Authors: Beryl Matthews
Paris was liberated on August 25th 1944, and that night they had a party in the mess. Grace sat with an untouched drink in front of her and watched the smiling faces as they celebrated. Her thoughts went back to the time she had worked for James. On occasions like this she would have been circulating, doing her job of seeing that the party went smoothly. It was a role she had enjoyed and she had felt useful, needed. She’d had an interesting job, a husband she loved and the future had looked good. All that had been wrenched from her and so many others. She shook herself mentally. It was useless to dwell on the past. That life was gone and would never return, not even when the war was over.
Snap out of it,
Grace, she told herself sternly.
This is a night to celebrate, not dwell on what had been. So you’re feeling lonely and useless with everyone close to you away – admit it! You’ve done all that was asked of you, so damned well finish your drink and join in the celebration!
Grace had just taken a sip of her drink and summoned up a smile when a corporal came up to her.
‘Sergeant Lincoln, Major General Haydon wants you to return to the office immediately.’
‘Thank you, Corporal.’ Once outside, Grace started to run. What had happened? Stan wouldn’t have sent for her tonight unless it was very important.
‘That was quick,’ Stan remarked when she rushed into the office.
‘What’s wrong, sir?’ she asked, slightly out of breath.
‘Nothing is wrong.’ He smiled. ‘I have to go somewhere and I need you to accompany me. I hope you didn’t mind leaving the party?’
‘No, sir.’ Grace relaxed; he was smiling. ‘Where are we going?’
‘You’ll see. Do you still keep a bag packed and ready?’
She nodded.
‘Go and collect it, then. We are leaving at once.’
Thirty minutes later they were in the car and heading for London. Stan turned and smiled at her. ‘I do like a day full of good news, for a change.’
‘I’m pleased you’ve have had a good day,’ she joked. ‘Can you share some of it with me, sir? My thoughts have been a little gloomy this evening.’
‘You’ll have to wait a while longer, Captain.’
‘Sergeant, sir.’
‘You have just been promoted again.’ He handed her a packet. ‘Put these on your uniform as soon as possible.’
Grace was stunned. ‘What have I done to deserve this again?’
‘It’s for your excellent service, and we need you as an officer.’
‘Why?’
‘So you can go into places normally off limits to you.’ Stan gave an amused chuckle. ‘There are plans and I have been given my instructions.’
‘What plans?’
‘Do you ever stop asking questions? I’m not saying anything else. George sends his love, by the way.’
‘You’ve heard from George! How is he?’
‘He’s fine, so is Bill, Dan and—’
‘And?’ When he just grinned, Grace sighed. ‘You are being very irritating today, sir.’
‘Yes, aren’t I? Ah, we’ve arrived.’
The car stopped and Grace looked out, unable to believe her eyes. ‘This is my house! What are we doing here?’
‘Questions – questions! Take a look at the people coming out of the front door.’
Everyone was smiling and waving, and then one person stepped to the front and Grace was scrambling to get out of the car. ‘Helen!’ she cried, running to greet the friend she hadn’t seen for such a long time. ‘You’re home at last!’
Jean immediately took charge. ‘Come inside everyone. There’s food and drink laid out in the front room. Will you join us, Major General Haydon?’
‘I would love to, and the name is Stan.’
Already sitting in the front room was Helen’s grandmother, bursting with pride and happiness. Ted handed round glasses of beer. ‘Sorry we haven’t anything stronger. But it will do to toast Helen’s safe return to us.’
When this was done, Grace turned to Stan. ‘Thank you, sir. How did you know?’
‘I received a message to say Helen was on her way home. I checked and discovered she had arrived today.’
‘Thank you again, sir.’
‘It’s my pleasure, Captain.’
Ted heard that and said, ‘Captain?’
‘I’ve been promoted again, Dad.’
‘My word, this is turning out to be a day for celebrations. Listen, everyone! Grace is now a captain!’
She accepted the congratulations, laughing. ‘I think there is some devious reason for this promotion, but I haven’t found out what it is yet.’
‘Devious – me?’ Stan pretended to be shocked. ‘The Intelligence Service never does anything underhand.’
This remark produced roars of laughter, and Ted asked, ‘Oh, and who convinced Hitler the invasion would be in the Pas-de-Calais instead of Normandy?’
‘I haven’t the faintest idea,’ he said, giving Grace a sly wink and then finishing his beer. Putting down the empty glass he went round the room and shook hands with everyone to take his leave.
‘I can only let you have two days with your friend,’ he told Grace.
