Millie arrived at the base but found no sign of Ted. She wasn’t unduly worried about this as she was sure he was with Flight Lieutenant Hanover, seeking out the men who’d threatened and abused Di.
She didn’t really want to go into the dance itself and be forced to socialise with officers she didn’t know, but on the other hand, she couldn’t really sit out here. While she dithered about, trying to make up her mind, she saw a motorbike – ridden by Ted – race across the strip away from her and towards the buildings that were used by the other ranks and NCOs.
There was a Sergeants’ Mess – senior NCOs and warrant officers would use this too – and although that was in the same block, it was separate. The RAF, like the other services, preferred to keep the other ranks detached from those in authority over them.
He was obviously a man of many talents, as she hadn’t known he could ride a motorcycle. Millie smiled to herself. If he could fly a fighter then a motorbike would be easy. Maybe he would let her have a go – she was a competent driver of everything else but had never ridden on a motorbike.
Hopefully he wouldn’t be too long and she would spend the intervening time turning the van so she could drive out without having to reverse later on when it was dark. After doing this, she propped herself on the bonnet and tapped her fingers in time to the music filtering out from the open doors and windows of the Officers’ Mess.
She was now engaged to him. Would she need to get permission from her father? He was unlikely to answer her letter and, even if he did, he was bound to refuse.
The throaty noise of the motorbike returning had her on her feet. This time, Ted saw her and rode across. ‘I’ve got the names of those who upset your friend. My previous ground crew were only too happy to tell me. I’ve just got to take the information to Freddie so the RAFP can arrest them. This is his bike – it’s great fun. I’ll ask if I can give you a spin on the back before we join the racket inside.’
‘That would be spiffing.’
‘I won’t be a tick, stay exactly where you are.’ He spun the bike expertly and shot across the concrete, kicked it onto its stand and vanished inside.
When she’d first met Ted, she’d liked him immediately but thought him rather young and shy. Goodness, how he’d changed in the few short weeks they’d been friends. Mind you, she was a different person, too, and now she was actually contemplating marrying him. Was this total madness or wildly romantic?
He was only gone a few minutes and his broad smile gave her the answer she wanted. She was to get her wish and have a ride on the back of the bike before they went in to enjoy the music.
‘Hop on, Millie, and I’ll take you for a tour of the base. I can keep the bike for as long as I want, as long as I put it back where I found it.’
It was a bit tricky clambering onto the pillion and she was glad she had her twilights on, as otherwise she’d be showing far too much leg. She put her arms around his waist, pressed her face into his broad back and hung on for dear life.
It was exhilarating travelling at speed whilst sitting behind Ted, but she was relieved to dismount when they eventually returned.
‘Thank you, but I don’t think I really enjoyed that. Too windy and cold for me – I much prefer to be inside the cab of a lorry or a car rather than out in the elements.’
He laughed. ‘My eyes are streaming, my hair’s standing on end but I loved it. I can’t afford a car, even if I could get hold of sufficient petrol to run it, but I’m definitely going to look out for a motorbike.’
‘I’m going to tidy up whilst you park that noisy beast. I’ll meet you in the vestibule.’ She walked across to the open doors and headed for the ladies’ WC. Her hair was tumbling around her shoulders, her lipstick gone and there were streaks of dirt across her face.
It took slightly longer than Millie had anticipated to restore her appearance and she was glad she’d had the foresight to tuck her cap into her pocket before she’d gone for her joyride, otherwise it would be long gone.
Ted was lounging against the wall, his cheeks slightly flushed from the wind, but otherwise no sign of his bike-riding apparent.
‘I think that’s a waltz – shall we dance?’
He held out his hand and she placed hers in it, loving the feel of his skin against hers. Usually they both had gloves on. She looked down and her hand seemed lost in his – this emphasised his size. She liked the fact that he was so much bigger than her.
