The Factory Girls of Lark Lane: A heartbreaking World War 2 historical novel of loss and love

by Howes, Pam

  She felt her eyes filling as the vicar said a prayer for all the children who were evacuated miles away from their families. And for the troops who were overseas fighting for their country. He prayed for the 365 people who had recently lost their lives during the recent direct hit air raids between the 20th and the 22nd in Birkenhead. He also prayed for peace and an end to the hostilities in the near future.

  As they came out of church, following more rousing carols, Alice spotted Alan’s mum and sister standing by the entrance porch. She hurried over to speak to them and asked if they’d heard from Alan recently. She was wondering if he might be stationed somewhere near Rodney and the post wasn’t getting through to them, rather than that he was just ignoring Millie. Audrey, Alan’s sister, greeted Alice with a big smile.

  ‘Congratulations on your marriage, Alice. Such a shame the boys are away, isn’t it? My Johnny is abroad now, but I’ve no idea where. I hate this war.’

  ‘Me too,’ Alice agreed.

  ‘We heard from Alan last week,’ Audrey said. ‘He seems fine, but I think they all put on a brave face for us.’

  ‘I’m sure you’re right.’ Alice turned as Mam came to stand beside her. If Alan could write to his family, he could surely find the time to write to Millie and let her down gently if he wasn’t interested. It wasn’t fair. Millie really loved him and she shouldn’t have to feel guilty at keeping in touch with Jimmy. At least the lad took the time to put pen to paper. If Millie brought up the subject again, Alice might say something along the lines of letting Alan go and just enjoying writing to Jimmy.

  Mrs Lomax brought through a tray of tea things into the cosy sitting room, where they’d all retired after eating mounds of roast dinner. A plate piled high with mince pies and Christmas cake, which was in fact the remains of Alice and Terry’s wedding cake, waited on the coffee table. Alice felt a lump in her throat as she thought of her lovely new husband who should be here with them, celebrating their first Christmas together as a married couple. She could feel tears welling and blinked rapidly.

  ‘I don’t think I could eat another morsel, I’m that stuffed,’ Mam said, relaxing back against the cushions on the sofa. ‘It was a lovely dinner, best I’ve had for a long time. That goose was perfect. I could manage a cuppa, mind.’

  ‘I’m glad you enjoyed it,’ Mrs Lomax said. ‘A friend of mine has a small farm and rears ducks and geese. I was lucky he reserved one for me as I believe the butcher on Lark Lane sold out of fowl very quickly this year. A lot of people who’d asked him to save them something had to settle for mince and sausages. Now then, I’ll put the wireless on for the King’s speech. We’ll listen to it and then open our presents, shall we?’

  Mrs Lomax nodded her head towards the small Christmas tree in the bay window under which she’d placed the parcels Alice had handed her, alongside some that were there already, waiting. She poured tea into three china cups and told them to help themselves to milk and sugar and proceeded to fiddle with the wireless set, which beeped and whistled until she’d set it to the correct station.

  ‘He’s speaking from Sandringham again today, I believe,’ she announced, sitting down next to Mam. ‘Are you okay, Edith? Please help yourself if you want a mince pie. We don’t stand on ceremony in this house.’

  In the armchair near the bay window, Alice yawned and stretched her arms above her head. She was struggling to keep her eyes open in the warm and cosy room. She smiled at Mam and Mrs Lomax, who were flat out as King George brought his lengthy speech to an end.

  Time and again during these last few months I have seen for myself the battered towns and cities of England, and I have seen the British people facing their ordeal. I can say to them that they may be justly proud of their race and nation. On every side I have seen a new and splendid spirit of good fellowship springing up in adversity, a real desire to share burdens and resources alike. Out of all this suffering there is a growing harmony which we must carry forward into the days to come when we have endured to the end and ours is the victory.

  Then, when Christmas Days are happy again, and good will has come back to the world, we must hold fast to the spirit which binds us together now. We shall need this spirit in each of our own lives as men and women, and shall need it even more among the nations of the world. We must go on thinking less about ourselves and more for one another, for so, and so only, can we hope to make the world a better place and life a worthier thing.

  And now I wish you all a happy Christmas and a happier New Year. We may look forward to it with sober confidence. We have surmounted a grave crisis. We do not underrate the dangers and difficulties which confront us still, but we take courage and comfort from the successes which our fighting men and their Allies have won at heavy odds by land and air and sea. The future will be hard, but our feet are planted on the path of victory, and with the help of God we shall make our way to justice and to peace.