‘I’m grateful for that, sir.’
The party went on until the early hours of the morning, and it wasn’t until after lunch that the friends had time to themselves. The morning rain had stopped and the sun was out, so they decided to catch a bus to Hyde Park.
They ambled along in silence for a while until two soldiers saluted Grace as they passed.
‘You nearly missed that,’ Helen laughed.
‘They took me by surprise. I’d forgotten I’m an officer now. Nudge me if that looks like it’s happening again.’
‘I will.’ Helen sighed. ‘This is lovely just strolling
along in a beautiful park with nothing to worry about.’
‘You must be happy to be back.’
Helen nodded. ‘I stayed longer than planned, but I’m glad I did. We managed to be of help to the allies.’
‘Can I ask how you got out?’
‘I joined up with some British soldiers and their officer arranged it for me. That was good of him, but then your Daniel is a good man.’
‘Pardon?’ Grace stopped walking and stared at her friend.
‘I said Colonel Daniel Chester is a good man.’
Grace could hardly believe what she was hearing. ‘You met Dan out there?’
‘I did and I probably helped to save his life.’ Helen laughed at Grace’s astonished expression. ‘Aren’t you going to thank me?’
‘Be serious, Helen! Tell me what this is all about.’
‘Can’t. I’ve only told you this much because you were out there at one time. I expect it was Daniel who got the message through to Stan.’
‘Well, I’m blowed!’
‘Aren’t you going to ask how he is?’
‘If you helped to save his life then I take it he is fine.’
‘He is.’ Helen sighed dramatically. ‘Such a dynamic man.’
‘Hmm.’ Grace found an empty seat and sat down, patting the seat beside her for Helen. ‘Tell me who else you met.’
‘Sorry, that’s classified.’ Helen closed her eyes and lifted her face to the sun. ‘What are you going to do when the war is over? Will you go back to the law firm you worked for before this mess began?’
‘I don’t think I could. We’ve seen and done so much, I can’t imagine returning to the lives we had. I like army life and might consider staying in. What about you?’
‘If all goes well I will be returning to France and getting married.’
‘Oh, you’ve met someone. Is he French?’
‘Yes, but the war isn’t over yet and nothing is certain.’
‘If you do marry a Frenchman your grandmother will be delighted. I hope it all works out for you.’
‘Me too. What about you. Have you met anyone special?’
‘Quite a few special men have come into my life, but I have no plans to marry again. I might one day, but at the moment I can’t see any chance of that happening.’
‘Not even James. He seems fond of you and you for him.’
Grace shook her head. ‘We are friends now and that’s all. I have some sad news for you, Helen. I should have told you before but didn’t want to spoil your homecoming. Tim was killed during the invasion.’
‘Oh, that’s terrible.’ Helen was clearly shocked. ‘He was such a likeable boy. James must be devastated.’
‘He was very upset when he came and told me. Let’s hope the war is over soon to stop all this senseless killing of young men.’
‘Amen to that! But I really don’t think it will be this year. Winter is fast approaching and that could make things even harder.’
‘So it looks as if we will have to wait until next year.’
‘Most likely. The men out there have a huge task on their hands and crossing the Rhine into Germany won’t be easy.’
‘I expect you saw a lot of the fighting while you were there. Do your family know where you’ve been all this time?’
‘I haven’t said anything, of course, and they haven’t asked, but they must have guessed. I did consider staying to the end, but there wasn’t a lot more I could do. The escape route I was working on was no longer needed.’
‘Is that what you were doing?’
‘Most of the time. I was one link in a very long chain to help downed airmen get back home.’
‘Did you help Tim? I always felt he knew something about you but wasn’t letting on.’
Helen nodded. ‘He was brought to us. It is sad to find out he was killed after all that.’
‘Yes, it’s tragic.’ Grace sighed. ‘So it looks as if we will both have to wait and watch, hoping for the fighting to end soon. And when it does, the work of rebuilding shattered countries and lives will begin. The problem of displaced persons will be enormous. If I stay in the army I might be able to help in some way.’
‘Don’t commit yourself yet, Grace. They might put pressure on you to sign up for years, but wait and see how things work out. Do you remember in the beginning how we wanted to do something worthwhile and had no idea what that could be?’
‘I do, and I believe we have done that in ways we never imagined.’
‘We have, and that’s why I’m urging you to wait. Something quite unexpected might come up and you will need to be free at that point.’
Grace smiled at her friend. ‘You have changed. Before
the war I was always the one urging caution. I had a job to stop you running headlong into things.’
