Home › Our Memoirists › Muriel Baldrey (Johnson) › 1944–1949
Last modified: 13 October 2026
Muriel Mary Baldrey (Johnson), 1915–1999
I think it would be a good idea here to do a short resume of the events of World War II
As I did for World War I, to get the sequence of events clearly in mind:-
1938 Munich Pact
March 1939 Germany seized Bohemia and Moravia.
Western powers began to re-arm.
August 1939 USSR concluded non-aggression pact with Germany
September 1939 Germany invaded Poland. England and France declare War.
April 1940 Germany invaded Denmark and Norway.
May 1940 Germany invaded Low Countries, broke into France and swept to
Channel Ports. Evacuation of Dunkirk. .
June 1940 Italy joined War with Germany against England and France.
June 1940 France surrendered.
Autumn 1940 Battle of Britain.
October 1940 Italy attacked Greece.
April 1941 Germany invaded Yugoslavia.
June 1941 Germany invaded USSR.
December 1941 Japan attacked pearl Harbour.
U.S. declared War on Japan.
Germany declared War on U.S.
1942 Japan had conquered all S.E. Asia.
Germany had reached Stalingrad in Russia.
October 1942 North Africa — British win victory at Alamein.
North Africa landings.
Victory over Germany in North Africa.
Spring 1943 Invasion by Allies of Sicily and Italy
September 1943 Italy surrenders.
USSR wins battle of Stalingrad
June 1944 Allies land in Normandy
April 1945 Germany surrenders
August 1945 Atomic bombs dropped in Japan.
Japan surrenders.
Stan did a rapid trip across North Africa, and then joined in the Salerno landings when the Allies invaded Italy. It must have been a nasty business, even when the Italians surrendered in September 1943, the Germans did a running battle as the Allies chased them through Italy, and at Casino they dug themselves in, and there was a tremendous battle. All this brought us to the Spring of 1944. Things had been very quiet in England for a long time, life had settled down to almost a hum-drum pattern.
Dad had become very friendly with Bob Carmichael, who had bought the house next door to the Scarletts in Baskerville Road (Mrs Reddington lives there now). One evening they asked Den and Edith and Dad and I round for drinks. As he was sitting pretty in the building line, he had managed to get that house completely re-decorated, and it looked a picture. It was a funny sort of evening, as their two little boys wouldn’t go to bed and kept coming down, they had asked one of two other friends, and we suddenly realised that all the men had gone up the County Arms, and we were left washing up in the kitchen. However, when we finally left we realised it was a lovely night and whilst we were standing looking at the stars, we heard gunfire very faintly, it seemed to be coming from the Thames Estuary.
The next day we gathered vaguely that there had been some sort of bombing on the coast, and then the next night all hell was let loose, the guns started up, and the noise was terrific. We all came downstairs, quite unprepared, and the shelter was out of action, so we all for under the kitchen table. I remember shaking like a leaf and wondering what was happening.
The next day, Saturday, the sirens went early in the morning and the All Clear didn’t go at all, Dad tidied the Shelter and the children went down there with games, and I endeavoured to get some meals. We had realised by now that the things that were causing the explosions that we heard were flying bombs. They looked like little trained planes, they came chugging in over London, and then they would suddenly cut out their engines, and of course within about ten seconds they fell and all the gunpowder they were packed with exploded.
Dad had to report at the Home Guard on St. John’s Hill, and at about lunchtime that day one of these things fell on the Hill near Vardens Road. We heard afterwards that it fell on a bus and lots were killed it also demolished a Pub and some shops near St. Paul’s Church. In one of the shops lived two little girls — Iris Howard and her sister Doris, and their parents. Mr.
Howard Was running downstairs when the explosion occurred and he was killed as the house collapsed, the rest of the family were in the shelter so they were all right. However, Mrs. Howard was in a terrible state, she had lost everything and they say she used to be found turning over the rubble trying to find some of her things.
