Vera’s Life: Part Twenty-Five

~ beetleypete

This is the twenty-fifth episode of a fiction serial, in 720 words.

That summer, things started to get serious all around the world. At home, clothes rationing came in, so Elsie told Vera to be careful of her clothes, and perhaps wear an overall to work instead of an apron. She was going to do that, and so were other women at the factory. “We can get two each while they’re still easy to get hold of, then we have a spare for when one’s in the wash”. Then there was the unexpected news that Hitler had invaded Russia. All of a sudden, the Russians were our friends. Albert liked reading about that. “Ha! You can tell that Hitler’s no student of history. He should have read about Napoleon. Nobody beats the Russkies”. But Vera read the paper when he put it down, and it looked like the Germans were already doing just that.

Janet wasn’t the same after the visit to Peckham to get rid of the baby. She looked older and tired, with dark circles around her eyes. She had heard from Frank, and he was in action in the desert, but couldn’t say where. He mainly wrote about the flies, and the boring food. Frank was never to know about her being pregnant, she made Vera swear an oath to never let on about that. Vera was a bit annoyed with her, because she would never have told. There was nothing from Les, which worried the Reid family, and Vera too. Mr Reid said the same old thing, every time. “No news is good news, Vera love”.

The bombing continued, but they no longer just concentrated on the docks. Places in the suburbs were being hit too, and incendiary raids and delayed action bombs caused havoc at times, with fires and road closures. The worst day yet had been in May. They hadn’t been able to do any work, and sat all night in the shelter. Albert was out most of the night, and came back looking ashen. “They say this is the worst it’s ever been, Elsie”. Vera thought she must be getting used to it, as when she saw the newspapers a few days later, she could hardly believe it had been all around where they lived.

One day, Vera and Elsie had to walk a very long way round to work, as the bomb disposal were trying to defuse a timer-bomb hanging from a parachute against the side of the church next to the Coach and Horses. Elsie tried to lighten the mood. “Hope those boys get that bomb safe, or your dad’s gonna be looking for somwehere else to have a pint”.

Then when it hardly seemed things could get any worse, Albert came home from work with his face set, and he looked like he had been crying. It took him some time to compose himself, not helped by Elsie constantly repeating “What is it Bert? Tell me what’s wrong”. Vera had never seen such a look on his face. “It’s the Ark Royal, Teddy’s ship. They’ve only gone and sunk it”. Elsie let out a piercing scream, and Vera felt the tears suddenly run down her face. She tried to imagine that huge ship under the sea, but didn’t want to think about her brother being inside the wreck. Albert tried to calm them down. “Don’t take on so, they say everyone is safe, but reports are unconfirmed so far”.

Elsie made some dinner, but couldn’t face eating anything herself. Albert gave her a big glass of port from the bottle in the parlour, and she sat for a long time holding it against her mouth without drinking any. For the rest of the evening, they sat glued to the radio, hoping for more news. When nothing came, Albert said what Mr Reid always said, and Vera felt like telling him to shut up. Then he tried to change the subject. “At least they defused the bomb that was near the pub”. Nobody smiled.

The following day, there was news on the radio that only one sailor had been killed. They didn’t give his name, but Vera was certain it was going to be Teddy. She couldn’t think straight for days after that, but her dad was equally convinced Teddy would be alright. Elsie said nothing.

All they could do was wait for news.

35 thoughts on “Vera’s Life: Part Twenty-Five”

  1. (1) I was hoping the jam factory girls would be encouraged to wear sexy lingerie to work. Overalls just don’t cut it for me.
    (2) “Ha! You can tell that Hitler’s no student of history. He should have read about Napoleon.” Thanks to Napoleon’s “Vote for Pedro” campaign, Pedro became class president. Hitler’s military campaign didn’t include any dynamite candidates like Pedro, so his campaign was doomed to fail.
    (3) Frank “mainly wrote about the flies, and the boring food.” But what about those Couscous Happy Meals, huh?
    (4) Bad citation: “…the bomb disposal were trying to defuse a timer-bomb hanging from a parachute against the side of Big Ben. Fortunately, the bomb’s fuse got confused.”
    (5) “It’s the Ark Royal, Teddy’s ship. They’ve only gone and sunk it.” According to my history book, she ship sank because it hit a little rock. A German was heard to say, “I looked at the Ark an’ saw it taking on water. And then it sank!”
    (6) Albert gave Elsie a big glass of port. She sat for a long time holding it against her mouth without drinking any. In contrast, Teddy’s ship was far from port, and, thanks to the U-81, its crew ended up in the drink for a short period of time.
    (7) “For the rest of the evening, they sat glued to the radio…” The glue dried clear, fast, and strong. However, I heard the Dodds were eventually able to free themselves from the radio. Later in life, they ended up glued to their television set. Some people never learn!

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  2. My mother told me of drawing a line up the back of your leg to look like you had nylon stockings on. I also heard from her that hems went up as a result of clothes rationing. I don’t know if that is true.

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  3. Another excellent episode, Pete. I am glued to your words. It sounds unlikely Teddy is ‘the one’. It’s Les I’m worried about. And where are those damn Americans? It took us until Pearl Harbor to jump in and help. Still makes me angry. I know, it’s not quite 1942 in the story. Best to you, Pete.

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  5. I remember my mum telling us about the Doodlebugs as they called them how they could hear them then silence and then boom as they hit their target…such terrible times you are bringing to life, Pete

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    1. Not only was there no ‘instant news’, there were also restrictions on press reports. They didn’t always want the enemy to know things like which ship had been sunk, or how many had been killed in a bombing raid.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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            1. The Like button is acting strangely. Funnily enough I’ve just finished reading a book in which the main character always read the last page of a novel. This annoyed her controlling husband who used to take a knife and cut out the last pages before got the chance to read them.

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