Wartime on Coronation Street

by Maggie Sullivan

  ‘Honestly, we see more of each other at work than we do during our so-called time off. I’m lucky if I see Bob once a week outside work these days,’ she moaned to Lily one evening when the two girls had come home from the cinema together. The programme, thankfully, had run through from beginning to end without interruption though For Whom the Bell Tolls had done nothing to lighten their mood.

  ‘I still don’t have a ring to show that we are properly engaged and we’re still no nearer setting a date for the wedding,’ Vera complained. ‘I only ever get to go out with you and I’m still sharing a bed with my mother. Honestly!’ she almost shouted in frustration. ‘I’m getting fed up. I want to do something different for a change. I may as well not be courting Bob at all!’

  To her surprise, instead of mumbling agreement as she usually did, Lily merely flared at her. ‘At least you know that you’re going to be married one day,’ Lily burst out, then she gasped and choked back a sob.

  Vera automatically put her hand out to touch her friend’s arm. ‘Lily? What do you mean?’ But Lily pulled her arm away abruptly and burst into tears. ‘Lily? What’s wrong?’ Vera asked gently. ‘You’ll be married one day, an’ all.’

  Lily shook her head and for a moment she sobbed quietly without looking at Vera. ‘No, I won’t.’ She sounded angry.

  ‘Don’t be so daft,’ Vera insisted, ‘of course you will. Johnny and you will—’

  ‘No, we won’t!’ Lily all but shouted. ‘There is no “Johnny and me”. As far as I’m concerned he doesn’t exist.’

  Vera was shocked. ‘Why? What’s happened?’ she asked, but she had to wait several minutes for the sobbing to subside and for Lily to find her voice once more.

  ‘You mustn’t tell anyone, Vera, you must swear.’

  Vera suddenly looked alarmed. ‘I won’t tell,’ she promised. ‘I’m your friend. But you’re scaring me, Lily. What is it I mustn’t tell?’

  ‘I thought I was pregnant,’ Lily said simply, ‘and I told Johnny.’ Vera sat back and put her hands to her mouth. The colour had drained from Lily’s face. ‘I expected him to …’ Lily began again. ‘I assumed …’ She drew in a deep breath. ‘But I was wrong. He didn’t want to know.’

  Vera’s eyes narrowed. ‘You mean you – you know – you … with Johnny?’ She waved her fingers vaguely in the air.

  ‘You mustn’t tell anyone, Vera,’ Lily said again, grasping hold of Vera’s hand.

  ‘You mean you did? Oh!’

  ‘I’d promised myself I wasn’t going to let him until we were married, but then … well, I suppose it just happened and the next thing I knew my monthlies were late. So much for him taking care of things!’ she said with disgust.

  Vera gasped again and put her hand to her mouth.

  ‘I told Johnny because I thought that if you were getting wed, then he’d say that we should get hitched too.’

  ‘But what happened?’

  ‘Basically, he laughed. He laughed at me, Vera and then he told me to get lost.’

  ‘And …?’

  ‘And nothing. And thank goodness I haven’t seen him since.’

  ‘Lily, I’m so sorry,’ Vera said, her forehead wrinkling. ‘Do you think he’ll change his mind?’

  ‘It doesn’t matter if he does. It’s too late now, anyway,’ Lily said forlornly.

  ‘What do you mean? You didn’t do anything, did you?’ Vera looked horrified; everyone had heard the stories of girls who had got themselves in the family way out of wedlock and the subsequent mutterings about babies that had to be ‘got rid of’. Vera had no idea what that meant but didn’t like the sound of it one little bit.

  Lily sat up straight now and she smiled though the tears were still rolling down her cheeks. ‘No,’ she said in what was almost a whisper, ‘fortunately, I didn’t have to do anything. It must have been the shock or something, but I suddenly had a very heavy bleed, and now my monthlies are back to normal.’

  Vera let out the breath she had been holding.

  ‘Honest, Vera, I almost went to church to say thanks I felt so grateful. I swear I won’t ever do anything like that again. I didn’t even enjoy it when we finally did it; it was a big disappointment. Painful and over in a flash.’ She found a handkerchief in her pocket and blew her nose, hard. ‘All I can say is, be warned. It’s not all it’s cracked up to be and it’s certainly not worth the worry if you’re not married. Whatever Bob says, don’t let him persuade you. It was horrible while it lasted and then being pregnant, even for a short time, wasn’t much fun either. I can tell you I never want to go through that again.’ And she shook her head. ‘Never!’

