know?" She grinned, "Well, you for a start. Anyway, how do we arrange a double wedding in seven weeks?" "We delegate! What we do is get the three mothers to work together, and apart from dresses and stuff like that, we just show up. Invitations can be by letter. Is our church ok for you? My mum can arrange it with the priest, and I'm sure he isn't going to insist on all the little rules and regulations that would apply in peacetime." "It sounds fine to me. I'll tell Mum tonight, and she can get together with yours tomorrow. What are you going to do for a dress?" "Simple, my mum still has her dress in her wardrobe, and I have told her all my life that I want to get married in that dress as it was made by my grandmother. I'm sure she can handle any alterations necessary." "But you're slimmer than she is" I Just grinned, "Yes, but that may not be the case by then." She gasped, "No wonder you look like the cat that got the cream." "I have to admit, that's just what I did." "Are you sure?" "Not yet but I will be by the wedding." "I always wanted to be an aunt, but I couldn't see it with my family, being the only child." "As soon as Jim gives me a date, I'll let the Mums know." After some more tea and gossip, Ruth left and I began to get a meal for Nancy and me so that we could eat before we started another night of horrors. We all wondered when this blitz would let up. Every night it was the same, the howling of the sirens, the whistling of the falling bombs, and the homes and other buildings erupting in flame in front of us. We got tired, but the fire crews from the station we were attached to were exhausted. Once we got most of the casualties to hospital, usually in the early hours of the morning, we could get a rest, but the men didn't have that luxury. They worked until the fires were out, and quite often we would be called out again to take one or more of the firemen to hospital, either injured or just plain exhausted. Because of the bombing pressure, two thirds of the crews of both full time firemen and auxiliaries were on duty throughout the night. The other third were on duty through the day, and they rotated with the day shift one week out of three. We on the other hand worked one week on nights and then one week on days, with a day off each week and a two day weekend each month. Holiday period or not, our duties came first. New Year 1941 passed with very little fanfare. On New Year's Eve, as we heard the time given over the radio, Nancy and I looked at each other, dirty faces and dusty uniforms and wished each other a Happy New Year with the hope that somehow this year would see us finished with the war. One thing that impressed me during my service was the camaraderie between the services, professional and auxiliary, no matter what the prewar feelings had been between them, they were working as one team, doing the same job without a lot of bickering. Just before New Year, a telegram arrived from Jim letting me know that his passing out parade was on Thursday, the 13th of February, and he had a 24 hour pass to attend Maisies wedding, so he would be in London that night, and he would then be on fourteen days leave beginning on the day after Valentine's Day, February 15th. I told Maisie that we would be there for her wedding and sent a telegram to Mum and Dad letting them know that we could be married on Saturday, February 15th. That way they had time to talk to our priest and have the Banns called for the marriage on the three Sundays before, so we wouldn't have to apply for a special license; I could just travel home one day for a few hours and apply for a regular license. (I looked at Norma quizzically, What are the Banns and how are they called?) She explained, "I don't know what the law requires now, but then under a regular marriage licence, there had to be an announcement of the wedding at the regular Sunday services for the previous three weeks. What the idea was I don't know, perhaps to let people know if they had any objections. Under a special license there were no Banns read but a lot of churches would not allow them to be used, and most of the marriages were performed in the registry offices. On the first day off I had after New year, I went home to Bromley and Mum and I went to the Registry Office to get the marriage license, then we went back to the house where I was to try on the dress. I put it on, and it fitted me really well; obviously Mum and I had been pretty much the same body shape at a similar age, though she was a lot more matronly now. The body was pretty snug around my stomach and I said maybe I would end up having to wear a corset to keep the size. Mum looked at me. "You're pregnant, aren't you?" she asked with a smile. I nodded, "I think so, I've missed the curse at least once. If I miss another month, I'll go to the doctors. It could just be the strain that we are working under. That has happened to a couple of the girls at the station." "Not to worry, your Grandma made a special type of dress." She picked up the front of the dress, "Here, hold this for a minute." I held the dress up and while I couldn't see what she was doing, she played with the front a little and immediately the dress loosened around my stomach. "There, I needed that same change of size." "Mum are you telling me that you were pregnant with Andrew when you married Dad?" "We married in April 1916 and your brother was born on November first, so you do the sums; you were always good at math." "Mum you surprise me! I would never have thought that you and Dad would have anticipated the wedding, you have always seemed so much on the side of being moral, at least with what you taught me." "Don't forget, we were pretty much in the same boat as you and Jim are. Your Dad was going into the Army and we knew pretty well that he would be going to France, to the trenches. He wanted us to wait, but I was scared that he would not be coming home, because so many young men that we knew had died or had come back horribly injured, and there seemed to be no let up. Your dad is a leather worker, and while he never says a whole lot, his job was to make and repair the harnesses of the horses that pulled the guns in the Royal Artillery. He was right behind the front lines and was gassed twice and wounded once. I wanted to have a part of him with me before he went into that, and I have never regretted it." I hugged her, "Mum you will never get any argument from me, because that is the way I feel about Jim and have ever since I saw him defuse that bomb. If I am pregnant, and I don't know for sure yet, I won't have any problem bringing your grandchild to you and Dad, even if he or she is born before people think they should be. I just never bothered counting up with you and dad; I just felt that the way that you were fairly strict with Andrew and me that you would have been perfect yourselves." "Far from it dear," she said with a smile. "I was no different than you are; I was scared before your Dad left and scared all the time he was away. When he was wounded he was really lucky, he was shielded by two of his friends who were both killed. That was when he came home to stay. He came to a hospital here in London, and by the time he was fit to go back, the Armistice had been signed and he was demobilized from the hospital." "I didn't know all that. All I knew was he wears a row of medals at the Cenotaph each November, but he has never told me what they were for." "For the longest time he wouldn't talk to me about it either. He wouldn't talk about it other than saying that war is hell on earth. I didn't know much about it until one day I overheard him talking to your uncle Jack. They were in the garden sitting just under the kitchen window which was open, I was washing the dishes. They were talking about being in the trenches, always wet and muddy, and the bullets whipping across above their heads. Your dad was telling Jack that many nights he woke up in a sweat, thinking he was back there. It really made me think, I thought when he got up and wandered around the house that was just how he was. After that I would get up with him and make a cup of tea and sit with him until he settled." "Well I'm glad that he won't have to go back again." "Not as glad as I am! It scares me that both of my children are in uniform, but then in this bombing everybody is in danger, not just our troops. Just the other day Mrs. Davis over on Cromwell Street was killed by the blast from a bomb that hit across the street, yet her baby in the same room wasn't harmed. Anything can happen nowadays, civilians are in just as much danger. Now you have to get back into town, so just leave the arrangements to us. You have the license already, I'll check with the priest tomorrow, and I'm sure that Ruth's Mum, Mhairi, and I can look after the rest. Twice during the following six weeks I was able to get to Chatham and Jim was able to get permission to be out of barracks overnight. We had a room at the Eagle, a pub just out of town, several miles away from the camp. It was an old Inn from coaching days with old stables around the yard. The bedrooms and public rooms were complete with real beams in the ceilings. All the room needed was a four poster bed and we would have been completely in period. Our lovemaking was slow and easy with Jim making it a real pleasure for me. Nothing hurt now, and I wanted him as much as he wanted me and I wasn't slow at showing it, though I was a little concerned in case I was pregnant and something happened to the baby. During those nights when we were in the bar to eat or have a drink, I met Dan, who was to be Jim's best man. He was a tall, good looking and well-built man with a drawl that sounded almost like Jim, but without the Irish lilt. I told him I should introduce to my friend Nancy, who was attractive and single. He just smiled and said, "I don't think my wife, Jeanine, would go for that. She is French Canadian and rather possessive about what she regards as her property." I blushed a deep shade of crimson, "Oh, I'm sorry, I was just joking! Anyway, if you come to the wedding you will meet her; she will be my bridesmaid and your companion for the evening." He laughed again. "Norma, it will be my pleasure to be at Jim's wedding, someone has to keep him straight. I will gladly be your friends escort, just as long as it is only for the evening! Really, I make Jeanine seem worse than she is, as she has told me that I have to tell her all about it in my letters." "What is she doing back home?" "Well in addition to looking after our two little ones, she is my Dad's secretary." "Oh, what does he do?" "Construction; the same as I am doing here, building camps for the training camps and bases, and the lumber and mining camps, which is how we got into the building business. We design prefabricated buildings that can be easily adapted to fit the company's needs. Right now we are extending Gordon Barracks and we are building two major training camps in the Farnborough area." Jim interjected, "And 'tis a fact they are the most comfortable camps in the British Army." Eventually the six weeks of waiting were coming to an end. I had arranged two weeks leave, and finally, on a cold windy February 13th, I stood proudly with Mum, Mhairi and John as Jim (to my surprise wearing the two pips of a full Lieutenant and the sword of the best cadet) led the troop of his comrades from the Parade Square at Gordon Barracks after a short Passing Out ceremony. After meeting Jim and congratulating him, Mum, Mhairi and John headed back to Bromley, where we would see them again the next day. Helping Jim with all his kit, I went back to London with him so we could be at Maisie's wedding the next day. At Maisie's, Jim just stretched out on the sofa in the front room to sleep, while Maisie, Nancy and I went and painted the town a little red; well, we 'painted' the Dog and Duck, anyway. We joined the other women in the parlour, and there was quite a bit of singing and dancing. Finally, singing as we went, we arrived at Maisie's, waking poor Jim up and conning him into making tea for us. After the other two went to bed, Jim and I snuggled on the sofa in front of the fire and looked into the flames. "Just think," Jim began, "in two days, we will be husband and wife, but you haven't had a bridal party and I haven't got a ring yet." "Remember, there is a war on, I don't need a party," I replied. I certainly didn't need any liquor! I had been to the Doctor the day before, and my suspicions had been confirmed. I was pregnant, and I didn't need anything to make me more bubbly than I was. I wasn't going to tell Jim until our wedding day. "I don't need any rings either. I'll wear my grandmother's rings proudly. She left them to me with love, and that is the way I'll wear them." "But I should be providing them." "But nothing, you are a soldier, and a not very well paid one, at that. You do have a job to do to remedy that situation though. When that job is done and you are a wealthy engineer, then I'll expect more, but right now I'll take what I can get, and that is you, all of you!" He leant toward me and kissed me. The kiss deepened and his tongue slid between my lips as I moaned in pleasure, and then to my frustration he sat back. "No, my lady, much as I would like to make love to you, we don't have a bed of our own, and I won't start anything here. In two days you'll be my bride, and that will be soon enough for me." That night we women slept upstairs while poor Jim slept on the couch in the front room. As it was, at 7 in the morning we woke up to the smell of toasting bread and frying sausage. When we went downstairs, we found my future husband cooking breakfast for us. Poor Jim, faced by three women in nightgowns and unable to do anything about it! I have to say, though, he carried it off with incredible aplomb, just grinning at us and shaking his head. After eating his sausage and toast, and Maisie telling me I had better keep my eye on him or someone would make off with him, he had the decency to blush as he took himself off to the bathroom to get cleaned up, before the gang of us started getting ready. Nancy was off for two days, so she could go to the wedding and be my bridesmaid the next day. Norma Rogers Ch. 03 At 10 am, we were all present at the Registry Office where Sid and Maisie gave their vows in a short ceremony and Jim and I signed as witnesses, then we were off to a luncheon hosted by Sid's family in the Dog and Duck. After the luncheon, the five of us were off on the train to Bromley as Maisie had declared, "Honeymoon or no Honeymoon, we are going to be at your wedding." Then they were going to stay at a small hotel at Brighton for a few days, and while it wouldn't be much, at least it would be away from the bombing. Mum had booked rooms at the Clarendon Hotel in Bromley for Maisie and Sid, Jim, and Andrew, so that was where we headed first. Dan, who was sharing with Jim, had made it there before us, as did Andrew and his best man, Flight Lieutenant Ted Baines. Once we got the baggage into the rooms, we all met up in the bar to have a drink together. Jim's mum and dad joined us; they were at the same hotel. Mhairi and John hugged us, and Mhairi pulled me to one side whispering, "I was right wasn't I?" I smiled at her and whispered back, "Yes, the doctor confirmed it Wednesday." "Does he know yet?" "No, I'll tell him tomorrow; it's my wedding present for him." "I won't tell anyone. I think I can keep it a secret that long. Are you going to keep working, or are you stopping?' "I'll keep working as long as I can. My job is important to me and to the city at the present. I'll make sure that I stop in lots of time before the birth." "Are you staying here for the birth, or coming to Ireland?" "I haven't made up my mind yet. Ireland is tempting, but Bromley has a nice maternity hospital and my doctor is here, so really it will depend on how the bombing is by then. You never know, maybe some miracle will happen and the bombing will have stopped by then." After arranging to meet everybody at the church at 6 that night for a rehearsal, Nancy and I left for my family home. Nancy was rooming with me, and Ruth and her bridesmaid would use Andrew's room, as both rooms had double beds. I didn't know where Ruth's parents would be sleeping - that was up to Mum, and if she could cram us all in, she would somehow. What was most important was that Ruth and I, and our bridesmaids and fathers got to the church at the same time. After the rehearsal, we all went back to the Clarendon for supper. As was standard fare in a lot of hotels, it was Shepherd's Pie, the real one made with lamb not beef, and after supper we women went back to Mom's for a little get together while the men had a party at the hotel. At least they had some beer and, as Jim told me later, they had Spam sandwiches and Potato Crisps to follow. The wedding was timed for 2 pm and after getting all bathed and doing our own hair (Nancy's previous career in a beauty salon helped here) we all dressed. Ruth had been lucky to find some light gray material that had a silky look and I of course wore my mother's white dress. I needed that little expansion in the front of the dress and the look that I got from Ruth told me that she had been following my advice. The little hand movement she made across her tummy indicated a bulge was coming. Our mothers carefully inspected us, then pronouncing themselves satisfied, they departed for the church in the first car along with the bridesmaids. Dad and Ruth's father asked if we were ready, then escorted us to the second car, getting in with us and making sure they didn't crush our dresses. We had bouquets of white carnations, and our dads had white carnations on their lapels. Obviously some greenhouses were still in operation to produce carnations in February, as they were not exactly part of the war effort. Just before getting into the car, Ruth and I hugged and wished each other good luck as we were starting out on this new stage in our lives. We arrived at the church and prepared for our walk down the aisle. Ruth, with her father and Irene were to go first, then Nancy with my father and I were to follow, and eventually we would make a half circle around the priest and the altar. The strains of Wagner's familiar Bridal 'March' began, and Ruth began her walk. After a moment we followed, and as we cleared the screening wall and entered the body of the church, I was amazed to see a number of RAF and Army officers occupying the back pews. Then I looked down the aisle to Jim and Andrew and was again surprised to see that Jim, Andrew, Dan and Ted were in full dress uniform complete with swords. It was quite a study in contrasts with Andrew and Ted in the light blue of the RAF while Jim and Dan were dressed in the dark blue of the Royal Engineers. The ceremony passed in a blur. Ruth and I were given away by our fathers, we made our vows and our wedding rings were blessed and then placed on our fingers by our grooms. Jim was so tender as he took off my engagement ring, slid the wedding ring on my finger and then replaced the engagement ring. Then we all signed the register and the priest gave us our wedding certificates. When we came out from the room where we signed, I noticed that the back of the church was empty. All the members of the forces had gone, along with many of the friends that had been in the church. Jim and I walked up the aisle first, and as we arrived at the door of the church he held me back slightly while he put his cap on, as did Andrew. I heard someone outside shout "Honour Guard, Attention, Draw Swords, Salute, then Jim let me move forward out of the door. I was amazed to see 12 officers, 6 RAF and 6 Royal Engineers making an archway of swords for us to walk under. Jim whispered, "I told you I would contribute, didn't I? Andrew and I thought this was a great idea! We had to rent the swords though, so Dan will have to take them back tomorrow." We walked through the escort, and I don't know where the friends got it from, but there was lots of paper confetti thrown as well. It completely threw me, as it was the last thing I would have thought of. The Mums had really surpassed themselves in their organization. I whispered to Jim, "I hope the hotel has better than Spam sandwiches for the reception." He just looked down at me and smiled. "Your mother looked after that." We walked out from under the archway and he pulled me to one side. "Welcome to the family Mrs. Rogers." Then he kissed me deeply and my face turned a little crimson at being kissed in front of the entire crowd. After the photographs were taken, we all went back to the Clarendon where the reception was being held. We had kept it to the three families and close friends. Mhairi had done a great job bringing food over from Ireland. She provided ham, chicken and the fruit and materials necessary to make the two cakes. The hotel kitchen had done a marvelous job of providing the fillers; I don't think anyone left hungry, and certainly not thirsty. I didn't drink much, just a glass of champagne during the toasts. Dan and Ted had done a good job of collecting some gramophone records, and they kept the music going for a dance until the party shut down at about 9 pm so people could make their way home in the blackout before much danger of any raids. Jim and I were staying in the hotel that night; the staff had transferred his bags to a room for both of us, along with a suitcase of clothes for me that had been in the car when we left the house. When we got into the room, he held out a small parcel to me. In it was a box and inside the box was a silver brooch in the shape of an Irish harp. "Norma, when you wear it or look at it, think of me, and no matter where I am in this world, I'll be thinking of you." I gave Jim my first gift to him, a pocket watch with a picture of me inserted in the lid so he would think of me when he looked at the time. He put his arms around me, and told me, "You know that the only gift I need is you." He slipped his arms around me and began unfastening my dress. It wasn't long before the dress was in a pile around my feet, quickly followed by my petticoat. Then he picked me up in his arms and carried me the short distance to the bed before laying me down, and then began to remove his uniform. I don't know how he had been able to stand the high neck all day, but then I realized that he had undone it earlier. Andrew had been so lucky that his uniform had an open collar. Jim took his jacket off and I almost laughed, he didn't have a shirt on underneath the jacket, just a vest, and with his braces over his vest, he looked just like Dad did when he was working in the garden. I had to smile at that happy memory, and his face broke into a smile as well. "Now, my sweetheart, what is going on in that devious mind of yours?" he asked. "Just thinking that, except for the red stripe in the trousers, you look like an old married man about to go out and dig the garden." As he slipped the braces down and pulled his trousers down, he grinned. "An old married man, is it? Well, any garden I'm about to dig tonight isn't going to be outside this room, that is going to be for sure." Soon he was as naked as the day he was born and he stretched out on the bed beside me. He nuzzled my breast over my satin bra, and then slipped the straps down my arms. I rolled toward him and his hand went around my back and unclipped the bra so he could remove it. He licked my nipples as they hardened, and then began to suck on one. The feeling was incredible, as if the nerves had suddenly become so much more sensitive than ever, and I began panting with desire for him. Then he slipped his hand down to the cami knickers that Nancy had bought for me to wear on my wedding day. His hand slid over my stomach, so I grabbed it and held it there. "There is another present for you, one that I won't be giving you for some time, can you feel anything?" "Other than my wife's nicely rounded stomach, I can't feel anything." "Doesn't a rounded stomach make you think of anything?" "Well, yes it does, but we have been safe, haven't we?" "Well, let me put it this way; it was good that you made an honest woman of me today." "You're telling me you're pregnant, we are going to have a baby?" "Yes, that is exactly what I'm telling you." He sat up, stroking my stomach. "I'm going to be a father! When will it be?" "In about another five and a half months. He or she is a little small to feel yet but, I'm getting fluttery feelings, and if I suddenly rush off to the bathroom, you will know why. So far there have just been queasy feelings, but it may get worse." "Are you going to give up your work?" "Not for a little while yet. I believe in what I'm doing, but I won't take any chances with the baby." "I should go tell my parents, they will be thrilled" "Number one, you aren't really dressed to be going anywhere; number two, your mother and father are likely having some alone time while they get the chance; and number three, your mother told me I was pregnant before I really knew myself." "She is pretty accurate that way; did she say whether it is a boy or girl?" "No she hasn't said anything; I don't see how she can tell anyway." "I think she is what the Irish and Scot's call fey; she has a sixth sense about things." "Well, I hate to break up a good conversation, but before we got into this you were about to claim me for your wife. Do I have to pinch you to remind you?" "No, it's just that I can't really get my mind round the idea that I'm going to be a father! I was all set to wait until the war is over, but now you have told me, I couldn't be more pleased." "Jim, I'm sorry that I decided without telling you. But married or not, I wasn't going to see you go off to war without leaving something of yourself behind." He bent over me, put his lips on mine and kissed me hungrily. His hands finished the job they had started doing on my clothes, then he began kissing me all over my body. I wanted him so much! Then he moved over me, entering me so slowly that I wanted to push up against him. He held his weight off me as we moved together, as if he were afraid that he would crush the baby. He made such tender love to me that I was left in no doubt, this wasn't just lust, and Jim loved me as much as I loved him. He was now my man, and would stay that way as long as we both lived. As we drifted off to sleep, I wondered what the future held for the three of us - Jim, myself and the little one that I was carrying in my womb. End of Part 3 Norma Rogers Ch. 04 This is the fourth part of the story of Norma Rogers continuing her life during a World War, how she brought children into a world without their father, a world where she continued to perform important and hazardous duties in the face of sudden death and injury and great danger to herself and her family. As always, the story is the property of the writer and copyright 2012. The story does not describe the actions of any one person and is the invention of the author. My thanks again must go to my editor yellowperil2 for his excellent work in keeping my flights of fancy in line. Norma Part 4 This is Patricia interjecting a little here. We were sitting in Norma's apartment and she went to a bookcase and brought over a photo album. She first pointed out several photographs that had obviously been taken outside Buckingham Palace of her, James Rogers and their parents. Then she showed the report from the Daily Mirror of their rescue of the family in the bombed building and a photograph of the building and area itself. To me, who had never seen such damage, I marveled that anyone could have survived it. The picture looked more like the ruins of Pompeii that are now being dug out of the lava. She also showed me photographs of her wedding, and while the photos were in black and white, the two brides looked enchanting and the two grooms in their dress uniforms looked so smart. It was hard to believe that it was taken during the war. Looking at Jake's grandfather in dress blues reminded me of my wedding when Jake looked so resplendent in his dress uniform with the leather cross strap and belt. It was impossible not to see the family resemblance. Then Norma continued her narrative. The morning after our wedding, having enjoyed a night in each other's arms with no raids to disturb our bliss I awoke in Jim's arms at the Clarendon Hotel where we had spent the night. Stretching after my sleep, I felt his firm body against me. The night before I had told Jim that he was going to become a father and he was overjoyed. Much as I tried to disturb him so he would hold me and we could make love, he still slept soundly, recovering from the effort of the advanced training he had been doing. I crept out of bed, found my toilet bag, wrote Jim a quick note and took the room key from the table. I slipped out to the bathroom just along the floor from our room, and after a leisurely bath, I put my robe back on and went back to our room. Jim had ordered morning tea the night before, and it was waiting on the table when I got back. Jim was sitting in his underwear sipping his tea. I picked up mine and asked Jim when we would have to get the train to Holyhead in order to catch the boat to Ireland. Jim grinned and told me, "We can travel with Ma and Dad; they brought a car so Ma could bring the food over." I thought for a minute, "Oh come on, Jim, I'm not a fool, the use of private vehicles is discouraged here, and petrol is rationed for all United Kingdom subjects. How can your Mum and Dad use a private car to travel from Ireland to Bromley and back again while getting petrol if they need it?" "Norma, what I'm going to tell you is absolutely secret. My father isn't quite the simple farmer he would have you believe he is, as you may have guessed by the number of times they travel back and forth. Though younger, he is a trusted friend of Eamon De Valera, the Taoiseach, or President if you will, of Ireland. My father favours freedom for all of Ireland, including Ulster, but by negotiation - not at the point of a gun. He feels that words can accomplish far more than threats or violence. Thanks to this war, Dev feels that, contrary to those Irishmen who feel we should ally with Germany, as a government we must remain neutral. To help preserve this neutrality, he must keep up contacts with both the Germans and with Mr. Churchill and the British Government." "There is a lot of pressure from Germany to get a naval base in Ireland as well as an airbase. Dev is well aware that either one would be in a position to threaten all of the UK, and is also well aware of the fact that any decision by the Dial to allow such a thing would mean we would be staring at the business end of British rifles the next day. He has also seen what has happened to other countries that have allowed the German forces in. Hitler and his bullies cannot be trusted. Dad is one of Dev's emissaries to the British Government, as he has plenty of family reasons to keep him above suspicion when he visits the UK. The car is treated as diplomatic transport by both governments, so he can get fuel anywhere." I was almost in tears. "I'm just a lowly ambulance driver, not a diplomat; all I know is that I just married the man I love and I'm carrying his baby. What does this secretive work mean to our family? Tell me!" Jim took me in his arms, as he reassured me. "It means nothing at all. I'm still a British soldier, loyal to the Crown, and I have every intention of staying that way. I plan on living with you and our family and working in England after the war is over. Everything else is Dad's work and has nothing to do with me. If, indeed, the north and south ever become one, which I for one don't believe we will ever see, it is going to take a firm agreement between Catholics and Protestants, which might well be described as a miracle. If you feel better about it now, knowing it has nothing to do with us, let's get ready and go down to breakfast." Feeling much better and more reassured that we would be safe, regardless of whatever John was doing, I finished dressing for breakfast downstairs. We met Mhairi and John in the hotel dining room, and after a good breakfast on the last of the hams that Mhairi had brought, we decided to leave at 10 in the morning, which would get us to Holyhead in time for the night mail boat to Dun Loaghaire. It could carry a few cars and had cabins for sleeping if we wished. Mhairi had the hotel prepare sandwiches and cold drinks for us. There was lots of room for our clothing as Jim was leaving his uniforms at my parents while we were In Ireland. He could not travel to Ireland in a British uniform. It was the first time I had ever seen him in civvies as he normally wasn't allowed to wear them in wartime. He had to get special permission from his commander to travel to Ireland. We went to my parent's home, and in a way I still felt sorry to be leaving my childhood home to begin a new life as Norma Rogers. All the neighbours were watching as we arrived in a car. I think they were looking for a chauffeur's uniform, but Jim's dad was driving. He said it made a change from a tractor. After dropping off Jim's uniform and equipment, giving Mum her dress back and having a quick cup of tea, we started the drive off to Holyhead on the Isle of Anglesey to get the ferry to Ireland. We headed across country for the first part of the trip to avoid the confusion of London. As we drove and Mhairi was talking to John, she turned to us, "We have to make an overnight in Dublin as there is a diplomatic dinner and entertainment that John and I have to attend. You are welcome to come with us, and we already have two rooms booked at the Gresham Hotel, just in case you want to join us. It is an older place, but very nice." I just froze. "A diplomatic dinner? I don't have a dress for such an event! I packed for a farm; this is far more than a middle class girl is used to." "Don't worry about that, you'll find that most of the people you meet are no smarter and nowhere near as brave as you, and the ones that think they are, are not of much account. Also, you and I are going shopping tomorrow, so you will have a dress to wear, believe me. John may not have given me a daughter to spend my money on but I have two daughters that I love" The trip to Dun Loaghaire was just over three hours. It was amazing to travel on a fully lit ship with a huge Irish flag both on the flagpole and painted on the funnel, both lit by spotlights. We arrived at 1 in the morning, and by the time the car was unloaded and we drove to Dublin, it was around three am when we arrived at the Gresham. To see all the lights of the city was amazing after London had been blacked out for so long. Our rooms were small but very comfortable and had attached bathrooms, which I really appreciated. I really enjoyed not having to look at blackout curtains, but we were so tired that Jim and I just undressed and fell into bed, snuggling together as the room was a trifle cool. At 9 am there was a banging on the door, and donning a robe, I opened it to find Mhairi standing there. "I might have known it," she said with a smile. "The newlyweds are still abed. John and I are just finishing getting ready for breakfast, and we will meet you in the dining room in about half an hour." Jim and I dressed quickly and headed downstairs, deciding to bathe after breakfast as we didn't have any plans for the morning, or, I didn't think we did at that time. We joined mys at the table, and Mhairi started right in on us. "At last! You've finally made it! Although, I'll make allowances for you, Norma, in your condition, but not for Jim. He should be up at dawn as he used to be. The Army must be letting him get soft!" With a smile Jim jumped right in. "Mother, might I remind you that I didn't get to bed until after three this morning too tired even to treat my new wife as I should! Norma, you see how much respect I get! If it wasn't for the fact that I am married to you, I doubt that I would even be here. It's a real pity that Ma didn't have a daughter to dote on. I am sure that's why she dotes on you and Mary. Tell me, Ma, why have you not told us the sex of our first child yet? I'm sure you can tell!" Jim was grinning as he gave his mother just as hard a time as she gave him. "Norma, pay no attention to her she just gives us this mystery talk to make us think she is fey and all seeing." "I haven't said anything because I'm confused, first I sense a boy, then I sense a girl, we'll see when the child arrives, but before we leave Dublin I'm taking Norma to Clery's to get some lace for baby gowns. And we just might decide to pick up a very fancy dress each to make the men's eyes pop tonight." "They can pop all they want. It's going to be me that Norma is with, and I'll reserve all her dance card to make sure." "You had better come with us and pick yourself a suit as well; we didn't bring anything for you as there isn't much at the farm that will fit you anymore." "I have a suit that needs to be pressed for the occasion, so if you are away off down the street I'll go get cleaned up and have the valet service look after the suit and a shirt." John told us that he had to go to the family lawyers for a short time, and just then the waiter brought us a breakfast spread that, after two years of war, I could hardly believe. But, thanks to the baby, I found I could hardly enjoy it!. What a time for morning sickness to start; after rushing off to the ladies room, closely followed by Mhairi, and hanging over the toilet, then washing out my mouth and sponging my face, I returned to the table thoroughly embarrassed. Mhairi told me to have tea and toast in the hope that it would stay down. Then with a smile she said, "Jim, see what you've done to the poor girl. Don't deny it; it's always the man's fault. I felt fine after that, so after going back to our room and washing, getting kisses and sympathy from the man himself, Mhairi and I went out shopping. We just walked down O'Connell Street from the hotel to Clery's Department Store, as Mhairi told me that they would have the best selection of dresses. The smaller shops specialised in made to measure clothing and would not have a lot in stock. First Mhairi took me to the ladies' wear floor and we looked at the dresses. There were some beautiful dresses on the racks, all either made in Ireland or imported from the Unites States and Switzerland. A soft, green, yarn-dyed taffeta, knee length evening dress caught my eye; it was a semi sheath that would be beautiful to wear. Mhairi caught my eye and said, "Let's see if they have it in your size." I patted my stomach, "Other than tonight, when will I be able to wear it? I won't be going out to dances very often for the next while." "Ah, but it gives you a target to get the weight off after the baby is born! It's a dress that can be worn anywhere without a whole lot of accessories. Besides, surely you won't be sitting alone every night until Jim comes home; you have to have some enjoyment." "After another six months or so, I won't exactly be alone, will I? I'll be pretty well tied to home with the baby. Anyway," I laughed, "I can't afford a dress like that, not on my wages. I can barely afford rent and food as it is - they don't pay ambulance drivers much." She smiled. "Jim is right, I haven't a daughter to dress, just two daughters who mean as much to me as my own child would do. Let me buy your dress and under things for tonight. It would give me great pleasure to see you dressed in that dress. Anyway, you'll be getting a marriage allowance from Jim, and a bit more if he has any sense, as once he leaves Britain there won't be that many places for him to spend his money." "Mhairi, you remind me so much of my mother, just kindness itself! You will really spoil me for going back to London and rationing. I love the dress, and I'm sure that it will make Jim's eyes pop out." "That it will, and don't forget you need some shoes to go with it. I do wish you weren't going back, at least till the baby arrives. We have lots of room for you at the farm, and you would be getting good nourishing food." 