April’s story was one I’d wanted to write for some time, but rather lacked the courage to do so until now. It’s an emotive subject, played out during a time when strict moral codes were adhered to – or at least were seen to be followed – and the language and attitudes would not be acceptable in these more enlightened days. I have no wish to offend, but to keep the story authentic it was vital to use words and phrases I would never normally dream of using. There is little doubt that the girls were naïve sexually, for it wasn’t a subject to be talked about except in extremely vague terms by embarrassed mothers. The influx of dashing young men in the uniform of the foreign services, their perceived sophistication and the very uncertainty of the times proved irresistible to some, which led to clandestine affairs, and quite often, heartache.
The arrival of the black GIs certainly caused a stir, just as they had during the First World War, and not all of them abandoned their children. And yet the prejudice of inter-racial relationships was rife on both sides of the Atlantic, and it was a very brave girl who defied the conventions of the time and married her black American, or kept his baby. Pressure from family combined with the lack of any of the financial benefits available today, and the unwillingness of employers to hire an unmarried girl with a child of any colour, meant that many girls were cast out of their homes, with the inevitable result that many of these babies were placed in orphanages.
I thought long and hard about April’s baby, and what her outcome would be, and came to the conclusion that she had to survive and stay with her mother. April had the love and support of Stan, Ethel and Peggy, but realistically, there was still a tough battle ahead in a world not yet ready to accept she’d made a mistake, and was doing her very best to atone for it. Baby Paula had come to represent all the ‘khaki babies’ born during those times, and I wanted her to have the love and warmth of a proper home denied to so many others.
Between the two wars and after 1945 the orphanages were overcrowded, the mainly church-funded institutions unable to support so many unwanted children. It is during these times that the churches began to send the children abroad, mainly to Australia where, despite the promises of a better life, they were often abused and used as slave labour in some of the harshest environments on earth. I have explored and researched this era of the ‘Empty Cradles,’ for my book, Savannah Winds, which I wrote under the pseudonym of Tamara McKinley.
I hope you enjoy Shelter From the Storm. Please let me know what you think. You can contact me through www.ellie-dean.co.uk, or on Facebook.