Auntie Edie’s house in Harbut Road had all its ceilings down, and she sent Grannie Baldrey up to us, as she didn’t know what else to do. Poor old Gran, she couldn’t get down into the shelter so every time we heard a plane coming over I ran to the Shelter to be with the children, and she stood by the staircase.
By the following week, we realised that we couldn’t go on like this, and Dad rang Uncle Henry and asked if we could come up to him once again. So it was arranged that Grannie and I and the three children arrived in Manchester in the evening, and Madge met us and took us back to the new house in which they lived at 505, Wilbraham Road. I was in a terrible state by the time we got there. We had a meal and then Uncle Henry said well let’s get this straight, when you came up to Manchester before, Auntie Alice was alive, and she was very easy with the money and wouldn’t let you pay towards your keep.
Well this time he suggested that I should look after myself and the children and he would cope with Grannie. We were on very meagre rations at that time, and if you didn’t know the shop-keepers it would mean just existing on the bare rations, only regular customers got any little extras that came into the shop. I suppose I had visions of the children nearly starving, and I remember crying and getting in a real old state. I would rather have put up with the bombing and be with Dad.
However, I suppose things didn’t work out too badly, maybe as I was so young I hadn’t paid my whack when we were up there before, but when you think that I only had about £2.15.0 coming in in any case, I couldn’t have helped much. Stan managed to save some money and sent me £10.0.0 which I gave to Uncle Henry to salve my conscience, and we plodded along. Pam and Wendy went to school at the other side of Chorlton, which meant about a half mile walk, and they came home to lunch. After a time they became friendly with two children who lived in the next road, and they were older and took Pam and Wendy backwards and forwards.
Wendy was under five, so it was quite a bit of walking to do. Granny saw that we didn’t starve, I cooked the lunch for us and Uncle Henry and did all the chopping and tidying. They had a woman who came in everyday to do the cleaning.
I am not sure about the Invasion of France, I suppose it must have happened whilst we were up in Manchester. I know that Peter had come back from Canada and was stationed in Manchester, as they had finished training Pilots over there, and had closed down the training centres. He was very fed-up as he had been looking forward to seeing some active service. Just as well; perhaps as he might have been killed.
Uncle had his Caravan at Knutsford. Actually life up there was pretty good, he had this enormous house, Madge and Hazel were earning good money so was he, and he had his girl friend Pat in tow. Hazel had a holiday so it was decided that she and I and the children should spend time at Knutsford. I only remember that it was glorious weather, but we were plagued with horse-flies on the site, and it was miserable sitting in the sun when these things kept landing and stinging us. Actually Uncle had two caravans on this site, they were the only ones there on a field belonging to a farmer and backing the field was a large wood. We learnt that at the other side of this wood there was a German Prisoner of War Camp, but we never saw any sign of the prisoners.
I think it must have been pretty awful in London, but somehow Dad and the boys coped. Edith had been posted to Greenwich and she was staying at No.16, Dorlcote, they used the Shelter until they discovered that it was plagued by black beetles, then they slept downstairs in the house. Came a letter to say the Den and Edith had decided to get married when they next had leave in August. I think at this time Den was doing some clerical work for the War Office, although his leg was not healed and each time they tried skin grafting it broke down.
They were to get married from Edith’s mother’s house at Chorlton and in the Parish Church. In the meantime, Grannie’s foot had developed large ulcers, she was supposed to keep on a strict diet because she suffered from sugar diabetes, but away from Auntie Edie who was very firm with her, she was artful, and would keep little packets of sweets in her bag, which were very bad for her. The Doctor did all he could but they didn’t seem to get better.
Den and Edith’s wedding went off very well and they were both married in uniform. Uncle Henry had promised to take the photographs but at the last minute he realised he had left his camera at Knutsford — he certainly was a sport as he went off to Knutsford, and back, and although missing the Service, ect., he arrived at the reception and took a lot of photographs. After the reception lots of people came back to Uncle’s and Hazel did a meal.