‘Let’s hope the remainder of the evening is less eventful, Ted. We’ve only been here just over an hour and already we’ve got engaged, Di was threatened, and you and your Flight Lieutenant will have arrested the culprits in the next half an hour.’
His answer was to pull her close and kiss her. How she loved his kisses – they made her tingle all over.
They danced every dance until supper was announced. ‘There’s going to be a frightful crush, shall we wait until things are a bit calmer in there?
‘Find a table in the bar and I’ll bring our food through.’
His suggestion was a sound one, as the bar had emptied when the announcement had been made that food was available in the mess room. There were plenty of empty tables, so she ordered a weak shandy for herself and a pint of bitter for Ted.
‘How much is that, please?’
‘I’ll put it on his bill, Corp. Don’t you worry about it,’ the barman said.
It would probably be half an hour at least before Ted managed to get to the front of the queue, but to her surprise he turned up carrying two piled plates, cutlery tucked in his top pocket and what looked suspiciously like cruets in his lower pockets.
‘The barman wouldn’t let me pay for these, although I did offer,’ she said, pointing to the drinks on the table.
‘I should think not. Ladies don’t pay for anything in our mess.’
He put one of the plates down in front of her, dropped the knife and fork on either side and then triumphantly placed the salt and pepper in the centre of the table.
‘I didn’t expect you to be back so soon. That looks absolutely scrumptious. Do you mind that I’m always hungry? I think it’s supposed to be unladylike to have a good appetite.’
‘It’s one of the many things I love about you. Freddie had already got them to dish up two plates for us. The three men are under arrest and half of the others from their billet will be transferred.’
‘Won’t that leave Manston short of ground crew and so on?’
‘Win Co will put in for replacements. Fortunately, none of them are mechanics as they’d be harder to replace.’
Millie didn’t know what she ate, it was all tasty; she was too engrossed with her companion as they laughed and planned the future together to bother about food.
Ted was reluctant to let Millie go at ten o’clock, but she was a conscientious NCO and wouldn’t let her girls down by being late.
‘I’m making two runs, the first now and the second when it finishes. I doubt I’ll be gone more than twenty minutes. You could come with me if you were allowed off the base.’
‘I’m not, so I’ll wait for you by the door. I think my aunt has my mother’s engagement and wedding ring – would you mind if we used those?’
‘I’d be honoured to wear them, especially as it will mean a lot to you. Things are getting very noisy in the recreation room so I don’t think I want to do any more dancing.’
‘It’s because the windows and doors are now shut and the blackouts in place. I’m quite happy to find somewhere quiet so we can talk.’
She dashed off and he drained the last of his beer and carried the glasses to the bar. Next, he collected the empty plates and cutlery, plus the borrowed condiments, and took them back to the mess.
He bumped into Freddie on his way out. ‘There you are, old boy, just wanted to give you the recent gen. It seems those three were acting as pimps to the two girls and blame Di for losing them their illegal income.’
‘That’s even worse than we thought. How could something like this have been operating here and nobody know about it?’
‘It’s a huge base with plenty of empty hangars and unwatched places to make things easier for the men who wanted sex and the two girls who were willing to provide it. Win Co wants this kept quiet – we’re going to deal with the men involved ourselves and then post them as far away as possible to serve their sentences.’
‘Millie was concerned that we’d be short of trained personnel. Am I right in thinking most of those in that billet are working in the stores, in catering or as orderlies?’
‘You’re correct, old bean,’ Freddie said. ‘Thank god for that – we couldn’t sweep this under the carpet if it involved our ground crew.’
‘I’m going to get in touch with the padre at Hawkinge and see if we can get married there. I have a nasty feeling that if we don’t tie the knot soon then we might not get another opportunity possibly for years – or at all.’
‘Wise move, things are going to get decidedly hairy here very soon. The Jerries are preparing to invade but before that they’ll want to destroy the RAF and bomb our bases. We’re at the pointy end of things at Manston and once the balloon goes up, it’s going to be worse than Dunkirk.’
