Tea love and war, p.22
Tea, Love and War, page 22
My father was not a man who could easily express his emotions – his time as a surgeon behind the trenches combined with the reticence into which men were encouraged in those days saw to that – but his desolation at losing both parents was obvious. The stable building blocks of his life, mother and father, had been taken from him at a time when the fortunes of war could alter our lives for ever.
Almost immediately my mother went into St Francis Hospital for an operation. I went to live at Morland Avenue during this time in order to look after my father but also went to visit my mother in hospital each day.
When Arthur’s commission came through he was given a precious week’s leave to celebrate. This was the first week of December so I returned to the flat. It was wonderful to have a whole week of my husband – there had been so few nights that we had spent together since we were married.
It was during that leave that Arthur told me he was determined to join the ‘Second Front’. He pointed out that volunteers were wanted and he had decided to transfer to the infantry, resolute that he should be in the thick of such action as there might be. In consequence he said that he would be going up to Dunbar for twelve weeks, joining the Royal Warwickshire Regiment.
I understood the implications of what Arthur was telling me but it was clear I had no choice but to accept his decision. I realized that he was likely to be in great danger: before his transfer he was in a fairly ‘safe’ position but now he was aiming to be in the front line. He had a great spirit of adventure, and although he could appear very laid back he had great determination, he knew what he believed was ‘right’ and he would not be diverted when he had made his mind up.
Fate now intervened. Perhaps the situation is best read from Arthur’s reply to my important letter to him.
10th January 1944
My dearest darling
Two letters from you today (including the one with the socks) and I was extremely glad to get both of them, as your news is of such absorbing interest!
You know more about such things than I do, but I have just been counting up the weeks since December 3rd in my diary and it does certainly look as though we are in for an increase in family! Unless of course the curse has arrived since you wrote on Saturday. I find it all hard to believe, because as I said before, I had no idea that anything went wrong with the works when I was on leave. All I can say is that rubber goods must be of a very inferior quality nowadays!
My thoughts have been full of you and this unexpected happening all through the weekend and even during highly technical lectures on dynamics and starter motors, I have found myself ruminating on an entirely different subject. My feelings are very mixed but, at the bottom, I am thrilled and not so alarmed as I ought perhaps to be. I do very much want a daughter (or another son, if you can’t manage it the other way) and I do think, as we have decided in talks long ago, that it is a mistake to leave too long a gap between children if the family is to be as happy and united as possible. But of course, the present is as difficult a time as any to cope with an infant, on the other hand I don’t expect conditions to improve tremendously within the next two years and that is too long to wait.
It is all very complicated isn’t it?
I wish I was able to be with you and hold you.
All my love is with you my darling
Arthur
So there I was, pregnant again and unintentionally. I was very worried, not only because Arthur was away and there was no likelihood of his being anywhere in my vicinity when the baby was expected in early September, but also because I had had such a terrible time with Christopher. Additionally, life in general was rather grim. Still, I soon became acclimatized as Arthur was so thrilled that we were going to be a ‘family’. He kept saying that he had always wanted four children! My mother was pleased beyond measure as she adored Christopher, and having been discharged from hospital she was coming back to her old self again despite the trauma of Stuart’s death. She and I were very close, and of course we saw a lot of each other and naturally had a lot in common. She was a wonderful companion when she was well.
My father was rather ‘doom and gloom’ but he was very proud of his grandson. I cannot remember discussing the new arrival with him in terms that he would actually volunteer that he was pleased about the ‘happy event’, but that wasn’t his way and I know that he was pleased for me.
In April 1944 Arthur finished in Dunbar and announced that he was to be given a final two-and-a-half weeks’ leave before joining what we now knew was going to be the invasion force. The whole country was aware that a second front was planned and it was obvious that this was going to start sometime during the early summer. The leave was clearly intended to be our last opportunity to see Arthur before he embarked for Europe, although we did not know precisely to where or when. American forces were massing at various locations right across the country, road convoys with heavy equipment and men were commonplace, but it was also a very tense time since German rocket-propelled V bombs were now falling on London and the south of England.
We had decided to let the flat and after discussion it was agreed that I would move to Morland Avenue whilst Arthur was abroad. It was a traumatic two weeks. On the positive side the leave was a marvellous opportunity for Arthur to catch up with Christopher and for the two of them to get used to each other, and also for Arthur and me to have quality time together. On the negative side I was five months pregnant and still suffering occasional sickness, we had a huge amount to do in the way of sorting out our possessions and getting ready for me to move out, and I was about to lose my husband for an indefinite period.
On 8th April, which was Easter weekend, Arthur and I had our last little holiday together. We left Christopher with his grandparents at Morland Avenue and went to a guest house called Blakeshay Farm just outside Leicester in the Charnwood Forest. We were there from Saturday to Tuesday and had a very happy, but in retrospect sad, weekend amongst the springtime daffodils and the hosts of hikers. We talked and walked a lot and kept out of the farm as far as possible. We went to church in Newtown Linford on the Sunday.