'Mhairi, to stay would be almost like paradise, but I can't help but feel I'm still needed in London. The bombing is still going on, and I feel that I am shirking my duties just being over here for a short time. I feel that even though I am becoming a mother, I still have a lot to contribute." "You do, I'm sure, and I would be the last one to dissuade you. It is going to take a lot from everybody to win this war; I'm glad that so many Irishmen who have no need to are volunteering for the British forces. Anyone with any sense would know that little Ireland wouldn't last 10 minutes if Britain were defeated and occupied." By the time we had finished, we both had wonderful dresses, underwear and shoes. The dress was going to need minor alterations, and I was amazed when the assistant told us that if we would like to go up to the restaurant and have a cup of coffee or tea, the alterations would be done and the dresses brought up to us. On the way back to the hotel, we stopped off at the maternity department and bought a couple of skirts and smocks so I would not have to buy the utility ones available in London. Jim went down to the bar for a Guinness while I was getting ready for the function, and by the time he got back, I had bathed, my face was made up and I was dressed in my new dress. His reaction was, "Wow! Where is the wife I know, the one in the uniform covered in dust? You look wonderful! This just shows me how beautiful you really are." "That's just the Irish in you, full of blarney like all Irishmen." While my response was flippant my insides just melted with love for the man. "After that I should kiss you, but I would hate to mark that sparkling white collar and muss my lipstick." "Muss away woman, it would be a badge of honour." "I thought this function was important to your Dad and Mum?" "It is, but it's all to do with Dad's work, not ours. Don't be surprised if he disappears for a short time." "And we have to interrupt our honeymoon for politics!" "Welcome to Ireland, where you are never far from politics. And speaking of politics, I notice you are wearing the OBE brooch?" "Yes, your mother was most insistent that I wear it, and said that you should wear your lapel pin as well. I think she is really proud of both of us." He took it out of his cuff link box and put it on his lapel. The function was being held in the hotel in one of the downstairs assembly rooms, so all we had to do was take the lift down. As we walked in, a waiter greeted us at the door, "Mr. and Mrs. Rogers and party?" He then guided us across the room to a table in a corner. We sat down with two other couples at a round table. Jim's dad excused himself and left the room through a nearby door after we introduced ourselves to the other couples. Jim ordered drinks for us; I stuck with fruit juice, while Mhairi had wine. Folding doors partitioned two rooms, and Jim pointed out that there would be dancing in the other one later. Suddenly he whispered to me, "Oh, oh, there could be trouble." I looked at him, quite concerned, and he nodded toward the door. In the doorway there was a tall, lean man with short hair and quite a handsome face. He was with a statuesque blonde woman, almost as tall as he was. "He was my roommate at boarding school, and he is German, named Rudi Von Ansel. The last I heard, he was a pilot in the Luftwaffe. I wonder what he is doing in town. He has to be here as a noncombatant, otherwise he would be interned." It struck me that Ireland is neutral, so Germans could come here as long as they were not combatants. I hoped that he would not come over and was quite happy when he and the blonde were seated on the opposite side of the room from us. I didn't feel very comfortable being in the same room with him, and by the looks of it, neither did Jim. At that point, John came back and the waiters started serving the soup. Jim was talking with his father, asking him what he had been doing all day, and was told that he had been putting some changes into his will. "We have new family members now, remember." That made me feel pretty warm inside; my family had expanded quite a bit in the last few days. Dinner passed quite quickly, especially as I had now discovered a hunger that I hadn't possessed earlier. The ham was wonderful and the food was plentiful, and for a while we had a beautiful evening, especially when we were asked to go into the next room and we were treated to a display of Irish Dance. After the girls had completed their display, there was music for dancing. After several dances with Jim and with John, I felt a little tired and we sat down at the side of the room. We chatted for a few minutes, then things became tense as Jim muttered, "Oh, oh, look who is coming this way," stiffening as he did so. I looked in the same direction as Jim, and saw the man he had mentioned earlier who had been with him at school, walking towards us. He spoke, "James Rogers?" "Yes, Rudi, that's who I am, your old roommate in school:" "I thought it must be you. I haven't seen you since we were at school in Salzburg." Jim answered, but his manner was stiff and stilted. "Rudi, that was a long time ago and under much different circumstances." Jim took my arm and drew me forward, "May I introduce my wife, Norma, and my mother and father, John and Mhairi Rogers." Rudi clicked his heels and bowed his head to us, "Good Evening! It is a pleasure to meet you all, especially after a good dinner and a sparkling dancing display. Jim you must bring me up to date on what you are doing these days." "I'm in the Army, what about you?" "I'm in the Luftwaffe, a Captain, but I am serving with the German Embassy here as Air Attaché. What branch of the Army are you in? I didn't realize that Ireland had an army of any size yet." "I'm in the British Army, Royal Engineers, and a Lieutenant." "It is fortunate that we are on neutral ground then, that we can meet without fighting." "That might be so, though quite honestly, Rudi, I wasn't seeking this meeting, as you can likely guess I'm not too fond of the German military just now." "I suppose not, but as we are well on our way to defeating England, I think it will soon be over and we can be as before." Norma Rogers Ch. 04 "Rudi, we have a saying, don't count your chickens until they are hatched. Don't start planning any victory parades down Whitehall just yet. There are a lot of British people and their allies that will have their say before that will happen." "We shall see what happens; I don't know how they have resisted the bombers so well. By the way, what is that pin you are wearing, I don't recognize it?" "The Order of the British Empire. I was awarded it late last year." Rudi looked at me, "And you. Frau Rogers, are you in war work?" I took my cue from Jim, "Captain Von Ansel, please do not use German terms to describe me. I am not and never will be a Frau, I am Mrs. Norma Rogers, and will thank you to address me as such. As to my work, I am an ambulance driver in London, a very busy occupation as you might imagine." "Excuse me, Mrs. Rogers, I can appreciate your feelings. I must congratulate you, though, on that dress you are wearing. It is very nice, and if dresses like that are available in London, things can't be that bad. That brooch is very nice and similar to Jim's lapel pin." The man had to have a skin as thick as leather! I must admit I just blew my top. "Captain, the dress I owe to presently being in the Irish Republic where fortunately rationing is unknown, and to the generosity of Jim's parents. I assure you that if you were to meet me in London, in all probability I would be dressed in my dark blue Ambulance uniform, metal helmet and carrying a gas mask and a medical kit. The uniform very likely would be covered with dirt, dust and the blood of the injured and dead civilian men women and children caused by the nightly bombing that your colleagues of the Luftwaffe are subjecting them to. As far as the brooch is concerned, it is the insignia of the Order of the British Empire, which I'm proud to say was conferred on Jim and me last November by King George." "Oh, I remember reading an article in the Irish press; I didn't realize that you were the couple who completed the rescue. You were both feted as heroes, as I remember." "That may have been what the press wrote, but we don't think of ourselves as heroes; we think of it as doing our jobs, as what we did and other much braver and difficult jobs are daily events in Britain." He exclaimed, "But the German people are being bombed too, more and more as time goes on." I continued, "Captain, don't expect me to have any sympathy for the German people. They, after all, are the ones who put that maniac Hitler into power and began the slide into this war. They may be just starting to be bombed, but I hope and pray that they feel it much more than Britain has. I have been through many raids where it seemed that the bombers were never going to stop, and the targets were not soldiers, or war factories, they were innocent men women and children whose only crime was to live. After having seen people machine gunned by your aircrews as they stood in the street looking at the smoking rubble of their homes, I hate your comrades of the Luftwaffe with a passion, although I must admit they at least risk being shot down by fighters or anti-aircraft guns, unlike you who sit behind a desk in Dublin." "Mrs. Rogers, you are married to a soldier. You above all people should know that we serve as we are directed, no matter what we would like to do personally." "There is a big difference between fighting another army and killing innocent children, as the German people are going to find out. Now, Captain, I believe our conversation is at an end. Fortunately this is a diplomatic function, otherwise I might be tempted to finish in a more forceful manner. Jim, either we dance or you take me back to our room, one or the other. I'm afraid that I find the present company, other than John and Mhairi, rather offensive." Jim whisked me out onto the dance floor. "My god, Norma, remind me never to get on the wrong side of you! You're quite a firebrand. Are you sure you don't actually have red hair that has been colored? I felt like giving him hell, but you did more than enough for both of us." I giggled, "Well, you know that the hair isn't red, you've seen it all. The man was absolutely insufferable. Why would a friend come on like that?" "He wasn't always like that. Unfortunately, during the last year in school, he began to be like that. Over the holidays he had joined the Hitler Youth and went through their propaganda mill. There was also a group at the school, even though the school was in Austria, not Germany, all of them running around like good little Nazis with their salutes and goosesteps." "You didn't tell me you had been to school in Austria." "Well, you didn't ask. Actually, it was for good reason, as most of the schools, even boarding schools, in Ireland are run either by the Church or teach according to the views of the Church. Dad and Ma wanted me to get a more open education, so it was either England or Europe. Quite honestly, most of the boarding schools in England cater to the upper crust, and my parents wanted me to have my feet planted firmly on the ground where a farmer's feet should be." We ended our dance and went back to rejoin Mhairi and John. Mhairi's face was a picture of mirth, almost laughing out loud. "Well, John, don't we have a spitfire for a daughter! Jim, you'll be well matched with this girl. I thought there would be a member of the German Embassy here tonight, 'tis a pity it wasn't the Ambassador himself, but it will get back to him, I'm sure. I was hoping to remind him that Britain is far from being counted out, as he is quite often quoted as saying. Don't forget that, while I'm a Scottish nationalist, they are bombing Scotland, too. They even bombed Dublin, which they say was by mistake, but which everyone thinks was by way of warning the Irish not to help the British. Anyway, I didn't need to do anything, Norma did it all for us." I couldn't help it - I laughed and said, "So, my dear mother, you set up your son and your new daughter to prove a point to the Germans?" John snorted with laughter. "Of course she did, otherwise she would have had to do it herself. Not only that, she made sure that there were several members of the press to report on it. Don't be surprised if you are in tomorrow's paper - she even made sure they knew how to spell your name properly." Mhairi smiled, "Well, it doesn't hurt to make sure they know what they are up against. They may be winning the battles now, but come what may, we will win the war." We all went back to our rooms, as we were planning on leaving for the farm early the next morning. Jim and I undressed and made gentle love for a while. After my encounter with Von Ansel, I was extremely uptight and needed Jim's gentleness to calm me and allow me to relax enough to sleep. After another Irish breakfast that I really couldn't face, John had the car brought around and we started out for Loughrea, not too far from Athenry and Galway, where the family farm was situated. It was a fairly straight run from Dublin, which took us about four hours with a stop for lunch. By then I was hungry again, and I made short work of the lunch that Mhairi had the hotel pack. When we stopped, we picked up the morning papers, and John was exactly right, I had made headlines, the least of which read "Fiery London Ambulance Driver Gives German Officer Hell." Just how much I had hit the headlines I didn't realize till much later. At the farm, I met Jim's brother John and his wife Mary. I don't know about John having to stay and look after the farm, but by the looks of Mary she wouldn't have made it to the wedding and back without giving birth. She was pretty close to nine months pregnant with their second child, and their two year old, Fiona, was a beautiful looking little girl. Once I had been sitting down a while, Mhairi fussed about the kitchen making tea. Fiona came to me after Mary told her who I was, and I found it was pretty novel to be described as Auntie Norma, again reinforcing the feeling that I had become part of another family that would be important in my life. She held her little hands out to me, saying "Up". As I lifted her, she settled into my lap as if she had been there all her short life. Mary looked on in surprise. "Norma, you are honoured; she is usually reluctant to go to others until she knows them well. She obviously trusts you." Jim chimed in, "She isn't the first child by any means to want to be hugged and cuddled by Norma. There are a lot of children in London who owe their health to just that. Norma inspires love and kindness in most people she deals with, and she couldn't be in a better job than she has." Over the next six days, Jim and I spent hours walking around the farm and meeting the neighbours, with Fiona in constant attendance. I must say that I felt welcome wherever we went. The atmosphere in the small stores was as pleasant and welcoming as if I had lived there for years. I think that perhaps Mhairi had smoothed the way for me, as there didn't seem to be any of the curious stares that one sometimes gets in new surroundings. All too soon the honeymoon came to an end, and it was time for Mhairi and John to drive us back to Dun Loaghaire to sail back to our duties. Nancy had sent a telegram letting me know that she and I had been able to rent Maisie's house when she moved out, so it meant that Jim and I would have our own room for a couple of days before he had to report to the Royal Engineers transit depot at Barton Stacey. Andrew had picked up Jim's kit from Mums and taken it to the house for us, so we didn't have to go to Bromley to get it, and after getting off the train at Euston, we went straight home. We knew that in the next few days we would be separated once more, this time likely for a long period. Nancy made sure that we had lots of time to ourselves. Our lovemaking, while often, was slow and gentle, something that I would remember for all time. Jim was forever patting and stroking my belly, knowing that his child was growing there. I was sorry that he likely wouldn't feel the baby move before he left, but at least he knew it was there. He was adamant that I was not to let the child rule my life, that I was to take time to enjoy myself. He knew that I loved dancing and encouraged me to keep it up. I just had to remember that he was my husband and conduct myself accordingly. As he put it, "Yes, you are a married woman and society demands certain things, but just because you are married doesn't mean you have to become a nun." My answer was, "Jim, you are my husband and my lover. I trust you to be true to me while you are gone, and you need have no concerns about my conduct while we are apart. You are all the man I need. If I didn't believe that, we would not be married and I would not be carrying your child. If I feel like going out with Nancy once in a while, that will be enough for me. Besides, no child of ours will ever be thought of as somebody tying me down." All too soon we found ourselves standing on the platform at Waterloo station huddling together as if to preserve the last heat between us. Then as the guard started to wave his flag, Jim swung up into the carriage doorway, closed the door and leaned out the window, waving as the train drew away, neither of us knowing whether we would ever see each other again. I walked home, automatically following the streets that I knew so well from my work, not seeing anything that happened around me, with tears streaming down my face. As I walked past Jenny's, she was cleaning the steps as all the wives on the street did. After looking at me, she grabbed me, pulled me into her house, sat me down in the kitchen and put the kettle on for the inevitable cup of tea. She even included the spoonful of tea for the pot that the Ministry of Food was so adamant against, saying that I needed all the help I could get. She passed me a face cloth to wipe away the tears, and I sat beside her hearth drinking the warm sweet tea that we drank to help pull ourselves together when we were nervous or distressed. Jenny spoke quietly, "When will he be going? Have they given him any idea where?" I thought for a minute about secrecy, damn it; we are wives in the same boat. "No, we haven't had any word at all, but from what we have talked about we think it will be North Africa at least. They need Engineers there for the Eighth Army." "Bert thinks they will be sailing sometime this week. He was home on the weekend for the last time before the ship sails, and he quietly told me that they had loaded tropical gear, so it could be the Mediterranean or Far East. Wherever it is, it means he won't be home for a long time and it will be a while before this baby knows his Dad." "I keep praying that Jim will get a posting here in the UK, but we aren't banking on it. If he did, it would be doing a lot of training of new soldiers. I would love it if he were, but it is a faint hope. More than likely he will be going overseas." I pointed at her stomach, "Anyway, how is the baby doing? Any kicking yet?" "No, just gentle little stirrings like a butterfly taking wing, and that's when I don't have my head in the toilet bowl. I have lots of morning and afternoon sickness this time. The other three were real football players, kicking away so bad it was hard to sleep sometimes." "To tell you the truth, I have the same problem now." A grin lit up her face. "So you are carrying as well! You were supposed to be able to look after me when I'm due. Don't tell me Nancy's going to have to look after both of us? When is it due?" "Mid-August, as far as the Doctor can tell." "Where are you going to have the baby, here or in Ireland?" "Mhairi has told me she would love me to go over there for the last trimester, but Bromley has a nice Maternity Hospital, and I know and trust my Doctor there. I grew up in his care, so I'm thinking I will go there, then Mum can be with me as well and maybe Mhairi can come over as well. John has to come over regularly anyway." "I've already arranged for my Mum to come and stay with me for the last few weeks. Bert certainly won't be here, and they won't send him home just for a baby. What are you planning to do about your job? They won't want pregnant women pulling buildings apart looking for survivors." "When I go back, I'll tell the Station Officer that I'm pregnant and maybe there is something else I can do when I'm further along; I don't want to give up quite yet, as I think that there is more that I can do. Now I had better get off home and get some cleaning up done before I go back to work. As you can imagine, I didn't get a whole lot done while Jim was home," I laughed. "We found other things to do that were much more fun." "Isn't it great when you're already pregnant? Then you don't have any worries about getting caught; it's already happened, so you can lay back and enjoy it." "Jenny, that isn't very ladylike, is it?" "No, but you can't deny it's true! Anyway, when your man's in the service, you take what you can get when you can, and it doesn't hurt to be a bit aggressive. Fair makes them sit up and take notice, doesn't it?" "I'm beginning to realize that it does, and I have already surprised Jim a couple of times. Well, I'm off, don't forget to drop in for a cuppa when I'm home. You're always welcome, and besides, then I'll get some practice with the little one." "Ooh, that's an offer I can't refuse!" When I went back to work the next day, I got the surprise of my life. The station staff had made up a big sign that said "Welcome Back Norma", and both the firemen and the ambulance staffs were applauding me. The Chief Fire Officer came over to me and shook my hand. "Norma, we are all proud of you. The way you stood up to that Jerry officer was wonderful, you really let him know just how we all felt about him and his people." Someone yelled 'speech', and I thought quickly about what to say. "I'm proud to be a part of this station and to work with all of you. I'm not particularly brave, but like all of you, to save life I'll do what I have to, and no German is going to stop me. That is what I told the German Captain, that he or his friends in the Luftwaffe were not going to make the British their slaves." As I walked across to the Station Officers office they applauded again. I asked to see the Station Officer and once I was seated in her office I told her I was pregnant. She asked if I wanted to finish work, and I told her that, since Jim was going to be away, I wanted to keep my time busy and to work as long as I could. Her answer was that my just being there after the news stories was a tremendous boost to morale and that I had become the station symbol, so she wanted to keep me there as long as possible. I would stay on the ambulance for now and, if possible, I would be kept on in the office later. At that point in her story, Norma went back to the album and showed me another clipping from the Daily Mirror, which read. "Real Life Jane Gives Jerry A Drubbing." It followed, "In Dublin two days ago one of London's heroic ambulance drivers, Mrs. Norma Rogers, happened to meet up with the German Air Attaché at a diplomatic function. After some remarks he made, she let him know in no uncertain terms that the British people are far from beaten and that, while she grudgingly acknowledged that his comrades in the Luftwaffe did face some dangers flying their aircraft, that he didn't face a whole lot flying a desk in the Embassy. She also echoed the sentiment of most of us, that we had no sympathy for the plight of the German people who are beginning to feel retribution for the trials that they have inflicted on so many in Europe and the United Kingdom. Good for our real life Jane." Norma had to explain that 'Jane' was the star of a cartoon strip in the Daily Mirror who showed her contempt for the Germans and support for the British Forces. However, Norma wasn't impressed with her in one respect as Jane was most often pictured as rather scantily clad. Norma's story continues. Nancy and I got together and made sure our ambulance was ready. Not long afterwards, the sirens began their nightly wailing and off out into the battered streets we went to our first calls from the ARP. It seemed like my honeymoon had never happened. I was back into the nightly grind of digging people out, treating the injured and carrying the dead to the temporary mortuaries. It went on night after night until early May. The big turning point was when Hitler's forces attacked Russia and most of the bombers seemed to be needed for that attack. Russia's misfortune was our gain as we finally got a respite from the relentless bombing. We still had raids, but not the massive ones that we had been suffering through. By this time I was getting pretty big; too big to get behind the wheel in fact, and it was at my monthly Doctor's visit that I found out why when I heard the words, "Norma, I hear two heartbeats. You are having twins, that is why you are getting so big." At first my heart sank. Twins, how could I hope to handle twins, especially on my own? Then it filled with elation. This will be fantastic news for Jim when I get his address, to be the father of two babies. I had only had two letters from him so far, heavily blackened out, but it was obvious that he was on a ship, and mail had been taken off when the ship had made port somewhere. The big thing was that I knew that he was fit and well, and was getting lots of exercise on the ship. Supper with my parents and the train ride back to London passed in a blur. My mind filled with plans and ideas for clothes and a twin pram. Where on earth would I find that? I would need two of everything. I was just amazed at what I was going to have to do, especially when these things are not being made any more because of the war effort. I was going to have to enlist my Mum and Mhairi to help me. Norma Rogers Ch. 04 As I opened the front door of the house, a letter caught my eye; l scooped it up off the floor. The address on the envelope was in Jim's handwriting. He had finally reached his destination. I opened it with trembling hands. Was it Egypt, or somewhere further east? I quickly read through it, and one particular paragraph caught my eye. "I love you, my dear, and one of my favourite memories is that day when we took the time to visit the London Zoo. I'm remembering you standing in front of the Tiger's cage showing your lithe body just as catlike as the Tigers." Tigers, which means he is probably in India; good, that isn't a country that we hear much of on the news. Surprisingly, that had got through the censors. Just maybe the person doing the censoring was just like me, a person wondering where her lover was and when and if she would see him again. Once we knew that I was carrying twins, the Station Officer decided that I should work in the office doing the administration work to take some of it from her shoulders. By then I didn't mind, and for about six weeks I helped with the paperwork until it was just too much for me, so in mid-July I took leave to stay home for the birth. The Station Officer and I had chatted about what to expect after the babies were born. By now, nurseries had been built and mothers of even young children were required to take part in war work. I had decided that once the babies were weaned, if I could get care for the babies I would return to some kind of war work. The Station Officer told me that she was going to ask for a deputy Station Officer and, if I would agree, she would submit my name for the appointment; I had no problem giving my assent. I had written and told Mhairi that I was expecting twins, she wrote in return "A boy and a girl then, no wonder I was getting a mixed message." Sure enough, on the 14th of August, 1941, John Thomas and Angela Mhairi Rogers came into the world at the Bromley Maternity Hospital, much to the joy of both their grandmothers who had been monitoring their progress for the last two weeks. John was the first, followed by Angela 32 minutes later. I was sorry for Mary who, in the absence of her mother, was feeding her family and her father in law along with a new baby, plus doing the smaller farm chores into the bargain. That feeling of sympathy increased after I left the hospital and went home with the babies. Then I became the one they depended on. I was lucky that my Mum helped me a great deal with them. She had taken two drawers from a wardrobe, and they served as the twins' first beds, in which they were laid on pillows as mattresses. It was wartime, and we did what we had to do. They both slept in my room with me; Mum wasn't so kind to me that she was going to lose a lot of sleep. As she put it so succinctly, I was making the food, so the night job was all mine. Many nights, though, she would hear us and come to us to hold one of the babies while the other fed. This idyll, though, would soon be over when it came time for me to return to London and the Auxiliary Ambulance Service. End of Part 4. To Be continued Norma Rogers Ch. 05 The wartime story of Norma and James Rogers and their twin babies continues as they struggle to remain a family, even though Norma and James are thousands of miles apart. Their only communication was heavily censored letters that took five or six weeks at a minimum to travel between the writer and the reader, ensuring that they had to make what could be far reaching decisions for the family without being able to consult each other. * After the birth of the twins, I stayed with my mother for three months, and her help was invaluable in my adjustment to the demands of two babies. Luckily for me, both John and Angela were happy, healthy babies who slept a lot and had sunny dispositions, so once they were four months old I was ready to move back to London to the house I now shared with Nancy, and to the job that had been offered me as Deputy Station Officer. Jim was delighted with the births and his letters, while infrequent, showed just how proud a father he was. Nancy was delighted that her share of the rent would go down once I started working again as I wanted to. This war was far from over, and I felt that I could still contribute. After Germany attacked Russia in May 1941, the bombing of Britain steadily decreased, as the German aircraft were apparently needed in the Russian Campaign, but the work of the Ambulance service did not decrease a great deal. While some crews were kept on duty at night in case of occasional small raids, just as if Hitler were keeping us on our toes, the ambulances were busy in daytime for inter-hospital transfers of wounded aircrew from bases to major hospitals or convalescent hospitals, so the drivers were just as busy. Military training made for many accidents to soldiers, as did the Dieppe landings. Clean-up operations had also begun, razing blitzed areas, and on occasion recovering bodies or parts of bodies that had been missed during the hectic times of the blitz and were found when the wreckage was being cleared. Accidents were also frequent, so the ambulance service was still needed. Catherine Wilson, the Station officer in the Ambulance Station, had been down to Bromley to see me several times, keeping me up to date on what was happening in the Service, and she was anxious for me to return to work as soon as I could as her assistant. That would mean that I was working all-day shifts from 8 in the morning until 5 in the evening. The local council, like many others, had started day nurseries for children so that mothers could be called on for war work. Production of weapons, ammunition, and aircraft was increasing, much of the work being done by women whose men were either training or away in North Africa and other parts of the world. Factories were not only in the major centres, but were also distributed throughout the country, many making small parts that were shipped to larger factories for assembly. I was fortunate that the closest nursery was only about 50 yards away from the Ambulance station, so I could drop the twins off on my way to the station and pick them up on my way home. I could even get there during my lunch times and feed them and play with them, cutting down on the bottle feeding when I could. Catherine helped me get as much time with them as I could, and I was able to at least get as much time as today's working mothers do. Shortly after I returned to work, we listened with horror to the BBC news as the announcer gave details of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour and of attacks by Japanese forces on Singapore and the coast of Malaya. Next day, the 8th of December 1941 we heard the recording of the speech by President Roosevelt announcing that the United States had entered the war against Japan and the Axis powers. Later that day Mr. Churchill announced that Britain had declared war on Japan. My immediate concern was with Jim. Hopefully in India he would be safe, but I was still scared that the Japanese would attack India. It seemed a logical thing, and I was scared that they would inflame the anti-British feeling against the troops there that already existed in India. Of course Jim could not say much in his letters, other than reassure me that he loved me and the children, was looking forward to seeing us when he was home at last, and that he was staying healthy. It seemed just a few days later that I got home to a sight that I could hardly believe. I was pushing the twin pram up the street, wishing for a hot cup of tea but realizing that my two hungry charges would have to be fed first. I saw a huddle of people by our front door. As I got closer I could see that it was Jenny and her family. She was sitting on my step with the baby on her knee, rocking from side to side and crying at the same time. Her three other children were sitting alongside her, she looked up at me and cried, "It was on the BBC News, Repulse has been sunk, that's Bert's ship. I don't know if he is alive or dead. Some were picked up but they don't know who." She burst into tears again, crying louder and her children followed her example. She burst out "I don't know what I am going to do without him. I can handle everything knowing that one day he'll turn up, walking up the street in his uniform, all ready to take all the worries for me, but what happens if I don't have him there for me?" I put a hand on her shoulder, "Jenny, hush now; don't torture yourself. Bert could be just fine. You won't know for sure until you get official notification. Your little ones need you to be strong, and the baby needs your milk. If you get too upset that could dry up. Come inside with me and put the kettle on while I feed the babies." She came in with me, and as she did what I said, I fed the babies and put them down. The children calmed down as she did those tasks just automatically. Not for nothing is the British remedy for disaster the brewing and drinking of tea. When the babies were down, I sat her at the kitchen table while we left the children to play in the living room where I kept some toys for when they visited. I put her tea on the table in front of her. "Now sit and tell me what happened." She sniffed and dried her eyes "I was listening to the four o'clock news on the radio when the announcer said that HMS Repulse and HMS Prince of Wales had been sunk by Japanese bombers off Malaya, and that survivors had been picked up by other ships in the fleet. They were two big ships; it seems incredible that they are both gone. There were thousands of men on them. I have no idea if Bert was saved or not." "Have you heard anything from the Admiralty yet?" "No, not a thing. Of course, they probably won't know who was saved or died yet." "So you won't know until they tell you?" "No, I won't, and then I'll have to tell his Mum and Dad. I can't face that, I always felt that they thought he married beneath himself when we wed. They didn't seem to welcome me into the family." "Well first, just for the children's sake, why not try and stay cheerful and believe that Bert is safe until you get a telegram telling you different. In the meantime try and get your Mum to come up and stay with you for a bit. I'll tell you what - tomorrow I'll call the Brighton Police and have them tell her to call me at the station, and I can explain things." "It's alright, she has a phone. I can go to the phone box and call her." "Well, why not do it now? I'll look after the children till you get back." Jenny left, saying she would be back shortly, and I busied myself getting a simple meal ready for the children, breaking up some bread into dishes and warming milk to pour over it. It was not a very elaborate meal, but with a little sprinkling of sugar, it made a tasty filler for young bellies, and sometimes for older bellies too when there wasn't anything else to be had. It was something like a bread pudding, but without the cooking. When I was done breast feeding the twins, I recalled that I had some dried milk from the health ministry for emergencies, so I could make a bottle up for Jenny's baby. Just as I finished feeding him, a much more relaxed Jenny got back from the phone, actually smiling a little, and she gave a big sigh of relief. "Mum heard a later news broadcast, and they think they got most of the crew of Repulse off the ship safely, and they were being picked up from the water. I feel a little better now; anyway, she will be up tomorrow and stay with me at least until we find out for sure, though when that will be I have no idea." "Well, you look a whole lot better than you did a couple of hours ago. Now go up and get that face washed and your hair combed so you will look like your normal self for the children. Nancy is away at her parents right now, so if you want, you and the children can share her room for the night so you aren't on your own." "I'll just nip down to the house and pick up their pyjamas then. I must admit, I don't want to be on my own right now, and if Bert doesn't make it, things will be rough. I'll be alone with four little kids to raise, and the last thing I want right now is to be alone." "Jenny, if the worst does happen, you won't be on your own. You know your Mum will be there for you. She has said that already, in fact she has already told you that if the worst happens, she will stay with you. Don't forget, this isn't the first war that she has gone through." "No, it isn't, and how she went through the first one with Dad in the trenches I'll never know, but they made it through. Anyway, I have to believe he will make it, you know Bert, just like the bad penny, he'll always turn up. He doesn't know the meaning of the words 'give up', and if he was on the radio when the ship was hit, he was above the main deck anyway." Jenny went off to her house to get their clothes, and we made a big game of putting then all into the tub starting with my twins and working up to the biggest, By the time we finished I don't know who was wettest, the children or Jenny and I. Then we got them down to sleep, both of us praying that there wouldn't be a raid that night to disturb us. We would be hard pushed to get 6 children together and remember the tin of valuable papers as well as blankets for the shelter. The night passed quietly, though, and the next morning, as I took the twins off to the nursery, Jenny marched her brood down the street to their house to await the arrival of Grandma. In a way I couldn't do anything but admire her. Apart from the first little while after the news announcement, she had carried herself well - even with the torment of not knowing whether her husband and the father of her children was alive or dead. I didn't think that I could be that calm if I heard that Jim's unit had been attacked. It wasn't until about a week later that she got a telegram from the Admiralty. I was off that day, and she came to the house with the children. "Norma, I need your help, this came an hour ago." She held up the telegram unopened. "I can't bear to open it and Mum is away at the shops; please open it and tell me what it says." I took it from her, opened it up and read it 'The Lords of the Admiralty wish to advise you that Chief Petty Officer Albert Morris of HMS Repulse was rescued and is alive and well.' That was all that was said, but Jenny saw the smile start across my face, snatched the telegram and read it herself. "I told yer he was bound to turn up, didn't I!" She started dancing around the kitchen and we hugged each other with relief. This time she had been lucky, but we knew that as long as this war went on, we would both be on edge, wondering if that telegram telling us that our men had been killed was going to be a part of our lives. That time was the worst for us women. Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaya and Burma had fallen like dominoes. The Japanese seemed invincible wherever they fought, doing things that had been thought impossible. I was glad that I had a job that took a lot of concentration and didn't let me have a lot of time to worry. Several months after I returned to work, Catherine sent me to a meeting at the Ministry of Health in her stead, as I was taking over her duties for a time. She was going to be on leave, spending time with her husband who was commanding a Royal Navy frigate on patrol duties in the English Channel. It was going to be laid up at the Naval Dockyard in Chatham for modifications, and he could live ashore while it was being done. I had been asked to arrive an hour before the meeting to talk with a Mr. Henry, then attend the meeting as our Station representative. Mr. Henry asked me to join him in a ground floor office, then pointing to a chair in front of his desk, asked me to sit down. He smiled at me and said, "I suppose you are wondering why you were asked to come and see me?" I replied with a tired smile, "There is a war on, many things are happening each day, so I'm not really wondering much as I'm sure you are going to explain what it is you need." He laughed, "Mrs. Rogers, I was warned that you are pretty direct, so let's not beat around the bush. The London Volunteer Ambulance has done a tremendous job with minimal equipment in looking after the people of London during the blitz and since. You know that very well and have been decorated along with others for the part you have played. Now as you know, our American allies are arriving daily, and contrary to the ideas of many of them, are not going to take everything over and win this war for us. A lot of them need to be trained in techniques that they have not encountered previously, and we need military officers to work side by side with our allies on a daily basis rather than civilians. In order to do that we are recruiting a number of members of the London Volunteer Ambulance Service as officers in the Auxiliary Territorial Service. I'm offering you the opportunity to transfer to the ATS with the rank of Subaltern. Your duties would be much the same as you are doing now, as well as running training teams. Are you interested?" I was flabbergasted at what he said. "What about my babies? I'm the mother of two very young children; what would I be expected to do with them?" "The same as you are doing now. You would be posted at your present station in London, you would continue to normally go home each day, and we can arrange care for them when you are required to travel. Your pay would be higher and you would get the same number of days leave as the regular forces, which is more than you get now." "What would the term of service be?" "Hostilities only, so when the war is over you would return to civilian life. If it makes your decision any easier, I can tell you in confidence that within months most young married women will be subject to call up for war work, including service with the ATS, WRNS and WAAF arms of the forces for those without children. There will be some exemptions, but where nursery care is available, war work will be compulsory." "In that case, I'll do it." "Since we had it on the highest authority that you likely would, we have taken the liberty of preparing your new identification, and we are prepared to swear you in as a member of the ATS today." With that I took the oath, and a sergeant of the ATS came in and measured me for new uniforms that would be delivered to my Station. An appointment was made for me to see my new commanding officer the next day. In a daze, I went on to my next meeting. The mention of the highest authority made me wonder if the Queen had made some recommendations. I could feel meddling somewhere, and the friendship between my mother and the Queen could explain many things. I entered the meeting room and was surprised to see not only Health Ministry and Ambulance personnel, but also a number of American officers of different ranks. The ministry types were obvious with their pin striped suits, and I was willing to bet that they all wore bowler hats and carried umbrellas to and from work. The ambulance personnel were in uniform, of course, as were the American officers. There were name cards on several tables where we were to be seated, and I found myself seated next to a Lieutenant in the US Army. He turned to me, reached out to shake hands and said "Hi, I'm Hank Edwards; I believe that I'm to be working out of your station." "It is nice to meet you, though I fear you know more than I do. This is all new to me." Just then the senior civil servant spoke and brought the meeting to order. He continued speaking and outlined the government's latest plans. As we were now getting a considerable number of American personnel in London, both on leave and being stationed in the city, American officers would be assigned to the main ambulance stations, and all American casualties would be reported to them. Those officers would then notify the injured persons' units and ensure their locations were known to the authorities. Hank Edwards was the officer assigned to my station. This idea caused some friction in the meeting, and several ambulance officers pointed out that our system had been functioning pretty well, even at the height of the blitz, and that we had done well in victim identification and requisite notification to the police and local authorities of where people were taken and their condition. The criticism was taken note of, and Lieutenant Edwards spoke up. "Look, we aren't coming to take over what you have been doing; we will only be taking responsibility for our own service personnel. We aren't going to take any of your authority. In most cases you will still be handling the casualties; it will just be up to the US liaisons to report to the US command. Speaking for myself, I'm hoping to learn a lot from you on methods of victim recovery, as I figure, once we invade Europe, we will need the knowledge that you have and we don't. Right now I can't think of a single city in the States where the authorities would be anything even close to being prepared to do what you have accomplished over here during the bombing. Obviously you had to learn as you went along, and if we can take that knowledge and use it once the invasion starts, it could mean a lot less deaths and compounded injuries." After he spoke, the meeting was adjourned and he stood. He was about six feet tall and quite handsome, in a rugged kind of way. His face was tanned, with clean lines, and I could see that he would be quite in demand at parties and dances. Turning to me, he said, "Look, I have a jeep outside. Why don't we go for lunch and I'll take you back to the station?" "I'm sorry," I replied, "I'm married, so I don't usually go out to lunch with other men, particularly those I don't know." "Ma'am, You don't need to be the Ice Queen, I'm sorry if I was misunderstood. I meant a working lunch. I