‘God, that’s a horrible thought, Freddie. Why on earth are we moving the girls onto the base when we know it’s going to be incredibly dangerous for them?’
‘It’s not us, it’s a WAAF decision. I’m sure Win Co will move them back to Goodwill House if necessary. I was wondering, old boy, if you can tell me anything about your girl’s best friend, Di?’ He grinned somewhat sheepishly. ‘I find myself rather drawn to the girl. She’s plucky to the backbone and I like that in a lady.’
‘She comes from a good family but doesn’t get on with them. Neither she nor Millie joined up with their parents’ approval. They were both destined to make good marriages to the right sort of man and have disappointed their families by scooting off as they did.’
‘Independent sort of girl, then, another thing I like about her. If I’m absolutely honest, I noticed her soon after I arrived here. She’s been our driver several times.’
‘That’ll be a bit tricky for both of you, won’t it?’
‘We’ll keep it on the QT,’ Freddie said. ‘Not that there’s anything to keep quiet about at the moment – we’ve just exchanged a few words this evening and I intend to go and see her if we’re allowed off base tomorrow.’
‘Talking about parents – we’re not intending to tell them about our forthcoming wedding. I can’t think that they’ll ever hear about it, but if they do and make a fuss, would it make it invalid, do you think?’
‘I’ve no idea. I doubt it – if you’ve got Win Co’s permission, that should be sufficient. There’s a bloody war on – I doubt the authorities are going to be interested in something so trivial.’
‘I’m not going to put doubts in her mind. It’s highly likely I’ll go for a Burton, so the fact that we were married or not married will be academic.’
‘Cheerful bugger, aren’t you? But you’re right, we Brylcreem boys have got to make the most of every moment we’ve got.’
‘Let’s hope we get a few days’ respite from sorties. Do you think we might be allowed off the base tomorrow? If so, I’ll see if I can borrow a vehicle, or snag a lift, to Hawkinge. It’s Sunday so the vicar’s bound to be on the base, seeing him face to face would be better than trying to telephone.’
‘The CO hasn’t decided but I think it likely a flight at a time might be allowed to leave Manston at least for a few hours. There’s another squadron of Spits being posted here in the next few days. That’ll mean we’ve got two each of Hurries, Blenheims, and Spits. Should think that’s more or less full strength, although I expect there’ll be a lot of to-ing and fro-ing of other chaps.’
‘I’d better get going, Freddie, Millie will be back in a minute.’
He didn’t really like her driving in the dark but had to accept she was more experienced on the road than he was. As he reached the double doors, a welcome draught of air came in as the door was opened behind the blackout curtain.
‘I’m back, Ted, and you’ve timed it perfectly to come and meet me. You can still hear the music outside but there’s not a chink of light escaping.’
‘If you’re quite sure about not dancing, let’s go into the bar and find ourselves a quiet corner if we can.’
‘I haven’t told any of the girls about our engagement. I thought it would be better to see if we can actually arrange to get married before we say anything.’
He had his arm around her shoulders protectively as the men they met were mostly inebriated and becoming louder by the minute. He didn’t blame them – as Freddie had said, flyers needed to let off steam if they were going to do the job they’d been trained for.
‘Over there, love, at the far end. Do you want another drink?’
‘I’m awash with beer, so no thank you, but don’t let it stop you.’
‘I’ve had two pints and that’s my limit.’
They sat with their backs to the bar, which made it somewhat easier to talk. The air was blue with cigarette smoke and they’d both smell of tobacco tomorrow but for once it didn’t matter. All he cared about was the lovely girl sitting within his embrace.
Tonight there was no need for Joanna to worry about falling asleep as she was just a little bit tiddly after drinking more than half a bottle of wine. Sensibly, they’d only had a small glass each from the fresh bottle and then that had been put in the pantry for tomorrow night.
