BackStory Episode 9

Jackie (John Henry) - Eileen’s older brother and a merchant seaman in the Merchant Navy. The initials MN for that are on the pin he always wore.

When episode 9 begins, Maude and Eula are still living as evacuees in North Wales, not far from Liverpool, but safe from the bombing that was feared to begin at the start of the war.

The only detail I know of my father, Will Hall (later known as Bill Hall), of this time is that he was evacuated to the northern Welsh town of Asaph, while his younger brother Ronnie went to live with his Aunt Edie and Uncle Alan in West Kirby, not far from Liverpool, but far enough from the docks to be safe from bombing, and that the food was very unpleasant: “HP sauce on bread and whale blubber.”

After Germany’s invasion of Poland on September 2 and England and France’s subsequent declaration of war against Germany on September 3, the autumn of 1939 saw the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg declare their neutrality, although in a few short months Germany would invade them. The United States also declared its neutrality in regards to involvement in ‘the European Conflict’.  The war seemed to start off slowly in the world’s eyes, and it was called ‘the Phoney War’ by the British but was soon to literally explode into life.

In Britain, thousands of mostly children were evacuated away from city centres into the countryside.  The operation began the day before war was declared.  By the end of the fall, because of the relative calm of the Phoney War and the psychological trauma of separation of children from their families, many parents decided they would rather take their chances keeping their families together, riding out bombings in shelters, than send their children away again.

In Episode 9, Maude and Eula return to Liverpool, along with many other children, in time for Christmas.  What my family knows is that Eileen (future wife of Ronnie, Will’s brother) came home at that time too with her younger brother and like Will, did not return to the countryside after Christmas and when bombing finally did begin.

Eileen’s older brother Jackie was, like his father, a merchant seaman.  My cousin Elaine (Eileen and Ronnie’s future daughter) agreed with me in allowing Jackie to fall in love with Maude for this story.  With the exception of that detail, the storyline of Jackie is true in Fondly yours…