have a lot to learn, and who better to learn it from than someone who has been through it? The ribbon that you wear doesn't come with the laundry, so I expect to learn a whole lot from you. Also, believe me, my parents brought me up to respect marriage. I'm not looking for a date, I'm looking for knowledge, and you would be doing me and the US Army a favour by providing it." A little shamefacedly, I then accepted, and soon found myself in the dining room at the Savoy where Hank was billeted until he found permanent quarters. Over soup and a plate of sandwiches, I got to know Hank a little. He seemed to have a million questions, and I hoped I was able to answer him well. When we finished, we went outside to the jeep and I directed him to the station where I introduced him to the staff and told them what he would be doing. When I introduced him to Nancy, I noticed a mutual spark of interest between the two of them, especially when I caught him looking at her left hand to see if there were any rings there. He saw that I had noted that, and he gave a half grin while his face coloured slightly. Norma Rogers Ch. 05 We went through to my office where I explained our processes to him and explained to him that I was in charge of the station for the next few weeks, so I couldn't show him much of the area, and that if he wanted to go out on the ambulances at all, I would send him with a senior driver. "What about going with Nancy?" he asked. "Yes, that can be arranged if she doesn't mind you being along." "I know I shouldn't ask this, but is she spoken for? I don't want to tread on anyone's toes, but I would really like to get to know her." I looked him square in the eyes. "Hank, You called me the Ice Queen, Nancy isn't, as you call it, spoken for, but let me be perfectly clear. She is my best friend, we share a house between us, and we have been through a lot together. What she does in her life is up to her, but be warned, if you do anything to hurt her, you make two enemies, not one, and without giving away any secrets, let me say I am able to cause you a great deal of problems if I wish." "Norma, let me be clear also, if I ask Nancy to date it will be because I want to get to know her. She strikes me as a beautiful young woman that I want to know better, and there is no way that I will willingly make her suffer at all. I've had a good example all my life; my Mom and Dad have been together twenty-seven years now, with three of us boys and two girls. They made it pretty clear to us boys that if we dated any girl, we had to treat them with respect. I'm the youngest, and the others are all married, three with kids, and none of them had to get married. I'm not about to show Mom and Dad that I disrespect their teaching." I couldn't help but see how serious he was and smiled. "Thank you, Hank." Then I smiled, "Alright, the serious stuff is over, let's go get a cup of tea." Hank quickly asked, "What, no coffee?" I was just as quick in return. "Not until you get us some, buddy." He laughed, "Ah you do know some American, and the coffee will be here tomorrow." He was as good as his word; the next morning he came driving intro the station with not only coffee, but also an urn to make it in, plus some sugar, which was almost like gold. He fitted in well, doing his job as well as riding the ambulances, I must say mainly Nancy's, and as an outsider watching what we did, he made some great suggestions as well as helping with useful equipment from the American Army. Some of the best things he brought were the American GI's trenching tools that he equipped all the ambulances with. They folded up for storage and were short enough to be used in close quarters, making it easier to dig and saving a lot of wear on the hands. He even got us leather work gloves, which helped even more. His relationship with Nancy really blossomed, and they both fell hard for each other, spending most of their off duty time together, dancing or at the pictures, and sometimes seeing the occasional show. He became a staple at the house, spending many meals with us, and he happily provided quite a bit of food that he was able to get. The US Army had taken over a small hotel in Islington, and he was given quarters there, sharing with another officer. Often he and Nancy would look after the twins, who became quite fond of Unca Hank as they began to talk. I had a picture of Jim in uniform on the mantel, and often took it down and showed it to them, saying 'Daddy' and pointing to the picture. Once, John pointed at Hank in uniform and said, "Daddy?" and it was Hank who told him, "No, this is Daddy," as he pointed at the photo. At work, we seemed to be doing an increase in transfers. By now the British Eighth Army and the American Second Army had linked together in North Africa after fierce fighting, and while most of the wounded were treated in hospitals in North Africa, many were sent home by hospital ship to be treated and convalesce in Britain, so we transported many wounded from the hospital ships to hospitals on land. This work increased markedly as the Allies invaded Sicily and Italy, and the opposition became all German after Italy surrendered. Occasionally, when I could arrange for someone to stay with the babies, I went out with Hank and Nancy, either for dinner, to dances or just to the pub. Sometimes Tony Jacobs, Hank's roommate, would come along if he wasn't doing anything else; he was engaged to a girl back home in the States. Hank had warned him that I was married and not looking for any affairs, and Tony, being a really quiet country boy and already engaged, behaved accordingly. At least he was until his girl sent him what he called a Dear John letter, telling him that she had started going out with another local boy who was in a reserved occupation. Then shortly after that he got a letter from his mother telling him that the girl had fallen pregnant and had to get married. After this, he became quite the life of the party for a while, but then he began to tell me that he was falling in love with me and that he wanted to take me back to the States with him. I tried to joke him out of it, but in the end I finally just stopped him from talking and told him, "Tony, I'm sorry that you got this letter from your girl friend, and I know that you are feeling rotten about it, but don't you see? You are asking me to do the same thing to Jim. You are a nice guy and I like you, but my feelings for you aren't even close to what I feel for Jim. You don't give me any choice but to stop going out if you are going to be there. He apologized to me and left. He apparently asked for a transfer to an active unit as he was posted away from London within a few days Hank had been with us about six months when Catherine called me into her office and told me to sit down. It was obvious that she had been crying and she talked through tears, "I've just had notification from the Haslar Royal Naval Hospital, Dennis my husband was severely injured in a brush between his destroyer and a group of E Boats. A lucky shot hit the bridge of the destroyer and Dennis was the only survivor on the bridge. He was badly burned and has a number of broken bones and will need a lot of nursing. As I was a nurse before we married, I am going to be one of his special nurses." "Who will take charge here?" I asked. "I have been in touch with HQ," she continued. "You are to take over as Station Officer and arrangements will be made to accommodate your ATS duties." She handed me the keys to her office and files and said, "Good Luck with your new duties. I have to leave for Portsmouth." I couldn't stop myself; I stepped forward and hugged her. "Catherine, look after yourself and look after Dennis, he is really going to need you now. Keep in touch with us; you are a friend as well as a boss." She left, and I sat in her chair, wondering if I could come close to filling her shoes. I knew what to do, but I wondered if I could do it as smoothly as she did. Hank was with us for about a year and a half, riding with the ambulances, working with the ARP on rescues and training, and travelling with me to any American units where I was to do any teaching, smoothing the way for me, the mere woman who was going to teach the trained men of the US Army how to handle the wounded. Eventually he was transferred to an Ambulance unit that was beginning to train for the invasion. Shortly before he was transferred, I was pleased to be asked by Nancy to be her bridesmaid and witness at the Registry Office when they married. After the wedding, he was at the house every opportunity that he got for the next year, even if he could only make it for the day. Before Hank was transferred, he and Nancy had gone to the cinema one night while I stayed at home and put my feet up for a rest after a really busy day. Suddenly the two of them came dashing in, both of them really excited. Nancy was just about bursting to talk, "Norma, you have to go to the Roxy this week, Jim is on Pathe News. They had a segment on building airfields in India, Assam I think, and Jim is on there as large as life giving instructions to the Army engineers." Hank continued, "They are building airfields for the US Army Air Force planes that are flying supplies and weapons over the Hump into China for the Nationalist Chinese Army. My cousin Jeff is one of the pilots doing the flying. If you like, I'll send him a letter asking him if he can contact Jim." I thanked Hank, asking if he would do that as the only news that I got was that he was well and busy. The next night, I was sitting in the Roxy when the news film came on. When the segment on India started, I could see Jim right away, he looked really tanned, but had lost weight. I couldn't believe it when he put his jacket on and I could see the insignia of a Major. We had thought it fantastic when he was promoted to Captain, so this must be something new. He hadn't told me of any promotion but his allowances to me had been increased recently. After seeing him, I broke down, partly due to happiness at seeing him, and partly because I missed my man so much. I just quietly cried, and the tears flowed for about ten minutes. For a short time, I wasn't the ATS officer in charge of those ambulances; I was just an ordinary wife missing her husband. I was surprised on a Sunday morning about six weeks later when I got up to answer a knock on the door and found a short man in the uniform of a US Army Captain standing there. I asked if I could help him. "Ma-am do I have the right address for Mrs. Norma Rogers?" "Yes, I'm Norma Rogers, how can I help you?" "Well, Mrs. Rogers, maybe I can help you - I'm Hank's cousin Jeff. He wrote me about your husband, and the fates must have been good to you. His unit was working on my base making and extending runways for bigger planes. I had gotten to know him pretty well, and we even shared the same foxhole a couple of times. When he found out that I was being posted to a bomber group here in England, he asked me to deliver a package for him. I stopped off Stateside on the way here to remind my family of what I look like; otherwise I would have been here sooner." "Please come in and have a drink, and please call me Norma. Mrs. Rogers sounds so formal. Hank's wife, Nancy, will be in shortly, and she would love to meet you, but Hank is with his unit near Farnborough. Jeff came in and sat with me in the kitchen as we waited for the coffee to brew (another thing to thank Hank for). I just couldn't wait to ask, "How was Jim when you left? How is he holding up?" "He told me what you have been through, and warned me not to try to make things sound better than they are, as you would see right through it. Things are rough out there where he is; they are close to the Burmese border, and Burma has been taken by the Japanese. Every so often they get a raid by the Japanese puppet army, the Burmese Liberation Army, but so far they have not been particularly well trained soldiers, so they have been beaten back fairly easily." "Eventually, I guess the idea is to cut another road across the mountains to China and beat the Japs back. Then it will get worse, but there will be lots more men. Anyway, I have this package for you, and I had better not forget it." He grinned and went on, "Jim told me that it was worth my life if I forgot it or lost it. He handed me a bulky letter addressed to me in Jim's writing, and I tore it open in a rush, finding a letter and a small sealed envelope inside the waterproof packaging. I couldn't wait and quickly opened the letter, my hands just shaking. Note by Pat (Norma still had the letter and she brought it out so I could include it.) My Dearest Norma Jeff tells me that this letter will be travelling by a circuitous but secure route without censors, so I can put in what I want and can write what I want, instead of what I am allowed, so here goes. First of all, my dear I love you and miss you so much my entire body is aching for the day that I can hold you again. Every night as I go to my tent, my empty arms remind me of what I am missing by being out here, missing you and our babies. I long to touch you and feel you against me with your arms around me. I long to hold the babies in my arms not just see pictures of them. By the time I get home, I will have missed so much of your lives that can never be relived. The photos you have sent are beside my bed, the last thing I see at night and the first in the morning, but they can't make up for the emptiness in my arms. I can't wait until I can hold you again and finally meet our children. I am well, but here in the hills it is difficult to stay that way, with insects and snakes. They are things that we never get used to, and even though we sleep under a mosquito net, that doesn't stop the cloud of them that follow us when we are awake and moving around. We still get sick, and anyone who doesn't take his quinine pills is a fool, as malaria isn't something enjoyable. The medical officer is probably the busiest officer in the camp. Everything in the area is either uphill or downhill, apart from the odd flat area where we have built airstrips so that the Americans can fly supplies and ammo to the Chinese Army. Even then they are talking chances of being shot down by the Japanese, who are often quite close. As Jeff has probably told you, we were able to stop the Japanese advance short of the Indian Border, but we have had a number of small hit and run attacks which we, the British and Indian troops, have been able to handle, though it has been a near thing at times. As time goes by, we are getting a buildup of British, Indian and US troops. The plan seems to be to eventually go on the offensive against the Japanese in Burma. Whether my unit is going to be involved in that I don't know, but they are talking about building a new road, and they can't do that without Engineers, so I wouldn't be surprised if we are. Most of the Indian troops are pretty good, and we get along quite well though there have been some desertions to the Japanese . I don't think for one minute that the Indian people really want us here, but the outlook seems to be that the Divil you know is better than the Divil you don't, so rather us than the Japs. Whether it will stay that way I don't know, once the Japanese have been defeated, I don't think that the British will be able to stay on in India for long There is a man, Mahatma Ghandi whose teachings of non-violence but non co-operation seem to be getting a lot of attention. What seems to be years ago now, I promised you a ring, and if you look in that small envelope you will find the best ring I could find. There aren't too many jewelers' shops in this part of India, and there is a story behind the ring. I had taken a couple of troops of men into Burma to destroy some bridges and slow down the Japanese advance. In the one area we came on a Rajah and his family trying to get away from the advance, which had neared his summer palace. They had no transport other than elephants, and as the Japanese got closer their servants had melted away into the jungle. Fortunately for them, we had emptied one of our lorries and had room for a lot of his possessions and his immediate family. We were able to distribute them all between the lorries as most of the men were walking anyway, watching the jungle. We brought them out and the Rajah was really grateful to all the troops and offered us a reward as thanks for our help. I chose the ring as I thought it would be beautiful on your finger as your engagement ring. Actually, he would have given me his oldest daughter as a bride, but I told him you would likely object to that, so he insisted on a ring for you. I tore open the small envelope and tipped it up, and into my hand slid the most beautiful ring I had ever seen. It was gold with a square cut ruby centre and diamonds on each side. I could hardly believe my eyes. I had no idea of the value of it. It would not fit my ring finger at all, just my baby finger. Jim's letter went on. I want you to get it sized to fit you as it may be a little small - the ladies in his entourage were quite tiny. I managed to get it engraved though, as you will see. Well, Jeff wants to get away. He is itching to get home for a leave, and then get to England and get a shot at the Germans, though it will take him a while to transition he says. I guess that means learning to fly bombers and bomb instead of flying supply runs. Remember Dear, that I love you absolutely and miss you terribly; all I want is to be back with you and our children. Remember also what I said about anything happening to me. If the worst should happen to me, don't let it rule your life or the lives of the children. Keep on with your life; you have too much vitality to let my death rule your life. I just ask that you teach the children about me and keep them in touch with my family. With all my love, Jim. PS Tell Jenny that Bert is safe and in good health. We are also a listening post, listening to the Japanese radios and another organization I can't talk about. Our aerials are high up so we get a lot of distance transmissions that we relay to headquarters. There were a bunch of Naval radio men available after the Repulse and Prince of Wales were sunk, so they were drafted to do that job; Bert is second in command of the naval section here. One good thing is that we are able to support each other when we are lost thinking of you and of Jenny I looked up from the last paragraph and could hardly see Jeff through the tears. "Jeff, I owe you a debt I can never repay! Thank you so much for bringing this letter and the ring." "Norma, the pleasure is all mine. I'm just sorry that I couldn't bring Jim back to you, though if it is any consolation, I have never met anyone more capable of looking after himself and his men. They think he is great; he is the Officer Commanding of the squadron, and there aren't too many men who would want to change outfits. They think he is the greatest officer they have had, and would follow him into hell if they had to. Now, though, I had better get to my squadron before they think I have deserted. I have a lot to learn and not much time to learn it, including flying a much different type of plane." Just then a newly pregnant Nancy came in, and I introduced Jeff. She was most concerned that Hank had missed him, but was sure they could arrange to meet up sometime and gave Jeff Hanks' address so he could contact him. I showed her the ring and her jaw dropped, "It must be worth a fortune Norma! Where did he get something like that?" I told her the story and what Jim had written in the letter. She hugged me, "Girl, you have an incredible husband, and I know he will come back safe to you and the children. If I didn't have Hank, I would be really jealous of you. As it is, I am glad that I married Hank. Hank is the most wonderful man that I know, but I'm sorry that when all this is over and it is time for me to go with him to America, I'll be leaving the dearest friend that I have ever had. We've been through a lot together, you and I, and we have more to go through yet. I'll miss you tremendously when I don't have you close." I hugged her back, "Nancy, you will always be my special friend, and we really have been through hell together. Now, when we finally seem to be getting to be the winning side, I'm not about to let the Atlantic Ocean come between us. I don't know what the future holds for us, but one thing I do know, you will always be my friend." I took the ring to a West End jeweler where it was sized correctly for my finger. I was intrigued and asked if he could give me an approximate value as I had no idea of its value for insurance. The jeweler looked it over carefully and astonished me when he said, "If Madam were to send the ring to auction, even in these days of austerity it would likely sell for around fifty thousand guineas." I just couldn't believe it; in my hand I had riches beyond belief, Jim must have really done that Rajah quite a favour! Norma Rogers Ch. 05 Just before Christmas of 1943, I was called into the Ministry and told to meet with a Mr. Gray. When I arrived, I was directed into a room, and who should be behind the desk but my old friend Mr. Henry. I was immediately concerned as to what was going on; who was this man? And more important, whom did he represent? He looked up at me, then pointed to a chair in front of the desk and said, "Please sit down; I have matters of some importance to discuss with you." I remained standing, "First, who are you really? Mr. Gray, Mr. Henry or are you somebody else? Whom do you represent?" He smiled, "I told my superior that you would not respond to anything less than the truth, and here you are proving me right. Please sit down and I will let you know what is going on, but I must warn you that everything we discuss is subject to the Official Secrets Act and cannot be discussed outside this room; doing so would mean a prison sentence. You signed the acceptance of the Act when you were recruited into the ATS." This was all new to me, and I thought this must be something to do with the new policies, so I sat down. Little did I know what would be coming up in this interview. He began to talk, "First let me be the first to congratulate you on a promotion, you have been promoted to the rank of Junior Commander, the equivalent of a Captain in the Army. This, by the way, isn't intended as an inducement to do anything. No matter what decisions you and I may come to, you will still walk out of this room with your new rank. Your promotion just recognizes the value of the work you have done with the Ambulance Service and the training you have supplied to the US forces. In fact, it was at their instigation that you were promoted." I was astounded, "I'm honoured at the recognition, but right now I'm waiting for the 'but'. What else is coming up? You didn't drag me over here to just tell me that." He burst into laughter. "You are right, I am not Henry or Grey; who I am I can't say, so I respond to either name. I work for Military Intelligence, and we want to co-opt your services. We would like you to go visit yours in Ireland for a short time." "What have mys got to do with this?" "Nothing at all. What we want you to do is meet with a member of the German Legation who met one of our diplomats at a function and slipped him a message indicating that he was against the war and wanted to help end it." I couldn't help myself - I jumped up and exclaimed, "What! You want me, a mother of two small children, to go over to Ireland and meet a German? I'm not a spy, I'm a mother of two little babies who need me, and there is no chance that I will do that! Who will look after my children if something happens, some children's home?" "Norma," he hurriedly continued, "Please listen, and this must go no further than this room. The Allies are planning to invade Europe next year; where and when have yet to be decided. It is crucial that we know the details of German troop movements, and the more information we have, the less casualties will result. While we have other sources, this person may be in a position to give us vital information. He approached one of our diplomats while at a reception. It appeared to just be a polite exchange of words to anyone looking, but he passed on a note. What he did say in the note was that he would only talk to your husband Jim or yourself. He evidently feels safe with one of you." I immediately thought of Rudi, but was inclined to dismiss that possibility, especially after the way we last parted. However, he was the only German I knew. I replied, "Might this person be Rudi Von Ansel? If it is, and this is vital to the war effort, then I would consider meeting with him. As you are likely aware, our last meeting wasn't exactly friendly, so I have no idea why he would want to meet me. I don't think I would be in any danger from him though. So, if it is that vital, I would be willing to meet him, but I would want some security." "Yes as far as we know, it is. After that dressing down you gave him, his boss the Riechsmarshall was most upset and transferred him to an active unit on the Russian Front. Apparently he was wounded there, as our man in Dublin tells us that he has lost his left arm. He wants to meet in the bar at the Galway Inn in Galway on the evening of December 15th. Apparently he has reason to be there, which makes it more reasonable to meet him there rather than chance a meet somewhere else in Dublin, so we would like you and your family to travel as soon as possible. The Embassy has set up a drop box for him to use in a tobacconist's shop in Dublin. All we want you to do is meet him and give him our contact instructions. Our man in Dublin will take it from there." "From what I remember of Rudi, this will be unusual for him. The last time we met, he was anticipating the Victory March down Whitehall and, being an airman, he couldn't understand why the mighty Luftwaffe hadn't forced us to surrender." "You might try to find that out from him; his motives are extremely important in judging the truth of what he can tell us. We will have to set up some security for you." "Why don't you leave that angle to me? The Rogers family are well connected in the Galway area, so I'm sure I can arrange for some very unobtrusive security that would make things safer for me." "All right, I will do that; just remember that you have to really be careful what you tell them, we have to keep it absolutely secret." I thought, Well, whoever you are, you obviously don't know everything. You would be pretty surprised if you knew the real situation of the Rogers family. I interrupted, "His wound might explain his change in attitude to war. He was quite the strutting officer the last time we met. I had better call mys to make sure that they expect me and can handle the additional security people. Can I take my mother with me to help with the children? That would make a family visit more plausible if anybody is watching the boats." "If she will go with you, that would be good; you just can't tell her why you are going. You can make your phone calls from here to Ireland. I'll give you fifteen minutes on your own. If they can meet you in Dun Loaghaire, it would be much better for cover purposes." He left, I sat back, lit a cigarette (Yes I smoked in those days) and thought to myself, Well Norma, you talked yourself into that one really well. He didn't have to do any convincing at all. I have to admit, the thought of Rudi supplying us with information really intrigues me. What had happened to bring that man of solid Nazi values so low? I really was interested in finding out. I picked up the telephone handset and was answered by the switchboard operator. She must have been forewarned, because she put the call through to Ireland without any comment at all. Mhairi was home and answered the phone. "Mhairi, do you have room for a few refugees for a few days?" "Is that you Norma? I knew I was going to hear from you today! Of course we have room for you. Can you stay a while, maybe over Christmas?" "Now that would be an idea! If I can get a couple of weeks leave, would you mind if my parents and I came over and spent Christmas with you?" "Not at all, that would be a real treat for us all to get together for the holiday, so it would." "I'll talk to Mum tonight and see if they have any plans, then I will call you again and let you know for sure." Somebody must have been listening in as 'Gray-Henry' came back into the room. "Norma, that was a great idea, and I'm sure that we can arrange relief for you for that period." "I'll go down to Mum's tonight to make sure that she and Dad can make it, and I'll let you know." He gave me his phone number, and then he sat and briefed me on what I was to say to Rudi. He also gave me the address of the tobacco and newsagent's shop where the drop was arranged. Obviously it was felt to be important, as the wheels of Government moved quickly, smoothing out any problems, and we boarded the ship at Holyhead on the night of the 11th of December. As we sailed into the darkness, Mum and Dad took care of the babies in the cabin while I took a turn around the deck with a cigarette. Even though this assignment might be somewhat dangerous, in a way I was excited and looking forward to the meeting. What more could I, as ordinary Norma Rogers, contribute to the war effort? End of Part 5 Norma Rogers Ch. 06 The continuing story of Norma Rogers, living through the Second World War as a young mother alone, raising twins while holding a job as the head of a Voluntary Ambulance Unit in London. Also serving as an ATS officer she teaches methods of patient rescue from damaged buildings and transporting them. She has now been called upon to make contact with a German officer who, disgusted with what he has seen in Russia and how his family have been treated, wishes to provide information to the Allies, who are planning the invasion of Europe. This story is fiction, the creation and property of the author, and is not based on the persons or actions of anyone, living or dead, rather being an amalgam of the many heroic actions of WW2 Part 6 I'm Pat Rogers, wife of Jake Rogers, writing the story of Jake's grandparents, Norma and Jim Rogers, as Norma outlined it for me. Most of it is in her own words, except where emotions crept in and I had to write the sense of what she said, rather than the words she had difficulty expressing through her tears. I felt privileged to hear what she told me, much of it unknown to the members of her family other than her deceased husband. She had been bound by the British Official Secrets Act not to make most of her wartime experiences public for 50 years, so I was the first to hear of her secret life. Norma, Chapter 6 The crossing from Holyhead to Dun Loaghaire was pretty much what I had expected for December; the waves in the Irish Sea tossed the ship around quite heavily, and we adults didn't get a lot of rest. At least we were not seasick. We had booked a cabin so the babies could sleep, and they were quite comfortable, as we had tucked them into the one berth tightly so they didn't roll about in the berth. When I thought we should be getting close to shore, I went up on deck for a last cigarette, feeling the motion of the ship easing as we entered Dublin Bay. A short distance away off the port bow I could see the lights of Dun Loaghaire, far brighter than the limited lighting that was allowed as we had slipped out of Holyhead. I wondered what the next few days would bring. I had mixed feelings, but couldn't help feeling a little excitement at the thought of what I would be called upon to do. I never would have dreamed what life had in store for me when I volunteered for the London Auxiliary Ambulance Service. When I finished the cigarette and my thoughts, the ship was well into Dublin Bay and a lot closer to port. I went back down to the cabin to help my parents prepare the babies for disembarkation. While we were doing this, the ship came alongside the quay and, as it was tied up, the engines cut to a quiet rumble. Preparing to disembark, I stood with John in my arms on the deck close to where the rails had been opened to allow the gangplank access. The top of the gangplank was swung inboard and secured, and as soon as the bottom was lowered to the quay, a car drove up to it and stopped. Mhairi and John got out and looked up at us, but all that really registered with me then was the smiles of welcome on their faces. I was carrying little John, Mum was carrying Angela and dad followed on with a couple of bags while one of the crew followed us with the last of the luggage. Oh, it was trying work to travel with everything for twins. As we set foot on land, Mhairi just stepped forward and enveloped John and me in her arms. "Och, welcome, my dears, it's just fine that you can spend the holiday with us. The whole family is waiting to see you again and meet Angela and Tom. The entire village has been talking about youse for days! Tom, Angela, you are being made honorary Irish, but watch it in the pub, there are some rare scoundrels in there, so there are." "Mhairi, It's so good of you to let us come over and stay with you; it will mean that on the first Christmas the babies really are aware of, they will be surrounded by family." "Sure, it's a real pleasure, and besides, I'm sure your mum brought her recipe book over so we can cook up a storm." Mum laughed, "I did that, Mhairi, and it's going to be a pleasure if you will let me share a kitchen where there is no rationing." "I'll let you share, but the last word is with Annie O'Leary, our cook and housekeeper. She started with John's family when he was a child, and when we married and took over the farm, she came as part of the bargain. She is a lovely woman, a widow who has never remarried, and while it may be our house, it's her kitchen. She is a wonderful cook, and if you make a friend of her she'll never turn down an offer of help. I'm sure she would be happy to give you her recipes if you became her friend! A young man who drove up with a small lorry interrupted us. John came over to introduce him. "This is Sean. He is giving us a hand on the farm right now, and will be taking the luggage so there will be enough room in the car for everyone." Dad interjected, "Well, if it will help, I can go along with Sean and make more room for Norma, Angela and the babies." John spoke up, "Tom, that would be great in the morning, but right now we are just going to a hotel where we have rooms booked; that's a lot easier and safer than trying to navigate our country roads during the night. Anyway, I bet all of you are tired out after your rough crossing, so we'll get some rest and get on our way after breakfast." The room was really welcome. Mhairi had arranged for two cots, and as soon as the twins were changed and down, they were off to sleep. I didn't take long either - as soon as my head hit the pillow I was out, and I didn't wake until I heard a tapping on the door. I looked at my watch to see it was 8am. Who wanted me awake this early? Opening the door, I found Mhairi, all dressed and ready for the day. She smiled and said, "Well, lass, now that I have you up you can get cleaned up while I look after the twins for a wee while." "Oh, thanks, Mhairi, that's just what I need, a quick bath after all that travelling. If the twins wake up, there is some juice for them in that small bag. After I'm done, we can get them cleaned up and changed." I gloried in the hot bath, something I had sorely missed during the many times in London when fuel was short. After quickly getting dried, I went back to my room. Mhairi was in her element, sitting on the floor with the two babies beside her, feeding them some cereal and milk that she had ordered from room service. I walked over and sat down beside them. "Oh, you two, whatever will I do? Granny is spoiling you already!" The twins just looked at me with the cute baby grins they make. That just made me feel all soft inside, not at all like the woman I have to be at the ambulance and fire station. That wasn't the first time it had made me feel like I lived two lives, one the wife and mother trying to raise two children without their father, and the other as the tight and demanding ATS officer, demanding more of herself than of those working for her. Oh, this damn war! When will it be over so that we can get back to normal? Come to think of it, what will normal be like? Some things will never be the same ever again. I just hope that my work will be of some help in ending this. Mhairi put Angela beside her on the floor and took my hand. "Child, something tells me that there is more to this trip than meets the eye. You are troubled, my dear, and the look in your eyes is far, far away. What is on your mind?" "Mhairi, I have to ask you to trust me. I can't tell you the whole story, but I have to meet someone on the 15th in Galway. I have been told that it is vital to the war effort, and the person will only meet Jim or me. As Jim is in India, it has to be me. I'm scared to death about it, but I have to do that first. Then, hopefully, I will be able to relax and enjoy the holiday and your company." Mhairi spoke, keeping her voice low."I don't think I would need to have three guesses to name the person. I can think of only one German who would ask for Jim or you, and that is Rudi. If it is, you will find him very different. We met him at a function in Dublin about three weeks ago. He was injured on the Russian front and is now very serious, quiet and thoughtful, not at all the boastful officer that he was the night you met him at the reception. I actually pitied him rather than felt any hard feelings. But, girl, rest assured you won't be going alone. We will make sure that you are very well guarded. 