If they hadn’t been wearing black to remind them, they would both have forgotten they were supposed to be grieving for the death of the head of the household. As she hadn’t been into the village since she’d got the news, she was sure no one would be aware that David’s family were behaving so disrespectfully. She was ashamed of herself for being so callous. He had been as good a husband and father as he knew how and died a brave man fighting for his country. He deserved better from her and Elizabeth.
Sarah hadn’t even asked for compassionate leave, although she said she would definitely come to his memorial service as that would be expected by the locals. Hopefully, when they saw her next Wednesday, they would know when it was to take place.
Lazzy was now sleeping in the kitchen again, which was much easier for everybody. Millie would let him out to do his business before she locked up. As she was drifting off to sleep, she realised that when the girls left next week, she would have to ask Joe to do this. He was usually awake at ten o’clock and would be happy to do it for her.
She vaguely heard the last of the partygoers return but they were very considerate and crept through the house like silent mice. It had been the van that had woken her. Tomorrow Elizabeth, Liza, Joe and herself were going to walk down to the village church. She wasn’t looking forward to this as she was genuinely sad for the wives and mothers who had lost loved ones and they would be there too. It was actually a blessing that she hadn’t been especially fond of David, as otherwise tomorrow would have been all but impossible.
Millie had left Di sleeping so still hadn’t told her friend that she was now not only engaged but planning to be married to Ted as soon as it could be arranged. She knew that marrying without her father’s permission might invalidate the marriage if he ever heard about it. For some reason, even though Ted was more or less the same age as her, she didn’t think anybody would bother to contact his father.
She was munching her third piece of toast when she remembered that he’d told her his birthday was this month, or was it July? If it was, then they’d both be twenty the same month. She must remember to ask him. There was still so much they didn’t know about each other. Were they completely mad to be even contemplating getting married?
Liza was singing as she dished up the porridge to the others. ‘You’re happy this morning, you’ve got a lovely singing voice – you should be in the church choir,’ Millie told the girl.
‘Ta ever so. We’re going to church today. I love being able to put on one of me new frocks.’
‘We have church parade at ten o’clock – we don’t have anyone on the base to take the service so Win Co gallops through it. We don’t even have to listen to a sermon so it’s all over in less than an hour.’
‘Cor, that’s ever so short. We ain’t got a vicar at the moment, don’t know when he’s going to come. We got some old bloke what’s retired mumble through it last week. He kept repeating himself and it were ever so funny.’
‘Well, good luck today. It’ll probably be a very sombre occasion with most of the congregation wearing black. We’ll clear up for you if you want to go and change.’
The girl finished ladling out the porridge, thanked her and dashed off. As Millie still had the van, they had plenty of time to clear the table and do the washing-up before they left as they didn’t have to do the two-mile march.
‘Outside in fifteen minutes, ladies.’
Once they were billeted on the base, even those off duty would be expected to attend church parade. Really, she should have insisted that the three girls in bed came with them. But this would have meant they then had to walk back and most of their precious free morning would be wasted. The three of them were on duty from two o’clock and would have to allow themselves half an hour to complete the walk.
She was driving the Blenheim crews today so would have no opportunity to see Ted. She wasn’t sure if the Spitfire flyers were off duty.
Phyllis and Pamela came around to the driver’s window. ‘Corp, is there any chance we can get a look at the accommodation before we actually move? Are we all in together like we were when we were training?’ Phyllis asked.
‘I don’t see why not. I’ll take you all over before we go home tonight. You girls will be together but Di and I, I think, will sleep separately. However, as things aren’t finished, that might not be the case immediately.’
‘Fair enough, and thank you. It will be easier knowing what to expect than worrying about it. We’ve been rather spoilt these past few weeks, haven’t we?’
‘Don’t forget there’ll be less walking, so more free time.’
‘That’s true, but I’ve become rather fond of having a comfortable bed, privacy and wonderful food. I think it’s true to say that we’ll all miss Goodwill House.’
Millie agreed – living here had been like being back at school but without the cold baths and detentions.