‘I’ve had to learn to sum up a situation carefully before taking action. But then, none of us will ever be the same, will we?’
‘Change was inevitable, and perhaps that isn’t a bad thing. Some of the things we’ve had to face have, hopefully, made us stronger to cope with whatever life throws at us.’
‘I’m sure they have. It seems strange to be sitting here talking about the end of the war. It’s been going on for so long it has become our entire life.’
Grace nodded. ‘Did we have a life before the world went crazy? It’s hard to remember what it was like.’
‘If I cast my mind back I think it was happy, carefree, and the only problem we had was what picture to go and see.’
‘I’m sure it wasn’t quite like that,’ Grace laughed. ‘Nice way to remember it, though.’
Helen grinned and pulled Grace to her feet. ‘Let’s walk again and see how many times you get saluted.’
They set off smiling happily, the serious conversation pushed aside and just glad to see each other again.
Christmas 1944 came and went. There had been an air of hope and expectancy that the coming year would finally see the end of the war in Europe.
Grace stopped on her way to the camp to admire clumps of primroses on a grassy bank, dancing in the March breeze. It was as if they were saying ‘Look at us, there is still beauty to be seen’. Such a small thing but it lifted Grace’s spirits. The constant stream of information now coming in told of mass bombing, fierce fighting and terrible atrocities being uncovered.
There was no sign of Stan when she arrived, so she settled down to deal with the pile of reports on her desk.
An hour later he arrived. ‘I’ve just heard some good news! The allies have crossed the Rhine. The Nazis are finished, Grace. It can only be a matter of weeks now.’
‘That is good news. It will be such a relief when the fighting is over.’
‘It’s been a long, hard war.’ Stan stood by her desk. ‘Have you made any plans for the future?’
‘Not really.’
‘I’m going to ask you not to rush to get demobbed. There is going to be a great deal to do, and your language skills will be useful.’ He gave a lopsided grin. ‘I could see you are promoted again.’
‘No, thank you, sir.’ Grace laughed at the expression on his face. ‘Captain is fine with me. I promise I won’t do anything hasty. I have been considering staying in the army anyway, so I’ll wait and see what happens.’
‘Good.’
When he disappeared into his office, Grace shook her head in amusement. She certainly didn’t want another promotion. If she did decide to stay in the ATS there could be a time when she had to return to a woman’s outfit, and a higher rank might make it difficult for her. Of course, the Intelligence Service could ask her to stay, but she wasn’t going to bank on that. Her options would need careful consideration, but they had to finish the war first.
That finally happened on May 7th when Germany surrendered unconditionally and May 8th was declared VE Day. The country went wild. Hitler was dead and the long years of war were over. People were dancing in the streets and there were celebrations going on everywhere.
Helen and Grace were both on leave so they made their way to Trafalgar Square to join in the fun. As it got dark, lights were turned on everywhere. After years of making sure not even a crack of light showed, it was a wonderful sight.
‘Hey, Captain!’ A laughing Canadian soldier caught
Grace and spun her round. ‘Will you and your friend help me and my buddies to celebrate? Where can we go to get a drink? Somewhere nice because we wouldn’t take an officer to a dump.’
‘Grace!’ Helen appeared with the soldier’s friend. ‘Come on. We’re going to the Savoy Hotel.’
‘It will be packed!’
‘So will everywhere, but we’ll get in all right.’ The Canadian let out a piercing whistle and four more of their friends appeared. ‘These beautiful girls are taking us somewhere we can get a drink.’
Another piercing whistle brought over two more soldiers, and by the time they reached the hotel they had acquired three British, two French and four Americans, all looking for a place to get a drink and have a party.
Grace had been right. The place was packed, but everyone was in such a good mood that no one complained when they pushed their way in.
Somehow the soldiers managed to get to the bar and order drinks. Their group had grown even larger in that time. The drinks arrived with two British soldiers, two sailors and an airman.
The noise was deafening and it was almost impossible to hear what anyone said. A glass of champagne was put on the table in front of her, and when she looked up to thank the person she leapt to her feet in delight.
‘James! Helen, James is here.’ Grace hugged him and Helen pushed her out of the way to take her turn.
‘Hey, you know each other.’ One of the Canadians slapped James on the back. ‘Join us; we’re gonna have one hell of a party tonight.’
‘There are four of us.’
‘Bring them all over. “The more the merrier”, they say.’
It was dawn before Grace and Helen made their way back home. They were tired and their sides ached from laughing so much. It had been a hilarious night.
