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 13^th 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 15^th. 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 13^th, 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.