It was really such a short weekend in which to ready ourselves for Arthur’s departure to the front in Europe with all the uncertainty of not knowing when we might see each other again.
Arthur went to Stratford to see his parents on the 12th and 13th but otherwise we spent a normal busy family time at the flat preparing to move on the 19th. The move itself went well and on 20th April Arthur was to travel by train to Market Rasen in Lincolnshire on the way to embarkation.
Christopher and I went to the station and helped Arthur with his kitbag as he boarded the train. With tears in my eyes, and holding our two-year-old son so very tightly, I watched him go.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
I knew that Arthur was to be posted to Italy. He travelled first to Market Rasen in Lincolnshire and from there to Liverpool where his regiment embarked for Naples. He was disembarkation officer and on arrival had some weeks of training before moving to the front.
From reading the newspapers we knew that Italy was proving to be an extraordinarily tough campaign. There had been landings at Salermo in southern Italy in September 1943 and the Allied forces had faced a German army determined to prevent the Allied advance up the Italian peninsula. Landings at Anzio in January 1944 had reinforced the Allied forces and in May the fiercely fought battle at Cassino had finally achieved an Allied victory.
Almost immediately thereafter, on 4th June 1944, there was general rejoicing at the news that Rome had fallen to the Allies. The reports of this were just coming in when we first heard that Arthur’s regiment had landed in Italy. In parallel with this the huge Allied invasion force, the Second Front, started to move on 6th June so within a few days of the success in Rome we knew of the massive D- Day landings in northern France. Understandably it was the Normandy landings which tended to dominate the news and it was not easy to follow what was happening in Italy.
The first letter arrived from Arthur and although it was censored he was able to comment on seeing the poverty of Naples, and then tell us that he had been into Rome pursuing the retreating Germans through the outskirts. His letter told me that the enemy had left the city largely intact. He said that he was now preparing for action and about to move further north.
Almost immediately afterwards there was a second letter to say that Arthur had dysentery and was in hospital, with the likelihood that he would be there for a week. Then there was a third letter, this time saying that he was well again and was going back towards the front line. It was difficult to tell from the newspapers where the front line was: by 20th June it appeared to have reached Perugia and on 24th June I read that heavy fighting had continued both day and night in Chiusi. I could find these in the atlas. It seemed that good progress was being made up the coast, but I then read that the fighting was particularly difficult in the area round Lake Trasimeno where gains were ‘slow and gradual’.
The trouble was that letters were so delayed one could never really be up to date; in the meantime the newspapers and radio were full of descriptions of D-day and what was happening in northern France and there was much less news about the Italian campaign. I continued to scour the press for any information on what was happening. There was further mention of advances and losses which worried me but gave insufficient detail to be helpful. I understood that the Germans had now fallen back to a defence line south of Florence and I hoped that the next letter would give me some clue as to where Arthur might be.
Domestic life with Christopher had to go on and I had settled into our new existence in Morland Avenue, enjoying my mother’s company and helping her in supporting my father who was always tired from his work and constant commuting to Nottingham.
It was 9th July, two months after Arthur had left England, and I had finished putting Christopher to bed for his morning sleep. I had gone down to the kitchen which overlooked the road and out of the window I suddenly saw the postboy pedalling his bicycle up the slight hill. My heart thumped as I saw him – postboys carried telegrams, and telegrams were so often harbingers of bad news. I watched as he cycled on towards our end of the cul-de-sac, checking the house numbers as he went. I willed him to go past our gate but as I saw him brake and dismount, leaning his bicycle against our front gate, I was already moving, hand to my mouth, opening the front door, seeing the War Office marking on the outside of the envelope that he thrust into my hands.
I felt empty as I opened the envelope and made out the meaning of the words.
MRS M V MITCHELL 23 MORLAND AVENUE
STONEYGATE LEICESTER
DEEPLY REGRET TO INFORM YOU OF REPORT DATED 9TH JULY 1944 RECEIVED FROM CENTRAL MEDITERRANEAN AREA THAT LT. A.F.M.MITCHELL, ROYAL WARWICKSHIRE REGT. HAS BEEN KILLED IN ACTION. THE ARMY COUNCIL DESIRE TO OFFER YOU THEIR SINCERE SYMPATHY.
UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR WAR.
I was completely numb. I couldn’t cry. I remember saying to myself that I must think of my mother, I mustn’t break down. Father was in Nottingham and our telephone was out of action. Wordlessly I passed the letter to my mother who had just come down the stairs into the hall. She started to sob, she held me in her arms for a long time and then, leaving me sitting at the kitchen table, went next door to telephone father and also Arthur’s parents in Stratford, whilst I was left like a numbed zombie with my godmother who was staying with us.
I remember so well going to Christopher’s bedroom that evening whilst he was asleep and sitting on his bed as if in a dream, thinking he would never know his father now, nor would the baby. I just sat there wondering what was going to happen to us. Then there was the misery of thinking of Granny Mitchell and Grandfather Mitchell having lost their beloved only son, and of my wretched parents having to cope with me and Christopher and the baby to come. Oh God – what misery, and what a waste of a good life and a good man. Damn the war and the end of all our dreams.