The next thing I remember was that Grannie had to go to hospital as she had developed gangrene in her toes and she was in great pain. They said there was nothing they could do as she was too old to operate on. She was eighty on the 26th August and we had a little party for her, so it must have been after this that she went into hospital. That same week Hazel was taken ill and they thought she might have appendicitis. She was taken to hospital in the same ward as Gran. The ironical thing was that Pat also developed the same symptoms as Hazel and ended up in the same ward. I think she was very jealous of the girls and I’m afraid there wasn’t much love lost between them.
Hazel and Pat were only in there for a week but Grannie had to stay there. Soon afterwards I heard that the flybombs were easing up in London and, although they had another weapon called the V2 — rocket bombs, I decided to take the risk and go back to London. Den and Edith were coming up to see her mother, so it was decided that I should go back with them. Grannie begged me to ask Auntie Edie to arrange to have her back and this I promised to do.
Auntie was shocked when she heard that Grannie had gangrene, as I don’t think she had been told. However, she said she would have Grannie back and so it was arranged. I am afraid however, that Gran got steadily worse on coming home and had to go into Battersea General Hospital where she died on December 20th — Edith’s 21st birthday.
By that time we were settled back at 16 and the children were going to school despite these V2s. However, one evening I left them with Dad and went to the pictures with Audrey East at Tooting. During the film we heard the ghastly noise that they made and knew that one had fallen nearby. When we came out we caught a bus and could see by the searchlights that one had fallen in the direction of Trinity Road. We discovered that it had fallen at the back of Carmichael’s and demolished part of the prison and some houses. No.16 had windows smashed and a big chest in the kitchen had been lifted up and pushed against the door. In the children’s room the windows had fallen out, if they had come in, the children would have been badly cut.
So ended another year, once again I can’t remember much about Christmas, but as the news was so good and we were advancing rapidly into Germany and winning battles everywhere, that we all felt much better.
On Edith’s 21st they asked me to go with them to the Lansdowne Club and we had a very nice evening.
In the Spring of this year it seemed pretty certain that the War with the Germans would be over very soon. Restrictions were being lifted, Dad discovered that it was now possible to sleep in the caravan at Middleton, and the beaches were opened once more. So we decided that we would go there at Easter. David and one or two of his friends were also interested in going down there, they had tents. Actually I think Dad and David slept in the Caravan and I still slept in the house with the children. It wasn’t very nice weather, but it was marvellous to be able to walk along the beach again.
We heard that Hazel had been in hospital and had been operated on for appendicitis, she had been going with a rather nice Australian airman, whilst we were up in Manchester, but apparently this had all fizzled out and I think Hazel was in a rather poor state of health. However, she came down to stay with us for a while and Dad suggested that we should go to the caravan. I suppose this must have been at Whitsun. It was lovely weather and we really enjoyed it.
Prior to this, however, Den, who was living at home in between stays in Roehampton Hospital for skin grafting on his leg, invited Arthur Brown round one evening. We were rather apologising to Hazel for what could be a boring evening, as he was quite a ‘stick-in-the-mud’ — however, they seemed to get on very well and I think he asked her to go out one evening. Apparently his engagement to a girl, who I believe was an opera singer, had just been broken off. He wrote to Hazel when we were down at the caravan, and the next we heard was that he had gone up to Manchester.
Again we went down to Middleton in August, and I remember that Phyllis (Pedler) came down one week-end, and whilst she was there we heard that the War was over in Japan and I think soon after this she heard that Frank was alive. He had been a prisoner-of-war in Japanese hands for years, and they were not allowed to write home.
I knew that it was likely that Stan would be coming home and one evening in September, when Dad was investigating under the floor boards in the lounge at No. 16, Stan arrived. It was marvellous to see him again, and the children were thrilled, but I don’t think Eric remembered him. I think in a way it must have been a shock to Stan when he surveyed the house. In the two years he had been away there had been many moves around, and our furniture was very much mixed up with Dad’s. I think at that time Den and Edith were living there, as Edith had been posted to Greenwich, and Den was now working at the war office, as the grafting on his leg had at last proved successful. Peter was still in the R.A.F. but David was there, working for a Film Company.
