‘So, what happened to the girls after the evacuation?’
‘In general, they either transferred to some other area of the country, or they went back home, if they had a home to go back to.’ She shook her head. ‘Much of London had been destroyed, as you probably know.’
‘I did.’
‘But, lighter note! After the war, one of the girls who had been assigned to Three Trees Farm came back to Strete. She’d fallen in love with Adam Wills, you see, whose father owned the farm adjacent to Three Trees. Eventually they married, and she stayed in the area.’
Like a bird taking flight, my spirits soared. ‘Is she still alive?’
‘My, yes.’
‘Do you think I’ll be able to talk to her?’
‘I don’t see why not. She’s widowed, living in Stoke Fleming now. I’ll get you her number, shall I? Her name’s Audrey. Audrey Wills.’
‘I’d really appreciate it. I first heard about the Land Army girls while watching an episode of Foyles War, and since then, I’ve been fascinated.’ I tapped the pamphlet that lay on the table between us. ‘And I’ve read your article, of course.’
She beamed, accepting the compliment. ‘Fortunately, Audrey’s farmer was able to move himself, his family and his livestock to another farm outside the American Zone, up near Harbertonford.’ She shook her head. ‘Many farmers weren’t so lucky. They had to sell everything, and you can imagine with everyone selling their livestock all at once, the prices were at rock bottom.’
I thought about Stephen Bailey’s cows – Feckless, Graceless, Pointless and Aimless – and how hard it must have been for him to see them go.
‘They were only given six weeks to clear out,’ Lilith continued. ‘Six weeks! Can you imagine? And just before Christmas, too.’
‘I can hardly pack for a two-week vacation in that little time.’
Lilith shook her head. ‘Isn’t that the truth? Now, don’t let me forget to get you Audrey’s number.’
‘I won’t!’ I gave Lilith my cell-phone number, and the telephone number at the B &B.
‘Now that that’s settled, Hannah, it’s time to show me what you’re working on so industriously.’
TWENTY-TWO
‘There were a lot of Americans stationed in the area and we were often invited to the dances at their camps… They would send a lorry for us and would bring us back. When it was time to leave the camp the lorry was stopped at the gate and the military guards would shine their torches and ask if there were any GI’s on board and everybody chorused “no” and when we were out of the gates the GI’s would come out from under the seats.’Pat Kemp, Ministry of Food: Women’s Land Army: Index to Service Records of the Second World War 1939-1948, Series: MAF421, National Archives, Kew, Richmond, Surrey
I arranged to meet Audrey Wills at the Singing Kettle Tea Shoppe in Smith Street, just around the corner from St Saviour’s. She was already there when I arrived, chatting with one of the owners – Darren, or it could have been Brian – at the foot of a narrow wooden staircase that led up to the first floor.
I recognized her at once from Lilith’s description. Tall, impossibly thin, with cropped hair the color of tar – a color that would have been startling on a woman half her age – sticking out in spikes like an electrified hedgehog.
I introduced myself to Audrey and to Darren, who showed us to a small round table near the window, covered with a scrupulously clean white tablecloth. After studying the menu, and consulting with Audrey, I ordered the cream tea for us both.
‘Thanks so much for seeing me, Mrs Wills,’ I said, after Darren left with our order. ‘Since my visit here, I’ve become very interested in the evacuation of the South Hams during the Second World War. Lilith Price told me that you were one of the Land Army girls stationed here. I was hoping you could tell me what it was like.’
Audrey laced her fingers together and rested her hands on the table. ‘The Land Army, yes. It turned out to be a life-changing experience for me, but I really wanted to join the WAAF.’ She winked. ‘My father wouldn’t let me.’
‘The WAAF?’
‘The Women’s Auxiliary Air Force. It’s part of the RAF now. Back in 1943, to a young girl barely seventeen, it sounded like the most exciting thing in the world. Some of the WAAFs worked on codes and ciphers, which I thought would be much more interesting than slaving away as a seamstress in a sweatshop like my mother.’
Brian brought our tea – Earl Grey – along with warm, homemade scones served up on a crystal cake stand decorated with whole strawberries, segments of clementine, and slices of kiwi. Pots of proper Devonshire clotted cream, lightly crusted with yellow, and strawberry jam were delivered on a separate plate.
Brian set a silver egg timer on the table in front of me. ‘When that’s done, your tea will be perfectly brewed.’ He waggled a finger. ‘And not one second before!’
While we waited for the sands of time to tell us that the tea was ready, Audrey continued with her story. ‘For some reason, Father didn’t object to my joining the Women’s Land Army, so I went off to be interviewed.’ Audrey picked a strawberry off the plate and ate it in three tiny bites. ‘They quizzed me on my experience, of course, and I had to admit to the woman who interviewed me that the only thing I knew about country life was what I’d read in books, but that it had always appealed to me. So she asked me what books I had read, and I had to invent something on the spot. “Friendly Animals of Forest and Fen”, I told her.’ Audrey giggled like the schoolgirl she had been at the time. ‘She had to know I was green as grass, Hannah, but in spite of that, I was accepted and they dispatched me off to Herefordshire for training.’
‘Tea’s ready,’ I said, with an eye on the egg timer. ‘Shall I pour?’
She nodded.
‘Black or white?’
‘White, with,’ she said.
I passed the milk and the sugar bowl.
‘I didn’t get on with the first farmer I was assigned to,’ Audrey told me. Using the tongs, she dropped a lump of sugar into her tea, then stirred it vigorously. ‘There was never enough food for one thing, and I had to sleep in an unheated loft.’ She shivered. ‘I’ve never been so cold in all my life.’
She wrapped her hands around her cup and took a long sip of tea, as if even the memory of the cold needed warming. ‘But the last straw came when I was asked to hold the piglets while he castrated them. That was no job for a woman, and he knew it. I can hear them squealing to this very day! So I hopped on my bicycle and cycled away!
‘The Women’s Land Army was very cross with me, of course, but I already knew how to hoe, dig ditches and milk cows, so they forgave me and transferred me to Devon. I was bivouacked in a hostel in Strete, but I worked primarily on Three Trees Farm, along with three other girls.’ As she spoke, her eyes lit up. ‘I loved the work, the fresh air, the sunshine. And even digging potatoes was fun when there were others to share the task.’
‘What can you tell me about the girls you worked with, Audrey?’
‘As I said, we were billeted in Strete, in a hostel with ten other girls.’ She chuckled. ‘With all the American soldiers in the area, we were having the time of our lives. Dances every weekend. Big band music, jitterbug and jive. We taught the Yanks how to do the Lambeth Walk and the Paul Jones, which they must have found hysterical. And, oh, how we used to put it over on our supervisor!’ She leaned forward and whispered, ‘There was a curfew, you know.’
Audrey reached down and retrieved her handbag from the floor. She pulled out a small packet of black and white photographs, held together by a rubber band. ‘I’ve brought photos along, if you’re interested.’