  ‘I’m really sorry, no, I’m really glad, well, you know what I mean. Are you sure you’re all right now?’ Vera sounded anxious.

  ‘I’m fine, but no thanks to … him,’ Lily said. ‘I’m too ashamed to tell anyone and you must promise never to tell a living soul, but I can’t believe that Johnny turned out to be such a rotter. And I could never tell my mother that she was right.’

  Chapter 11

  Elsie Tanner stood between Vera and Lily and all three were gazing solemnly at the wall in front of them, Elsie puffing on a cork tipped cigarette from her freshly opened packet. ‘I see they’ve added another poster since we were here last, Vera,’ she said, pointing to one that had been pasted on to the end and curled round the edge of the brickwork. It showed a young girl in trousers and wellington boots and she was holding what Elsie said was called a pitchfork. Vera giggled when Lily said it was used for tossing hay or lifting cut grass.

  ‘That’s funny,’ Vera said. ‘It looks like a very fierce fork to me, more like something that you would use to kill someone.’

  ‘Then that’s definitely for me,’ Lily said. ‘I could use it to kill Johnny.’ She laughed but Vera shuddered, her face suddenly serious.

  ‘Don’t make such jokes, Lily, or they might come true,’ Vera said.

  ‘We’ve seen the adverts for the WAAF and the WRENS before, remember, Vera?’ Elsie intervened. Vera nodded, for the pictures of the girls in uniform had made an impression on her then, when Elsie had suggested that she might like to consider signing up for the services as a way to leave home.

  ‘But I think this new one looks much nicer.’ Vera pointed to the poster headed Join the Land Army. ‘The girls certainly look a lot happier working in the countryside than those in the unforms who stand there having to salute.’ She wriggled her body. ‘Besides, their uniform looks itchy,’ she said and Elsie laughed.

  ‘I must admit the Land Army does sound healthy,’ Lily said. ‘Do come and see what it says here: “Join up for a healthy and happy job.” Right at this minute I reckon that would suit us both down to the ground, don’t you think?’

  Vera nodded and looked thoughtful.

  ‘All I know is I want to get out of here as much as you do,’ Lily said. ‘I can’t face people after the way Johnny treated me and I can’t imagine what will be said once the rumours start flying. I think I could do with a bit of something healthy and happy in my life right now, couldn’t you?’

  Vera looked abstracted as she continued to gaze at the posters. ‘That girl with the fork certainly looks much happier than I am,’ she said miserably.

  ‘Seriously, Elsie, don’t you think Vera and me could do a job like that?’

  Elsie shrugged. ‘No reason why not.’

  ‘Well, I think it’s perfect,’ Lily said. ‘It would be a chance to live in the country, to grow all our own vegetables and look after a few animals. It’s like a dream. The perfect chance to get away from the clacking tongues of Weatherfield and to get out of my mother’s hair, not to mention my father.’

  Vera giggled. ‘Wouldn’t my mother be sorry that she didn’t let Bob and me get married right away when we had the chance?’

  Elsie chuckled. ‘I can just picture them all in the Rovers,’ she said, ‘Ena and Martha explaining to Annie Walker as they wait for their milk stout, that you’ve left Coronation Street to live on a fa
rm!’ And she hooted with laughter. Vera, however, wasn’t quite so sure that it would actually be fun trying to sell the idea to her mother.

  ‘I think I might be better off going without saying anything beforehand,’ Vera said, her voice quavering slightly, and Elsie slipped her arm around Vera’s shoulders. ‘I think I’d be best leaving her a note.’

  ‘The more I think about it, the more I want to do it,’ Lily said, and she pointed to the picture of the girl with the pitchfork. ‘How about you, Vera?’

  Vera nodded but not quite so enthusiastically.

  ‘Why don’t you find out more about it, Lily,’ Elsie said. ‘There’s an address to contact so you can check it out.’

  Vera looked down at the uneven paving stones and shuffled her feet. ‘I suppose if Bob can have another job, then why can’t I? Growing vegetables sounds like a lot more fun than working in a factory.’