Then began the big sort out. Stan was only on a month’s leave, and it seemed that he would have to go back to Italy again. I think by this time I had really had enough. I became ill with a very bad attack of pylitis and as it wasn’t responding to drugs I had to go into hospital. I was in hospital a month, and Stan kept getting extensions to his leave. Finally when I came home they agreed that he wouldn’t have to go abroad again and he was posted to Woolwich. By this time we had moved into a flat upstairs, and Edith was looking after Dad, Den and David. Soon after coming home I realised that I was pregnant, and Edith was also in the same boat. She was having terrible sickness, but was still managing to stagger to work.
I don’t remember much about this Christmas, I think we all joined up in Dad’s flat and Auntie Winnie and Uncle Will came round. Stan and I were not really enjoying living upstairs, and were hoping that something would crop up so that we could be on our own again.
Stan had been having trouble with the cartilage in his knee, and it was decided that he should have the necessary operation in a Military Hospital before he was discharged from the Army. At this time there was no National Health Scheme, and hospital treatment had to be paid for. He went down to see his mother on one occasion and on the way down his knee locked, and he had to go into hospital down there to have it put right. Therefore, he went into the Military hospital at Horley, Surrey at the beginning of March, when I was about four months pregnant.
Dad had been getting very involved with Edna, his secretary, at work. He had told us that he intended to marry her, but he had not fixed a date. I think that the fact that Digger and Edith managed to get a Council flat in a lovely old house at Roehampton, leaving him with no-one to look after his flat, decided him to fix the date and they were married on the 29th March at St. Anne’s Church, Wandsworoth. Auntie Edie and I arranged a little reception, and then we all went down to Mrs. Robinson’s at Pinner for a big spread at their end. We were still on food rationing, but I think Mrs. Robinson had been saving up for this for a long time. The food was a delight, she certainly was a good cook. I went back to Dorlcote and Dad and Edna went to an Hotel in London for a day or two.
I managed to get down to see Stan at Hospital. Things seemed very free and easy there as they were allowed to take visitors along to the canteen when they were up. I suppose he was discharged in April, and for a time he walked with a stick. He was also discharged from the Army about this time, and went back to work at the Ashford Residential School.
Edith had Jane on April 5th, so you can imagine she only just managed to get along to the wedding.
Sometime during May, Mr. Bailey the Headmaster of the school asked Stan if he would be interested in a cottage which they were having renovated in the school grounds. I went down with him to have a look at it and although it was very small,l we decided that it would be heaven to be on our own again so we said we would take it.
We told Dad and he seemed pleased that he and Edna would again have the whole house. He had Peter coming home from the R.A.F. and would need the room.
I think we moved on about May 25th, it was quite a big pack up. Stan had managed to get a Mrs. Clarke who worked at the School to clean the place up for us at Ashford. We had a cat at No. 16 and just as we were going to bed the night before the move, we heard some faint mews, and when we went up into the attic s she had presented us with five kittens in a wardrobe up there. David had an old banger and he lent it to Stan to take us down to Ashford — three children and six cats, plus us two!
I suppose as it was such a small place we soon managed to get it straight, and Stan went back to Dorlcote in the evening to return David’s car. However, at 10 o’clock he arrived back again in the car. Dad had sold it to him for about £20 as he was petrified of David’s driving and thought he would probably kill himself.
However, the joke was on us as Stan nearly killed himself in the old Austin. However, first came the celebrations to mark the end of the first year after the War. We decided to go down to Stan’s parents in the car. We took them by surprise but they were very glad to see us.