  Alice got to her feet, feeling slightly uplifted by the monarch’s words, but a little uneasy all the same. She thought he might have finished with something along the lines of, ‘Don’t worry, soon your men-folk will be home safe and sound.’ After all, surely he and Churchill had regular meetings and knew better than anyone what was going on? But if they didn’t think it was going to be over soon, then all that talk from people about being back to normal in the next couple of months was just wishful thinking. She picked up the tray of tea things and took them into the back kitchen to wash. A fresh pot of tea was soon made and she carried everything back to the sitting room and gave Mam and Mrs Lomax a gentle shake each.

  Mam’s eyes flew open and she jumped. ‘Ooh, I was just shutting my eyes for a minute. Has he started yet?’

  ‘It’s finished, Mam. Here, have another cuppa and a piece of cake.’

  Mrs Lomax sat up, blinking. ‘Oh dear, I must have dozed off.’

  ‘You both did,’ Alice said, laughing. She related what she could recall of the King’s speech and they both nodded fondly.

  ‘He’s a lovely man,’ Mrs Lomax began. ‘I’m so glad he’s managed to get that stammer under control. And Elizabeth is such a nice little girl; a credit to both her parents. Mind you, young Margaret always seems a handful, but you always get one, don’t you? I mean, look at his brother and that flighty Wallis Simpson woman.’ She shook her head disapprovingly and sipped her tea. ‘Do you want to bring the presents over, Alice, love? Let’s see what we’ve got.’

  After unwrapping Mrs Lomax’s gifts to her – a red knitted beret, a matching scarf and a copy of Lark Rise by Flora Thompson – Alice picked up the last parcel and her heart leapt to see the label was signed by Terry, with love. She tore off the wrapping paper and opened the small black box. Inside, nestling on white satin, was a heart-shaped gold locket.

  ‘Open it up,’ Mrs Lomax encouraged.

  Alice did as she was told and gasped. Two small photographs of her and Terry sat in it, side by side. She turned the locket over. On the back their initials T and A were engraved, entwined together. Her eyes filled and she clasped the locket to her chest.

  ‘How did…?’ she sobbed, feeling completely overwhelmed and wanting nothing more than to be in Terry’s arms right now.

  ‘He brought it home with him the weekend you got married,’ Mrs Lomax explained. ‘He wrapped it ready and told me to give it to you on Christmas Day. That’s why I invited you to come to me. And I’m glad I did because I’ve really enjoyed having your company. It’s been a pleasure to cook for you both. It’s lovely having a little family again. And maybe next year we’ll all be together, us three, our boys and well, you never know,’ she said, smiling at Alice. ‘There might be a little one to put presents under the tree for some time in the future.’

  6

  February 1941

  As the last week of February approached and the war seemed no nearer ending than it ever had, Alice knew for certain that she was expecting a baby. She’d not seen sight nor sound of her monthlies since November, before her wedding day, and the ov
erwhelming feeling of queasiness wouldn’t go away. Plus there was her slightly expanding breasts and waistline to take into account. She’d already written to Terry two weeks ago when she first suspected something was going on, but had heard nothing back from him yet. From the minute Mrs Lomax had said on Christmas Day about a little one she’d felt almost jinxed. Both she and Terry had decided they would wait until the war ended and they were together in their own home before they’d start a family. The thought of being all alone with a new baby and bombs falling terrified her. Would the authorities make her go away? She knew that some pregnant mothers had been evacuated to Blackpool and were staying there until the war ended. But she couldn’t leave her mam all alone. She’d never cope, so going away wasn’t an option.

  There would be no money coming in once she stopped working, except for Mam’s small wages from the newsagent’s. Alice didn’t know how they would manage. Rodney would have to send a bit extra and Terry would too. He’d sent a few pounds with his last letter in January for her to put in the post office savings account towards their home. Now she’d need to draw it out again to buy baby things. It couldn’t be worse timing, and after Terry had assured her he’d taken care. It must have happened the time in the shower when they’d been rushing to get ready, she thought as she hurried downstairs to answer the door to Millie.

  ‘Oh, you look rough,’ Millie said. ‘You’re so pale. Still feeling sickly?’

  ‘Yes, but I haven’t actually been sick. It’s just this queasiness that lasts all day.’

  ‘It’ll perhaps ease off soon.’ Apart from Alice’s mam, there was only Millie party to her secret. No one at work had been told yet. She wanted to wait until after she’d heard from Terry in case her letter had gone astray. It wouldn’t do for half of Liverpool to know before he did. But it was getting harder to stay smiling and not feel like curling up in bed all day.

  ‘Are we ready then?’ Millie said as Alice picked up her bag from the hall floor.

  ‘As I’ll ever be. Mam’s already left for the newsagent’s. She’s on first shift today.’