'Tis a good thing that I arranged to have a nanny for the wee bairns to give you a rest while you are here, so they will be well looked after when you have to make the meeting." "Mhairi, you're the best mother a body could have! A nanny yet! I've never known such luxury. I can never repay you." "I would never let you pay me, my dear, and besides, it gives Mairead some pocket money for when she goes back to the hospital. She is just finishing her nursing training in Dublin and has a few weeks off. It gives us a chance to help her in a way that she will accept. She jumped at the chance to make a little money. You will meet her later today at the farm." We took the babies to the bathroom and bathed and changed them, getting them ready to travel. I quickly washed out their nappies, putting them in a waterproof bag together with the rest, telling Mhairi that the first thing I would have to do when we got to the farm was wash children's clothes. Then, ready to face the day, we went down to breakfast. Mum and Dad were already there with John and Sean, and the waiter started serving us as soon as we sat. The breakfast was wonderful; bacon, sausage, eggs and toast, things we could never get in London, and the cook even made a little scrambled egg for the twins. The sea voyage must have made me hungry as, for a change, I ate everything on the plate. That was very different from my first trip over, but this time I wasn't pregnant. After breakfast, we loaded the car and the little lorry and set off for the farm, Dad and Sean muffled to the eyebrows as the driving compartment was open to the weather, arriving at the farm around midafternoon. To Mum and Dad, it was a beautiful area that they had never seen before. Even though it was a winter day, the sun was shining and, while the trees were bare, the fields were still green and the hills had the purple tinge of heather. In that particularly gentle light that seems to be reserved for Ireland, it looked so beautiful. No matter where I have travelled since, the light has never been quite the same. Immediately on getting out of the car, I could smell the peat smoke as it burned on the fires. We walked into a warm kitchen, the peat fire augmented by the stove on which simmered a pot of soup with the tantalizing smell of ham and peas. The door had been opened by a short, grey haired woman, and as I walked in, she gave me a broad smile. "You must be young Mrs. Rogers. I'm Annie O'Leary. I missed you when you were here on your honeymoon as I was away to my sisters while she was sick. Mairead is away up the stairs putting the baby's beds straight, so they can go up if they are tired. Now, you sit yourself down and I'll fetch you some tea and biscuits; herself will be wanting them anyway." I returned her smile, "Annie, please I'm Norma to all. Mrs. Rogers is my mother, and I'm just not used to the title yet." Mhairi broke in, "Now, Annie, don't be making me out to be a poor hostess and housewife! I'll help you with the tea, for sure. Let me introduce you to Mrs. Angela Walker, Norma's mother. As she has made me welcome in her kitchen, she is also welcome in mine. I'm sure that we will all get along. The gentleman is her husband, Mr. Tom Walker. Being the perfect gentleman he is, he left the car to the ladies and rode here in the lorry with Sean. He deserves his tea first, the poor man, having had to ride in that cold and bumpy thing for so long." As we sat down in the living room, a young woman dressed in a nurse's apron came down the stairs. She was slim, dark haired, very pretty, and had a warm welcoming smile. Mhairi stood and introduced her, "Norma, this is Mairead O'Riley from the next farm. I took the liberty of asking her to be a nanny for the bairns while you are here. I've known her family for years and seen her grow from a bairn to this beautiful young lady." I interjected, "Mairead, please call me Norma. I'm curious, but isn't this an imposition for you? Mhairi told me that you were on leave from a hospital in Dublin where you are studying nursing. Surely that doesn't give you a lot of spare time." She smiled back at me, "To be sure, Norma, and I'll admit that I can use the money when I go back to Dublin, but it is no imposition at all. I would only be at home studying and looking after the young ones anyway. I'm walking out with a young man who will be finishing his training as a doctor in six months. He hopes to get a position with a doctor for a year to see if he wants to be in general practice or to specialize. I want to go on to take midwifery training, and that will be another year at the Rotunda, so we are trying to save as much as we can to get married after himself makes his decision and I qualify." "I hope that my twins are not too much for you." "Sure and haven't I had a lot of experience looking after my wee brothers and sisters since I was 8 years old? I'm the eldest in the family, and Ma surely saw that I was well practiced so I would be good with my own children when they should come along. Now, can I take those wee mites off your hands for a while and get them cleaned up?" Away she went up the stairs with a child on each hip, talking to them as if she had known them all their lives, with them holding on and taking in this new person who held them. Mhairi looked at her as she left. "She impresses me as a lass who has decided exactly what she wants, and I've no doubt that she and her young man will make quite a team when they are trained. She looks as if she will make a good midwife, and an even better wife and mother." I couldn't help but agree. John and Sean came in with the bags, and Mhairi went upstairs with them to show them where to put them. When they came down, she said, "Norma, you and the twins will be in yours and Jim's room where you were last time. Tom and Angela, you will be getting young John and Mary's old room. We had two labourer's cottages knocked into one for them, so now they have their own house. With the two young ones, they surely needed it and it made things much quieter for John and me." The last she said with a wicked little grin that left us with no doubts about what she meant. Her fiery red hair and well toned body just hinted at the undercurrents that lay beneath her easy attitude. John just listened in and gave a big smile. We chatted for a while about how we had been, how we were enjoying the respite from the German bombing and how the repairs were progressing in London, with the transport system coming first, then various government ministries getting priority. Whole streets were being cleared in the East End, which had suffered a great deal of damage, and when they would be rebuilt was anyone's guess, but likely not until well after the end of the war. I told them the latest that I had heard from Jim, and as I hadn't told them of the hand delivered letter, I showed it to them. After reading it, John said, "Reading between the lines a little, it looks as if those troops could be facing a fair bit of danger. It doesn't seem to be the most hospitable corner of the world, and if the troops you count on as allies don't have their heart in it, that makes it more difficult to do the job. You have to watch your backs as well as your front." When Mum and Dad went up to get cleaned up, Mhairi got more serious as turned to John, "John, Norma might have a problem." His head shot up and he looked at me. "No, you great amadan, not that kind of a problem," she continued with a smile. "She has to meet with someone from the German Embassy. We think it is Rudi Von Ansel, but she is going to need protection. She didn't want anyone from the British Office as they would stick out like a sore thumb." He thought for a minute, "I suppose we could use John, and Donald O'Leary would likely do it if I asked him. Both are fair shots with pistols if needed. Norma, why do you need to meet him? Can you tell us that much?" "He asked for either Jim or me to meet him, and that is why I think it will be Rudi. It seems he may have had a change of heart and wants to help. The only way to judge how serious he is, is to meet him and talk to him." John looked at me, "Yes, but why you or Jim? You left him with no doubts about how you felt the last time you met." "I suppose he feels that having met Jim and me before, he can maybe trust us more than some stranger, after all. He did really ask only for Jim. They had been together before for several years, even if only in school. I'm just a replacement, as Jim is in India." John replied, "I still don't like the idea of you meeting him alone." Mhairi interjected, "Sure it is just the fact that you don't feel that they should be relying on Norma to meet the man. Anyway, she is meeting him in a lounge bar, and he doesn't know either young John or Donald. One of them could be in the room to keep an eye on things." "It isn't that at all. Let's face it, women have played their part in war right through history, but I just don't like the idea of one of our family being involved, and I think of Norma as family, even though her country is at war and we are not." I spoke up, "I think of myself as part of the Rogers family, but this is something I have to do. Eventually we are going to have to invade Europe, and that will involve the loss of many lives. If the meeting helps save even one life then it is worthwhile, and I'm sure that if Jim were here he would back me up." Mhairi looked over at her husband. "John, I think you are outnumbered on this one, but it would be fine if you could arrange for it to be more secure. Do you think we could arrange something with the Galway Hotel? We are there often enough." "I'll call them tomorrow. It isn't a busy time of year, so I don't suppose that they would mind keeping the room as empty as possible." I spent the next two days just relaxing at the farm. Between Annie and Mairead I was relieved of all of the usual baby chores, and just took them out in the pram Mhairi had acquired, for afternoon walks. It was enjoyable, the weather balmy, as the Irish say 'A fair day, and the games of cards in the kitchen at night were fun, but at the back of my mind was always the thought of the meeting. Wednesday dawned cold and clear, and after lunch we set out for the hotel with John senior, John junior and Donald, a shorter man who seemed darker complexioned than Jim's family. He was carrying a small case which I later found contained two revolvers and ammunition. I appreciated the irony of the situation; here I was, a British officer in the Irish Republic going to meet a German officer who, I hoped, would supply information, all the while guarded by members of the IRA. When we got to Galway the two Johns and I went to another hotel for our evening meal, while Donald went to the Galway Hotel and had his dinner in the dining room there. That way, if he was seen later in the lounge as well, he would be regarded as a guest rather than a stranger. After supper we went to the Galway Hotel and just before the time of the meeting, young John took a walk through the lounge bar. He left by another door and came back to us in the lobby. "Your man is there, sitting at a table about half the way down the room on the right, reading a book. Donald is on the far side of the room beside a small bar, just as if he is a guest having a beer. There is nobody else there, and there won't be once you go through the door, we'll make sure of that now." Norma Rogers Ch. 06 My heart seemed to be in the pit of my stomach as I walked toward the door and pushed it open. I saw immediately that I was right; it was Rudi who was waiting for me. He looked up and, as I approached the table, he stood up. The first thing I noticed was the mostly empty left sleeve of his jacket, the end of the sleeve pinned across the front of the jacket. I started to speak first, to take the advantage from the start, quietly saying, "Well Captain Von Ansel, we meet again, this time at your request. What can I do for you? I am totally mystified as to why you would want to meet Jim or me." "Please, I would ask that you call me Rudi. I don't need reminding of my rank. I asked for James or you because I trust either of you to at least listen to me, and not betray me to my political masters. What I am going to say to you, or even meeting you here would be enough to have me killed should the Gestapo find out." "How would they not know we met?" "I'm not staying in this hotel, and the staff here do not know I am German. I'm registered at the Galway Inn down near the beach, and I walked from there. As far as the staff there knows, I am still in my room. My driver has a sister in Galway, so he dropped me off at the Inn and will pick me up there in the morning. Our car has a standard Irish licence as we don't want anyone to know what we are doing. I am supposed to be looking at secluded bays and coves that we may use to refuel and supply our submarines if we can. We do this on the coast of Labrador, but here there are many more people. As long as nobody is looking for me while we meet, there is very little chance of anyone finding out." "Why now, Rudi? You seem very different from the man I met two years ago. That night you couldn't wait to join the victory march down the Mall." He looked at me carefully before replying, "Please, Mrs. Rogers, please sit down so that we can talk quietly. I may have been an idiot, but I'm not a fool. I deduce that the man sitting by the bar is with you, as he has been much too interested in us, and as nobody in the Embassy knows that I am here, that means he is either watching you on behalf of the Irish authorities, or he is watching over you, and I would more believe the second latter than the former. The Irish may be independent, but it is the English they are closest to." I sat down across from him. "Rudi, You are partly right, the man by the bar is protecting me, the Irish Government knows nothing of this meeting, but my father John Rogers would be very upset if I were hurt or anything happen to me. Before I can trust you I must ask, you. why the change of heart? You are a German officer, why should the English trust and believe you? What do you want of us?" He put his hand in his pocket, pulled out an envelope, and gave it to me. "That is the address of my mother and sister in Bern, Switzerland. What I want is that should anything happen to me, that they be looked after and hidden from the Gestapo." "Why, how are they in danger?" "It's a long story?" "I have time, go ahead." "Well in a way, you were a part of the reason." I sat back, amazed as he told me the following tale. "After our little conversation at the reception hit the press, Reichsmarshall Goering was very displeased that one of his pilots was made to look a fool. I soon found myself on the way to the Russian Front to fly bombers, Heinkel 111s, the same plane that had been literally defeated by your RAF but almost invincible against the Russian Yaks. We had been bombing Stalingrad, bombing ruins, making them into more ruins. Nothing human could possible live through the raids, but nobody told the Russian people that. Their soldiers were contesting every metre of ground and for every step forward we made, we seemed to be taking two back. After this attack we were on our way back to our landing field. We were following a main road packed with refugees, when I heard the nose gun firing. The gunner, a fine graduate of the Hitler Youth was firing into the refugees, old men, women and children; I could not stand it any longer. I yelled at him to stop, and pulled the nose of the aircraft to the right to get away from the road. I was so involved with this that I didn't see the Yak fighter coming in on our left. His bullets hit the cockpit and the nose gun, two bullets hit my left arm and others made a mess of the gauges. I had a little control of the plane left, so I called my mid gunner who came and put a tourniquet on my arm, and with his help, I was able to make our field and get the plane down on its belly. We were all hurt, the worst being the nose gunner, who was killed by in the attack by the fighter. I was treated at the field hospital; my lower arm was amputated, and I was sent back to Germany on a hospital train packed with wounded soldiers. After a time in hospital, I was sent home on leave to Seefeld to convalesce. While I was in the hospital, I had written to my parents to explain what happened and where I was, and I was very surprised when I didn't hear from them, not even a card. I travelled to Seefeld by train; my father was the Pastor of the Lutheran Church. In fact, I had joined the Hitler Youth as a rebellion against him and the church. When I got to my former home, there was nobody there; the house was empty, the furniture was gone, the doors were wide open and when I walked through the rooms, it looked like animals were living there. From there I went to the church and found Hans Gulders, one of the elders. He didn't recognize me at first, and when he saw my uniform he tried to hide in my father's office. I told him who I was, that I was Rudi the Pastor's son, and I wanted to find my family. He eventually came out of the office. "Yes, Rudi," he said, "now I remember you, you have changed since you went away to join the Luftwaffe." When I asked where my father was, he looked down, took hold of my arm and led me out into the cemetery beside the church. He took me to an unmarked grave and said, "He lies here in this spot, one of his favourite places". "When did he die, and why is there no headstone?" I asked. He sadly replied, "Because there is no money to pay for a stone and a mason." I became angry and demanded, "He had more than enough money to buy a headstone. What has happened here?" Hans again took my arm as he replied, "The Nazi's happened here! Come into the church where we can't be heard, and I will tell you." He took me into my father's office, where we sat down and he began his story, talking through the tears he shed as he spoke. He told me, "Your father was a true man of the church. He was a true Samaritan, as you well know, helping everybody when they had troubles. One day about six months ago an English pilot parachuted from his burning plane. They had been bombing Munich, and a night fighter caught them. They shot it down, but not until their aircraft was badly damaged and on fire. The rest of the crew had bailed out and he had kept the plane in the air to draw our troops away from the rest of the crew. One of the local farmers, an Austrian patriot, found him hiding in his barn and brought him to your father." "He hid the pilot here in the church until he was able to contact a smuggler to take him over the border into Switzerland. He was the first of several that your father helped to escape. The inevitable happened and he was betrayed to the Gestapo. The first he knew of it was when they drove into his yard and seized him and your mother and sister. They strung up a rope to the tree in front of the house, put it round his neck and tortured him, pulling on the rope till he was choking, beating him with their sticks to get him to name the smugglers but he would not. Then, still trying to get him to give the smugglers away, they repeatedly raped your mother and sister in front of him. He still wouldn't say anything, your mother kept yelling at him not to talk. Eventually they tired of their games, hanged him from the tree as a warning to others, and drove off leaving your mother and sister lying in the dirt to die." "I brought your mother and sister to my house and called in the doctor. He treated the two of them as well as he could; physically they were not hurt that badly, but mentally they were really very badly wounded. Your mother has mostly recovered, but your sister's mind was badly affected. We cut your father down when they would let us, and we buried him in the churchyard. When your mother went to the bank to get some money for a headstone, she was told that your father's account had been seized by the Reich through the local Gestapo office. Since then they have stayed with me, and the parishioners have been helping me feed them. Your sister is somewhat better, though she still wakes up with terrible nightmares; your mother has become used to what they did, though she usually comes here daily to your father's graveside. She should be here shortly." I waited at the church with him until at last I saw my mother slowly walking down the road. What a change there was in her - the vital woman that I had last seen had disappeared. In her place was an old woman shuffling down the road, her head down, staring at the road at her feet. I waited for her by the gate of the churchyard, and as she approached me she finally looked up. At first she just saw the uniform and recoiled, turning away from me as if to go back the way she came, until I spoke softly. "Mutti, I am home and want to pray for Vater with you." She looked up at me with tears streaming down her cheeks, "Rudi, when you left, you had no time for your father or Berthe and me, you ridiculed our beliefs and all we stood for. All you talked about was Der Fuhrer and how the Third Reich was going to be victorious over the world. Now you are here and crippled, because of that dream. Why should we want to be with you? To take you back into the family? The animals you serve killed your father and treated your sister and I like common whores; no, not like whores, they would have had to pay them. They used us to try to make your father betray his friends, but he was too strong for them. They hanged him like a common criminal, rather than the man of principle that he was, and left us on the ground to die. If not for Hans, that is what we would have done, because that was what we wanted, death rather than the perpetual shame of what those animals did." I told her I had been hurt trying to prevent my gunner from firing into the refugees, and I had become tired of the cruelty of some I served with and those that I served. While I was in the hospital, I had been given lots of time to think alone. I had been coming home to talk to father to tell him that I now believed that he had been right when he warned me about Hitler, and to find out what he thought I should do. We walked across to his grave together, prayed silently, each wrapped up in our own thoughts. I felt a tentative hand upon my shoulder. I turned to mother and she looked up at me, then she opened her arms and put them around me. "Rudi, my son, welcome home. Come with Hans and me and see your sister, Berthe." "Wait," I said as I stepped back into the church and picked up my bag. "Along with my clothes I have some food in here to help with my living here." Then the three of us walked down the road to the house they were living in. Mother told me to wait outside while she and Hans went in and talked to Berthe. I heard crying and a loud voice saying, "No, I can't face him after what happened." I was about to turn and walk away when I heard my mother say, "Berthe, Rudi is your brother. He has changed. He is no longer the Nazi officer that he was. Please meet him and talk to him. He is part of our family, and even if we are unsure, we can't just turn him away." A few seconds later she came to the door and motioned me into the house. She quietly told me, "Be gentle with her. She has been through a lot. She still has dreams about what happened, and probably will have them for a long time." I went into the middle room of the house where Berthe was sitting in a chair, and if I hadn't been told it was she, I would not have recognized my own sister. She was curled into the chair, her arms crossed and pulled right in to her chest. Her clothing was clean, but shapeless, not at all the smartly dressed young woman that she had been. Her hair was unruly, and she looked at me as if she hated me. "Yes!" she shouted at me, "Look at me, see what your Nazi pigs did to Vater, me and Mutti! This is what Hitler's friends are all about, they are animals and if you are with them you are an animal too." Then she burst into tears. I went into the kitchen with Mother, where she told me that the Gestapo men had made Berthe pregnant, but the Doctor had terminated the pregnancy as he didn't think she was strong enough mentally. I admired his courage, that act alone would have ensured his death if betrayed.I asked about money, whether she had enough to live on. "Not in Germany," she replied, but your grandfather's lawyer came to see me after your father's death. When he sold his textile plant, your grandfather didn't want to leave his money to your father. He knew only too well that his son would give it all to the poor and rely on God to provide for his family. Instead, he split the money that he did not need and opened three accounts in your, mine and Berthe's names in a bank in Bern, but of course we can't get over the border to get it." I held her tightly and asked, "Mother, if it can be arranged, would you be willing to go to Switzerland with Berthe for your own safety? I know what I have to do; I must try to help end this madness, and I can't do that if you are within the reach of the Gestapo. Please do this so I won't have to worry about your safety if anything should happen to me." She hugged me back and replied, "If it would help, yes I would, but please promise me you will be careful. I have just got you back and don't want to lose you again." I had been given a lot of back pay, so my first actions were the actions of a dutiful son. I found a stonemason, arranged for a headstone for father's grave, and gave my mother enough money to buy some decent food. During the rest of my leave, I managed to contact the smugglers who had been protected by my father, and a few days before my leave was to end they took my mother and sister over the mountains into Switzerland. Once I knew they were safe in Bern, I reported back to Luftwaffe headquarters and, because of my injury and the fact that I had been to Ireland before, they sent me back to Dublin as an air attaché. From there it was a simple matter to slip a note into your diplomat's pocket as I brushed past him, and here we are." He slipped his hand into his pocket and took out a small package, "Just to prove I am in earnest, this is a roll of film, the photographs are of documents that your intelligence contacts will find very interesting. " After hearing his disturbing tale, I felt almost sorry for him as I slipped the package into my purse, but then I remembered what he had been like the first time we met. I gave him the envelope with his contact instructions telling him to read and memorise it, then destroy it. Then he spoke again, "Mrs. Rogers, Norma if I may call you that, I can't help but admire you, the way you hold yourself, the work you do, and your obvious pride in your country. Your husband was my friend in school, and I hope that one day after all this is over, he will be again." "As a former friend, I must warn you to be extremely careful; our resident Gestapo officer was talking to me a few days ago, asking about you. Apparently during the attacks on Russia a GRU office was taken, and when the Gestapo were going through the files there, they found a file with your name on it. They know that, besides your job in the Ambulance Service, you are an officer in the ATS. They are very interested in you and your contacts with military Intelligence. They also detailed how you seem to have the highest contacts and support in Britain and, through your husband's family, to the highest people in government in Ireland. I don't know if you know it, but they also had information that the American officer attached to your Ambulance unit is the son of a long term US Senator who is instrumental in directing the war effort. Be very careful! If the GRU has information like this, then it may be coming from a spy for the Russians, a very high level one." I was concerned, "Who are the GRU, and why would they be interested in me?" "They are the Russian Military Intelligence, and it appears that they have some highly placed informers. They probably are hoping that at some time you could be convinced to work for them." I found this a scary thought. How could they have this information, and what were they going to do with it? I started to get up to leave before saying, "Thank you for this information. I'm not sure that I know what to do with it just yet, but I will be very careful. What did you tell your Gestapo agent about me?" "The truth, that I had only met you once, under trying circumstances, and that the results of the meeting had been splashed over the front pages of a number of newspapers. He had no further questions after that." He said and gave me a little smile. I thanked him again, said goodbye, turned and left. Once in the lobby, I almost collapsed into my father's arms. "He told me I'm being watched by someone. I'm scared for the babies; I'm afraid that someone will try to threaten or harm them." "Let's go back to the farm. We will talk about it there and see what our best course of action will be," said John. "We can't really talk here." We drove back to the farm and avoided the subject as young John and Donald were in the car with us and we didn't want to alarm them at all. Once back at the farm, I found that my parents had gone to bed already. I couldn't resist the temptation to run up to the bedrooms and make sure that the children were alright. Once I saw their little heads on the pillows, my breath seemed to come out in a rush and I started to shake a little with the shock. When I went back downstairs, Mhairi had made tea and put out some scones and butter. When we were all sitting at the kitchen table, Mhairi looked at both of us before asking, "Now, will someone please tell me what has Norma so frightened? Girl, you look as if you have seen a ghost, you are so pale. And look, you can hardly hold your cup, your hands are shaking so badly." John looked at me and nodded, "You had better tell us both what happened." After a mouthful of tea to steady me, I began. "Well, first, Rudi was a perfect gentleman. He pointed out that he had spotted Donald. He seems to have had a real change of heart after being on the Russian front. He told me the terrible things that had been done to his parents and sister by the Gestapo," and I recounted his story for them so they would know what had happened. "What really frightened me, though, was what he told me at the end. Apparently the Gestapo have questioned him about me, as they had found a Russian Military Intelligence file on me specially noting my connections to you, and to presumably Military Intelligence at a high level. It really scared me to find out that they had a detailed, high level file on me, and my fears for the twins really bothered me. I just don't know what to do! do I trust the man I have talked to, or whoever he reports to, or do I try to contact someone else?" We talked it over, and were wondering if someone in the Irish government might best approach the British Government at a high level when Mhairi burst out, "Well, why don't you just tell the man you talk to the details of your conversation without the part about the Russians, and we can send a message to Herself (meaning the Queen) asking that you be allowed to talk to someone they absolutely trust? She said to contact her if we needed anything." Norma Rogers Ch. 06 It was such a good idea that I just gasped with relief. "That should work! Will you write the letter so we can get it mailed before we go back?" "That I will, it will be done tomorrow," she replied "Also I'll need some shopping time in Dublin. I need to buy some gifts, and I have something to take to the man I was told to contact. I don't want to carry it back with me." "Oh, we can arrange that without any problem. One thing I am going to suggest, though, is that when you go back, you should leave the twins here with us. Two more bairns around here aren't going to make a whole lot of trouble, and they will be far safer here than being in a nursery in London." I didn't like the idea of leaving the twins in Ireland where I wouldn't be able to see them, but for their safety I would if I decided it was necessary. I didn't trust the people that I had been working with anymore, as somebody had been supplying information to the Russians, so very reluctantly I agreed to leave them with their grandparents. Two days later Mhairi and I set off for Dublin in the car, and we were going to stay at the Gresham and do some Christmas shopping. I had telephoned Sir John Maffey's office, asked for the name I had been given in London and set up a meeting in the restaurant at the Gresham for the day we were due to arrive. We registered at the hotel and got comfortable in our room before I went down to the restaurant at the time we had arranged by phone and had tea brought to the table. I had only been there about ten minutes when a tall man in a blue pin striped suit stopped at the restaurant desk and had a word with the waiter. The waiter pointed to my table and the man came over, walking with a pronounced limp. He spoke in a low voice with a typical diplomatic upper class accent, "Might I ask if you are Mrs. Norma Rogers?" "Yes, I am Norma Rogers . Can you please verify your name?" "Yes, I am Charles Phillips. "Very good - I recognize your voice from your phone call." "Might I suggest, in order to draw less attention to us, that I sit for a while and also have tea? I have no doubt that my movements may be monitored, and if I am seen to be enjoying an afternoon tea with a beautiful woman, it will look less suspicious." "Please be seated. I have a couple of things to tell you anyway." He sat facing me, and I poured him tea before beginning, "As I said on the telephone, I have something for you from the man I met in Galway." Pointing at an old book I had with me, I continued, "This is hollowed out and there is a film from the person that Mr. Gray-Henry in London will be interested in. Would you please make sure it goes in the mail pouch today?" He laughed as I finished, "I think I can freely tell you that the man in London, is neither Mr. Gray or Mr. Henry, however I know who you mean and the package will be in his hands in two days at the most. Now, how did your meeting go at Galway?" "Well I'm not going to give out names where they are not needed, but I do believe that he is genuine and has a lot against the Nazi regime. He has the address for the mailbox, and he knows both the message to put in the shop window to let you know there is something there as well as the message you will use to correspond with him, so I think my job is finished." "Yes, I would say so. Thank you for being brave enough to do this for us." "I'm just glad it is all over. Now I can go back to my mother and enjoy Christmas without rationing ." He smiled, "Yes, it is a relief, isn't it?" We talked for a few minutes more before he rose, said goodbye and, picking up the book from the table, left the restaurant. Mhairi must have been watching from the lobby, as she came right in. "All done?" she asked. "Yes, it is all over, so now we can finally relax." "Good! I just posted the letter to Elizabeth's friend, so hopefully we will hear from her before too long." After a day spent shopping, Mhairi and I went back to the farm to prepare for Christmas; at least she did. Between her, Mairead, Mum and Mrs. O'Leary, I wasn't allowed to do much, so Dad and I had wonderful long walks about the area - when it wasn't raining, that is. I'm sure that is the reason that Ireland is so green, because of the amount of rain that falls. Christmas Day was wonderful. The twins had so many gifts to try to open, as did Rosie and her baby brother, John junior, and Mary spent the day with us. For once I got to look after my own babies, as Mairead went home and spent the day with her family. For a change we were able to eat until we were bursting, and of course the menfolk did the dishes after Christmas dinner while the women relaxed with cups of tea. Even Annie joined us. She had her own little cottage not far from the farm, but she came in for dinner. I found out from her that she had been married to a fisherman in Galway who was lost at sea, and the way she put it was, "I was so satisfied with my Patrick, he filled my life so well, that I've never felt the need to go looking for another one." She had a daughter who had gone to England to become a nanny and, while she was there, married a nice man in Birmingham. "Oh, I go over there once in a while to spoil the grandchildren, but life in the big city isn't for me." She smiled and continued, " This little corner of Ireland is quite enough for me." The next day, Boxing Day, passed in a similar way, a lazy day of wonderful meals until about 7 pm when the telephone rang and Mhairi answered it. "Yes, Norma Rogers is here. May I ask who is calling? Oh, Sir John Maffey's office." She looked over to me and beckoned, handing me the telephone handset. "Hello, this is Norma Rogers, with who am I speaking?" "This is Commander Charles Philips. I'm on Sir John's staff, and we met before Christmas as you likely remember." "Yes, I remember you. I'm just surprised to hear from you and a little surprised by your rank. One doesn't think of intelligence types as naval Commanders." "Well there is Military Intelligence, you know." He replied in what sounded like an affected, wounded tone. "Anyway," he continued, "I'm not really an intelligence type, and the title is left over from former service. Anything I do is out in the open and visible to our hosts. I'm sorry to disturb you on Boxing Day, but it is on the orders of Sir John. I need to know when you are expecting to travel home." "January 3rd, and why do you need to know?" "Well, I have very strict instructions that I have to ensure a safe journey home for yourself and your family. Those instructions come from the highest level, and I have been advised that, should I fail to ensure your safety, my duties at the next garden party will be that of wine waiter." He laughed, "Mama would not be pleased at that thought." "As I said, I am planning on travelling on January 3rd; I am going to leave the children and my mother here with my husband's parents for safety, so there will just be myself and my father travelling." "I've been made aware of some of the reasons for your trip, and just in case you are under observation, might I suggest that your entire party returns to make it appear as normal as possible. I assure you that as we speak, there are arrangements being made to ensure your safety and that of your children. What I would like is for you to meet me at the Gresham on January 2nd. Rooms 205 and 207 have been reserved for you and your party, and they interconnect so you can get together. I would meet you for tea as we did before at around 4 pm." "I still have your telephone number. Let me think it over, and I will contact you to let me know my decision." "I assure you it is very important that we meet. It has been stressed from very high up that no harm must come to you and your family, and it is my job to see that it doesn't. I take that responsibility very seriously." "Very well, I'll be in touch. Goodbye for now." "Goodbye, Mrs. Rogers, till the 2nd." He was certainly taking things for granted! End of part 6 Norma Rogers Ch. 07 The continuation of Norma's story after meeting Rudi in Ireland for Military Intelligence. This isn't intended to be a sexually charged story, just the life of a young mother, separated from her husband by thousands of miles, trying to contribute to the eventual victory of the Allied forces over Nazi Germany, while at the same time raising and protecting her two children. All characters are the product of the writer's imagination and bear no relationship to any particular person alive or dead. The story is the property of the writer and may not be used in any way without the writer's permission. As my volunteer editor yellowperil2 has been extremely busy making sure that he has a good retirement, I have to admit that any fault lies at my door and nobody else's * Over the holiday, I talked things over with Mhairi and John, and as my dilemma was by then obvious to Mum and Dad, I told them some of what was happening and why. Mum wasn't surprised; she had thought it obvious from the beginning that there was more behind our fast trip than just the Christmas holiday. She assured me that they supported me, and if necessary would look after the children. My father was a little upset, as he felt he should have been helping me when I was going to the meeting. With their help I thought things over for several days, then on the 29th, I called Charles. "Commander Philips, this is Norma Rogers, I have thought things over and as you recommended we will travel home at the same time. We will meet you at the Gresham Hotel as you requested." He replied, "Thanks for taking my advice; I'm sure you'll be happy with the arrangements I've made. I'll say goodbye for now and see you in the lounge at the Gresham at 4 pm on the 2nd." We spent a very pleasant New Year's Eve, with mys and their neighbours, dancing and singing the old Irish songs, and we celebrated the beginning of 1944 with a little more hope, than we had for the last couple of years. We had no idea of the monumental events that the year would bring. After a day to recover from New Year, early on January 2nd we set off for Dublin, arriving at the Gresham early in the afternoon. After we registered, we cleaned up the travel stains, and I left the two grandmothers drinking room service tea and playing with the babies. The Dad's had disappeared somewhere off on their own without telling us, so I headed down to the residents lounge. When I got there, Charles Philips was already there, seated at a table. To my surprise my father and father were at another table with glasses of Guinness parked in front of them. Charles stood, held a chair for me and saw me seated, and then he told me he had ordered Afternoon Tea for us. We were served quickly, and once the waiter had left he began to tell me what had been arranged. He sat, looked directly over at my dad and John then turned to me. "You didn't really need an escort you know." He said with a grin. "Believe me I had no idea what they were planning, but if I needed a guard, I don't think I could do better." "No you couldn't, I have seen both their war records, and I'm very happy that they are with you and provide that extra protection for you and the children. I have heard more from London since the last time we talked, any threat you may face probably would be from the Germans and is being treated extremely seriously. First we will be travelling from Dublin direct to Liverpool on the regular steamship run. While there is a little more risk of submarines, none have been seen in the Irish Sea for a long time, and as the ferry is registered to a British company, we can hide a security detail on board as crew. You will be travelling from Liverpool to London by first class rail, about a five hour trip. We will be taking you directly home, where there will be a female guard acting as a nanny to ensure the safety of the children at all times." "What about my work when I get home?" "You are to report to work as normal after taking a day to relax. After a couple of days the gentleman you are familiar with is going to visit you as an inspector from the Ministry, inspecting the station. Once in the station he will take the time to talk with you about your meeting. You can trust him; the Queen and Mr. Churchill do, implicitly." "When do we leave?" "The ship leaves on the tide, at 6 am tomorrow, so we will leave here at about 5 to get you aboard and settled." "Thank you for your care, I am really quite reassured." "Don't worry, I and a guard detail will be seeing you right to your doorstep, and we will be watching throughout the trip to see if anyone is taking any special interest in you." He said goodbye and left, and I went up to tell the others what was happening. After we had dinner, we all bathed to save time the next day, then after the children were down, we all decided on an early night; three thirty in the morning was going to come awfully early. Next morning we were up on time and after getting the children ready and downing a quick snack, we were ready to go when Commander Philips arrived. He brought a small bus which was parked in the yard of the hotel. After a hurried goodbye with Mhairi and John, we were escorted out of the back door of the hotel, boarding the bus, the bags were loaded and we were driven to the docks. The ship, the Lady of Mann was a hive of activity, taking on supplies, passengers and baggage. A group of four men were waiting on the dock, and as the bus doors swung open they took our baggage, and with two ahead of us and two behind, the six of us boarded the ship through a loading door in the side of the vessel. A ships officer guided us through the galley, to the passenger cabin deck where they had kept a four berth cabin for Mum, Dad the children and I. Once in the cabin, Philips had us don life jackets and asked us to wear them at all times during the voyage in case of U Boat attack. There were even small ones for the children. He told me that he and the guards would be in the next cabin, one man would be outside the cabin at all times, and if we wanted to go on deck, or to the dining room, to let him know, and a guard would come with us. A short time later we heard the rumble of the ships engines as they came to life, and looking out of the porthole, even in the dark, we could see the widening space between the ship and the dock. We were heading out into the Irish Sea, on the way home. Mum and Dad decided that they were going to try and rest for a while, and said they would look after the children, so I asked if I could go to the dining room. I was escorted there by Charles Philips, I hadn't had a lot for breakfast at the hotel as the kitchens were not fully open, so I had a second and filling breakfast. The waiter told us, "Don't expect this if you go the other way luv, it's only because we can load food in Dublin that we can eat like this." Charles was a mine of information about the company who owned the Lady of Mann, and told me quite a lot about the Isle of Man Steam Packet vessels war service, in both wars, four ships alone being sunk at Dunkirk and other areas early in the war. Ever curious I asked him, "Commander how did you become mixed up in all of this?" "Please, let's dispense with the formality, call me Charles and if I may I will call you Norma, we may well be called upon to work together again, and we don't need titles." "Very well Charles, but the question still stands, how and why?" "Well I am a Wirral boy and the house I lived in at Eastham, wasn't far from the Mersey. I messed around in boats every time I was home from school, so I was well used to the smell of salt water and the rolling of the waves. As my elder brother would of course come into the estate, I was slated for either a career in the Cheshire Regiment, or a life in the church. Not fancying being a foot soldier, and not being the vicar type, I opted for the Royal Navy. After finishing at boarding school, I applied for the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth. I was accepted and after a fairly undistinguished time there, joined the Fleet as a very junior sub lieutenant on a destroyer. Thanks to the war and the rapid expansion of the Navy I rose through the ranks fairly quickly, and ended up a Commander, commanding a Frigate in the North Atlantic Squadron, escorting convoys." "I noticed the limp, were you wounded?" "Yes, we were escorting a convoy into Southhampton instead of Liverpool, and in the Channel we had a brush with a flotilla of E Boats, the ship was strafed and the bridge hit. The damage wasn't very bad, but I got some of the shrapnel in my left leg. It healed, but the muscles were damaged and the leg is very stiff, it isn't easy for me to run up the ladders between decks, so instead of a ship I became the commander of a desk in the Squadron headquarters in Liverpool. While it was still important work, it still chafed a little, so when Sir John Maffey asked if I would join his staff in Dublin I jumped at the chance, he is a friend of fathers and had no problem getting me attached to his staff. That was probably because it was an easy way of getting a naval officer into Dublin, part of my job is to observe what goes on in the port, particularly any German shipping activity, and report back to London." "Is your brother in the services?" "He was with the 8th Army; unfortunately he was killed at El Alemein in the battle against Rommel's forces." "Well doesn't that make you the heir to your father's estate?" "Yes it does, not that I really want to be; I'm quite happy to be a naval officer not a farmer, but in a post war world I suppose my injury will dictate my life, whether or not the navy will have a place for me or not, or whether I will go back to the family estate. It's quite small now, some of the farms have been sold off and now it is not much larger than two of the old family farms. The Manor house is old, it needs lots of expensive work, and the family fortunes quite forbid it. While we might be said to part of 'County Society', it really doesn't mean a whole lot as a great many families are finding out. By the time my father paid all the Death Duties on the estate after his father died, there wasn't much left in the bank. "Do you still live at the Manor?" "No, my wife Penny and I have a house in Chester, close enough to Liverpool, but in a charming old city, and with lots of room for our two children and any more we might have." "Two children? Boys or girls?" "Both boys, one is five and the other three, I haven't been home for a while to get started on a girl." He smiled at the thought. "You must have married early." "Yes, Penny made her mind up quite early, when she was around fifteen I think. Her parents ran one of the tenant farms, so she was always around when I was home from school. She wrote to me while I was at Dartmouth, which I was very happy with, but caused me no end of teasing from the other cadets for the first year or so. Somehow she always seemed to be on hand when I was on