The Road to Truth

Christina Cornwell

Description

The Second World War disrupted many lives. The dedicated doctors and nurses had to try and try and put the injured back together. The story tells of one of these nurses whose family was broken up and she suffered the loss of the man she loved.The welfare system was struggling to protect the vulnerable but in the process, families were separated and the children were not given information about their family.Rosa Williams tried to forget the loss of the only man she loved, but events occurred that meant she would never forget her airman.

Sujets

• Histoire
• History

Informations

• Publié par: Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd
• Date de parution: 30 octobre 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781528962100
• Langue: English

Extrait

The Road to Truth
Christina Cornwell
Austin Macauley Publishers
2019-10-30
The Road to Truth About the Author About the Book Dedication Copyright © Christina Cornwell (2019) Acknowledgement 1944 Chapter 1 1942–1944 Chapter 2 Canada Chapter 3 England, 1945 Chapter 4 Canada, February 1945 Chapter 5 England, Spring 1946 Chapter 6 Sam Visits England Chapter 7 Mary and Lucy Chapter 8 Nellie’s Tale Chapter 9 Mary Ann Chapter 10 The Truth Chapter 11 Mary Ann Chapter 11A Reunions Chapter 12
About the Author
Christina Cornwell was born towards the end of the Second World War. She lived in a small hamlet near Hawkhurst in Kent.
She was privately educated by her adoptive parents. After passing the 11 plus, Christina attended Tonbridge Technical College and married Michael in the ’60s.
She has four grown-up children and now lives with her beloved dogs in Dorset.
About the Book
The Second World War disrupted many lives. The dedicated doctors and nurses had to try and try and put the injured back together. The story tells of one of these nurses whose family was broken up and she suffered the loss of the man she loved.
The welfare system was struggling to protect the vulnerable but in the process, families were separated and the children were not given information about their family.
Rosa Williams tried to forget the loss of the only man she loved, but events occurred that meant she would never forget her airman.
Dedication
This book is dedicated to my two lovely sisters, Lilian Lyons and Daphne Springett.
Although we were sadly separated as children, they have always given me love and support.
Copyright Information ©
Christina Cornwell (2019)
The right of Christina Cornwell to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.
Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
ISBN 9781528962100 (ePub e-book)
www.austinmacauley.com
First Published (2019)
Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd
25 Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London
E14 5LQ
Acknowledgement
I would like to thank Gill, my long-suffering friend, who has encouraged me to keep writing and on whom I inflict the first reading of my stories.
1944