Naturally everyone was very kind and life had to go on. Christopher didn’t understand and I was very busy with him and the worry of the coming baby who was actively making his presence felt. Christopher was very forward with his talking and as I pushed him in his pram people would stop and talk to us. He was very fond of saying, ‘My Daddy’s in Ikiki’ (Italy) and I didn’t know what to say.
Mother was very busy with both of us and father was in Nottingham all day and some nights as well. And so the days went by until 28th August when I went into labour and was taken to St Francis Nursing Home less than a mile down the road from Morland Avenue. I was admitted at about 11 p.m. that night, was given an injection and had a lovely sleep. I always remember that sleep as I was racked with tension and the anguish of losing Arthur.
I woke up and went into labour about 1 p.m. and my son – I should say our son – David was born at 4.45 p.m. It was all very easy and peaceful by comparison with Christopher’s birth and by 6.30 p.m. I was having supper and being visited by my parents and showing David off to them. Although David weighed in at nine-and-a-half pounds it all seemed remarkably easy after the time I had had with Christopher.
If only Arthur had been there to share the joy, and joy it was. Although to begin with I was disappointed it wasn’t a girl as we had both been sure that it would be, I have never ceased to be glad that ‘it’ was a boy. A boy was meant and a boy was needed.
God took two men from our family, Stuart and Arthur, but returned two to take their places.
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
It was a considerable time before Arthur’s personal effects came through. In the meantime the formal letter of condolence came from Buckingham Palace. It read:
The Queen and I offer you our heartfelt sympathy in your great sorrow. We pray that your country’s gratitude for a life so nobly given in its service may bring you some measure of consolation.
George R
Amongst Arthur’s belongings were two letters, one addressed to me and the other to Christopher. Christopher’s letter was kept in its sealed envelope until he was able to open it on his sixteenth birthday. He then passed it on to his brother David who was not allowed to read it until he reached the same age.
The text of the letter from Arthur to me was as follows:
Somewhere in Italy. 3.6.44
My own darling
If you ever come to read this letter it will mean that the worst has happened and that I shall not be coming back to you.
Don’t grieve too much my dear. I know that at first you will be terribly upset, but try to make the best of a bad job and remake your life as best you can. My great consolation, when thinking of what may happen, is that you have Christopher and, I hope, our second child, to comfort you and carry on the family life which I had so looked forward to enjoying with you all.
You have made me a very happy man since we were married; they have been years than which no man could wish for better, in spite of the time which I have had to spend away from you. And I do most humbly thank you for the happiness which you have given me. I have tried to repay my debt by giving you all the love that I have – and that love is a very deep and sacred one to me.
I’m afraid that I shall have died a poor man and that you will not find it easy to keep yourself and the children (and to educate them) on what little I leave, but I hope that things won’t be too bad for you. My great wish is that you should have a happy life and all that God may provide to make it so, please remember that. In course of time I hope that you will find someone to take my place, always provided that he will, for certain, make you happy. If such a thing should come to pass, he will indeed be lucky to have you for a wife.
In your sorrow, be comforted by the thought that I have lived a happy life, I have done my best throughout its 33 years; and I shall have died doing what I could for you in this horrible war, without fear of the future.
All my thoughts are with you now and will be with you in the hereafter (if there is such a thing). May God bless you, my darling wife, and look after you always.
With all my love – and I think you know how much I mean by that.
Yours
Arthur
One thing always sticks in my memory in respect of the period after David was born. I wrote to the Pensions Department of the War Office to inform them of the birth of another child on 29th August and to say that I should now be due an additional allowance of fifteen shillings per week. The reply from the War Office shook me, as I could never have imagined that anybody could think that David might not be Arthur’s son, but they told me that ‘enquiries and investigations’ would have to be made before the allowance could be paid! Fortunately the army authorities were able to confirm that Arthur had been on leave at the likely time of conception so, eventually, I had a letter from the Ministry of Pensions agreeing an allowance for David as a war orphan and backdating his allowance.
David was christened by an old family friend, the Reverend Arnold Lee, at St Mary’s in Knighton on 24th November 1944. Louise was his godmother but neither of his godfathers was able to be present.
I was not looking forward to Christmas that year. The deaths of Arthur and Stuart cast their pall over us all. We had no hope of any poultry for our Christmas dinner for everything was in short supply. Then on 22nd December we were offered a goose by our friends the Gees and with great relief we accepted thankfully. On 23rd December our next-door neighbours arrived on the doorstep with a turkey that they had somehow procured, knowing nothing about our goose. Then on 24th December our friend Barbara Castle, thinking we had nothing, also offered us a turkey! We refused the last but were still able to have the goose on the 24th and the turkey on Christmas Day and yet only the three of us plus Christopher to eat it all. I still don’t know how we did it.