‘Hope no one salutes me because I’ll fall over if I try to salute back.’ Grace giggled and that set them off laughing again.
‘It was good to see James there, wasn’t it, Grace? I noticed you managed to have a talk with him. Was he offering you a job with him again?’
‘There is a job for me at the law firm if I want it, but James has decided to stay in the air force. Flying has always been his passion, so he’s going to make that his career – for the time being anyway.’
‘I don’t blame him. Now the war is finally over I expect many people are deciding what they are going to do.’
‘Good heavens!’ Grace exclaimed when they reached their street. ‘Everyone’s still up and lights are blazing in every window. The war in Europe really is over.’
They didn’t crawl out of bed until midday. Everyone else was still asleep so Grace and Helen sat in the kitchen working their way through a pot of strong tea.
‘I’m going back to France in two days’ time, Grace.’
‘So soon?’
‘Yes, I need to check on some people to see they are all right, and several of our group were captured. I want to find out what happened to them, if possible. Then I’ll go to Paris to meet up with Maurice.’
‘Is that the man you’re going to marry?’
Helen nodded. ‘We arranged this before I left France. His home is there and he’s waiting for me.’
‘What’s he like? You haven’t said much about him. Do you have a photo?’
‘Sorry, no photos, and you’ll have to wait until you meet him to see what he’s like. I think he’s gorgeous.’
‘I’m sure you do,’ Grace teased. ‘I’ll give you my opinion when I’ve seen him. Will you marry here?’
‘No, in France, and we’ll be living there. My family are so excited about that, and grandmother is thrilled, of course. She can’t stop smiling.’
‘Of course she can’t. Her favourite granddaughter is marrying a Frenchman and going to live in the country of her birth. I hope you will have room for me to come and visit? Providing Maurice agrees, of course.’
‘He will be delighted. We shall expect you to come often, and we’ll visit you wherever you end up.’
‘If I do stay in the army I could be posted anywhere, but I’ll write every week.’
‘Me too.’ Helen smiled at her friend. ‘So, our adventure continues with a new life for both of us.’
‘Not the one we could possibly have imagined, but here’s to a peaceful and happy future.’ They raised the tea cups in salute.
It had been hard saying goodbye to Helen knowing they were now going their separate ways. They had been constant companions from the time they were born, except for the years apart during the war, but Grace was happy for her friend. She deserved a lot of happiness after what she had done.
Two weeks had passed since VE Day and Grace had now made up her mind to stay in the ATS.
Stan swept into the office. ‘Go and pack a bag. We’re off to Berlin tomorrow. Make sure you’ve got your dress uniform and an evening frock. Nip home and get one if you have to.’
‘I don’t have anything like that,’ she protested. ‘I haven’t needed dressy clothes for a long time, sir.’
‘You’d better go and buy one then.’
‘Where? I don’t have any clothing coupons.’
‘Ah, I never thought of that. I’ll see what I can sort out, and don’t leave the office for a while yet.’
He disappeared into his office and closed the door. Grace smiled and went back to work. What on earth was he on about? Her dress uniform would be appropriate for anything they might attend. The last time she had worn an elegant gown had been when she had been posing as an SS officer’s girlfriend. Never mind about that, though. They were going to Berlin and that was an exciting prospect.
An hour later the office door burst open and piles of boxes walked in. At least that’s what it looked like because the man carrying them could hardly be seen. A woman guided him to the desk where he dropped the boxes just as Stan came out of his office.
‘Where’s the young lady you want me to dress, Stanley?’
‘Standing right beside you, Gregory.’
Gregory turned his full attention to Grace, frowning as he walked round her. ‘Stand still, dear,’ he ordered when she tried to keep him in view. ‘Dear, dear, these uniforms don’t do anything for the female form. Take off your jacket, dear.’
If he said ‘dear’ once more she would slosh him, Grace decided. ‘My name is Captain Grace Lincoln!’
‘Very nice, dear. Now, remove your jacket, please, dear.’
Grace spun round to face Stan and was even more annoyed to see he was finding it difficult not to dissolve into helpless laughter. ‘Who is this man, sir?’
‘A designer.’
‘A designer!’ Gregory squeaked, highly offended. ‘I dress the best, the beautiful and the highest in the land. I could make a hippopotamus look elegant!’
This was ridiculous. Grace’s annoyance faded a little as she began to see the funny side and couldn’t resist teasing this man with such a high opinion of himself. ‘You are too modest.’