Then Dad and Edna and David came down to see us one Sunday in June and Stan gave them a lift back to the Station. At about 10.30 p.m. I was getting very worried as he hadn’t come home, and I walked down the drive and out of the gates to see if he was coming. As I got to a bend in the road a police car came along followed by a garage break-down van hauling along Stan’s car smashed to pieces. I was so shocked that I lost all feeling and seemed to float back to the school. When I got there, the Police took one look at this very pregnant woman, and I think they thought that they would have a birth right on the spot.
However, they assured me that Stan wasn’t very badly hurt, and that it would not be wise for me to go along to the hospital. So it can be imagined what sort of night I had. I think I sat up knitting most of the time. Mr. Phillipps the engineer came round early in the morning and said he would ring the hospital and also very kindly said that he and his wife would look after the children while I went round to see Stan. He had a terrific gash in his head with loads of stitches, and they had x-rayed as there was the possibility of a fracture. However, he was reading the paper, so I didn’t feel too worried about him.
He was only in hospital for a week, but he had lots of bad head-aches afterwards.
At the end of July I was having a bath one evening, and I thought that the baby was on the way, so Stan rang for the ambulance and I went into the West Middlesex Hospital. However, nothing happened — it must have been a false alarm. I stayed there a week and in the meantime Stan took Pam and Wendy down to his mother and Dad and Edna had Eric. They discharged me after a week, and so we had Eric back again. On Sunday 25th August we had arranged for Den and Edith to come to lunch, and I had done a lot of preparation the night before. When I woke at 8 a.m. the pains started in earnest and I was whisked to hospital leaving Stan to cope with the dinner as we weren’t on the phone and neither were Den and Edith so we couldn’t let them know.
I had a quick birth, Beryl was born at 12 o’clock, but then there was tremendous trouble getting the afterbirth away. I had terrific after birth pains, I really thought I was going to die. They gave me an anaesthetic and when I came to everything was O.K. but I had lost a lot of blood and was very weak. They had sent the police round for Stan and he came looking in a state of shock. Beryl was a lovely baby and so very good. She gained a lot of weight in hospital and the nurses asked if they could have her to demonstrate — bathing, etc, — at their classes.
Stan told me that Pam and Wendy had developed chicken pox at his mother’s and he had taken Eric back up to Dad’s as he had to start back at School. I arrived home to find the house in apple-pie order, as Mrs. Clarke had been looking after it. I had the children home and they went back to school including Eric, as he was just five. He went to Clarendon Road School and Pam and Wendy went to Eccleford School. As I wasn’t able to meet Eric it was arranged for him to wait for Pam and Wendy to come out and come home with them.
So we settled down to our first winter in our little cottage, the first thing Stan did was to put up a porch at the back as our lavatory was outside, and then we put up a heavy curtain against the front door which opened into our living room. I think it was a very cold winter, but we had a boiler at the back to heat the water, and on the whole I think we were pretty snug.
We spent the Christmas with Dad and Edna, Beryl slept in a drawer. Dad had worried that Edna would not be able to cope, but she was a very good cook, and with him to organise everything, we had a nice Christmas.
The first three months of this year went very smoothly, and then in April, Wendy (who had often had nasty tummy trouble) seemed to have some sort of stoppage. She was sick and then terribly constipated and became quite ill. We had a very bad night with her suffering from sever stomach pains, and in the morning I asked the Doctor to come along. I think he realised at once that there was something seriously wrong, and it was a great shock to me when he said something about T.B. of the stomach. However, he said that she must go immediately to hospital, and Stan took her round there in Mr. Phillips car. He waited there whilst she saw a Specialist, and then they said they must operate at once as she had a stoppage in the intestine. They did the operation and the outcome of it was that the Specialist said she had two feet too much intestine, and this was in such a state that it would always be likely to become blocked. He said that when she was well enough after the first operation he would like to do a major operation and remove the intestine which was giving trouble.
I suppose she must have had the second operation in June, and then we realised that for a time she would have an opening in her side. She had to stay in Hospital, and as there was no visiting in the children’s ward, we were allowed to come along on Wednesdays and Sundays, and talk to her through the window. She seemed happy enough, there was a very nice Sister Johnson in charge of the ward, and she liked Wendy very much.