leave, growing into a very attractive woman. During my last year at Dartmouth, I really fell for her. When I completed my education and joined the Home Fleet, she took pity on a poor subbie and married me, much to my parents delight. Actually she has been very good for me, when I go into those flights of fancy about high society, she keeps me very well grounded. Hopefully, once I have you safely in London I will have a little time with them on the return trip." "I hope that you do, I know how you feel, I miss my husband so much, he has been gone so long and there is so little chance that he will get home until everything is over. He left before the children were born so they will be quite grown before they get to meet their father, and before he ever gets to see them." "Where is he?" "He is a Major in the Royal Engineers, as far as I can tell he is in India, but who knows for sure, the situation out there seems so confused." "I hope for your sake that he makes it through and home. I had a draft out there before the war, with the Far East Fleet, and it isn't only the danger from action, but the danger from illness that you have to beware of." "I know, I've transported patients from the hospital ships who have suffered from various fevers and they are usually pretty sick, those who survive. Now Charles; if you will excuse me, I would like to go back to the cabin, thinking of Jim makes me want to just be with my children and hold them." "Norma, that feeling is very familiar, there isn't a day that goes by that I don't want to hold Penny and my boys and protect them from the world, and the only way that we can do that is win this war." He escorted me back to the cabin and as I opened the door said "Don't forget, the Royal Navy is protecting you. Your guards are members of the Liverpool Shore Patrol and as tough as they come." The crossing was unusual for January, in that it was very smooth so the ship was able to keep up a good speed. The Irish Sea isn't known for being calm and enjoyable, especially in the winter, but we were not even rolling that much and had quite a quick comfortable trip. About three hours later Charles returned to us, he knocked and I opened the door and let him in. He smiled and said, "Norma, we are about to enter Liverpool Bay and the Mersey. I'm sure that you would find it interesting if you would like to come up on deck. We will dock in around an hour and will be leaving the ship the same way as we boarded, so you will be the last to leave and can take your time." I went up on deck with him and to my surprise he led me up several more decks until we came to the rear of the bridge. He opened the door and said, "Commander Philips, and Mrs. Rogers request permission to enter the bridge. A tall man with a gold edged peak on his cap and several rings on his sleeve replied, "Permission granted." We entered the bridge, and Charles introduced me to Captain Davies the captain of the ship. We then looked out into the morning light at the land coming closer to us, Charles pointed out a green dome a long way off the starboard bow. "Sailors call that the Dome of Home, the church of St Peter and St Paul; they call it that because it is usually the first sight of Merseyside that a sailor sees as he is coming home from the Atlantic." A little further on, we came upon a line of ships at anchor, surrounded by naval vessels. Some of the ships seemed to be badly damaged, listing and in trouble, water being pumped over the sides, the whole atmosphere seemed to be one of tiredness, the rusty salt stained ships straining at their anchor chains as if they could not wait to get into port. The whole scene looked as if it was painted in shades of gray paint, so drab and pathetic, I really felt for those who manned the ships. There was a small motor boat about the size of a large lifeboat running between the ships, and a larger boat that had Liverpool Pilot written on the sides. I was curious, "What is happening here?" "Those ships are a convoy that has just arrived from America and Canada. They are carrying anything from tanks and other weapons to ammunition and food. They are deeply loaded and have to wait for the flood tide so that they can get over the Mersey Bar without grounding. He saw the quizzical look on my face, so he explained that the Bar is an accumulation of sand that comes downriver with the ebbing tides. Normally the channel would be dredged deeper, but as the Admiralty has taken a number of the dredgers to the south coast, the ones left can't do as much here. They are working more in the river and the docks. Once the tide comes in, the depth increases and the ships can get over the Bar safely. That is when the river pilots that are in the small boat will take over the helm of each ship, and guide them to their berths or moorings. The naval ships running the screen around them are guarding them from submarines." Just then his face took on a wistful look. "What is it," I asked. He pointed to a warship coming towards us, "That is HMS Avon, a River class frigate, she was my last command. She looks a little the worse for wear, but not as bad as after she was hit in the Channel, she could use a little time in dock to get a bit cleaner, but they just don't get the time in between trips, anyway it makes for better camouflage when they are out at sea." By this time we were in a little closer and in the distance I could see a lighthouse, something like a small fort, and of all things a holiday pier. Charles laughed at the wondering look on my face, "Welcome to New Brighton, the holiday centre for the Liverpool area. Before the war, this was a mecca for the people of Liverpool, and it still is to some extent. It is just a ferry trip and a pleasant walk from Liverpool, there is still lots of entertainment, several theatres, and I believe the pier has been re-opened. It was closed early in the war to deny access to enemy ships, but it didn't make an awful lot of sense as the Ferry terminal alongside it was still open, so the workers from New Brighton who worked in Liverpool could still get there by ferry. There are several fairgrounds, though the one indoor fairground, that large blue green building that you can see, has been taken over by the US Army as a munitions factory. The fort is the Perch Rock Battery, and is equipped with naval guns to command the estuary. Right now we are passing under the sights of other naval guns that wouldn't hesitate to blow us out of the water if needed. In between those guns are the anti-aircraft guns that line the shore, right down the length of the river. Any marauding ships or aircraft would be in for a nasty welcome as the Luftwaffe have found out to their cost. Not only that, but the RAF has bases on each side of the river as well, at Speke and Hooton. When you talk of an armed camp, the term describes the Mersey perfectly." We began to turn into the river and we seemed to be heading right at two ships which were close together, as we neared them they separated and we sailed between them. As we did, I noticed a line of buoys stretching away from their sterns. Charles anticipated my question. "They are block ships, controlling the anti-submarine net that stretches from each shore. Now we are a lot safer than we were at sea and can get rid of our lifejackets. A mist was just lifting from the river, and I couldn't help but marvel at the difference between Ireland and England. In a way it was depressing, the change from the greens and browns of a winter in Ireland, to the grim stark grays and blacks of wartime England. As we passed the pier at New Brighton, looking eastward over the port bow, I saw a sight that I had seen many pictures of, the Liverpool waterfront, with the dark coloured Royal Liver Insurance building, it's famous Liver Birds on the two towers away in the distance, showing starkly against the skyline. The red sandstone Liverpool Cathedral was up on a hill behind it, the bombed end clearly visible, the bare sandstone not yet darkened by the ravages of weather. On the starboard side was a long promenade with two more ferry piers. Behind the promenade streets went uphill into the town, Charles told me that the town was called Wallasey and that the promenade was a fine walk in the summer. On a grassy strip behind the promenade the muzzles of anti-aircraft guns jutted from between the trees. The sky over the docks was dotted with sausage shaped barrage balloons, ready if needed. The river was busy, with tugs fussing about getting ready to bring in the ships, and ferries crossing the river, narrowly missing the superstructures of two sunken ships. We passed the two sunken ships, and it seemed that in no time at all, we had come alongside the Princes Landing Stage at the Pierhead. Alongside where we were tied up, a dark blue RN bus waited. Norma Rogers Ch. 07 Returning to the cabin, we took the life jackets off, got the children ready, and the guards picked up our baggage. Going back through the galley, we left the ship through the loading door in the side of the vessel, crossing the level gangplank, and climbing aboard the waiting bus. As soon as we were seated the driver set off along the landing stage, and up a floating roadway into the city. We drove past the Liver Building, under the tracks of an overhead railway, and then we passed a church that had been almost fully demolished by bombs. All that was left standing was the spire. This kind of sight was to be repeated as we drove; the damage to stores and office buildings from bombing was just as extensive as that in London. After about a ten minute drive we entered Lime Street Station, pulling up on the platform alongside the London train, it had apparently been held up until our arrival. Our guards saw us aboard the train, and as soon as we were seated in the first class compartment two of them left us, we heard the whistles of the train guard and then the engine, and before we knew it, the train was smoothly pulling out of the station in a cloud of steam. Mum couldn't resist the remark "Charles, you might have let us have a look around Liverpool, we didn't see a thing." He replied, "Mrs. Walker, you saw more of Liverpool than most arriving troops. A little further along from where we berthed is where the liners and troopships berth. Riverside railway station is right there on the dock, so they are marched off the ship, up the walkway to the station, on to the train and away they go to their camps. They see nothing of Liverpool at all unless they are to be stationed here. I don't know if you noticed that group of W.R.N.S girls beside Exchange station, they are on the staff of the North Atlantic Command Operations Base, way down below the station, I worked down there before I joined Sir John's staff." The train was an express with only five stops, the first at Crewe. There was a dining car attached and we all went and had some lunch; they even provided special food for the children. In Third Class the train was packed, mostly with soldiers, sailors and airmen, going on or returning from leave. Some must have been travelling to new postings as they seemed loaded down, and a number were carrying rifles as well, I still remember it, corridors packed with men in khaki or blue, servicemen and women who couldn't find seats in the carriages, sitting in the corridor on their kit bags, or standing, with the crush getting worse at each stop. We were lucky to be travelling first class as there were just a few families, and some officers. We arrived in London around 5pm pulling into Euston Station, to be met on the platform by another naval officer, and a naval bus. Within 15 minutes, we were getting off the bus outside our home, to be met by a very pregnant Nancy, and Hank who had made it home for a few days. Nancy couldn't wait to ask questions. "What is going on, you rush off to Ireland with your family, hardly saying a word, and then back you come on a navy bus, surrounded by sailors. If it wasn't for your Mum and Dad being here I'd be thinking you were up to something?" "Nancy, it's a long story, and I'll tell you as much as I can later. This is Commander Charles Philips of the Royal Navy, he has escorted us back from Ireland and I'm sure he wouldn't mind a cup of tea for his troubles." "Oops, I'm forgetting my manners, come in Commander and I'll get the kettle on." She swung around, her well rounded belly almost overbalancing her. Seeing her from the side, the baby was very low, and it was obvious that she would give birth very soon. Charles took our bags into the house, and had a word with the other officer. He turned to me and said. "Norma the bus will take your parents back to Bromley and I will see you settled before I head back to Liverpool and a few days at home." I quickly hugged my parents, told them I would see them at the weekend, then the bus pulled away with all of us waving. Charles and Hank helped me get the children and bags into the house, and then I took their coats off, putting them down to play with their toys, while we had tea. I introduced Hank properly to Charles, and Charles asked him how long he would be at the house. Hank told him at least four days, depending on when Nancy had the baby. "Well that sets my mind at ease Norma; at least you will have protection. Tomorrow morning a WPC of the Metropolitan Police will be here to see you and set up security for the children. As Hank will be here with you, I'll just have some tea, and get on my way back." After we had tea, he picked up his small bag and I escorted him to the door. He looked so lost for a moment; I couldn't resist stretching up and kissing him on the cheek. "Thank you for the care that you have taken with us to get us safely home." We stood outside for a moment. Charles spoke, "Norma, would you mind if I gave Penny your name and address to write to you? She feels so out of things at times, and she would like to do more than she is." "Charles that would be fine, in fact you give me her name and address and I will get started writing, I want to thank her for letting me borrow you." He quickly wrote it down for me. "Goodbye Norma, it has been a privilege helping you and your family. I feel deep down that we will be meeting again." "Charles, that wouldn't surprise me as I'll no doubt, be back to Ireland in the future. Oh before I forget, you might pass on to your bosses in Liverpool, that they should keep a watch on the bays and coves on the west coast of Ireland, the Germans are looking to use them for refueling their submarines as they think the Irish population would sympathize with them. Now, go home to Penny and start on that little girl." He laughed, "I'll do just that." He turned and walked away as I went indoors, only to be greeted in the hallway by Nancy, looking concerned, with hands on hips, like a mother hen ready to look after her chicks. "Now, tell us what is going on, what is the big secret?" She looked so severe that I couldn't help laughing. "I'm serious:" she said, "What is happening that you had a navy escort, and what is this security thing that will be going on?" She looked as if she were about to burst into tears. I wanted to reassure her. "Nancy, everything is alright, I just met someone that I knew while I was over there, and had to get some information to the Government. I was told that our friends in Russia had a file on me, and Charles and the security team were just a precaution to ensure our safety, that's what the WPC will be coming about too, to provide safety for the babies during the day while we aren't here." Hank asked, "What about Nancy and our baby, will they be included?" "Yes Hank, by the way, the Russians and now the Germans know of our connection through Nancy, and they know that your father is a Senator." Suddenly, Nancy's face was a picture of astonishment when she heard that. "How would they know that, I hadn't even told Nancy that he is?" "I don't know but I should know more in the next few days." Then Nancy interjected and asked, "Hank, why didn't you tell me that your dad is a Senator?" "Honey, it's no big secret but I wanted to keep it that way, I just don't want to be known as the Senator's boy, I'd rather be judged on my own merits. In the Army if you are related to someone in Government, any promotions tend to be thought of as because your Dad is who he is. What really concerns me is that the leak seems to be from high up, that is the only way they could know who my Dad is." I joined in saying, "I know; we already discussed that, I will be seeing my contact from the Ministry sometime next week, so I should know more then. Now, the important stuff, Nancy when is your due date?" "Next week but I saw the Doctor yesterday, and he says any time." "Good, so let's have something to eat, then you get upstairs and put your feet up, Hank it's your job to make sure she does. I'll look after getting the twins fed and to bed, they have had a long day." Hank had brought a lot of stuff with him from the PX as he called it, so we had sausage, egg and chips, with an omelet for the twins. Then I bathed them and got them settled in their own beds. They chattered away in their own language for a little while, but before long were sound asleep. I rapped on Nancy's door and she yelled "Come in." She was lying on her bed and Hank was sitting on a chair beside her. She grinned, "Come on in Norma, I've just been getting filled in on the rest of the family secrets. Not only is my father a Senator he is also the Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, my brother in law is a lawyer understudying his dad, so that he can run for the Senator's job when his dad retires. My mother in law is the head of the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and here I am, poor Nancy Edwards, a little nobody from Nottingham, who will have to keep up with all this celebrity." Hank sat there with a pained look on his face, he still had difficulty realising when Nancy was getting him going on purpose, just like most other husbands I suppose. "Nancy, we don't even have to live in the same town, we can just see them for Thanksgiving and Christmas, anyway, most of the time they are away in Washington. When they are in town Dad is just plain Henry Edwards who used to practice law on Main Street. Mom is going to just love you; she just hates people who try to make her something she isn't." "Hank, can't you tell when I'm joking yet?" meeting your family is going to be part of the biggest adventure of my life, moving to America, getting used to a whole new life. Anyway I've got your Mom on my side already," Patting her belly she grinned, "Her new grandchild is in here, it's a woman thing, we all stick together." "Well, if you two lovebirds have quit arguing can I ask a favour, can you listen out for the twins while I nip along to Jenny's, she will be thinking I'm neglecting her." "Oh, if you don't want our company, you just go right ahead, we will look after them, Hank needs the practice, I'll bet your mother took them all the time while you were there" "No I was really hard done by; I had to make do with a Nanny." I really had to laugh at the dumbfounded look on Nancy's face. "Oh I'm sure your mother will do the same for you when you get over there." With that I went down to Jenny's where over a cup of tea, I told her what the holiday had been like and how thrilled the children were with their toys, and she did the same thing for me. She was like a breath of fresh air, her down to earth attitude was so refreshing, telling me what she had heard from Bert, and filling me in on the gossip from the Dog and Duck. It really felt that I was home, I knew there were several letters waiting for me, and I was waiting until I was in bed before I read them. The blackout had been partially lifted while there had not been any raids so there was a little light to walk home. As I opened the door Hank was coming down the stairs, a worried look on his face. "Norma, Nancy's getting pains." At this I ran upstairs and into their room, Nancy was partially sitting up, grimacing as a wave of pain hit her. "Nancy, how long have you been having pains?" "Since around lunch time but they were just niggling feelings that I thought were just back pain." "How far apart are the pains now?" "About 5 minutes." Hank was by my side, "Hank, ready or not, you are about to become a father, go and get Mrs. Oliver, she is the area midwife, she lives on the next street, two doors down from the Dog and Duck on the same side She has been looking after Nancy." He went off in a rush, even forgetting his jacket as he went, I started getting things ready. This wasn't the first time I had been in on a birth, as babies were born even during the worst of the blitz. I stripped the blankets from the bed, and got out one of the babies rubber sheets to put over the mattress, then put another sheet on top of it. Then another sheet to cover Nancy, and I got her into one of her lightest night gowns. She complained, "I'm having a baby, not seducing my husband." "Girl, you are going to be sweating, I know, I've done it, twice in one night, and believe me you don't want anything heavy on." Just then Mrs. Oliver walked into the room. In her blue uniform, white cap and apron she radiated an aura of cool calm efficiency. She put down her bag, and then examined Nancy. She smiled at Nancy, "Well you'll be a mother before the night is out, the baby is in the right position, head down and you are dilating a little, but I think we can wait an hour or so before we call the doctor." Just then as if to prove her wrong, Nancy's water broke with a flood, Hank who was still in the room turned pale, and looked at me with a questioning look. Mrs. Oliver just wrapped up the sheet, passed it to me, and then placed another under Nancy. The rubber sheet had done its job protecting the bed from the rush of fluid; now with luck things would be fairly clean until the placenta came out. Taking pity on Hank, I took hold of his arm and led him to the door, "Hank, this is all natural and now is when the women take over, there is nothing you can do here but get in the way, but I'm sure that we can all use some tea." He went down stairs, and into the kitchen. Nancy asked if I could stay with her, and I looked across at Mrs. Oliver, "Yes, that's fine and I know Doctor Brownlee won't mind, thinking of him, I think it is about time that we sent your husband off to get him. He will bring some gas along that will help dull your pains a little if you need it." I left the room to go to Hank, He had made a pot of tea, and was pacing up and down the hallway, sleeves rolled up as if he was going to work at a manual job, and his face was looking absolutely white. He spoke, "Norma how is she? Why didn't we go to the hospital?" "Hank, Nancy is just fine; all is going as it should and she is quite comfortable right now. This isn't America Hank, most single birth babies are born at home over here, unless there is reason to think there might be a problem. The Doctor doesn't have any reason to think that with Nancy, her pregnancy has been really smooth. She is going to hurt, she is going to yell and likely curse both you and the baby, but that is normal so don't get worried when you hear it. If there are any problems they can be dealt with as they rise. Now, it is time to get the Doctor, he lives over his office, the place you were at with Nancy yesterday, he will likely need you to help him with the gas bottle." "Gas, why would he need gas?" "Relax, it is just a light anesthetic, to help Nancy with the pain, but not interfere with the birth. Now just go get him! I will look after the tea." He put on his coat and went out the door in a hurry, I went back up and held Nancy's hand, when the contractions hit, she held my hand in a vice grip. Mrs. Oliver checked her again, saying that she was dilating nicely, and she could feel the shape of the top of the baby's head. A few minutes later we heard footsteps on the stairs and Doctor Brownlee joined us. He examined her then said, "Nancy, just like I told you, you are a natural at this, it won't be long before the baby is in your arms, I just want you to push when you get the contractions, and it will soon be over." He was a man of his word and Nancy had one of the fastest and easiest labours that I had ever heard of. While Nancy was none too quiet, she didn't even wake the twins in the next room, and a very quick three hours later, Henry Edwards III put in his appearance. At seven pounds two ounces, he wasn't that big, but his lungs worked well, letting the world know he had arrived. I got some warm water and bathed him while Mrs. Oliver and Dr. Brownlee finished cleaning Nancy up. Then when he was snuggled down on Mum's breast, we let Hank in to meet his son. While I had seen Hank in a number of emotional situations, the expression of love on his face was a treat to see, and when he held Henry for the first time it was so gentle that he seemed to be scared he would break the baby. I had provided the old standby, the pillow in a wardrobe drawer and I put it on two chairs beside Nancy, she hadn't even needed any stitches, so she could lean over to reach Henry quite easily. Hank telephoned his base, and advised them of the birth, and his adjutant told him that unless he heard any different, he was on leave for ten days, until Nancy was up and around and able to do things for herself without any help. That night, after seeing the looks of wonder and love on Hank and Nancy's faces, I had one of the worst nights that I had experienced so far. Sleep seemed to be denied me, I needed Jim beside me so much, it seemed so unfair that he had been denied the experience of holding his new born children, and I wanted him so much. I touched myself to make me feel as if he was there with me, but on this night that was a very poor substitute and eventually I fell asleep. After a very short night's sleep, I was awakened by two young voices telling me "Baby, Baby". The twins had got out of bed quietly, and had gone to see Nancy, and found her nursing Henry. They were delighted with him, and I could see that we would have to make sure they didn't think he was a new toy, though I had no idea then that things would change as rapidly as they did. I fed them some warm bread and milk, and both of them dozed off again so I sat in the kitchen until I heard something from Hank or Nancy. At 8 am there was a sharp rap on the door, and opening it I found a very smartly dressed woman, in her early twenties standing there." "Mrs. Rogers?" she asked. "Yes, can I help you?" "I'm Clara Higgins, from the Metropolitan Police." In the fuss of the previous night, I had completely forgotten that we were going to have a police presence in the house. "Oh, I'm so sorry, I had completely forgotten, we had a baby born here during the night so everything else slipped my mind, come on in and I'll put the kettle on." Clara smiled and followed me through to the kitchen where I put the kettle on ready for tea. I brought her up to date on what had been happening, then she told me what her instructions had been. "My instructions are to act as a nanny would. That won't be as hard as it might have been, as that was my job as soon as I left school until I joined the Met, so I will be staying with you at the house. I will take the children to the nursery during the day; another WPC will be working there and will watch over the children there. My boss thinks that this will be a long term job so I will be relieved for days off and leave. I hope you have room for me." "Well that will be a bit of a problem right now, we only have three bedrooms, but we can make do I'm sure." "I can always go to my Mums place at night while Captain Edwards is here, then I can be here after he has gone back to base." "That sounds pretty good, what time will you be here in the mornings." "At about 7.30, that will give you time to get to your station for 8, I can walk with you, and then take the children to the nursery. That way I can see whether anyone is taking any interest in you and have the children at the nursery by 8.30. Then I will have lots of time to watch the area, to see if anybody is taking an unhealthy interest in your home." "In that case I will start back to work tomorrow and give you a clear field." After our little chat, Clara went up to meet Nancy and Hank, and of course as most women would, take a good look at their new addition. After a time, Clara came back down, opened a bag that she had with her, and took out an apron much like a nurse's apron. She put it on, pinning it up in the front, and with her dark blue suit, it really transformed her into the nanny that she was supposed to be. She met the twins, and told me that her intention was to fade into the background as much as possible. As she put it, "Nobody notices the servants, and even if they do they dismiss them as having no consequence. As this is what I am looking to do, I will do most of looking after the twins, and Nancy's baby when I am here. That is what people will expect to see. I will take them to the nursery then pick them up later and walk home with you." Norma Rogers Ch. 07 "I feel such a fraud, being escorted home from Ireland, then having a police escort and bodyguard." "Better to be safe than sorry, I haven't been told everything I'm sure, but I've been told enough to believe that there is a very valid threat to you and your family, that is what my inspector told me, so I have to act accordingly." I continued, "For today we will take the children out and let them get used to you, they love to go to the park and play on the swings, and that will let you meet them properly. I must say I could get really used to this, my mother had a Nanny on hand when we were over in Ireland for the holiday and she was really appreciated." "Well if we are going to do the job properly, then we have to make it as convincing as we can." Next morning bright and early Clara was at the door, dressed in apron and blue dress all set to take the children, who were already breakfasted and dressed. We took them out with Clara pushing the pram and walked to the station, I kissed the children, and Clara took them off to the nursery, to hand them over to her opposite number there. Then she went back to the house to give Hank a hand with the baby, and of course Nancy, who despite just giving birth a few short hours ago, was chafing at the bit to be up and looking after Hank and the baby. No matter how often I told her to enjoy the rest while she could, she kept insisting that she was fine. Clara was also going to be keeping an eye on the street to see if there was any activity. Then people wonder why all the British have net inner curtains, how else could we see and not be seen? When I walked into my office, my assistant looked up. "Thank heavens you are here, I just got a message that an inspector from the Ministry of Health would be here this afternoon for a snap inspection." I wasn't thinking as I said 'I expected it to be quick but not that quick!" She looked up at me with a quizzical look on her face. I thought quickly, "I was told before I went on leave that there was going to be an inspection in the New Year, I didn't say anything as I wanted them to see the station as it always is, ready for anything and not polished up for an official visit." "Oh I see; I'm glad you didn't say anything as everybody would be running around for the last week polishing and painting." "Yes I know, now; what has been happening while I was away." She told me what had transpired during the three weeks, mainly transfers of patients, there had been no more bombing, so they had quite a peaceful time. The authorities were allowing limited lighting at night, so driving was much safer, but most in city ambulance calls were being handled by the regular Fire Service ambulance crews, as they were before the war. Later in the afternoon, Mr. 'Gray' came in, accompanied by an assistant, and performed a very convincing role as a Ministry Inspector, before asking if we could speak privately in my office. This time it was me sitting behind the desk and him in front and I started the talking. "Now Mr. Gray or whoever you are, isn't it time we laid our cards on the table and cleared up any misconceptions?" "Yes, you have well shown how trustworthy you are, and your security clearance couldn't be higher. For a start, I am Peter Richards, and my primary employer is Military Intelligence, Section 6, we deal with external threats such as spies." "Finally, I get to hear something that sounds like the truth. Why did you begin to use me?" "It was because of your connection to the Rogers family by your marriage to Jim. Your name was passed on to us from a very high level, as somebody who could possibly be used as a contact with them. Your father is well known as a moderate in Ireland, and it is very useful to be able to get messages to him if needed. As for your mother in law, while she is known as a firebrand on Scottish nationalism, her patriotism to Britain as a whole is beyond question, so it is very much to the country's advantage to have your informal contact with them." "They are my extended family, not contacts to the Irish or Scottish nationalists, certainly not to me; I didn't want this role in life. I'm just a simple woman who wants her husband back home and her family happy." "Norma, in times such as these, responsibility comes to the person who can do the job. It can be sought after, but more often than not, comes as it has with you, by accident. Your meeting James that night set in motion a train of events that will continue throughout your life, some of which have played an important part in fighting this war. You describe yourself as a simple woman; you are anything but simple, your exemplary ambulance work alone has shown that, both in practice and in your teaching of others. On top of that you have become involved in intelligence work, hopefully not too deeply but one can never tell what is going to happen." "The film that you gave to Commander Philips contained an excellent assortment of German documents and military positions, and also a copy of the document recovered from the Russians. We can tell from it, that we do have a highly placed leak in our intelligence office, and a quiet investigation has started. We honestly don't believe that there is a danger to you from the Russians, but it could put you in some danger from the Germans, who seem to believe that you are extremely influential, so our security measures are going to be a part of your life for a while. Speaking of the Germans, what was your impression of Captain Von Ansel?" I told him what had happened and what words had passed during our meeting then continued with what I felt. "Compared to our first meeting that night in Dublin, I think that Rudi has undergone a tremendous shock to his beliefs, and a complete change in thoughts, first through his experiences on the Russian front, his wounds, and worst of all, that people he trusted and believed in, treated his family the way that they did, and just left them to die. I can't help but believe that his family has become the most important thing in his life, and he sincerely wants to help end the war as quickly as possible." "We checked the information that he sent us on film, and part of what he told us corresponds with information that we are getting from the French Resistance, so it gives us checks and balances. As you are well aware, we are putting together the forces that will eventually be landing in Europe. Knowing where the various German units are will help us to keep them away from the landing areas, so his information is very valuable. We owe you a debt of gratitude, as we don't think he would have talked to anyone but you." "No I don't think he would have." "Well all that we would like you to do for the present is what you have been doing all along. The training is going to be increasing, and we still want you to look after your station with a good deputy. While we don't see it happening soon, we may have to send you back into Ireland to contact Captain Von Ansel." "With the bombing being sporadic, the way that it has been for the past year, do we really need to be that prepared?" "It is extremely important that we keep up the training. This can go no further than this room, but in the information that Von Ansel sent, he mentioned that while he was in Berlin at Luftwaffe headquarters, he heard that the Germans have several super weapons in development, and an extremely fast fighter that will be hard for our pilots to shoot down. We can't let our guard down for a minute. Even though our forces are doing well in Italy and the Russians are pushing the Germans back, we still have a long way to go, and lots can still happen. The worst thing we can do is let our guard down on any front." After chatting a little longer and asking if I had heard from Jim, he left, and I called my deputy into the office, to warn her that we would be increasing training, and asked her to work out a schedule with the ARP and Home Guard to have joint training sessions. A few days later, I got an example of how the intelligence section could work fast at times. In a surprise call, Hank was ordered to report to SHAEF headquarters. He left home looking quite concerned, to draw a jeep and drive to HQ. He got back late at night with some surprising news. He reported to the duty officer there, and was taken to see an aide to General Eisenhower. He was told that he was wrong not to have declared his status as the Senators son, and would not be allowed to take part in the invasion of Europe. As Hank put it, "They don't care if I get killed or wounded, what they care about is that they don't want me captured, as that would put big pressure on Dad. Now I'm to report to the U S Army hospital at some place called Cheltenham, and they are putting me in charge of the ambulance services to all the US forces hospitals in the UK." Nancy was quick to jump in, "I hope you don't want Henry and I to feel sorry about that, at least I'll know that you are safe and I won't feel like Norma looks every time she sees a telegram boy, thinking that he could have bad news for her." "No, I don't, No matter what my own feelings are about not being a part of the invasion, I can see the reasons easily enough, and Dad doesn't need the pressure of me being a POW to handle, as well as all his responsibilities. One good thing though, at least I'll be able to live off base so we can get a house in the area, it is a country area so we won't have to worry much about bombing. Nancy, I hope you are ready to hand in your helmet and uniform, and be a wife and Mom." "That is what I was going to do anyway, it just adds to the excitement that you will be home every day, and I won't have to wonder what is happening to you." She just walked across to where he was sitting, sat on his lap and put her arms around his neck and smiled as she kissed him. Much as I was used to seeing their shows of affection, I was a bit jealous of her luck, and again began thinking of Jim being thousands of miles away. God but I missed that man, why couldn't he be posted at home so we could be together? I could feel the tears starting to form and slide down my cheeks, so to hide them I went through to the kitchen and began making tea until I became more composed, and then took some through to them. "Nancy, we've been together since the bombing began back in 1940, I'll really miss you, Hank and the baby. I won't have you to cheer me up when I'm feeling down and lost. She smiled at me. "I'll only be at Cheltenham, it's not like I'm leaving the country, not yet anyway, it is only a couple of hours by train, and I'm sure that we will be coming into London once in a while. We always knew that once I married Hank I would eventually be leaving, and it isn't as if we were moving to America yet. We'll still be able to see each other, and it will make room for Clara too." "Oh I always knew it would happen, but I'm really going to miss you. Clara is nice but she and I haven't been through anything like you and I have and that has been a big bond for us." Hank interjected, "Hey Norma, what about me, are you going to miss my smiling face too?" "Yes Hank, I'll really miss you too, and all the coffee that you have been supplying us with, we will have to go back to the grim reality of rationing and the thought of eating horsemeat or whale meat doesn't thrill me either." He smiled, "Gee, that's all that I get remembered for, just as you Brits say, 'cupboard love' that's it. Loved for what I could put in the food cupboard." Nancy nudged him, "Well, you did ask, but I'm sure Norma thinks better of you than that." I could hardly keep a straight face. "True, for a Yank he isn't bad though I had my doubts that first day I met him, maybe working with us straightened him out." Then I gave up and started laughing. We ended up sending him round to the Dog and Duck to pick up some beer and the three of us had an impromptu party to celebrate Hank's new job and incidentally his promotion to Major. As he put it, it would be difficult for a mere Captain to tell ambulance unit commanders what to do. A month later, their furnished house found and rented, they were off to the wilds of Gloucestershire where Hank was now stationed. There were promises to keep in touch, and to write each other regularly, and so we did. Nancy called once in a while, but I really missed her at work as well, so I threw myself back into it doing a lot of training, getting ready for the eventual invasion. A lot of our work was going to be handling casualties from the ports to the hospitals. Between the training, writing back and forth to Jim, Nancy and now there was Penelope Phillips who wrote such interesting letters, that I began to feel that we had known each other all our lives. Winter began to turn to spring, a spring with some hope in the air. Most of the men one saw on the street were in uniform. There were regular lorry convoys from Euston Station as arriving American and Canadian troops travelled from Liverpool to London and were taken to camps in the south. Eventually in mid May 1944 travel to the Republic of Ireland was banned, and civilian access to coastal areas in the south was restricted to emergencies only. Jenny had talked to her mother and found out that soldiers were camped in all the parks, in the ditches beside the roads, anywhere where there was space, then on the morning of the 6th of June, Jenny's mother called the station in great excitement to ask me to tell her that all the troops had gone during the night. I also got instructions to call the Ministry of Health and I was told that Allied troops had landed in Normandy that morning so we could expect casualties at any time... My instructions were that my detachment of volunteer ambulances was to work between the Royal Naval Hospital at Haslar in Portsmouth, and the London hospitals. They were to carry the more seriously wounded from the initial treatment hospital to other hospitals, where treatment would be continued. I ran things from the Station, but I kept several ambulances back. It was fortunate that I did, as a few days later, the first of the V bombs to hit London exploded in my area. Eventually it was just like being back in the blitz except the V 1s could come at any time, day or night, and regardless of weather. The explosions were much bigger than a normal bomb, killing and injuring many, and forcing many people from London. The scariest part was the sound of the engine, as long as it was running you were safe, but when it stopped you ducked into the nearest shelter. Even worse were the V2s that followed, they made no noise, came straight down and made even bigger explosions. Mum wanted me to leave the children with her, but she was in just as much danger as we were, and in truth I couldn't bear to be parted from them. They remained at home with me and Clara until suddenly; I had to return to Ireland. It was early on a quiet day in October, at around 