‘Ah, sadly that is one of my faults.’ He broke into a smile as if she had paid him a compliment. ‘But I am sure we can do something with you, don’t you think, Adel?’
‘You will work your usual magic, Gregory. The hair is pretty – what we can see of it, and she has good bone structure.’
‘Hmm.’ Gregory reached out and expertly removed the pins from Grace’s hair, letting it tumble around her shoulders. ‘Hmm, promising, but it depends on the figure hidden by that terrible uniform. Take it off, dear.’
‘I am not getting undressed in here!’
‘Use my office,’ Stan offered, quickly stepping aside. ‘I’ll see no one comes in.’
‘Bring the top two boxes in, Stanley,’ Gregory ordered as he swept into the other office.
As Grace passed Stan she hissed quietly, ‘You’ll suffer for this … sir!’
The boxes were immediately put on the desk and as the door closed behind Stan, she could hear him laughing.
She endured another critical scrutiny and many dears before Gregory came to a decision.
‘Red, I think … Yes, red. It’s in the top box, Adel. I thought that might be the one from the description Stanley gave me.’
Grace was horrified. ‘I am not wearing red!’
‘I’m not suggesting scarlet, dear, but a deep ruby red. You have a hint of red in your hair, which is quite glorious by the way. It’s a crime to have it screwed up like you do.’
‘Army regulations.’
‘Yes, well, they have their rules I suppose, but you must wear it down when you can. Ah, here is the gown.’ He took it from his assistant and held it up against Grace. ‘Quite perfect. Let’s hope Stanley guessed your size correctly. We haven’t time for major alterations.’
Adel helped Grace into the gown and it fitted perfectly. Then there was another lengthy examination.
‘Shoes, Adel. You have a decent height, around five feet seven or eight, but we will make you a little taller. The gold strappy ones, Adel. What size are you, dear?’
‘Six.’ Grace was looking down at the gown wishing there was a mirror in the office. It was lovely and very comfortable, but she was sure he’d made a mistake with the colour. She never wore red, and what on earth were they going to be doing in Berlin for Stan to insist she had something like this?
The shoes also fitted, making her around three inches taller.
‘Walk up and down, dear.’ He watched to see how the
gown moved around the hem. ‘Quite a transformation, don’t you think, Adel? She has good posture.’
‘Perfect, Gregory. Your choice of gown and colour is impeccable, as ever.’
He bristled with pride at the compliment. ‘Go and show Stanley, dear.’
Feeling rather self-conscious, Grace walked into the other office.
‘Here is your Cinderella, Stanley. Does she meet with your approval?’
‘My word, you look beautiful and that colour is stunning on you. Well done Gregory.’
‘It was a pleasure, Stanley. Oh, and do try not to clutter it up too much with army decorations or whatever.’ He collected up the boxes and headed for the door.
‘Wait a minute!’ Grace stopped him. ‘How much does all this cost? I’m positive I can’t afford it.’
‘You don’t have to, dear,’ Gregory informed her. ‘It’s all been taken care of.’
Grace stared at the door after he had left, and then spun round to face Stan. ‘What did he mean? Who is paying for this? The gown must cost a fortune, and I dread to think how expensive the shoes are. I can’t allow someone else to pay for them. If I can’t afford them myself then they must be returned!’
‘Gregory owed me a favour, so stop fretting and just enjoy the clothes. You are going to have to blend in with some important people and their wives.’
‘What on earth are we going to be doing in Berlin?’
‘Working. Now, get changed and go and pack. We’re leaving at five in the morning.’ Stan opened the door to
leave and looked back. ‘I shall be proud to be your escort, though I doubt I shall have that pleasure for long. See you in the morning,
dear
.’
‘I’ve got to stop over in Paris,’ Stan told Grace when they were waiting for the transport plane.
‘Oh, Helen’s there. She’s going to marry a Frenchman, and I haven’t met him yet. Would there be time for a quick visit, sir? I have the address.’
‘I’m sure we could fit it in if the meeting doesn’t last too long, and I’ll come with you.’
‘Thank you, sir.’ Grace boarded the plane with a smile on her face, excited about the visit.
When they arrived they went straight to the meeting which, fortunately, only lasted two hours.
‘Right.’ Stan glanced at his watch. ‘They’ve provided us with transport, but it will only be a quick visit. Our plane for Berlin leaves at four o’clock.’
The driver knew Paris well and they were soon outside a smart building, and Grace hoped Helen and Maurice were in. It would be a shame to miss this opportunity to see them. The apartment they wanted was on the first floor and Grace almost danced with relief when Helen opened the door.