She had a minor operation at the end of July to seal the hole, and the Specialist said that she could come home, and that we could take her down to Middleton with us. This we did, but after about a week, we realised that the wound in her side was breaking open and I was absolutely petrified of dealing with something like this at camp. Stan took her along to Bognor Hospital but they thought she should go back to Ashford. So Stan took her back, and then cam back to Middleton, as we thought for the sake of the other children, we should finish the holiday, so we took it in turns to go up to Ashford on visiting day. Wendy certainly was a plucky little girl, when I left the hospital she would walk away, and I am sure there must have been some big tears there.
I think it must have been in the September that the Specialist asked to see me, and he said that they were worried, as Wendy was becoming too hospitalised, and they asked if I would have her home even though it meant dealing with this breakdown at the side, which would have to be dressed twice a day. He thought that if she came home she would become stronger, and that eventually the wound would heal. This I agreed to, and we managed very well. At that time we had the bath in the kitchen with a big wooden top on it as a working surface. Stan had raised the gas copper at one end, so that hot water was no problem. So after they had gone to school in the morning, I bathed Wendy and often Beryl too, and the same in the evening. She was soon running about with the others and the only thing I had to be careful about was not to give her too much fruit, or else we had trouble with the padding.
When I took her back to the hospital after three weeks, they were so pleased as she looked so well, and the Specialist decided that he would do the minor operation again. This was highly successful, and soon after that Wendy was back to school after about six months absence.
Once again we settled back into a normal life. I had made great strides with the front garden, which was just a wilderness when we arrived and Stan was doing quite well at the back, growing vegetables. Our lettuce that year, Webbs Wonders, were absolutely marvellous. We had three apple trees in the front and a golden plum , one of the trees was a Brambly, which always had a good crop and was a tremendous help with the puddings, as we weren’t very well off at that time. I had them all coming home to dinner at 1 p.m. and after clearing that up I would make a batch of cakes for tea at 5 p.m. It was a busy life, but the children loved the garden and grounds of the School.
[The family’s note: year 1948?]
Stan’s father had not been at all well this winter, and he had spent a lot of time in the hospital at Preston Hall. However, at Easter they let him come home and Frank and Phyllis went down there with the little boy they had adopted called Colin. This was a surprise for his father, and apparently they had a nice holiday. However, the next we knew was an urgent call from his mother to say that his Dad was back in hospital and very seriously ill. Den and Edith kindly said they would look after Pam, Wendy and Eric so we set off for Aylesford taking Beryl. I never saw his father again as he died soon afterwards. Stan and Frank went down to be with their mother before the funeral, and I travelled down on my own. His father’s brother and sister came to the funeral and this was the first and last time that I ever saw them.
Stan’s mother was very brave, but I suppose she had known this would be likely to happen for many years. Pam went down to stay with her for a time and then the Matron at the hospital offered her a little job in the sewing room, so that for the time being she was able to keep the house going. However, she knew that they would want her to find somewhere else to live, as the house must inevitably go to another patient with a family.
I think it must have been soon after this that we went to Colin’s christening where Stan was godfather. Everything seems to be going all right for Frank and Phyllis now, the baby was a fine boy and they seemed much happier. They had parted during the war for a time and I knew it was a great disappointment to them that they could not have children.
As usual we went to Middleton for our holidays. Dad had erected a tent beside the caravan, so we were able to sleep the children all right. Looking back I suppose it was marvellous that we were able to get a holiday like this – we usually stayed down there about three weeks as I was pretty certain we wouldn’t have been able to afford a holiday otherwise. At this time, we did a lot of walking and I remember once we walked to Arundel pushing the pram and caught the bus back.
Pam and Wendy loved the sea and were to become fine swimmers. Eric was a bit nervous. I think at this time I went on the sea everyday, but I don’t think Stan ever went in swimming after the war. He said the sea was too cold. I think that they had bathed in the Mediterranean in their birthday suits as it was so warm.