8 am, I was in my office with a coffee, reading the Times, catching up on what was going on in Europe when Peter Richards, my Intelligence contact came into my office in a hurry. "Norma, can you drop everything and go over to Dublin? Maybe set up a meeting with yours in Dublin to explain the trip, we need you to see Captain Von Ansel if you can." "Why? Isn't Rudi being looked after by Charles?" "Yes he was, but the police believe a man, supposedly a malcontent with the IRA, thought he was saving Ireland by shooting any Englishman and Charles was his choice. I don't know whether to believe that or believe that the Germans were somehow involved. Charles was seriously wounded and is recovering in hospital in Dublin, so he can't contact Rudi. We need some important information regarding the launch sites for the rockets and Rudi may be able to get it." "Charles was shot! Does Penny know?" "Yes, she is over in Dublin now, she is staying in the Gresham and going to the hospital every day. If you want, you will be able to meet her as we have booked you into the same hotel." "How do I get there this time?" "We are trying to make it as quick as possible. You will be flown from Biggin Hill to RAF Aldergrove on the outskirts of Belfast; a car with a Dublin licence will be there waiting for you and you can take the coastal road to Dublin and the Gresham. You will make contact with Rudi, then if he gets you the information, you drive back to Aldergrove and you will be flown back to Biggin Hill. Contact Von Ansel the usual way by putting a message in the window of the newsagents. He usually picks up his tobacco there around 4 pm each day but Sunday." "What about my children, what do I do with them?" "WPC Higgins will look after them and we will bring your mother in from Bromley to look after things overall. Now telephone your mother then go home, and pack for at least a week, your driver will be outside." He gave me a letter for Rudi, then left. I went to my deputy's office, telling her that I had to take a trip and would be away for at least a week, and on walking out of the station I found a car and a WAAF driver waiting for me. She saluted and told me that she was to take me home, then take me to Biggin Hill. In a matter of minutes we were parked outside my house, where I changed into slacks, told Clara where I was going and called Mhairi and asked her to meet me at the Gresham the next day. I packed, then hugged and kissed the children, telling them I had to go away for a few days. Fortunately by now with all the training trips, they were used to me coming and going so would behave well for Clara and my mother. Then we were on the road to Biggin Hill where the driver showed a pass at the gate, and took me to the main offices. We were met by another WAAF and she took me into the main building where she introduced me to a flight lieutenant. He had me dress in a flight suit, as he put it, "This flight is going to be damn cold." The suit, the smallest size they had still fitted me like a loose coat, and I still had to turn up the sleeves and the bottoms of the legs. I felt stuffily warm, but sat quietly against the wall, alongside the door. I heard a vehicle pull up outside, and a man in a flight suit rushed in, almost hitting me with the door as he passed. Stopping in front of the officer's desk he growled, "What is all the hurry, Gordon and I got a message to get over here immediately, that there was an important flight to Aldergrove, and we have to ferry some MI chap over there and back. Do the powers that be realize we are flying fighters on important missions, not ferry pilots? Looking at his broad back and listening to his voice I had to smile. Andrew wasn't in the best of humours, something I had heard many times as we grew up. The Flight Lieutenant pointed over at me, and as Andrew turned around, I said, "Well if you don't want to fly me, I'm sure that there will be a nice young officer around here that I can convince to do it." His eyes opened so wide they just about popped out of his head. "Sis, what on earth is going on? What have you got yourself into now? Does Jim know what you are doing?" "No he doesn't, just as I don't know what he is doing, but as I'll tell you, it is because I married him that I am doing it. I have to get to Ireland as quickly as I can." He turned to the other officer, "Well Jack, as this lady is my sister, there isn't another pilot on the base that I would trust with her, so I guess we will see you sometime." The Lieutenant replied, "According to the mission orders, you have to wait at Aldergrove until your sister gets back there, and then fly her back here." Andrew turned to me, "So I'm to have a few days in Belfast am I, you know your sister won't be too happy with me, especially since she is having your second niece or first nephew before too long. I know she would never forgive me if I let any harm come to you." Norma Rogers Ch. 07 He walked over, took my bag, and escorted me out to the small lorry, helping me to climb into the back and following me in. Another man was there, and Andrew introduced him as Gordon the navigator. As soon as we were in, the lorry started up, and drove us to a twin engined plane parked in a u shaped revetment of sandbags. A ground crew under a sergeant was standing by. Gordon and Andrew had inflatable life jackets on, and the sergeant brought out another smaller one and helped me into it, showing me how to inflate it if I needed to. A ladder led up to a small door in the side, and Andrew went straight up and into the plane. Gordon handed up the bags, and then Andrew told me to come up the ladder. There were four seats in the plane, and an area for bags behind the rear row of seats. He pointed to the rear seat on the left and had me sit down and then he buckled me into the seat. He gave me a radio headset and microphone and showed me how to use it. Then Gordon came up the ladder and took the right front seat, taking out a clipboard with maps on it. Andrew and Gordon went through a check list, then Andrew opened the window and shouted to the sergeant to remove the wheel chocks. He then started the engines, the roar inside the cockpit was deafening, and the plane was vibrating. Then as it started moving forward, the vibrations smoothed and Andrew turned it toward the end of the runway. After calling the control tower he was given a green flare to take off and we rolled smoothly forward along the runway until it seemed we just floated up into the air. Gordon started cranking on a handle on the side of the aircraft, and in my ears Andy's voice said, "He is just cranking up the wheels, we are going to head north, cross the coast at Blackpool and fly over the Isle of Man into Belfast so that we are over land most of the trip. It looks like it will take about three hours, depending on the winds." "What kind of plane is this?" I asked. "The Avro Anson, we use them for trips like this and aircrew training for the bombers." He continued, "Gordon, would you go off circuit for a few minutes." Gordon pulled his radio plugs from the connection." "Now Sis, it is just you and I; what the hell is going on? I get taken off my regular duties to ferry an intelligence agent into Ireland, and I find that agent is my kid sister who should be at home with her children." "Andy, I can understand your questions, but the truth is I can't tell you much. If you weren't my brother I wouldn't tell you anything but I think I can depend on you to keep your mouth closed about it. I have to drive to Dublin to meet an agent whose normal contact was shot, supposedly by an IRA supporter. He is a German officer who went to school in Austria with Jim, and will only talk to either Jim or I. We need some important information that he is probably in a position to give us, hopefully it will help the RAF deal with the rocket attacks." "Well I hope it is worth risking your life for, what I will do, is borrow some civvies and drive down to the border with you, Gordon can look after the 'kite' till we get back, I'm sure I can fix it with the CO at Aldergrove." "I'd love to have you with me, and if I can use the phone at Aldergrove, I'm sure I can get an escort from the border to Dublin through mys." "Have no fear, you will get the phone ok, I couldn't face Jim if anything was to happen to you on my watch." The air defenses must have known we would be passing over, and after an uneventful flight we arrived at RAF Aldergrove, very close to Belfast. Andrew arranged the phone call, and I called Mhairi, telling her I was driving to Dublin and I needed some help to get from the border to Dublin. We arranged to meet in Newry, about an hour and a half south of Belfast late that evening. Andrew would stay at a hotel there, and Mhairi would drive with me to Dublin, with John following us. They had already reserved a room at the Gresham for several nights. Mhairi was furious with London swearing that she was going to write to Elizabeth, complaining about Intelligence sending out a young mother to make contact with an enemy officer. I settled her down by reminding her that the night Jim and I met, we could just as easily have been killed, as I could by the rockets landing on London now, and that I was working by choice, not being forced. By the time I had phoned, Andrew had come back with some borrowed civilian clothes on and a small suitcase. A car had been delivered to the office so by 4pm we were on the road to Newry and eventually Dublin. We hadn't eaten a decent meal since breakfast so by the time we reached the White Hart hotel in Newry, where we were to meet Mhairi, we were really hungry, and being so close to the border, enjoyed a good meal of roast beef. Mhairi and John arrived at about 8 pm, and after they had a quick snack, Mhairi and I were on the way to Dublin closely followed by John in their car, while Andrew waited for me at the White Hart. We arrived at the Gresham before midnight, but I was so on edge about the contact, I couldn't sleep. By 7am the next morning I was on the doorstep of the newsagents shop as they opened. I had them place a card in their window and passed over an envelope for the message box with a note to Rudi asking him to contact me at the hotel. Around midafternoon, Mhairi and I were having a snack in the room, when there was a knock on the door. In the hallway was a page boy, who handed me a note, saying it was from a gentleman in the Lobby, Mhairi and I walked down to the Lobby, and saw Rudi sitting in a chair, luckily he had checked the shop early. We walked into the dining room and he followed us a moment later. After we had talked a little about things in general, I asked him about his mother and sister. He told us that his mother had been writing to him through an Intelligence address, and Charles had passed the letters to him. They were doing well in Berne, and his sister had been undergoing treatment to help her come to terms a little with what had happened so he was hopeful for them but missed them badly. Then he came to the point, "Why did you need to see me. I think the embassy security officer is getting a little suspicious, and if he hears that we have met, he will be asking questions." I gave him the letter from Peter, "That will explain it; I take it you know that Charles was shot." "Yes I know, the one who did the shooting was the SS officer attached to the Embassy, Charles had been asking too many questions around the dock and coast areas, so they tried to get rid of him. As they said, he was asking more than a member of a civilian office should be." He then opened and read the letter, he gave a low whistle. "They really want a lot, I can get it, but it isn't something I can get easy access to. It could be dangerous for me." Mhairi interrupted, "Rudi, you are Jim's friend. If this puts you at risk, you can always come to us and we will hide you." "Thank you Mrs. Rogers, I don't think that will be necessary, but if it ever should be, I would be very grateful." Rudi then left us, telling me he would destroy the letter and have the information for me the next day, so to put in a little time, Mhairi and I did some shopping, just as any woman would do on an occasion in town. Later in the evening, after she returned from Charles's bedside, I finally met Penny, who while not showing a lot, was obviously pregnant, I smiled and pointed. "Charles's daughter?" "Well I certainly hope so, I'm Penny, and it is so good to meet you, your letters have meant so much to me, seeing how other wives are affected and what they are doing. They have been a real help understanding why Charles isn't with me all the time, how it must be for you with your husband so far away I can't imagine." "How is Charles doing?" She was close to tears, "He was really lucky, it could have been so much worse, the bullet hit one of his lungs, but they were able to remove it and the lung is healing. The doctors tell me he will be able to travel in a few days, so I'll be taking him home and if I have anything to do with it, he won't be going anywhere for a while, even if I have to convince him to take over the farm, it is getting beyond his father anyway." We went back to mine and Mhairi's room and the three of us had a chat lasting till around midnight. Early next morning, there was a rapping at our door. I opened it, and there was Rudi, He was panting hard as if he had been running. "They are on to me; I heard the SS head saying they were going to fly me back to Germany, so I slipped out and ran. I got the information London was asking for though, photographs of all the rocket information that we had." He gave me two rolls of film. I looked at Mhairi, "What do we do now?" "Well I meant what I said, Rudi can come to the farm and we will hide him there, but you should call Andrew, he is an officer and might have some ideas. And nobody is going to be checking calls between here and Newry." I found the number for the White Hart, luckily Andrew was there when I called and he was brought to the phone. "Hi Sis, what's up? Somehow I don't think this is a pleasure call." I quickly told him what had been happening and he just whistled. "If you leave him at the Rogers farm, all that means is that the SS may take longer to find him but they will still try to kill him. It could also be dangerous for John and Mhairi, their children, and for you and the kids if they really want to make a show of it. It would be much better for him to just disappear?" "How do we manage that?" 'Hide him in your car so nobody sees him with you; then bring him here to Newry. If he surrenders to me, he becomes my prisoner, and I can fly him back to Biggin Hill, We have your contact meet us and turn Rudi over to him. Nobody in Ireland will have any idea where he is." "That sounds good, we will talk to Rudi, and in any case we will see you at Newry by afternoon." "Fine, I'll call Aldergrove and have Gordon get the plane ready. We should be able to take off by 15.00.hours." I hung up the phone and ordered breakfast for two brought up to the room, trying not to draw attention to Rudi, I thought that we could share the food. Going back to the room I told Rudi what Andrew had said? He agreed that if we could get him out of the country, it would be best and John and Mhairi would be far safer. As far as he knew the embassy staff still believed that he would not be welcomed by the Rogers family. Mhairi went to call John who was staying at another hotel. When she came back she was smiling, "John is going to follow us to make sure that nobody else does. Rudi, we will be leaving from the yard of the hotel, I'm afraid you are going to have to lay in the back seat area and we will cover you with coats and parcels in case anyone is outside watching, that way they will only see two women who have been shopping starting to make their way home. Once we get out of the city you will be able to sit up." After a rapid breakfast, and even faster packing, we were ready to set out. We took our parcels out through the rear door into the yard, where the car was parked. Rudi slid into the space between the front and back seats, and we covered him with our coats, and piled parcels on top so he couldn't be seen. I got behind the wheel and with Mhairi beside me; I drove out of the yard onto the street. Parked on the opposite side of the street, I could see John in their car with someone beside him. They gave us a couple of hundred yards lead and followed us. I kept my eye on the rear view mirror and nobody got between us. The trip to Newry was uneventful, after a while Rudi had to sit up, but he kept ducking down if any vehicles passed us. As it was daylight I was able to drive faster and we were at the White Hart in time for lunch. Rudi walked into the hotel with us, I introduced him to Andrew, and he formally surrendered. Andrew asked him for his parole as an officer, he gave it, and we all went in for lunch. Nobody could tell that Rudi was German, he was in civilian clothes, and spoke English well. After lunch Mhairi and John prepared to go home. We hugged each other, and Mhairi whispered. , "I suppose that will be the end of the visits for a while, not as much reason to come over'" "You can always come to us though; you know the children love to see their Grandma and Granddad. The way the war is going, the rocket attacks should be ending within a few months." "It will take more than rockets to stop me if I want to see my grandchildren, so we will be over, with Hank gone you need some food parcels from us anyway." "We just get them from Gloucestershire now, and Hank arranged for us to get coffee delivered to the station as well from the Embassy, it's easy when you know people in high places." "Well, we'll be over in a couple of months, after the Christmas holidays, bringing the children's gifts. We can't forget them can we now." "They will love to see you, presents or not." Rudi was standing by a window, and he gasped, "That car, it is from the Embassy." He pointed out a black Morris 10 travelling toward Belfast. "The driver is an SS security officer and he has another goon with him." Andrew became excited, as he wrote down the licence quickly he said "And what they don't realize is that they are now in Northern Ireland." He went to the lobby and telephoned the police, telling them that German spies were travelling toward Belfast and telling them the information on the car. Then he, Rudi and I got in the car and followed along the main road. Andrew made Rudi hide in the same place as he had leaving Dublin, and about 20 minutes later we came upon the police and an Army patrol handcuffing the two from the Embassy car. Andrew spoke, "They will be taken over to London now, as captured enemy spies, and I imagine the interrogation will be long and thorough." Once we were out of sight of the car, Rudi sat up and very shortly we were driving into the Aldergrove RAF station. When we went to the office I was allowed to call the emergency number for Peter Richards, and when I got through to him, we arranged for him to meet us at Biggin Hill to take Rudi to a safe place. Then a driver took us out to the plane. Gordon had the plane ready to go, and after an uneventful flight we landed at Biggin Hill, it was dark, and the runway was marked with flares, I don't know how Andrew could see but he put the plane down with hardly a bump. He taxied in and we were driven from the revetment to the office, where Richards and the WAAF driver were waiting for us. After introducing Rudi to Richards, we took off our flight suits and went out to the car. Andrew came with us and after handing me into the car, he leaned in, kissed my cheek, and said, "Sis, look after yourself, and much as I like and respect John and Mhairi, I think that you should really avoid travelling to Ireland until after the war is over and the German Embassy is no longer full of Nazis. Now Mr. Richards, if that is your name, it is about time you took your hooks out of my sister, she has done her bit; it is time she got to be the mother she wants to be." Peter Richards looked at me with surprise in his eyes. "I didn't know the pilot was your brother." "Neither did I till he came in ready for takeoff. He also spent a little time guarding me. He really had a point, if he and mys had not been there for me, I would have been alone with Rudi in a chase with the SS. Now I can't go visit my mother in law without being scared that I will be a German target, that is it, I'm done. You have Rudi and he can't give you much more information, and if I don't hear about military intelligence again, it won't cause me any heartache. It is bad enough being guarded all the time." "No, you have done enough, we will get you home, that should be the end for you, as your brother says, it would be wise to avoid Ireland until the war with Germany is over, and we will maintain your guard until then. All you will be called on to do is keep on with your ambulance duties. I will look after Rudi now, I will keep him in a safe place until we can get him to Bern to be with his family, but I think he will still be able to advise us on how to look for and push back the rocket bases until they are out of range and England is safe. We will ultimately win, but there could be lots of fighting before that time. They took me home, and I sighed with relief as I closed my front door behind me. A part, maybe an exciting part of my life was over, now I could return to the more humdrum life of the Ambulance service. Not that it could be really described as humdrum, the rockets were still coming, now more of the V2s which were far more dangerous and frightening, once in a while the RAF could stop one but most got through, but fortunately many were diverted to more country areas by radio emissions deceiving the German Army into aiming them slightly away from London. Of course we were kept busy transferring service personnel from ship to hospital, many seriously wounded in Italy, India and Burma. We now met the hospital ships as they arrived. The Germans were slowly being pushed back on all fronts and we were hopeful that the war would be over quite soon. Then we found out otherwise when the Germans counterattacked in what came to be known as the Battle Of The Bulge, when the Germans made a concentrated effort to break through the Allied lines and get behind them and capture the port of Antwerp and disrupt the Allied supplies. Fortunately after weeks of heavy fighting, the Allies were able to push the Germans back and resume their advance into Germany. For us, the battle meant many casualties brought to the Channel ports and taken to the hospitals, so it was a busy period transferring patients. The rocket attacks had lessened as firing sites were captured and others were out of range, though they were still being fired at Antwerp to disrupt supplies. At the end of April, at a time which should have been extremely happy because of the German defeats, it was obvious that victory in Europe was only days away. Instead of being able to enjoy the feelings of eventual victory, my world crumbled. On April 30th 1945 I had just returned from work, and Clara and I were seated at the kitchen table having a cup of tea. We were talking about what she expected to be doing after the war, what her prospects would be on the police force. The doorbell rang, and Clara went to see who was there, I could hear a muted conversation, then the closing of the door, and the slow footsteps on the tiles. Clara came back into the kitchen to the table and sat opposite me. She had a look of sorrow on her face as she handed me the dreaded yellow telegram envelope. My shaking hands could barely open it and take out the single page which read. To Mrs. Norma Rogers. The War Office regrets to inform you that your husband Major James Rogers, Royal Engineers has been listed as Missing In Action. You will be contacted by personnel from this office as soon as possible. Any further information received will be given to you as soon as we can. I heard a scream and then a deep groaning then I realised the noise was coming from me. I held my arms across my body and began rocking back and forth. The tears were streaming down my face, my heart was breaking, Jim was missing, where were all our plans for the future to go now. Suddenly the children were at my knee, crying because Mummy was. Clara came and hugged me closely, "Norma, the babies are scared, you have to be brave if only for them, I never met Jim but I'm sure that he would want you to be strong if only for them." Her words penetrated my despair, of course, that was exactly what Jim had said. I sat in an armchair, and lifted the children up to me, one each side of me. With my arms around them I prayed that Jim was safe, after all, the message said Missing in Action, and not that he had been killed. Hopefully somewhere in that green hell of jungle, he was safe. I cuddled the children close, not knowing how I could tell them, and deciding that was a job for the future, when they could understand things easier. Norma Rogers Ch. 07 The first job that I had to do was contact my deputy and let her know that that I was taking a few days off, then I had to contact Mhairi and John, and my Mum and Dad and let them know what had happened. I would take the children out to Bromley and depend on Mum for a few days. I dried my tears and as Clara readied the children for bed, I began to telephone, first to the office letting them know I was taking a week's leave and why, then to Mhairi, somehow I was able to keep things together while we talked and she promised to come over. Then I called my mother and tried to remain calm as we spoke, knowing only too well that when I went to bed, the flood of tears would start again, that my loneliness may just be beginning and that I might never see those eyes and smile, or hear that soft Irish accent again. End of Part 7 Norma Rogers Ch. 08 The continued story of Norma Rogers, a young wife, mother and ATS officer, whose husband has been posted to Assam, thousands of miles away from her. She has no idea when or even whether she will see him again. She has been coping with a demanding job and, in the emergency, acted as an intelligence agent. In the closing days of the war she has been notified that her husband is listed as Missing in Action somewhere in the Far East. The characters are the product of the writer's imagination, and are not based on any person living or dead. The story is the property of the writer, and may not be used in any way without the permission of the writer. Many thanks to Yellowperil2 for his efforts in keeping me straight, but like many others I do make some alterations after he has done his best so any mistakes there are my own. . I couldn't seem to help myself at all; somehow, in spite of my distress, with Clara's help I managed to take the children to Mum's, where I basically turned them over to Mum and spent the next few days in a black, fugue state. All I could think about was Jim being missing and maybe dead. Work and the war didn't seem that important anymore; all that occupied my waking and sleeping thoughts was that Jim was missing and could be gone forever. That he would never see the children he had raved about in his letters. That they would never have the benefit of a father who loved them, but most of all I hated the feeling that my arms would remain as empty of a lover as they had been since Jim had left. I moved around like an automaton, doing what I needed to without really thinking about it. Thankfully, Mum and Dad kept John and Angela amused. I had a hard enough job just finding the strength to get up and change out of pyjamas in the mornings, and I cried myself to sleep each night. Even the fact that I was in my old room at home was of no real comfort. I fully felt the wretchedness that so many wives had suffered. Nothing really seemed to register until after I had been there four days and Jim's mother Mhairi arrived. She blew in like a breath of fresh air, pushing back the walls of my despair and the life I was living. Really, living is the wrong word, it was more like existing. All I could think of was Jim, that I was on my own, and he wouldn't be there to help me raise the twins. She walked into the room, threw open the curtains and windows and came right to me, hugged me, and said, "If I was a betting woman, which I am, I'd be betting that that son of mine is alive. If he had died, I'm sure that I would know." I didn't believe her. "How can you be so sure?" I sobbed. Mhairi replied, "Remember, I'm the one who gave him life; there is a bond between us that will always be there. I'm sure I would know if it had been broken! Sure and didn't I know each time he was getting into trouble while he was growing up?" For some reason her words gave me reason to hope, probably because of her reputation as a fey woman. "Mhairi, I hope that you are right. It is wonderful to see you again, even though it is because of Jim being missing. You have given me some hope, and I know the children will be pleased to see you instead of their mother, who is crying all the time." "Norma, I know it hurts now. I went through the same thing with John in 1917 until we were notified he was a prisoner of war, and just like now, I felt that he was still alive, just missing. My suggestion is that you go back to work. Jim would want you to be brave, at least outwardly, if only for the sake of the children. Going back to work would help you keep your mind off things. Why don't we go back to London after the weekend and get back into things?" Between Mhairi and Mum, they got me going again. I began to spend more time with the children, and when Mhairi helped me home with them, I was almost cheerful. Mhairi's insistence that she would know if anything had happened to Jim had somehow become fixed in my mind and became my greatest hope. She had made plans to stay with me for a couple of weeks, and was insisting that I try to get back to normal. That first night, after we had put the children to bed, I decided to go down the street to see Jenny. When I rang her doorbell, I was surprised when her mother came to the door. "Come in, you're just the person Jenny needs to see," she said. "Why? Is there a problem?" "It's Bert, he is missing again." "Oh, no, he can't be! That is the two of them, both Jim and Bert. When did Jenny hear of it?" "Just six days ago." "Just a day after I heard about Jim. I bet they were together." "Come in anyway, Norma. Jenny will be so glad to see you. She was so devastated and alone, and you were gone, Clara wasn't there, and your house was locked up tight." I felt so guilty; my depression had been so bad that I hadn't even thought of Jenny. All I had wanted to do was get to Mum and Dad. I went in to find Jenny sitting at the kitchen table. She looked up at me, and her face was streaked with tears as she spoke. "He's gone, Norma, Bert is missing, and I don't know if I will ever see him again. When I tried to talk to you, you were gone, and Clara wasn't there either. I felt so alone till mum got here." She tried to wipe her tears away, but her makeup, thin as it was, was streaked by her tears, making her face look older and sadder. I bent and hugged her close and explained why I had been gone. "Jenny, I wasn't there because I was looking for help, too, and I was at my Mum's. Jim is missing, too. I wouldn't be surprised if they were together. The only thing that is stopping me from breaking right down is Mhairi's faith that Jim is alright, because she would know if he wasn't. We have to keep ourselves going for the sake of the children." I sat beside her, putting my arm around her shoulders, "Come on, Jenny, we can do it." She seemed to brighten up, "Somehow that makes me feel better, thinking that the two of them could be together. If they are, they are a pretty strong team." I put my arms around her and hugged her, "We have to keep ourselves going. That's what our men would expect from us. They know how strong we can be, and we have to be strong, six children depend on that. They depend on us two to help them live their lives, even if their fathers don't come back. They won't be the only ones who need support, so let's you and I stick together; we can't let the bastards who started this war win." Stick together we did as the circle tightened around the German army and the threat from Hitler and his minions was finally over. When VE day was celebrated with a street party, the pair of us worked together making party treats. Mhairi had stayed over for a while to help with the children as Clara had returned to normal duties, so when it came to the day of the party, we had lots of hands available to open up their emergency stocks and bake cakes, make jellies and juices, and help set up tables for the party. The street went crazy with Union Jacks hung from most houses. The Dog and Duck provided a couple of barrels for us, and we had a good time. Somebody moved their piano out into the street and sat playing mostly music hall songs while another man was playing an accordion. Still another neighbor had moved out a gramophone and, in between the live music sessions, was playing records of dance music. Somehow, Jenny and I were able to carry it all off without breaking down in tears. For us there was always the chance that our men might survive, not like several women there with their children who already knew that their men would not be coming home. We managed to dance and celebrate, and I even allowed myself to think that even if Jim had been killed there was life ahead for us. Peace had arrived in London and the brightest thing showing it, as the party became more adult when the children were put to bed, were the lights in the windows of the homes when the hated blackout curtains were left off the windows. The lamplighter raised a cheer as he rode down the street on his bicycle, raising his pole and switching on the gas street lights. We had made it through the worst; we had won the war, now we had to win the peace. Of course the day after the party, the grim reality set in as we went back to rationing, and transferring patients from the coastal hospitals to the big hospitals in and around London. In the back of our minds of course there was still the war in the Far East. It was far from over, though the Allies were finally beginning to push the enemy back. Troopships were still loading troops to be sent to join the war against the Japanese, and still hanging over all, both American and British, was the thought of the amount of casualties that would result from attacking the Islands of Japan themselves. My job still had to be done, ambulances still met the hospital ships and transferred patients, although now, in addition to the wounded from Europe as they emptied out the hospitals, we were getting injured from Burma and Malaya; not only injured, but others desperately sick from disease and from the vicious and criminal treatment meted out to prisoners of war. Our job was still there, and looked like it would be for some time to come. I couldn't help but keep my eyes out for Jim when we met the ships returning from the east. Nancy was in her element as a Mum. She was so happy that Hank had spent the war with her and their child. She helped keep my spirits up, calling at least once a week, and inviting me and the children over at least once a month. The children adored her, calling her Auntie Nance. She was doing really well, handling all life threw at her until one day she called in desperation, "Norma, I need your advice." "Why? What is happening?" "Mys are coming over and they will be here within a week. They have already sailed from New York on the Queen Elizabeth. How am I going to handle a US Senator and his wife? They will expect everything to be just so, and you know me, I'm all for a happy home; if something gets done, that is just fine. If it doesn't get done now, it will be eventually. I can't handle the thought of this." "Nancy, sit still and just think for a minute. Does Hank expect everything to be just so?" "No, you know he isn't like that. He knows better after living with two women as long as he did. He was always willing to give a hand, too." "Well, don't you think that shows how he was brought up? That that is the way his parents taught him. It's possible they will expect everything to be just so I suppose, but I would bet you ten bob that they will be just the same as Hank is." "All the same, I'd be much happier if my best friend was with me till I get to know them! Can you come down for a week when they are here?" "Alright, I'll try. When are they arriving? Come to think of it, how did they get permission? Wartime rules on the Allied ships are pretty strict." "They dock at Southhampton next Thursday. With Hank's dad being a Senator, he is coming over on the Queen Elizabeth on government business. He is checking on how the US forces are getting ready for repatriation to the US or movement to the Far East. Hank's Mum is able to travel with him as a perk of the job." "Okay, the twins and I will try to arrive Wednesday so I can at least help you with the last minute preparations." I made arrangements to get the week off, which wasn't hard to do as things had settled down a lot since VE day; caseloads could be predicted and routinely organised, and I was sure my deputy could handle anything that came up. The next Wednesday morning found me and my two small children on Paddington Station, boarding the early train to Cheltenham. I had bought First Class tickets, so we didn't have any difficulty getting seats and there was lots of room for the twins to get some toys out and play. There were lots of servicemen and women on the train in the Third Class carriages, and what a difference a few months had made. This time they were cheerful and smiling, and some were even in their demob suits on the way back to their homes. It was vastly different from my rail trip down from Liverpool to London with Commander Philips. When we arrived at Cheltenham, Hank was there on the platform to meet us. He had brought a Jeep, and the twins thought it was fun being in the back with the suitcases. I was just glad that the back was covered so they couldn't be thrown out, as Hank wasn't the slowest driver on the road. He was telling me how Nancy was cleaning like crazy, trying to make sure everything was perfect. He just couldn't understand why she was like this; it was totally different from the way she usually behaved . I decided to set his mind at rest. "Hank, you've have had 24 years to get used to your Mum, but Nancy has never met her new mother. It is like you getting ready for an inspection by the commanding general; you don't know what he wants to see, and she doesn't know what to expect from your Mum. She wants to be accepted and impress her, and it doesn't help her to know that your mother is the wife of a senator, including all the other involvements she has." "But Mom will love her; I have no doubt of that." "That is exactly the problem. You know it, but Nancy doesn't. Just let them meet without any pressure, and things will be fine. How do you think I was when I first met Mhairi and John, and they weren't even mys then?" "Okay, we'll do things your way. I'll meet the folks at Southhampton and bring them up to Cheltenham. I'll have to leave early as it is about a three hour trip and the ship is supposed to arrive around 7am and then start debarking by around 9am. They are on the Queen Elizabeth. When it was converted to carry troops, they kept some cabins for senior officers. The big job for her now is to begin to carry the servicemen and women back to the States where they will get leave and then be shipped out to the Pacific to carry on the fight with the Japanese. At least the submarine menace is finished in the Atlantic." When we got to the house, Nancy gave a big sigh of relief. "Thank God you are here! I need your help really badly. Henry the third has been acting up and I can't get anything done." I looked around to see that the house looked immaculate, far neater than mine ever did. She really had changed from the days when we shared a room, working shifts on the ambulance. I decided to try settling her down. "Right, let's put the children in the playroom and have some tea first." "We don't have time." "Nancy, you are going way overboard with this. You already have Hank, so you don't have to impress anybody. Let's just sit down and have a cup of tea, because even if you aren't ready for one, after that train trip I am." "Okay, I'll make some. Hank brought some good coffee home the other day, would you rather have that?" "No, this is a time for good old fashioned tea, and biscuits if you have them." "I have some biscuits, or cookies as Hank calls them. I made them the other day." She got up and put some biscuits on a plate, then poured tea. She seemed to be shaking with the effort. "Nancy, at least when you meet your mother, she isn't going to ask you if you are going to get pregnant by her son without getting married first." "Oh, come on, Mhairi wouldn't do that,' "Not only did she, she made sure we got lots of time to practice." "Now I think about it, that doesn't really surprise me! Has she gone home now?" "Yes, she has it firmly fixed in her mind that Jim is going to come marching home, and I can't help but believe she's right. So, for now, no more cleaning! Lets you and I head out for a walk. I always wanted to see the famous racecourse." "You won't see much of it for now, it's covered in vehicles all lined up for my famous father's visit, and there isn't any racing anyway." "That's tradition for you. You'll see, he's going to be much too busy to bother you." "That's what you say." By this time Hank was home, so we had supper and put the children to bed, then we sat around the kitchen table playing cards. Hank complained that he was getting tired and had to be out of the house early to meet the ship at Southhampton, so he went off to bed. He had brought home a one ton truck rather than a jeep, so we teased him about it. His excuse was that his Mom had likely brought half her wardrobe just to show us how they lived in the States. We just kept on at him in mock anger until he gave up. In a way I think it marked kind of a watershed for me. If I was one of the lucky ones and Jim came home, then I would be thankful for my luck. If not, then I would have to accept that he had given his life for the country. Next day Hank was up and away early. The ship had been due to dock in Southhampton during the night or early morning on the high tide, so Nancy and I waved him away and made breakfast for the children, who of course had woken with the noise. Then we cleared up and began to prepare lunch. Strangely enough, Nancy seemed to have quieted right down and was quite happy with things, very different from how she had been the previous day. When I commented on that she just replied, "Well I feel better because you are here." We played with the children, gave them lunch, and then we sat down to have a nice cup of tea and a chat. Suddenly there was the noise of a truck pulling into the laneway, the slamming of doors, the clicking of high heels on the pathway and a woman's voice. "Hank! where are Nancy and the baby?" Totally foreign to the unspoken rules of English hospitality, where one would knock and wait till the front door was answered, a tall slim woman with red hair walked around to the back of the house. Opening the kitchen door, she stuck her head in and said "Hi! I'm Glenda Edwards, and you must be Nancy, our new daughter, by the looks of it you're going to give us another grandchild." Nancy blushed deeply and replied. "I don't know that for sure yet, I'm just hoping, but I'm really glad to meet you." The redheaded powerhouse that had invaded the kitchen went on, "Not half as glad as I am to meet you! Wait till I get you to the States. You'll knock those old biddies in the Garden Club for a loop. There isn't one of them who could have done what you girls have done." She turned to me, saying, "Hi, you