Chapter 1
The little girl held her daddy’s hand as they approached the County Hall buildings. She saw the steep steps and clutched his hand even more firmly. Her father made no attempt to lift the child, and by the time they were partway up the steps, she felt that her little legs just wouldn’t go another step. She had been walking since she was eleven months old, and now at nearly two, she loved to walk, but the steps were very steep. Her father bent down and lifted her into his arms.
At the top, he put her down and her mother straightened her clothing.
She felt tension, she felt fear! But her father smiled down at her so she took his hand again and followed her parents.
The little powder-blue skirt with the box pleats had wide straps that crossed over at the back. Her mother had spent the last few weeks making the ensemble. The little matching jacket had blue reindeer buttons on the front.
The blouse underneath was white, which matched her little white sandals and white socks.
It seemed very important to her mother that her outfit was perfect and she had many fittings, with her mother sticking pins here and there to get everything just right. It seemed very important that she kept her new clothes clean.
The child had no idea why they were there, but it seemed very important to her parents.
The three of them walked through the large plate glass doors.
Her father went to the desk inside the door and spoke to a young woman.
They were directed up yet another flight of stone steps inside the building.
At the top was a long, wide paved walkway.
The numbered door to which they had been directed was straight in front of them.
The little girl looked along the walkway. At the end of the landing, there was another door which was open. Inside the room, she could see a man sitting on a chair, with another man standing beside him, who seemed to be restraining the sitting man.
The little girl looked away, not understanding what she was seeing.
They all heard a shout, “Hello, hello!”
The child looked again to the open door but this suddenly closed.
The door that they were about to enter opened, and a very tall grey-haired woman appeared. She hustled them all into the office and closed the outer door. It seemed she also slid a lock into place once they were all inside.
The woman introduced herself as Miss Helen Coward. She bent down to say hello to the little girl. The child was a bit scared of this large woman. She was dressed in a canary-yellow twin set with a string of pearls that swung forward when she stooped down to acknowledge the child.
“Now you sit on that chair, and Mrs Fudge will give you some colouring books to look at while I go into my office to talk to your mummy and daddy.”
Another woman appeared from the inner office with a handful of books and a box of colouring pencils.
The little girl climbed onto the small chair and the colouring books were put onto the little desk in front her.
“We will not be long, love. We have some things to discuss with this lady. You are not to worry, everything is alright!”
Her father patted her curly head, and he went into the inner office with her mother and Miss Coward.
If her father said everything was alright, then the child was happy to sit and look at the colouring books, such was the bond she had with her father.
Shortly after her parents had disappeared into the other office, there was a tap on the outer door. Mrs Fudge went to the front office door, slipped back the lock and a man came in. He smiled at the child and went quickly into the inner office.
Mrs Fudge closed and relocked the door and went and sat by the little girl, who was busily colouring in a picture of some ponies.
Occasionally, raised voices were heard coming from the inner office, and it sounded as though her mother was crying. The child looked up at Mrs Fudge, who showed no reaction, so the little girl kept to her task of colouring her picture.
After about half an hour, the man came out of the office and let himself out of the door, indicating the lock to Mrs Fudge as he went through the door. Mrs Fudge duly went to the door and reapplied the lock.
Ten minutes later, her mother, father and Miss Coward came out. Her parents shook hands with Miss Coward and Mrs Fudge. It did look as though her mother had been crying but she seemed calm enough as they were taken to the door.
The man they had seen earlier was standing outside the door and he accompanied the three of them down the stone steps to the front entrance.
“I take it you are going straight home now, as I think that would be wisest,” he said.
“Yes, there is a bus home in about 20 minutes, we will be on that.”
The little family walked quickly back to the bus station, which was only a ten minute walk. The number 52 bus was waiting at the depot.
“Can we go upstairs, Dadda?”
The child loved riding on buses and the journey would take nearly an hour. Her parents climbed the stairs onto the top deck and were lucky to get the front seats.
“I am glad that’s over, not that anything was achieved!” Her mother sank back into her seat mightily relieved to be getting away from Draystone.
“It will be alright love, try not to worry.”
But worry she would for quite a long time!
Being 1945, there was a lot to worry about this problem.
1942–1944

Chapter 2
Rosa Williams was desperately trying to get her life back on an even keel. She was a nurse in Tenbury General Hospital. She worked as many shifts at the hospital as she possibly could. The casualties from the German bombardment were still coming in and there were still some long-term patients too ill to be moved or in the case of foreign military personnel, they could not be repatriated to their own countries until safe transport was available and they were well enough to be moved.
It was 1944, and the ‘doodlebugs’ were aiming for London, but many were dropping short and many towns and villages in southern England had taken direct hits.
These deadly missiles were launched from near Calais, fuelled with what the Germans thought was enough fuel to get the flying unmanned bombs to London. Once the fuel ran out, the engine stopped and these two-and-half ton killers would drop out of the sky and explode on landing destroying everything in their path and surroundings.
When the engine stopped, people on the ground held their breaths and prayed it wouldn’t come down on them.
Many of the patients had horrendous injuries from the doodlebugs and had lost part or all of their families in the explosions. They not only had physical scars but deep mental traumas to contend with.
Rosa spent as much time as she could with her patients, giving them all her time. She wanted to block out time for thought. Thinking was not good. Her heart had been torn into shreds. She wanted to climb into bed after her shift on the ward and fall into an exhausted sleep.
Just after Christmas 1942, several Canadian Air Force personnel had been brought to the hospital. There was no room in the hospital near their base.
Rosa had been the nurse on duty on the admissions ward and had helped to settle in the new patients. The senior officer who had accompanied the men had liaised with Rosa, helping with the registration as some of the airmen were very badly shaken up and couldn’t even remember their own