The children went to Sunday school at St. Hilda’s, which meant a big rush round on Sunday morning, as they had to be out of the house by 9.45 a.m. I certainly had a busy life as there was always plenty of gardening, but it was worth while, as we certainly enjoyed the vegetables and fruit.
I think it must have been this year that Stan built on a porch outside the front door, and this gave us a little hall, which was much better. We had moved Beryl into the other bedroom with the girls and Eric was sleeping downstairs in the lounge on a bed which we had to put up every night.
I think once again we went up to Dad and Edna’s for Christmas, but this was probably the last time we did this, as it was so much work for Edna.
In March of this year Pam, who was now eleven, sat for the Common Entrance Exam. We had high hopes of her passing to a grammar School, as she seemed to be doing very well at Echelford School. She was always in the first three when it came to examination results. We filled in the forms and decided to make Twickenham County School the first choice. We were very happy on hearing that she had an interview at Twickenham, and eventually she was accepted there.
Peter and Daphne had set their Wedding Day in September and they asked if Pam and Wendy would be bridesmaids. Due to clothing coupons, they asked if we would agree to pay for the hire of the dresses from Moss Bros. Daphne was also hiring her wedding dress. We went up there with Daphne and chose two very pretty long white dresses. Then we had to think about a uniform for Pam and we also had three weeks holiday coming up at the caravan. It certainly needed some budgeting. I went to the school shop with Pam and at that time they were doing quite a good variety of second-hand macs and tunics and we settled for a mac and tunic, second-hand, then there were all the sports things, blouses, shoes etc. There were also shoes etc for the bridesmaids’ outfits.
We arrived back from our holiday all looking very tanned and of course I was very pregnant. I think Pat was expected in December. I think Pete and Daphne had invited all the children, so we had to sort out outfits for them and in the end Stan made me a brown skirt (with plenty of room).
Came the day of the wedding and I left first with Pam and Wendy to bus over to Daphne’s house. She and her friend dressed the girls and did their hair and they looked very nice. Daphne’s mother was, of course, in a bit of a flap, more so I suppose as they didn’t know whether Daphne’s would come to the wedding until right at the last moment, when she dashed out of the door and got in the car with her mother and I.
The wedding was at Leatherhead Church, and Stan joined us there with Eric and Beryl, then we went on to Dorking for the reception. It all seemed to go off very well and the girls certainly looked very pretty.
Christmas arrived and the baby was still on the way. Stan’s mother came over to be with us in case anything happened over Christmas. Dad had arranged a trip to the circus at Olympia for the family, so Stan took our lot up there and I stayed behind with his mother. At that time there was a germ going around which caused sickness and diarrhoea. Our lot went down with it one after the other over Christmas. Beryl was not at all well on New Year’s Eve – there was a fancy dress party over at the school and Stan made costumes for Pam and Wendy and took them over there, whilst I went to bed and had Beryl with me as she was under the weather.
I was dozing when I suddenly realised that I was getting pains, so I got up quickly to go downstairs, when I met Stan coming up dressed as a waiter in some clothes he had borrowed from the school. I said that he would have to call the ambulance and off I went, on my own once again. When I got into the hospital I realised that it was the germ that I had got that was causing the pains and I had a really rough night with bad diarrhoea in the labour ward. In the morning, I went into an ordinary ward and seemed O.K. but after the evening meal when Stan came along, the pains started in earnest. They took me along to the labour ward once again but the pains weren’t strong enough and I think they doped me as I went all night. I remember sitting up next morning and eating a boiled egg. I don’t remember much about that day, but Pat was born at 6 p.m. with no complications and they managed to rush me back to the ward in time for visiting at 7 p.m. Stan remembers that Pat’s hair was still wet. She was a lovely baby with lots of black hair.
I should mention that Pam started at Twickenham, and, as she had to go by train, we were glad that her friend Diana was also going there, so they could travel together. She settled in very well.
With thanks to Muriel’s family.