must be Norma. I've heard lots about you over the last couple of years, all good, including coaching my son through his first birth and helping him decide on a career path." I had no idea what she was talking about. By then, both the Henrys had brought a lot of luggage in. Hank straightened up, looked at me quite seriously, and asked me, "Norma, have you given any thought to the future if Jim doesn't make it? The reason I ask is, I met John while I was at Southhampton; he is in transit back to the States. He is still carrying a torch for you and would be glad to take you and the children and raise them as his own." The answer was easy, and there was no doubt in my voice as I replied, "No, Hank, there is no chance of that. John is a nice man, and one day he will make some girl a good husband, but that girl won't be me. He pales in comparison to my Jim, and besides, I'm sure my Jim is still alive and is going to make it home someday." I was still facing Hank when I saw his face go into a wide grin. Had there been a hole in the floor, I'm sure I would have fallen through it as I heard a voice from behind me that made me almost faint with shock! "Tis right glad I am to hear that! Now, woman, would you like to take some time to show me how glad you are that I'm here, and then introduce me to my children?" It couldn't be! I spun around, almost overbalancing. It was; there was my Jim leaning casually against the frame of the doorway from the hall as if he had been there all day. At first I didn't notice how gaunt he had become, I just ran and grabbed him, almost knocking him over, and tears were running down my face as I clung to him. "Jim, you're home! Mhairi was right! She said you would be home, and it was only her insistence that kept me from going crazy sometimes." Norma Rogers Ch. 08 "Whisht, Mavoureen, the time for tears is over, I'm home. I only have to report to Barton Stacey for a fitness check, then I'll be on leave. Right now, I have a couple of days before I report, as the Senator has requested them for me, and then I'll go and see if they are going to make me permanent as a major, or discharge me. If I get what I would like, it would be the discharge. Now, Norma girl, where are our children? I've wanted to hold them in my arms for so long!" Holding Jim with my arm around his waist, I took him through to the playroom, noticing as we walked that he looked extremely tired. He was swaying slightly, as if he had had a couple of drinks, but there was no smell of alcohol. John and Angela had been playing with wooden wagons in the centre of the floor, and when they saw their father, they stood up uncertainly, their faces quizzical as if they did not know or trust this strange man that Mummy was holding on to so tightly. My voice cracked as I said the words that I had dreamt of speaking so many times, "John, Angela, this is your daddy, he has come home to us." Jim knelt between the two of them and wrapped an arm around each, drawing them in to his chest. He kissed their little faces in turn, and as he did so, the tears started to stream down his face, his chest heaving with great wracking sobs. I joined them, getting down on my knees as I did, thanking God for delivering Jim home to us, and the next I knew the tears were flowing down my face, too, as they were on the children's faces as well. Nancy and Glenda stood there with faces wreathed in smiles. I looked at Nancy, "You witch, you set this up, you weren't afraid of Glenda at all." "Norma, you have done so much for everybody, it was time something was done for you. When Hank told me that his dad notified him that Jim was on the ship, we thought we would surprise you." "Well, you certainly did that. By the way, how did it happen Jim was on an ocean liner from the USA?" Jim replied, "Well, now, that's a pretty long story on its own. Can we save it for later." The twins settled the matter by yawning. "Jim, I'm sorry, but they have had a big day and it is time for them to go down for a rest." "Okay, I'll take them and see if they will go down for Daddy. Now, John my big son, will you show daddy where your room is?" John relaxed his hold on Jim's neck as he shyly said, "Upstairs." Then he cuddled into his dad again as Jim walked up the stairs with one child on each arm. Henry junior was really taken with Glenda. He had grabbed handfuls of her rich red hair, and his eyes were slowly closing as he dozed off on her shoulder. Glenda said, "Nancy, dear, if your father and your husband can't see that we need coffee, I guess we will just have to make it ourselves. Then we can tell Norma what has been happening." Nancy made coffee and gave us some cookies as well. We enjoyed them for a while before I became a little concerned that Jim hadn't come back down and slipped upstairs. Looking in the twins' room, I didn't see them, then I quickly looked into my room and my heart leapt to see Jim, without a jacket or shoes, fast asleep on the covers, and tucked into him, one on each side, were John and Angela, his arms around them and their heads on his shoulders. I bent over, brushed my lips over his and took a few minutes just looking at him. He is home, my husband, my lover is alive and home! Then I crept out of the room to join the others in the kitchen. They were finishing coffee downstairs when I told them Jim was fast asleep. Glenda interjected, "Good. Now, Henry, while we have the chance, why not tell Norma what has been happening?" Henry began, "Norma, I'm sorry that we haven't been able to tell you that Jim was safe before, but it was too secret as there were troops behind enemy lines. It still is until the Japanese are beaten and everyone is withdrawn, but you need to know as it is you who will be dealing with any problems that Jim has. We can pretty much guarantee that he will have some. If you hear me out, I'll answer what questions you have at the end." "As you know, for a while, in Singapore, Malaya, Hong Kong and in Burma, Siam and the Asian countries, we just couldn't stop the Japanese. They may be small, but they fight tooth and nail and have done things long considered impossible. American, Brits and Aussies all did their bit without success. Some were beaten and captured, but others managed to hide and gradually amass captured equipment, or get equipment dropped to them by air or submarine. These troops, all volunteers, were known as the Coastwatcher's, but some of them also watched internal conditions like the Burma railroad, even attacking several of the prisoner camps. One of these groups was north of Rangoon, so we could monitor any Japanese attempts to get to India. They were American, supplied by submarine, and they kept in touch with Jim's camp by radio, with the RN radio installation there. That is why the RN was there." "Just as we were starting to attack back into Burma to reopen the Burma Road, the Rangoon group radio went silent, and Jim volunteered to take several troops of his soldiers and strike out toward Rangoon to see if he could find the group. He had quite a challenge; nobody knew exactly where they were as they kept moving their base camp to confuse the Japanese radio plotters. We kept in touch with Jim's group by radio, and they found the group, telling us that they were very sick. Eventually the worst happened and the radio of Jim's group went silent as well. That is when you were told Jim was missing in action." "As they were a very valuable group, we kept up a radio watch, and eventually it paid off. One of the radio operators, who were beginning to recover, got off a short message telling us they were all ill and a number had died. The powers that be decided to lay on a rescue mission using submarines, aptly named USS Sword and USS Shield. They ran with minimum crews so they could each carry a platoon of marines. After putting the marines ashore, the subs waited in position until they were contacted by the marines. The marines found the surviving men after four days, and three days later, all the sick men were ferried to the submarines. Despite the subs being tremendously crowded, they were ferried directly to Calcutta where the Australian hospital ship Ophir was waiting. Everybody affected, both American and British, were loaded on Ophir, which set sail for Australia right away. Nobody knew exactly who had survived at that time or who would survive the voyage, as there were still some pretty sick guys. They just got them aboard, under treatment, and sailed." "They found it was a very virulent type of malaria, resistant to normal doses of quinine. Some died after they reached Ophir. The area they were in was well known as being a bad area, even to the natives who helped hide them, but pressure from the Japanese forced them into this swampy area." "At first the crew and nursing staff of Ophir didn't know who they had taken off. They were travelling under radio silence, anyway, to avoid Japanese attack. During the trip, they got some names, but it wasn't until the Americans and British troops were transferred to a US ship and were heading across the Pacific to the States that most of the men began to improve enough to give us identifications and the entire story." "Jim was quite the hero. He and his naval buddy guided relief troops right to the watchers, but they got sick as well, one of the first being the MO who went with them and unfortunately died. Jim kept everyone working on getting clean water and making Mosquito nets into tents, while moving them away from the worst of the watery areas where the mosquitos bred, but he couldn't get away from them totally. Fortunately, he and his navy buddy Bert were among the last to go down with it, so they had some recovering already who were able to contact us and guide the marines in. When they got there, about 50 percent of each force had been lost." "Once we got them to the States, the British survivors were taken to New York and I arranged for them to be transported on the Queen Elizabeth. I sent a list of the survivors to Hank, but I didn't know that Jim was your husband until Hank sent me a cable, telling me. It was then that we made plans to bring Jim here." "What about Bert, the seaman?" Did he recover?" Hank interjected, "When we last saw Bert this morning, he was off with others to Haslar Naval Hospital at Gosport, and if they decided he was fit, he would be going home on leave. He had already run into Malaria on one of his previous trips, so it wasn't as bad for him. It was as if he had already been inoculated against it. I wouldn't be surprised if he was on the way home tomorrow to, as he put it, 'Put another bun in Jenny's oven, or have a pint in the Dog and Duck', and he wasn't sure which would come first." That sounded so typical of the Bert we knew that a laugh had no difficulty bursting out from Nancy and me. My heart was full of joy for Jenny and me. Our husbands were home, Jim in my bed upstairs, and Bert in the hospital. Thinking of Jim upstairs, I ran up to see how he was doing. They had all woken up and the children were chatting with Daddy, someone they had only seen photographs of until now. They were hanging on like grim death as if they were scared that he would be taken away again. He was telling them childhood stories about the farm, and a thought struck me. Mhairi, her faith had been so strong that he would come home; she needed to hear from him. I asked him to bring the children down when he was ready, and I would likely have a surprise for him. As he sat there, I put my arms around his neck, leaned in to him and kissed him slightly open mouthed so that I could feel his tongue. "Norah, me lass, there is only one ending for a kiss like that, and I'm thinking that in front of the children might not be the best place for it." "Jim, my man, if it isn't, then they had best get used to it because I plan on a lot more than kissing. Now come downstairs when you are ready." I went down, and asked Nancy if her phone could be used to call Ireland. "Yes, if you get permission from the commandant first." Glenda retorted. "Permission, smission, give me the phone and the number!" I gave her the number and she picked up the phone. "This isn't the first time I've been through Army exchanges." We just heard the exchange between her and the operator. She turned the call handle and sounded so practiced. "Now, who would I be talking to? Oh, PFC Duncan, what is your first name? Terry, well Terry this is Glenda Edwards, I'm the wife of Senator Henry Edwards, chairman of the Senate Military Affairs Committee, and we happen to be here on some important business for the President. I have to make a call on an outside line to Loughrea in the Irish Free State. Now, I know I should have the Base Commander's permission, but right now he isn't here. How about you run this past your supervisor? And it might help if you tell him that the lady I am calling is a personal friend of Queen Elizabeth." After a minute she continued, "That is Mrs. Mhairi Rogers at Loughrea 457. Thank you so much for your help, your officer will hear of it." She passed the phone to me, and I could hear it ringing at the other end. Mhairi picked up. I spoke quickly "Mhairi, its Norma." She interjected quickly, "You've heard something about Jim, haven't you? He's alive isn't he?" "Not just heard, but seen. Oh, Mhairi, he is here with me at Nancy's! He and Bert arrived home this morning on the Queen Elizabeth with Hank's Mum and Dad, but, oh, he looks so thin and sick. He was infected with a bad case of Malaria and has had two hospital ship voyages, then another trip from New York to Southhampton, getting in today. Can you possibly come over for a while?" "With a little luck, we'll be on the morning boat from Dun Loaghaire tomorrow, so if we can get an official car, we will get there sometime tomorrow afternoon. If not, we will go straight to your mother's. Hank's at the US Army hospital in Cheltenham, isn't he?" "Yes, the house is just inside the main gate." Just then Jim walked into the room. "Wait, Mhairi, the prodigal son has just walked into the room. I'll put him on, and I hope we see you tomorrow." I handed Jim the phone. "Hello, Mam, it's glad I am to hear your voice." Then he remained quiet while she talked. She must have talked to him for about ten minutes straight until I was surprised when he passed the phone back to me. "Norma, Mam wants to talk for a minute." I spoke, "Hello, Mhairi, isn't it wonderful that Jim is back?" "Yes, it is, but your man is extremely tired, and still quite ill, so don't let him be doing too much quite yet. Right now the most important thing is to keep him hydrated and rested. It wouldn't hurt to get him off to his bed at the same time as the children. If John and I can get the car, we will be there tomorrow, and I'll bring across some herbs that have worked well in these situations. I'll let your mother know what is going on, and for the time being it would be useful to use their house as it is roomier than yours. Is there any reason that you should go back to work? It would be handier if you were at home, too." "Mhairi, I got command of the station when my station officer decided that nursing her husband was more important than commanding the station. Though she doesn't know it yet, my deputy is about to be promoted the same way. The biggest problem will be the military intelligence angle, though it won't hurt my feelings at all to be rid of them. I'll make a couple of phone calls and clear it all." It was still midafternoon, so I was able to contact my office. My deputy picked up the phone right away. "Ambulance Station, main office, Deputy Station Officer Jacobs speaking." "June, this is Norma. I am asking for leave until further notice. Nancy'ss brought Jim home to me on their ship from the States. That is why Nancy got me to come down here. He has been extremely ill, and is going to need a lot of nursing." "No problem. You have the leave, but a Mr. Richards has been calling for you, he was trying to find you yesterday and today." "I'll call him now, I have his number with me." I hung up and then I called Richards, starting into him when he answered the phone. "What do you want now? Haven't I done enough for you already?" "Norma, I don't need anything. All I have is good news. Jim is alive, but he has been really sick and is on a US hospital ship somewhere in the Pacific." "Mr. Richards, even when you have good news, you are way behind the times. Jim is home, thanks to the United States. He and what was left of his squadron came over on the Queen Elizabeth at the same time as Senator and Mrs. Edwards. He is in the next room right now playing with the children. He is going to need a lot of nursing, and that is my target right now, no matter what happens. If you want to be useful, contact Barton Stacey, tell them he will be at my parents, and get him a lot of convalescent leave." "I sincerely apologize, Norma, for not having the most up to date information. I'll contact Barton Stacey right away and send their answers to you at your mother's. By the way, I have a short message from Rudi Von Ansel. We settled him with his family in Berne. All is well with him and his family, and he thanks you very much for all you did. Now, go to your husband; he needs you far more than we do." I went into the playroom, and while I know that I should have helped Nancy make the evening meal, all I could do was sit beside Jim, holding on to him as he told children's stories of Ireland to the twins. Eventually, Nancy came to tell us that she had a meal ready for us, and I was pleased to see that she had shopped at the exchange. She had ham, fish, potatoes and vegetables. We all ate, but it hurt me to see that Jim didn't eat much more than the children. No wonder he didn't have any spare weight. I offered him more, but he wouldn't take it. "Taking more leaves less for the others, I have to take just enough to keep going." "What others? There isn't anyone else, the children have had lots, and so has everybody else." He had a wild look in his eyes that began to scare me. "There are always others, the ones who died that we could not save. All we had was fruit and rice, and they couldn't keep it down so they died. We tried to leave lots for them, but they died anyway." He got very uncomfortable and got up and went through to the other room. I moved to follow him, but Glenda leant over and held me in my chair. "Norma, leave him alone for a few minutes. I guess you can see now that my bit of artifice wasn't strictly to surprise you. At times, Jim is still living in the jungle, and he feels every death in his unit is his responsibility. You will no doubt hear him talk about the green hell, and that is what it was to him, even though he tried to control things as much as he could. Jim has a strong sense of duty, and the feelings of helplessness that he felt in Burma will haunt him for a long time, particularly in his sleep. All you can do is try to talk him gently through it, and hopefully, eventually the feelings will work through his system and he will be able to handle them better." I thought over what Glenda had said. "You aren't quite the fluffy headed loving wife that you claim to be, are you?" Glenda smiled, "Oh, heavens no. Henry would be so bored if I were. We attended University in Cincinnati together. Boring old Henry studied Law, and thanks to my parents, who didn't believe that a person's sex should hold you back, little old me took on the exciting world of Medicine, although most of the excitement for us girls seemed to be fighting off certain doctors who thought they could pass more knowledge along by pumping it into the vagina. Henry, being tall and a member of the Athletics Squad Shot Putt team, usually only had to explain once that I was his fiancé, and that anyone trying to use their fingers on me had a good chance of getting them broken." "By the time he completed articling at the Edwards family Law office and was named the new Associate, I had completed my internship at Cincinnati Grace. As I wanted a job that would give me time to raise a family, I decided to specialize in Mental Health. I remained at the hospital, but I also have been assisting at Veterans' Hospitals in the Midwest. Some pretty bad things have been done in the name of mental health treatment, but there are many of us now who believe that much can be accomplished through talking with and listening to individual patients. That is one reason why I am along on the trip. The Doctors who treated Jim's illness were able to cure him of it, but they weren't able to treat the malaise that traps his thoughts sometimes." "What about when his mother comes? She is what they call in Ireland and Scotland a fey woman, almost a witch." "I'm really looking forward to meeting her." She tossed her mane of red hair. "I come by this hair honestly. I'm a Cassidy from County Clare via Chicago, a wee bit of a fey lass too. It may well be that traditional medicine will have its place in Jim's treatment as well. Now, I'll just make up his herbal tea so he can drink it before he goes to sleep, and if you don't mind retiring early with him, I'm sure it will help." She got some tea from a box that she had and made a brew up, half for Jim and half for me, and we took it through to the room we were using. Obviously, Jim didn't want to be parted from the children; they were lying in the bed beside him. He was in his pyjamas, and sat up to drink the tea. I put mine on the bedside table, and putting my arm around Jim, I started to undo his pyjama jacket and slide it back over his shoulders. He touched my hand stopping me. His hand rested on mine, "Norma, we have lots of time for this The children are here, shouldn't we just settle down?" Norma Rogers Ch. 08 "James Rogers, husband mine, for so long we have had a world between us, I didn't say let's make love, we have a world of time for that, but I promise you this, between our upper bodies there will never be anything between us in bed. Just let's give each other the benefit of our warmth for tonight; we will see what happens in the future." After I removed his jacket, Jim drank his tea while I just wore panties and a waist slip. I drank my tea and, wrapping my arms around his chest, I drifted off to sleep, thinking of the wonderful day that I had just had. It was around 2 am when I woke and noticed he wasn't beside me, but where he had been lying was absolutely soaked with sweat. I looked and he was sitting on the floor, leaning back on the bed staring deep into the fire, his dark eyes apparently looking into the flames but really looking thousands of miles away into his experiences. I quietly rose, slipped on a bed jacket and went round the bed to sit beside him, gently taking his hand, "What is it, Jim? What do you see there in the fire that keeps you up so late?" He spoke as if in a dream. "Tis the faces of the men I see, the faces of the men that I took into that green hell and didn't bring out." "Jim, you brought half your men out, and half of those you went to save, that is impressive for any commander." "But they all trusted me to bring them home." I had an idea. "Jim, think back to the night we met. What would have happened to the Baker family if you had made a mistake defusing that bomb?" "They and I would have been killed, and we would never have met." "Are you sorry that you could save the Bakers and others, and not the men in your troops?" "When you put it so reasonable, of course not. It seems so different in the cold light of day." "Jim, when you sent the ring with Hank's cousin, he told me something that I already knew, that you were one of the best commanders of men he had ever seen. He told me that your men would follow you through the gates of hell and back. Well, in Burma they did. Not all of them came back through those gates, but many did, and they saved many that you went to save. You did the best for them that you could do, and deep down you know that is all they asked of you. Now, for us, for your family, you have to do what they, your men, would have you do, and that is get better and do your best to make sure their passing is not for nothing." I guessed it was going to be a sleepless night, not that I wasn't used to them, so I sat beside him and told him the story of Rudi, of my visits to Ireland to meet him, of what had happened to him both on the Eastern Front and on his return to Austria. The children began to stir, so I tucked John in Jim's lap and Angela in mine, then pulled two blankets over all of us. Eventually we slept again, huddled with our children in front of the fire. That was how Nancy found us when she brought up our morning tea, muttering all the while about her providing a perfectly good bed, yet us sleeping on the floor. Even Jim was laughing at the thought. I told her I would meet her in the kitchen with the children and help, if Jim could get a fairly hot bath. She went into peals of laughter, "A fairly hot bath! You forget, you are in the American Officers' Base Housing, and hot water is a given; how do you think we keep the children clean?" I kissed Jim and picked up my two wriggling children, sending Jim off to the bath. "See you soon, done up all handsome to make me fall again." His comment reassured me, "Norma, for the first time in a while I feel like cleaning myself up and dressing like an officer. I'll be down in a little." "I learned how to do a really good line in washing backs, fronts and hair. Can I come in and help?" He grinned, "That may make things take a wee while longer. I'll tell you, though, tis something I've sorely missed, so if you can convince our hosts to look after the children, I'll be ready in about 15 minutes, when I've shaved." "I'll make a point of being there." I went down to the kitchen and cleared everything with Nancy. Glenda laughed and remarked, "Probably the best thing you could do. Just don't get jammed in the tub." I walked back up to the bathroom, and Jim had shaved, but was sitting in the tub with his back to me, sobbing quietly. I took off my clothes and slid in behind him, holding him tightly in my arms. "Ssh, you're safe among friends, it's all over. Most of your men got out, too, and they will be home with their families soon. You did all you could." "I know that, I just keep seeing the faces of those who won't make it back." "Do you have their family addresses?" "No, but I can get them." "Then this is what we will do. Get their names and addresses, and write to or visit their families. We will make a point of it, to let them know that their children or husbands didn't die in vain." I began to soap him with a gentle lather, first his back, then moving around the front, I took some of Nancy's best exchange shampoo and began to work it into his hair. After rinsing him off, I began to work my fingers into the tight muscles in his back and neck. He began to relax once more, and I started to kiss around his ears as he started giggling at being tickled. I slid my hand around the front of his body down to his pubic area, and found to my surprise that he was very soft, hardly firming at all in spite of my efforts. Suddenly he stood, stepped out of the bath, and began to dry himself. "Norma, for three years I've had to build walls and steel myself against wanting you so much, believing that at some time I would be home with you and our children and then I could relax and feel love. It's going to take a little time to pull those walls down. Just sitting here looking at you, I love you and want you so much, but when I try to convert that into action, I have a problem. I know with your help I'll overcome it, it will just take time. He pulled me to him and bent and kissed me, probing my mouth with his tongue as he did. He straightened up, "There now, do you have any doubt I'm glad to be home?" We dressed together, Jim in his uniform, and went down and joined the others. As he had the previous day, Jim played with the children as much as he could and went to rest when they did while I packed our clothes. His parents called us around 9:30 that morning, and arrived at about 2pm. They had sailed on an early tide and were set to head for Bromley. After a lengthy hug with Jim, Mhairi had a long talk with Glenda before we got into the back of the car and we were off to see my parents. I was wondering what lay ahead of us in getting Jim fully fit once again. When we got back to Mum's house, it was getting dark, so after Mum had finished hugging Jim and we had a quick meal, we got the children ready for bed. John and Dad were the asked for storytellers while Mum and I cleared up the dishes. Mhairi, as always, had brought food, so we put it all away in the pantry. Mhairi and Jim went into the front room after Mhairi had asked us to give her some time alone with him. We could hear the rumble of their voices as they talked, but not what was said. They talked for almost two hours, so long that we wondered what was happening, before they came back into the kitchen. I was standing making tea on the gas stove when Jim walked across to me and said, "Norma, I'm very sorry for the way I have been behaving," and then he put his arms around me and kissed me. "Well, pray tell, what was that for, Mr. Rogers?" "Well, Mrs. Rogers senior, who you must admit has had a lot more experience with reading my moods, has just finished telling me that I have one hell of a wife, and right now I don't deserve her at all, the way I have been behaving." "This time I'm not going to argue with my mother, and I must admit I've been wondering just where you were sometimes since you came home." "Well, it seems I'm much like my father was in that respect." Mum interjected, "And your father, too. There is still a lot that he has never talked about since he came home in 1918, except when his old cronies come to visit and sit outside talking, never thinking we can hear them through the window." Jim smiled, "It seems that we menfolk aren't nearly as strong and silent as we think we are, are we? Now, I think there has been enough talk for one night. Would there be a cup of tea, and maybe a wee drop of the craiture to be had?" It was as if a curtain had lifted. Everyone relaxed a little as Mum poured tea, and Dad found a part bottle of whisky, enough for a small glass for each of us. It was like a little celebration, as if we had taken some steps back toward where we had been before Jim had been sent overseas. Richards had been true to his word. The next day, a telegraph boy rang the doorbell with a telegram for Jim from the Royal Engineers' Depot. It stated that he was on convalescent leave for four weeks, after which he was to report to the medical section at Barton Stacey, where his condition would be assessed and his future duties determined. Mum and Mhairi promised to back us up, looking after the children if we wanted to go out together. It would be slow becoming a couple again, depending on each other again and enjoying the children while they were there, but also enjoying a break from them once in a while, and I was determined that was what we would do while we had the chance. To Be Continued. Norma Rogers Ch. 09 Continuing the Story of Norma and Jim Rogers, young parents who, having survived the horrors of being split apart by war, are trying to get used to being a couple again in peacetime. The characters and the story are fictional and may best be described as an amalgam of things that happened during an extraordinary time. I must express my thanks to the efforts of a great editor, Yellow Peril, who helps my story make much more sense. The story is copyrighted and remains the property of the author, and may not be used without the author's consent. Norma Part 9 In many ways, the time that Jim was on leave was hard on the two of us, harder than the heady time when we courted and married. Even though there was no threat of Jim going off to war again, it was hard at first to get used to being together all the time. Jim no longer commanded a squadron of men, and I was a housewife, no longer in charge of the Ambulance station. There were just the two of us, with two children to raise. At first I was the sole disciplinarian, as Jim was so new to the close contact with the twins that they soon realized that Daddy was a pushover. If Mummy wouldn't give them something, then Daddy likely would. We were fortunate that Mum and Mhairi stepped in, taking the twins under their wings quite a lot, giving Jim and me time for serious discussions as well as long walks together, or trips to the cinema. As he improved, we were able to go dancing at the local ballroom. We, in a sense, were doing the dating that we hadn't had the time to do during the war. It gave us the chance to discover ourselves all over again, though Jim was still unable to make love to me for a while. Then came the surrender of Japan, the last obstacle to peace. It touched off many celebrations, but foremost in most of our minds was the feeling of relief that the fighting was finally over. No longer would we be sending our men and sometimes women to far off countries to fight and die. We would be bringing them all home, except for Occupation Forces, and they would mostly be new troops, allowing those who had faced the battles to return home to their families in Britain, the USA, Canada, Australia and all the other allied countries. After two weeks of Jim's leave, we began to slowly open up the London house. Most days found us busing in from Bromley, but occasionally Jim and I stayed the night, the children being left with their grandmothers. Jim's first comment when we opened the front door and walked in was, "This place really needs redecorating." My answer was equally simple, "My love, remember, there has been a war on. Even if we could have found any paint, we didn't have any time to put it on the walls." Jim insisted that we needed to re-decorate, so the hunt was on for paint and wallpaper, but we found that shop after shop was out, all over London, until we finally had a stroke of luck. We had taken time off to go for a walk, and while sitting on a seat in the park in Bromley, we were talking about where we might find paint. An older lady who had been seated on the next bench came over to us. She had overheard us, and told us she owned a chandler's, flooring and paint shop. Due to the lack of staff, she had closed off most of the shop except for the chandlery side. In the other part of the shop, she had some paint and wallpaper left. She told us that we were welcome to the paint and wallpaper if it was still usable. She took us to the shop, and old as it was the paint was still good because it had never been opened, and the paper was just fine too. To top it all off, she still had some rolls of linoleum so we could renew the floors. I turned to Jim, "There! You have been looking for something to do with yourself, so here you go." For the first time in a long period, I saw a genuinely happy smile on his face. "Come on. Let's go get started," he said to me with a grin. Old as it was, and even with the limited choice of colours, we bought paint, wallpaper and linoleum and started the project, helped once in a while by Bert or Jenny. Sometimes we had as much paint on ourselves as the house, and engineer that he was, Jim still got into some comical situations hanging wallpaper and laying linoleum. Bert had been offered his Chief Petty Officer's job back in the peace time navy, either that or demobilization. He decided that, after having spent some time as an officer, he didn't want to return to the lower decks, even as a Chief. It was time to stay home; Civvy Street beckoned and he was planning to start his own radio business. Jenny, well, Jenny was Jenny, a happy wife and mother, not yet pregnant again, but as she put it, really trying. It was a happy time, a time that saw Jim gradually coming out of the withdrawn state that he had been in since he came home. During one of our painting sprees, after the inside of the house was complete, we were out in the backyard whitewashing the walls (that was a custom at the time). As we slapped the whitewash on, we were getting ourselves splashed as well. I got some in the face, and started muttering about not being a painter. Jim turned and looked, and for the first time since he came home, he roared with laughter. Not to be outdone, I took my brush and, while he was laughing, I painted a line across his forehead, and then down his nose. Then the battle was on, just like a pair of children, laughing like crazy we painted each other until we were almost completely white. Then Jim dropped his paintbrush, grabbed me, and pulling me into him, kissed me so deeply that I almost buckled at the knees. I reached up around his neck, pulling his head down to me, kissing him back, right through the whitewash. He sighed, "Norma, I feel that things are starting to get better; please stick with me." I pulled him down to me again, whispering, "I'm not going anywhere. You're my husband, my lover and the father of my children. You are part of me, and I of you; the words were 'Till death do us part.' I have never meant anything as much as I meant that promise." To celebrate the end of the decorating, we arranged for a neighbor to sit with Bert's and Jenny's kids, and we all went round for a drink at the Dog and Duck. Maisie and her husband Sid were there as well, and we had quite a party, enough of one that we didn't work much the next day. It ended up a good job, really, as we had a visitor, my friend Mr. Richards from Military Intelligence, who came to see us. I introduced him to Jim, and to my surprise the pair of them got on like a house on fire, talking of the Burma Campaign and the work done on the airfields. Eventually I interrupted, "Do you mind telling me why you are visiting? If there is any more intelligence work to be done, I'm out of it. As far as I'm concerned, I'm just an ordinary housewife now." Smith answered, "No, there isn't, though I don't think you will ever be merely an ordinary housewife, not after the job you did during the war. The one thing I wanted to mention is that, should you ever be approached by the Russians, we would appreciate knowing about it. Another thing is, you are not a civilian, not quite. Your predecessor was able to leave and nurse her husband, as she was just a member of the Volunteer Ambulance Service. You, however, are still an ATS officer with all the responsibilities that go with the job. We are processing your demobilization, but we would like you to take part in a special ceremony at your former station to celebrate the work done by the ATS and Volunteer Ambulance during the war." "When will this be?" "In two weeks' time." He turned to Jim, "By the way, Major Rogers, your leave has been extended until after the ceremony, and we would be grateful if you would attend the ceremony as well, in uniform of course." Looking at Jim in his painting clothes, he smiled as he noted, "Those are hardly the clothes for a military celebration." We told him we would be there, and as it happened, the ceremony became one of the most important and effective parts of Jim's recovery. Two weeks later, both of us in uniform, we walked into the station. We were surprised to see all the ambulance and fire vehicles parked on the street instead of in the yard. Both of us were blissfully unaware of what was going to happen during the ceremony. As we walked into the building, a tall captain from the Royal Engineers, carrying a sword and belt, marched up to Jim, halted, saluted and offered him the sword. Jim took the sword with a surprised look on his face and asked, "Doug, what is going on?" "Squadron Parade, Skipper; every single one of the Burma Campaign survivors is out there, along with the families of the men who didn't come back; they are waiting for you to join us." Jim buckled on the sword, looked at me, and asked, "What about my wife?" A fire officer standing by told us that my Ambulance Unit was outside and they were formed up, waiting for me to join them. Jim turned to me and said, "Norma, we have been well and truly had by your friend Richards; this is much more than a simple ceremony! Well, I think we have no choice but to continue on." As if he were being taken over by another person, his posture stiffened, he suddenly assumed an air of command and saluted the Captain. "Carry on, Captain Hathaway." When we arrived at the door to the vehicle park, we stopped for a moment. Jim whispered to me, "Doug Hathaway was my second in command in Burma." I took a quick look outside, seeing that my Ambulance Unit was fairly close, and I was taken a little aback as I recognised Nancy in uniform in the front rank. Then I looked further and saw that roughly a hundred soldiers with rifles were drawn up in three ranks, with flag bearers, officers and NCOs in front of them. Behind the soldiers were many civilians, also arranged in two rows. Against the wall by the gates was a dais, with both the Union Jack and United States Flags flying. Suddenly Captain Hathaway's clear strong voice rang out across the yard giving commands to the troops, "24th Independent Field Squadron Royal Engineers, Commanding Officer on Parade, General Salute, Present Arms." The soldiers performed the drill and the crack as their rifle magazines were forced home was like a single sound. Jim took my arm, "Come on, that's our cue, I'll drop you off." We both marched out, and when we came level with my deputy, I halted and turned towards her. Jim continued until he was in front of Captain Hathaway, turned towards him and saluted. Hathaway continued, "Squadron Present and Correct; Sir." Jim saluted in return. "Thank you, Captain" Then he ordered "Squadron, Shoulder Arms" The troops did so, and Jim hesitated for a moment as, with a grin, he looked along the ranks of men in uniform. Suddenly, a band struck up outside the gate and we heard the order 'Quick March'. Jim and I turned toward the gate, and as we did, a small band of the Royal Engineers marched through the gate and halted just inside. Behind them, a group of people made their way to the dais. I was amazed to see not only the King and Queen, the King being dressed in full naval dress uniform, but also to see Henry, Glenda and Hank Edwards, along with mys and parents, and various aides, including Mr. Richards. The King and Queen stood on the dais, along with Henry and Glenda Edwards. I was lost as to what we had to do next, but fortunately Jim wasn't. He drew his sword and, in a loud clear voice, he called, "Parade; Attention; Royal Salute; Present Arms." The Squadron and my ambulance unit performed together as a precision drill team, as the rifles moved into position, the colours dipped, Jim saluted, and the Royal Salute was held not only while the British National Anthem was played, but also when the National Anthem of the United States was played. The King returned the salute with his normal naval salute, and Henry Edwards placed his hand over his heart. Once the salutes were performed, Jim ordered the troops to order arms. He gave the command to open order, and the troops opened up the ranks. The King and Henry Edwards then stepped to the ground in front of the dais, at which point Jim marched forward and invited the King to inspect the troops, which he and Henry Edwards did, including walking along the lines of family members also, stopping and speaking with them. Then they returned to the front of the dais, and an Aide to the King in naval uniform took over. I was surprised to see that the Aide was Commander Philips, whom I had last heard of being in a hospital bed. In a strong, clear voice, Commander Philips read a citation. "Major James Rogers: with respect to your service in India keeping vital airfields in the India to China supply route in operation against enemy action and the forces of nature, you are hereby awarded the Distinguished Service Order. In addition, due to your selfless courage in volunteering to take your unit through enemy held country to locate allied troops, you are hereby awarded the Bar to the Distinguished