  Lily nodded. ‘It says there that the Land Army is helping to feed the nation,’ she said, her face creasing into a big broad smile. ‘Now that sounds all right, doesn’t it?’

  ‘And I like what she’s wearing,’ Vera said. ‘It’s much nicer than the other uniforms. Do you think you get it for free?’

  ‘Who knows?’ Elsie answered first. ‘My Arnold gets all his navy stuff free. Not that I get to see him in it all that often, thankfully.’

  ‘It would be fun to wear trousers like that,’ Vera said. ‘I get fed up with skirts sometimes but my mam would never let me wear trousers.’

  ‘I hope you’re not saying you’d join up just because of the uniform?’ Lily said with a giggle.

  ‘No, of course not,’ Vera said. Then she giggled too, ‘But I’d like to see everyone’s faces if we turned up dressed like that one day in Coronation Street.’

  ‘I can understand why you don’t want to tell your mother what you might be planning,’ Elsie said. ‘She’d be bound to find some way to stop you, if she knew beforehand; she’s proving to be good at that. But are you sure you really want to leave her a note?’

  Vera had accepted Elsie’s offer of a cup of tea as she knew Ena was still out at the Rovers and now she looked embarrassed. ‘I was hoping you would help me to write it, to put it into the right words so she can’t argue back. She’ll try and stop me whatever I do,’ she said, not looking at Elsie who was busy heating some water, ‘though you must cross your heart and promise not to tell.’

  ‘Of course I shan’t tell,’ Elsie said. ‘But it has to be in your hand, or she’d smell a rat right away.’

  ‘That’s all right,’ Vera said eagerly, ‘I’ll write it, so long as you help me with the words.’

  Elsie laughed. ‘I think we might need something stronger than tea, right now,’ she said. ‘How would you fancy a little tipple? I’ve a nice bottle of sherry I’ve not long since opened.’ And she got out two shot glasses and filled them with the pale-looking liquid. ‘Let’s drink to a bright, clear future working on the land.’ Elsie touched her glass to Vera’s and took a sip of the drink.

  Vera raised her glass, ‘Maybe this will help to put a bomb behind Bob to stand up to my mother. He needs to hurry up and save enough money so’s we can get married and I can get out of her house.’

  ‘I think it’s a wonderful idea, I must say, and it will be a good move for Lily too.’ Elsie finished what was in her glass and poured another one. ‘You know, I’ve been saying for a while that it was time you got out from that Mission. I only wish I could be there to see Ena’s face when she finds out what you’ve done.’

  ‘Oh no, you can’t do that.’ Vera looked horrified. ‘She can’t find out until long after we’ve gone,’ she said.

  ‘Oh, Vera love, you are precious,’ Elsie said, and she leaned over the table to top up Vera’s glass. ‘But you don’t have to worry about me. I promise not to tell a living soul until you are safely gone and away.’ She raised her glass and chinked it against Vera’s. ‘Meanwhile, let’s drink a toast to the Land Girls of Coronation Street.’

  Vera was disappointed by Bob’s first reaction when she told him what she had decided to do. If anything, he sounded irritated and she felt she had to justify her position. ‘As we can’t get married right away, I thought I’d at least be doing something useful,’ she said. ‘And it would mean I can get away from my mother.’

  ‘I understand that,’ Bob said. ‘I’ll also be glad not to have her breathing down my neck.’

  ‘And now you’ve got your fire watching it’s not as though we see much of each other. This way I’d have my own special work.’

  ‘I suppose it’s only a pity that you’ll be living away from home,’ he said, though he didn’t actually look sad.

  ‘But think of it, by the time I get back you should have saved up enough for us to get wed and then we’ll be together all the time.’ She smiled and felt hurt when he didn’t immediately smile back.

  ‘I’m sure we can make it work if that’s what you want to do.’ Bob’s face suddenly brightened. ‘It really does sound like a good idea.’

  ‘Will you miss me?’ Vera prompted.

  ‘Of course I will, but we can write.’

  Vera curled her lip. ‘I’m not much of a writer, I’m afraid,’ she said, ‘though I will try.’

  ‘Never mind. It won’t be for ever,’ Bob said, and Vera was suddenly anxious that he looked almost too eager that she should go.