Service Order. Advance and receive your awards." I could hardly contain my pride as Jim marched smartly to the King, saluted and received his double DSO. Then I got a surprise, the King turned to Henry and waved him forward. Henry spoke in a clear strong voice. "Major Rogers, this morning I am here representing the President of the United States. In situations where Allied troops make special efforts in support of US forces, certain decorations may be awarded. This is being done today in regard to your squadron's efforts, both in helping the US Army Air Force, and then locating and, at great personal cost, helping our special unit in the Rangoon area. On behalf of the President of the United States, I am delighted to award you the Legion of Merit. He pinned the medal on Jim's chest, then looking up to include the rest of the squadron and the relatives, he continued, "Major Rogers' troops are also being honoured today. The President has authorized the award of the Bronze Star to each member of the squadron, or in cases where the soldier has died, posthumously to their family." A number of American officers who had obviously been waiting in the station then distributed the medals. Jim saluted and returned to his position, at which point I was even more surprised to hear Commander Philips continue. "Senior Commander Norma Rogers, please come forward." Wondering what was happening, I marched out and halted in front of the King, who gave me a smile as I saluted him. Philips continued. "Senior Commander Rogers, for accepting and completing important duties that unfortunately cannot be detailed in this citation, you have also been awarded the Distinguished Service Order." After the King pinned the medal on my jacket, I saluted and was about to return when Henry spoke again. "Commander Rogers, unfortunately our system of awards does not cover these circumstances, but the President is well aware of the training you devised and provided to the United States Forces in handling of casualties. I am proud to present you with the Personal Citation of the President of the United States. He then handed me a framed Citation, and I saluted and turned to the Ambulance Unit, who could no longer hold themselves in check and burst into applause. The King stood at the front of the dais, and seemed to be deep in thought. He then began to speak. "It is with difficulty that I speak to you all, not because of my own disability, but because I am humbled by your efforts. Whether Military or Ambulance Service, you have been called upon to make extraordinary efforts during the times of our deepest trials. You have all responded to that challenge in such a way that can only demand respect for you all and pride in your accomplishments. To the families of those wounded and lost, I can only say 'take pride in what your loved one did, for without their sacrifices we would not have triumphed.' Thank You All." The civilians who were present and the ambulance unit broke out in a round of applause as he stood back. As the yard was not big enough for a march past, the band struck up again and the Royal Party moved off into the station where a tea and sandwich table had been set up. Jim dismissed the Squadron and I followed his example with the Ambulance Unit. We walked into the station to get some tea, and the Queen and Mhairi waved me over. I saluted the Queen and she spoke first, "Well, Norma, a lot has happened since we first met. I thought when we met that day in the palace that you were destined to be a force to be reckoned with. It appears that I was right, and we were fortunate to find you, as well as more women like you. Without your efforts, the war might be still dragging on." I replied, "Your Majesty, thank you for your kind words, but I must admit that, had I been given my choice, it would have been to spend the last four years with my husband and children in a little house in the country." She smiled knowingly and continued, "It is not exactly a state secret that, given the choice, I would have chosen the same, but the times often make demands on us that we can't ignore. On behalf of the King and the country, thank you for doing what you did." I smiled back at her and spoke to her in return, "Your Majesty, I want to thank you for being here today, and please convey my thanks to the King for his presence also; it has meant so much to everybody else here." She replied, "It was the least we could do, especially as you were both being honoured by the United States as well." Mhairi told me that she would see me later, and they both went to meet the relatives of those who had lost their lives. I walked over to get some tea, and Jim came to join me. "Quite the surprise, wasn't it?" I thought for a minute before asking, "Jim, did you know anything about it?" "No, I knew the Americans had an award planned for the unit, but I thought it was just going to be some small thing." Just then a man approached us. He appeared to be in his fifties, was short with thinning hair, and his clothes, while neat, showed signs of wear. Proudly displayed on his left breast were a number of World War One decorations. He was accompanied by a short, plump woman. He was obviously trying to talk without an accent, but the strong Liverpool accent slipped through as he talked. "Major Rogers, can we 'ave a word with you and yer good lady?" Jim smiled, "Yes, and how can we help you?" "I'm 'Arry Ellis and this is Gertie, my missus. We travelled down from Liverpool on the night train, and we're going back the same way tonight. We don't have much, but we couldn't miss this occasion. Our son Billy was in your squadron." "I remember, Scouser Ellis in Park Troop, the best plumber in the unit." "That's 'im sir, he could have stayed 'ome to work in the shipyard, but 'e wanted to do 'is bit, just like 'is two bruvvers." "Where did your other boys serve?" "In the Kings Liverpool Regiment, just like most of the other lads in the area." "An excellent tradition, Sir, and how are they?" "Well, the eldest was wounded and captured on Crete, so 'e was a POW and really sick when the camp was taken, but 'e's gettin' better now; the middle boy is in Germany with the Army of Occupation." Jim pointed at the medals Mr. Ellis wore. "I see that you have served your country, too, Mr. Ellis." "Yes, Sir, Sergeant Ellis, Mortar Platoon, First Battalion, King's Liverpool." "Well, Sar'nt Ellis, I can tell you that Billy was a credit to you both. He was an important member of the unit, and he was really well liked. It was a pity that he went all through the fighting, only to lose his life to an illness that we didn't have the medicines to deal with. He didn't have to go with the search troops, he volunteered." "Sir, that's what I wanted to tell yer. 'E said 'e'd go anywhere you did, told us you were the best officer 'e ever served with. I just wanted to thank yerself for keepin 'im alive so long, and bein so good to 'im. Ma and me 'ave bin talking to other parents and wives, and they think pretty much the same; they're glad that their sons served with you, and know that if yer could possibly 'ave brought their boys back home alive, yer would." Norma Rogers Ch. 09 He blinked back the tears in his eyes as he looked at Jim and held out his hand. Jim took it and they shook hands, and it was just like a dam broke. All the parents lined up to shake Jim's hand. By the time he had met them all and heard what they had to say, the tears were running down his face. I have never seen or felt so much emotion since. The King and Queen had long since left, but Henry and Glenda had stayed, along with our parents and Hank and Nancy. Jim's unit had stayed, and he went over to talk to them to wish them well while I talked with Nancy and Hank. "Is it definitely another baby?" I asked Nancy. She looked serious, "Yes, and from here we are going up to Nottingham to see my parents and let them know we are off to the States in three weeks." "So soon?" "Yes. With the baby coming, it is best to travel as soon as we can; Hank is going back to school as well." I was surprised. "School?" "Yes, another thing he didn't tell us was that, when he volunteered, he was in his final year of medical school, so he is going to repeat that year and then intern to be, of all things, a Pediatric Doctor." I laughed, remembering the condition he was in when Nancy gave birth the first time. "I'll miss you, Nancy. What will I do for a friend now?" "Oh, I'm sure I'll be able to come back over once in a while, and you surely have many friends. You still have Jenny and Maisie right with you, and Charles and Penny are only a few hours away." "Yes, but no one else has shared the experiences we have." "It would have been much better to have just been friends without some of those experiences." "At least we can write to each other. You know the address, and you had better write to me once you are settled." We hugged one last time, and then Glenda came over and hugged me as well. "Take good care of that man of yours. He is healing even better than I thought he might. Between you and his mother, he really seems to be coming around. I think that this ceremony and meeting the families is the best catharsis that he could have had" "Oh, Glenda, thank you for bringing him back to me. The nightmares and memories of being back in the jungle seem to be subsiding, and I think that the warmth and thanks he felt from the families today have had a tremendous impact on him." "That is exactly what I hoped. I was really surprised how many came here." "From what we heard, his men respected him so much that they wouldn't miss it for anything. I'm sure you noticed that some on parade were moving quite stiffly, still. The parents and wives really surprised us though when they thanked us. It was truly amazing in light of all they have been through and the lives they face without their loved ones." "Well, I have high hopes for you two, and I'm sure that this won't be the last time we will see each other. Now we are going to take your friend Nancy away across the sea and make an American of her." I laughed, "I wish you luck! In almost five years, I haven't even been able to make her into a Londoner." She laughed, and bid her farewell. "Well, goodbye, Norma, it has been a pleasure to meet you, and I'm sure that Nancy will keep us in touch." With that, the four of them left. Darn it, I was going to miss that girl after all we had been through together As she was leaving, Doug Hathaway came over to Jim and me. He was accompanied by a tall willowy blonde girl. He looked at me, held out his hand and said, "You must be Norma. I have heard so much about you. You must be quite the paragon of virtue, or so this man of yours would have had us believe. I'd like to introduce my fiancée, Diane Roberts. She has had the patience to wait for me to get home, and we are going to marry in September. You two are going to be invited, so keep the second Saturday in September open. After the time we have been apart, neither of us wants to wait long. Jim said that we would be pleased to attend, and then he asked, "Doug, how much did you have to do with organizing this?" "Well, I was approached by a Mr. Smith of MI6; he asked if it were possible to arrange the parade. Really, all I had to do was contact the troop officers. They contacted their sergeants, who passed the information along. The men haven't been demobilized yet, so they still had their uniforms and weapons. They were all told it was strictly voluntary and they didn't have to take part, but they volunteered, to a man. It was a day for you and Norma. You taught your officers well, and that teaching reached the lowest ranks. Their respect for you has no bounds." Jim thanked Doug, and then completely shocking me, he put his fingers to his mouth and gave a piercing whistle. The men dressed in khaki turned toward the sound. Jim stepped up on to a chair and shouted, "Gather round, please, men." They did so in a group around him, and he began to speak. "Men, or should I say friends, I'm very glad that this occasion to get together happened; otherwise, I was going to have to try to get in touch with you individually. We have been together as a unit for a long time, willingly doing a job that was important in an area that could only be called hostile at the least. In addition, when called upon, you all volunteered to go into enemy held territory to save the lives of men you had never met, but whom you regarded as allies. Together, we went through a great deal. What the future has in store, I can't even guess. Many of you will be going home to your families to resume the life that was so badly interrupted; others will be going on to other duties as they continue a career in the Army. Whether we meet again is left in the hands of fate. Before you all leave, I want to say that I have been proud and fortunate to be your commander, and I have never been more proud than I was today when all of you, sick and fit together, stood before your King. Thank you for being here, and thank you for being the best soldiers I have had the good fortune to meet. I salute all of you." He stood at attention, and saluted his men. I was crying as they all saluted him in return. Doug turned to Diane and me. "See what I mean? The men love him and would do anything for him. That doesn't happen often to officers. Usually, if they get respect, that is about all they can hope for. I've never served under an officer like him, and if I can be half as good, I'll be happy." A little later, Jim and I stood together. Most of his men had left after making arrangements to keep in contact, and Doug had volunteered to act as a quarterly newsletter editor. We were about to leave with our parents when Mr. Richards and Commander Philips came over. They congratulated us on the awards, and then Richards took an envelope from his pocket. "Norma, here are your demobilization papers. As of today, you are simply Mrs. Norma Rogers, wife of Major James Rogers. All you have to do is send in your identity card. You are welcome to keep the uniform as a souvenir, and I must thank you from a grateful country." I Introduced Charles to Jim and told Jim that Charles had personally escorted the family home. Charles smiled at us and said, "Norma, it was a pleasure to act as escort for you, and I am inviting you, James and your children to Eastham Manor at any time convenient to you. Penny had a beautiful little girl, and we idolize her. Unfortunately, my father, the squire, passed away 3 months ago, so I will be resigning my commission and undertaking the duties he performed. It means living in the Manor, and Penny and I and our three children are rather rattling about the draughty old barn of a place. The butler and manservants were all called up for service, and the maids were made to take up munitions work, so they have never been replaced. We still have a cook and housekeeper, but any time I mention a Nanny, Penny gathers the children around her and bristles like a mother bear, so I don't dare mention it any more. I'm afraid that, rather than Squire Philips, I'm far more likely to be addressed as Farmer Philips, and I must admit I'm getting far more used to the controls of a tractor than those of a ship. Jim then asked him, "Charles, are you off home tonight, or are you staying in town?" "I'm staying at the Army and Navy Club, as I have to go to Admiralty House and formally resign my commission tomorrow." "Well, if you would like to see how the other half lives, how about eating with us tonight? Then we can hit our local with an ex-Chief Petty Officer and his wife and any number of ex ratings and soldiers. We owe you a good night out! Our larder seems to be pretty much foods from the auld country or care packages from the States, but we do have a really good butcher friend." Charles took us up on the invitation, and my luck must have been running well that day. Sid had a pork shoulder for me, as we hadn't used up all of our ration coupons, and after a good meal with Charles, Mhairi and John and mum and dad, we all went to the Dog and Duck. As we walked in, Ben, the landlord, who had obviously been told of the day's happenings, in his best 'Time, Gentlemen, Please' voice, called out 'here they come'. All those present stood and sang For He's A Jolly Good fellow, then raised their glasses in a toast to Jim and me. Then the party got started and went on until closing time. Almost everyone had to have a word with us, and Charles met a number of people as an equal that he normally wouldn't have. Eventually we went home, where Mum and Dad and Mhairi and John left us to go to their hotel. Charles had left earlier, and finally Jim and I were alone. Jim went into the front room and lit a fire with our small supply of coal, while I went through to the kitchen and made tea. I took it through and found that Jim had moved the sofa in front of the fire. We sat there, drinking our tea and basking in the warmth. During the night, I had noticed that Jim was drinking sparingly, and here he was sitting staring into the flames. I reached for his hand and asked, "Where are those thoughts taking you now?" He turned to me and replied, "Strangely enough, nowhere at all. I was thinking of this afternoon, and out of all the people that we met, two really stick in my mind." "I bet I know the ones; Harry and Gertie Ellis, right? They will just be getting the night train to Liverpool." "Norma, you know me too well. I was just thinking of the sacrifice they made. Knowing the perils of war, yet sending their three sons to war. They had to know the possibility of losing three sons, and were so lucky that two survived. Yet there they were, so proud, Harry wearing his medals, in what to them were their best clothes, honoring their son and his comrades." "Yes, it's because of people like the Ellises that we won the war, people you might say are the common man. Without their help, we would never have made it, and to me they were anything but common." "Their son Billy was a true scouser, just irrepressible; no matter how serious the situation, he could always find something funny in it, and he defused many possibly explosive situations. I am one of many people who will always recall his humour and his refusal to let things get him down." "I never met him, but I'm glad he was with you to ease the tension a little." "I know that meeting his mother and father and the other parents and relatives really eased my thoughts and worries." With that, Jim put his cup down, slid across the sofa and took me into his arms. He bent toward me, his mouth covering mine. My cup slipped from my fingers, the remnants of the tea spreading over the new linoleum and rug. I tried to pull away to clean it up, only for Jim to hold me tighter and say "Leave it; we'll clean up in the morning." He then stood and pulled me up and in to him. "Norma, I feel different; I feel the waiting is over." He totally surprised me by lifting me up and slinging me over his shoulder in a fireman's carry, taking me upstairs into our bedroom. Standing me back up beside the bed, he took me in his arms and kissed me, far more deeply than he had since he had come home, his tongue tasting the inside of my willing mouth. I decided I could take all that he offered, and was hoping desperately that it would all turn out well. Jim began unfastening my blouse, and I started unfastening his shirt. Pulling it from the waist of his pants, I slid it back over his shoulders, and as it dropped to the floor, I felt him unfasten my bra. I let the straps slide down my arms and then put my hands around his neck, pushing my breasts and erect nipples into his chest, kissing around his neck beneath the angle of his jaw. His hands slid into the waistband of my skirt, pushing it down, and the waist of my panties went with it as his hands slid down my body. I pulled at his belt, finally opening it and sliding the still too large waistband of his pants down over his still painfully thin body. His undershorts slid down, exposing an erection that had not happened since he had returned home. He laid me down on the bed, saying, "Norma, I've missed you so much. It has been torture to lie beside you, wanting you so much, yet not being able to do anything." I whispered, "Hush, my love; you are doing just fine now." He had been stroking the lips of my vagina, and his fingers began sliding inside and then out again. I was absolutely soaking wet with desire. He covered me, and I took hold of his erect penis and, opening myself up to him, I slid him into me. We made slow, passionate love, satisfying a hunger that had been growing for years, until we could hold back no longer, speeding our movements, him thrusting into me, and me thrusting up at him. I met his hurried lovemaking as we both reached our orgasms. He lay upon me in my arms till he slid out of me, then moved beside me, breathing as hard as if he had run a mile. I just held him in my arms as he relaxed and began to doze off. "Hey, you," I said, "Just like a typical man, get finished and then doze off whether the wife wants to sleep or not." He didn't say anything, but in answer he lifted his head, grinned at me and then began to kiss my body, slowly moving down over my breasts, button hard nipples and stomach. I tensed as his lips met my pubic hair, then the lips of my vagina; to me this had always seemed dirty, but this time I just relaxed and lay back, letting his lips and tongue thrill me as waves of ecstasy crashed over me. Eventually, I felt Jim's erection slide into me again, moving deeper and faster until we had both had orgasms again and were totally exhausted, drenched with sweat. I couldn't help asking, "Where and when did you learn to make love like that?" He grinned "Would you believe from that young barmaid at the Dog and Duck?" I jerked upright with surprise, "What on earth have you been up to?" He held me close, "I'm joking. Sure and I would hate to make you think badly of your mother, but she was pretty definite when she was talking to me that first night and most of the times she and I talked. She told me of other things I could do that would help, and it really had me wondering about all the noises that John and I grew up hearing. Mam and Dad could be pretty noisy at night, and I don't think she ever held back because of us. Anyway, she made no bones about it that there was more than one way for a man to show his love. Could you not see the red in my ears whenever we came back into the kitchen? I told her she should write a book on it." I thought to myself, "Mhairi, thank you; I really owe you a lot." Several days later, I took the train down to Barton Stacey with Jim and stayed in the village pub while he reported in. After he spent that night in camp, he came to the pub where I was staying for lunch. He told me that he had been offered the choice of staying in the Colours as a Captain and doing strictly administrative duties with a training unit, or transferring from the Colours to the Class A reserve as a Major. When I asked him what the reserve service would mean, he told me that he would be basically be working as a civilian, but for eight years he could potentially be called back in an emergency on 12 hours' notice. He was regarded as fit, but arrangements had been made for him to see a consultant in tropical diseases at the Royal Naval Hospital in Chatham to see if there were any further problems. We talked it over and felt that Jim should take the transfer, so when he returned to camp, that is what he did. The next day, with Jim decked out in a civilian suit, we were on the train back to London and Bromley, as Jim put it, to join the unemployed looking for work. For some reason, he was very exuberant about it. As he put it, there was going to be lots of work rebuilding, and he was impatient to try to find work in the building industry. The next three years were emotional ups and downs for both of us. We wanted so much to have another child, yet no matter how hard we tried, nothing seemed to happen. Eventually both Jim and I saw a consultant. After some tests, the doctor sat us both down and told us, that while I had no problems, the illness that Jim had suffered had apparently adversely affected the amount of active sperm that he produced. The Doctor couldn't say whether this would improve or not. I thought to myself that probably explained why Bert and Jenny had not had any luck starting another baby even though they had been trying as well. It was good that we had the twins, and it was beginning to look as if that was the way life was going to stay. Jim kept in touch with Dan in Canada, and he also kept in touch with the Rajah of Banar, whose life and family Jim's unit had saved, as well as some of the American airmen who had, as they called it, flown over the Hump, and of course the members of his unit. When India became independent and opened the Indian High Commission in London, the Rajah arranged for Jim and me to be invited to the opening and the dinner. After the dinner, there was a social evening with dancers and Indian performers. During the evening, a Mr. Banerjee approached us, handing Jim a letter that he said was from the Rajah. He opened the envelope, finding a short letter and a key. We read the letter together. Dear Major Rogers. My family and I are very grateful for and will never forget the kindness of yourself and your men in saving our lives when we were being pursued by the Japanese Army. Then when I tried to reward you, all that you would accept was the ring that you sent home to your wife. Many of your men were rewarded, but you would not take anything further. The enclosed key is the key to a box at the Bromley branch of the Midland Bank where you will find what I personally feel is a fitting reward for you and your family. Please take this gift in the spirit that it is offered, not seeking any advantage, but strictly between friends. Take it in friendship, as for you to do otherwise would hurt me a great deal. To me it is a small enough thank you for all that you did for us. The note was signed, Changar. When we went back to Bromley, we paid a visit to the Midland Bank and produced the key to a clerk. We were escorted to a room with locked boxes, like little safes, on both sides. The clerk produced a key and put it in a lock and told Jim to put the other key in the second lock. When they both turned the keys, the door swung open and inside we found another metal box. The clerk took the box out and put it on a small table. Then he told us he would be just outside the door when we were finished. To end the mystery, we opened the box and we found a small sealed packet inside and a letter. Jim got the letter out first and read it. Dear James, Please don't be offended by this small gift. By rescuing me and my family, even though doing so put yourself and your men in more danger, you gave us a future. From our many talks, I know that you are a quiet, honest man whose biggest concern is not riches, but his family. As you gave us our future when all seemed bleak, please allow me to return the favour. We both know that life can be wonderful one moment and yet very quickly turn to dire emergency. Keep this gift to use to sustain your family if needed, and for at least the education of your children. This I ask as a mark of our friendship. Norma Rogers Ch. 09 Your friend Changar Jim took out the knife he always carried and slit the package under the seal. He opened it and found a small container like a makeup compact. When he opened the box, he found twenty diamonds. Jim whistled quietly. "There must be thousands of pounds worth here. I don't deserve this, but to return them would be slapping a good friend in the face. We will leave them here until we decide what to do with them." We put them back in the box, slid it back into the safe and called the clerk in and locked it again. The diamonds were the subject of much discussion over the next few weeks, but eventually we decided that they would stay in the safe at the bank and only be used in the case of extreme need. Jim made lots of applications to the big construction companies, but while he had no problem getting jobs handling equipment, to break into management was a different thing. None of the companies would take his Army experience as counting for much, even though he commanded a unit of over 200 men, building and repairing airfields and base housing. He felt that his Irish background was being used against him. As he put it, he didn't fit the Public School mould. Eventually, in utter frustration, he contacted several members of his old unit, and they put together the first Rogers Construction Company, specializing in repairing damaged housing. Jim did the design work and sourcing materials. In many cases they had to use salvaged material, demolishing old buildings for the local councils and using the materials from them to repair others that were not scheduled to be demolished. This meant cleaning off old bricks, and reusing slate and wood until new materials began to reach the market. I worked in the 'office', actually our front room, doing the bookkeeping, paying the bills and making up pay packets, so I could look after the children who had begun school. Fortunately for the company, we had been allowed to keep the phone that had been installed when I was Station Officer, otherwise we would have had problems getting one installed. Slowly, we began to build the company up. Much of our work consisted of the maintenance of rental housing owned by absentee landlords and administered by estate agents whose methods were to get the work done as cheaply as possible, so a small company like ours was kept quite busy. Over the first five years after the war, rationing was still fairly tight; we definitely felt the effects of our government's decision to send part of what was being produced to Europe to help the different countries re-build. Our company was beginning to expand when disaster struck. Several of our workers had done the same as Jim, transferring to the A reserve after serving as volunteers during the war. In July of 1950, Jim was recalled to the Colours along with several of our men, due to the Korean War. We were left in the situation of completing what work we had left with the men that were left, and then the company was officially dissolved. Jim was posted as Officer Commanding 'A' Squadron, of the Ist Training Regiment RE, at Merebrooke Camp, Malvern, near Worcester. 'A' Squadron was the administrative side of the regiment: the cooks, gym instructors, drill instructors, office personnel and people called on to perform the myriad tasks necessary to complete the behind-the-scenes running of the regiment. 'B' Squadron was the training squadron: the recruits in their individual parties who were taken and changed from young men fresh from their civilian occupations into recruits able to follow basic drill formations, able to fire and clean a rifle, and who would respond to orders and adapt to army life. From 1 TRRE, they would then be sent on for further training as drivers, field engineers, railway engineers, bomb disposal personnel, surveyors, plant operators and the many types of engineering that the modern army needed. Many of them were destined to serve in Korea. Jim, like most of the permanent staff, was able to live away from barracks if he wished, so, after the company was dissolved, we contacted a removal company and, saying goodbye to our house in London that had seen such a big part of our lives, we followed Jim to Malvern, settling into a nice little cottage not far from the camp. Jim received a rent allowance, which helped, and we spent the next three years in the Cotswolds. Malvern was a Spa town and farming community, and had quite a lot of historical significance. For me it was a new experience as an Army wife, attending mess dinners and parties and finding myself acting as a role model for the younger officers' wives. I had never realized before how tightly knit the military community was, even for wives, and as the wife of one of the senior officers, I was expected to get to know the wives of the NCOs and Sappers of the permanent staff and have a fairly good idea of what happened in the small community of Merebrook. Most of the families were in married quarters, and all of our younger children attended the same school just two miles away in Malvern Wells. While there was a social ladder, as it were, starting with the wife of the Commanding Officer, June Wells, then myself and Diane Jones, the wife of the OC of B squadron and extending into the lower ranks, it was only evident when there was an official function; otherwise, we were pretty relaxed with each other. Most of our children played together anyway, so it was impossible not to know what was happening in other families. Often, we found ourselves in the role of family counselors. Like most Army camps, with the various messes, NAAFI and local pubs, alcohol played a role. Of course we didn't have a lot to do with the new recruits other than act as guests at the Passing Out Parade of each Party as they left us to go on to further training. Really, I felt pity for them, as it seemed like they were a group of little boys starting out on an adventure, little knowing the shock that awaited them when the troop trains arrived at their next training camp. Early in June of 1953, I came home from a shopping expedition to Worcester with Diane. She dropped me off at the cottage, and I took the shopping through to the kitchen where I got quite a surprise. Jim was sitting out on a garden chair on the lawn watching the children play. He was really early and must have had a lot on his mind, because when I went out to join him, and while the children saw me as they played, Jim didn't seem to notice me, even though I wasn't making any effort to be quiet. I sat down in the chair beside him. "A penny for those thoughts," I said to him. "Sure, and you can have them for free." "Is there something going on?" "Well, it looks like I will be back in Civvy Street before long; we had a visit from the Brigadier this morning. It looks like the talks at Panmunjom might bear fruit at long last, maybe as early as next month. That means that those of us called back from the reserve will be released. The time I had to serve on the class A reserve will be over, so I won't ever be called back. The question we have to ask ourselves is, what do we do now?" I asked, "Do you want to start all over again building up a company, or going to University to study those things that the big companies deem important?" "I can't say that either prospect appeals to me." "Well, the farm isn't big enough for us as well as John and your parents, so, do you think we should go to Ireland and rent our own place, or maybe get into the construction there?" "There wouldn't be much of a farm to rent, and besides, I'm not cut out for life as a farmer; I'm a soldier and an engineer. While there is some construction around Dublin, there really isn't that much. Actually, I've had another offer, but to take it, we would have to tear up our roots and leave the country." I almost cried out in shock. "Leaving our families doesn't sound very appealing, right now, but what would the job be?" Jim took an air mail letter out of his pocket and gave it to me. Seeing the address, I realized it was from Dan. After the usual greetings and generalities, Dan got down to business. He wrote, "Jim, the company is expanding and Dad isn't getting any younger. Alongside our usual lumber camp and mine buildings, we are getting into building homes, municipal buildings and schools, and we are starting to get into road construction. We have lots of workers, but what we need is someone who can look at the big picture and get things done without harming worker relationships. I've told Dad that I think that you are that man." "I know this is sudden, but would you consider coming over and joining us after the Korean mess is done? The company would pay your transport and moving costs, and provide a house for you and Norma. Your salary would be management level, which is much more than you would get in Britain. I guarantee that if you or Norma doesn't like it here, then the company would pay your fares home. You would be doing Dad and me a great favor by coming over, and I can pretty well promise you that if things work out, we would be offering you a partnership in the company. Do us a favor and don't dismiss our offer out of hand. Take your time and think seriously about it. The residential market is beginning to open up, as land up here is being bought up for farms, and towns are expanding slowly. You could be in on the start of something big. I looked at Jim, "What do you think?" He looked at me earnestly. "Well, I would be reluctant to leave our families, but we must think of our own family first. It is a pretty good offer and something like I wanted to find after the war. And I would have found if I had been able to break through the anti-Irish prejudice that, deep down, still exists. If you go to some cities like Liverpool, it isn't hidden at all. It is so hard to deal with. I think we owe it to ourselves and the children to at least go to Canada House in London and look into the prospects of emigration to Canada. Then, we can sit down and talk to our parents and see how they feel about the prospect of us leaving and, of course, taking two of their grandchildren away. It would be hard on them, just as it would be hard on us not having them to turn to." "Well, I must admit, if we were to go, I would miss our parents and families, but I feel almost a sense of adventure, that this is something that will eventually benefit us and the children. Here we have only just got rid of the rationing of sweets for the children, and who knows how long the other foods will be rationed? Clothing is expensive, and there isn't that much choice. Jobs are few and far between, and a lot of them under the Labour government have become closed shop. You have to be a member of a union to get in. I hear a lot from the younger wives about the Army, Navy and Air Force being the only places where young men can get employment. Is that the kind of world we want for the children?" "Woman, you must have been reading my mind! That is exactly what I have been thinking, myself. I think I'll be requesting a week's leave, and if your parents can put up with us, we will go to Bromley and leave the children with them while we go ask some questions." That was exactly what we did, and when Jim explained why he wanted leave, his commanding officer couldn't have been more helpful. Mum and Dad were overjoyed to see us, though they were not too happy about the reason for our visit, but as Mum said, our own family had to come first. When we went to Canada House, we were warmly welcomed and were told that, if Dan sent us a letter offering Jim the job, giving his salary and guaranteeing our outward travel expenses and our travel home if we had to come back, and we all passed medical examinations, they couldn't see any reason why our applications would be denied. Mum was a little upset by our planning, and contacted Mhairi to enlist her help in convincing us to stay, but much to my surprise Mhairi wrote back saying she backed us up. She couldn't foresee any big improvements economically in either Ireland or England in the near future, and as long as we made time to visit them before we left, she was giving our plans her blessing. Of course, with her being Scottish and John being Irish, they were well used to family members leaving for other countries to make their living. In July, after handing over his command, Jim was granted demobilization leave. To all intents and purposes he was a civilian; his commitment to the Reserve had been fully completed, so he was free to make any decisions he wished regarding his future. We went and stayed with Mum and Dad again while we went through the process of emigration and medicals, then we were told that we had permission to emigrate to Canada. We sold all our furniture by auction, as the cost of shipping was prohibitive; all we were taking were the family treasures that we had acquired over the years, such as photographs, bedding, pots and pans, crockery and clothing. We planned on going to the bank to take out the package of diamonds the day before we sailed. Jim was going to carry them and put them in the ship's safe. Almost before we knew it, we were in Ireland saying our farewells to John, Mhairi and the rest of the family. On our last night there, Mhairi organized a huge farewell ceilidh. All of the relatives and neighbours were there, and the whisky and porter flowed pretty freely. The party and dancing lasted a large part of the night, and it was a very weary and quiet family that left the next morning for Dublin and the Liverpool ferry. Fortunately, the Irish Sea cooperated this time and we had smooth sailing all the way to Liverpool. We stayed in Liverpool overnight at the Adelphi Hotel, no less, thanks to Mhairi and John who had come with us, then the next day we walked the block to Lime Street Station where we caught the train to London and Bromley. After staying with my parents for another week, we had a removal company load the belongings that we would not require on the voyage; it was being shipped on the same ship as us, but direct to Dan's company address, and likely would arrive sometime after we got to our destination. Accompanied by both our sets of parents, we took the boat train to Liverpool Riverside Station, where the Cunard liner Ascania awaited us, tied up at the Prince's Landing Stage. We arrived well before sailing time, but were allowed to board and find our cabin. Dan had arranged for a Second Class Cabin, which was a better than the usual immigrant cabins, so we had a little room. The ship was fairly old and due to be replaced, but it was comfortable. Once we had found our cabin and deposited our luggage, we and our parents went to the lounge where we could have tea or coffee and sandwiches. Since the ship was tied up, the bar was not open, so our farewell toasts were with tea and coffee. Eventually, there was an announcement that all non-passengers must leave the ship, as we were about to sail, and the song 'Now Is the Hour' was played over the sound system. With tears in their eyes and in ours, Mhairi and Mum hugged the children, then us; then, holding the children, we walked our parents to the gangway. They stood in the crowd on the landing stage, looking up at us, and were waving madly as the lines holding us to the stage were loosened and cast off, and the tugs fore and aft started hooting and pulling the ship away from the landing stage. Then the tugs dropped those lines, they were winched in, and the engines of the ship started pushing us into the centre of the Mersey. We stayed on deck for a while, and about half an hour later I saw the Mersey Estuary go by in reverse as the ship passed out into the Irish Sea. Looking across to port, I could see the green dome of St Peter and St Pauls slowly receding behind us. I couldn't help but reflect on that grim day when we came from Dublin, finding the net stretched across the river and the convoy of damaged ships waiting for the tide to cross the Bar into relative safety. We slowed, then stopped, and the river pilot climbed down a rope ladder, dropping into the pilot boat, when the twin propellers started up again, driving the ship into a long turn to starboard, following the coastline while heading north to Greenock and on to Cobh in Ireland, where we would pick up more passengers before we began crossing the Atlantic to a new life in Canada. To be continued. (Authors note) While there is more of the Rogers story to relate, the author is taking a break as reality is catching up for a little while. There will be more about Norma, Jim and their children as they begin life in Canada, but this seems to be a natural place to take a rest while Norma enjoys the voyage, though I do have an idea about that.