  Part Two

  The Land Girls

  Chapter 12

  July 1943

  Vera had never been on a train before and she was glad Lily was with her when the screeching whistle blasted in her ears and the carriage suddenly shuddered into life. She gasped and stood up unsteadily, fearing that their bags might fall onto their heads from the overhead racks where they had managed to store them. ‘What was that?’ she gulped.

  ‘Do sit down, Vera,’ Lily said. ‘It only means the train’s ready to go. It’ll probably shift again in a minute.’ She might have been younger but she was certainly the more experienced traveller.

  Vera remained standing. She pressed her face to the window, though with the smoke and steam swirling about the platform it was not easy to see what was happening outside. ‘Are you sure everything’s all right? Why is it shaking like that?’ she asked fearfully.

  Lily shrugged. ‘I suppose it’s when the engine connects with all the carriages it has to pull to sort of make sure they’re all coupled together correctly. I don’t know for certain, I’ve only been on a train to Glossop before, not on a long-distance one like this.’

  ‘Like cranking the engine of a car, do you mean?’ Vera said and she tried to smile. She was still not reassured that the luggage hadn’t been dislodged, but she sat down, albeit nervously.

  ‘Isn’t this the most exciting thing ever?’ Lily said, not willing to respond directly to Vera’s jitters, though she reached across and squeezed Vera’s hand.

  ‘I’m glad our mams didn’t come to see us off,’ Vera said, ‘though mine certainly tried hard enough.’

  Lily laughed. ‘We all know how disastrous that would have been.’

  ‘She’d have wanted to stay on the train,’ Vera agreed.

  Vera had been hoping her mother wouldn’t find out that they had signed up to be land girls until long after she’d left Weatherfield, but she had reckoned without Ena periodically snooping in her cupboards and drawers. It had been a frightening moment when her mother raised her hand to flash the envelope she’d found in Vera’s face – and for a brief moment Vera thought Ena was going to strike her. Vera couldn’t deny that the envelope had ‘Mrs Sharples’ written on the front, so that Ena had every right to open it, and her face had been like thunder when she’d read the contents, written in very strong terms why her mother shouldn’t stop her going. It was a good job that the handwriting was Vera’s, which Ena recognized instantly, but she didn’t try to hold back her fury at the thought of what Vera and Lily had been plotting behind her back.

  ‘And why, might I ask, do you want to go runni
ng off to join this Land Army?’ Ena said, her voice almost a snarl. ‘You’re far safer at home with me.’

  ‘Oh, but …’ Vera began but Ena hadn’t finished. ‘And what about Bob?’ she said. ‘You’ll be leaving him behind. Does he know about this?’

  Vera was on the verge of tears. Why did her mother have to find the letter before they’d even had a chance to get away? She shrugged her shoulders. ‘I hardly ever get to see him, these days,’ she said miserably. ‘Anyways, he said he’ll write and it will give him time to save up for a ring.’

  ‘I don’t understand you wanting to go away when you’ve got a perfectly good job here,’ Ena started again. ‘But that won’t matter so long as you’ve not done anything daft like handing in your notice.’

  Now tears did begin to dribble down Vera’s cheeks as she confessed that was exactly what she had done. ‘I hate working in the factory and you know it!’ Vera suddenly stamped her foot and Ena stared at her in surprise. ‘Why wouldn’t I want to go away? With Bob standing on rooftops looking for fires every spare minute and you hovering over me all the time. If I grow vegetables I’ll be doing something really useful towards the war effort, won’t I? And I’ll be a lot safer down in the countryside.’

  ‘How am I expected to manage here on my own?’ Vera thought she detected a note of pleading in her mother’s voice as she said this. In fact, looking at her, she wondered if her mother’s eyes didn’t look a bit watery all of a sudden.

  ‘Eh, Mam, you’re not taking on, are you?’ Vera asked.

  ‘Don’t be so bloody daft!’ Ena’s mouth had set in a thin line again, and there was a flash of anger in her eyes now, not tears, so Vera thought it must have been her imagination. ‘There’s daughters out there who wouldn’t dream of abandoning their mothers like you are, though!’

  ‘But you’ve said yourself many a time that it’s selfish for people not to do their bit and didn’t Mr Churchill, the Prime Minister, ask everyone to do that?’