  Alice struggled to hold on to her breakfast as the bus trundled along the roads towards Speke. They got off the bus, waving goodbye to the driver, who wasn’t their usual man so there’d been no sing-song this morning, for which Alice was thankful as her head was banging too. She’d hardly slept, lying awake worrying what was going to happen to them all and crying into her pillow for Terry. She felt a wreck and knew she looked it too.

  ‘’Ere, are you all right, gel?’ Marlene said, puffing as she hurried to catch up with Alice and Millie. ‘You don’t ’alf look wiped out, don’t she, Millie?’

  ‘I’m just tired,’ Alice said. ‘Not sleeping too well, listening out for air raids all the time, it’s enough to keep anyone awake.’

  ‘Ooh, not me, gel. I can sleep through anything.’ Marlene bustled off, calling out to a young woman who was just going into the building. ‘Florrie, ’ang on a minute.’

  ‘Thank God for that,’ Alice said as Millie linked arms with her. ‘She’ll guess soon enough, but not yet, I hope. I need to know that Terry knows first.’

  ‘Of course you do,’ Millie agreed. ‘It’s only right and proper. There might be something from him today when you get home.’

  Alice took her place at the bench and concentrated on the job, her mind still working overtime. She looked around at her co-workers, heads bent in concentration as they popped rivets into the aircraft frames, and wondered what secrets they all held close. She looked across at the clock and felt it swimming in and out of focus. Next thing she knew, Millie was shaking her shoulders and then she was whisked from the floor where she had fallen and carried across the room in Big Freddie’s strong arms with Millie on his heels.

  He took her into a storeroom that doubled as a first aid room and laid her down on a small camp bed in the corner.

  ‘Millie, get her some water, chuck,’ he ordered. He patted Alice’s cheeks as she came round a little. ‘Did you bang your head as you fell?’

  ‘I don’t think so,’ Alice mumbled. ‘I seemed to just crumple, everything went blurry. I feel a bit sickly and dazed.’

  She shuffled up the camp bed slightly as Millie came back in the room and closed the door. She handed Alice a glass of water and stood back with a worried expression.

  Alice looked at Freddie’s concerned face and smiled weakly. She took a sip of water as the buzzer rang for break time.

  ‘I came out without any breakfast,’ she fibbed, feeling her cheeks heating. ‘I’ll be fine when I’ve had my tea and toast.’

  He was looking at her with a questioning expression. ‘I’m not daft, Alice. My missus has had five of the little blighters, so I recognise a woman in the family way. But I’ll keep my trap shut. I know you will tell us when you want to.’

  ‘She’s just waiting to hear back from Terry before she lets that lot out there know,’ Millie explained. ‘You know what Marlene’s like.’

  ‘I do.’ Freddie nodded. ‘You need to see a doctor soon to make sure it’s all right for you to stay working here in your condition. There’s a lot of dangerous stuff lying around in this factory. Not the best place for an expectant mother.’

  Alice sighed and took another sip of water. ‘I will. I won’t be due for a good while. I’m not even three full months yet. It’s a wedding-weekend baby and that was December seventh. I’ll be twelve weeks at the weekend. Surely I’ll be okay once this nauseous feeling goes away?’

  ‘Tell you what,’ Freddie said. ‘Take it easy for the rest of today. I’ll keep my eye on you, make sure you’re okay. Go and get your toast and tea now and then take tomorrow off and get yourself to the doctor’s. Just have him check you over. Tell him you work here, and see what he says.’

  Millie helped Alice to her feet. ‘Thank you, Freddie,’ Alice said.

  ‘You’re welcome. Take an extra ten minutes when the others come back upstairs, seeing as you’ve missed half your break. You too, Millie. Go on now, before I change my mind.’

  First thing next morning, Alice smiled at Doctor Marshall as he greeted her and told her to take a seat. She sat down opposite him, placed her hands around her handbag and cleared her throat as he asked what he could do for her.

  ‘I, er, I need to update my details, change my name,’ Alice began. ‘I’m a married lady now. My new name is Lomax.’

  Doctor Marshall, who had been the family doctor all her life, smiled and nodded as he noted down Alice’s name change.

  ‘And your address? Is that still the same?’

  ‘Oh, yes it is. Well, until my soldier husband comes home for good and we find a little place of our own. I’m staying at my mam’s for now. Our Rodney and Brian are both away and she needs me.’

  ‘Of course. I hope she’s keeping well and busy. Best thing for her. Now is there anything else I can help you with, Alice?’

  ‘Well, er, yes. I think I’m expecting a baby,’ Alice blurted out and blushed as she told him her symptoms and the date she got married.

  ‘Okay. Well, hop up onto the couch and I’ll have a feel of your tummy, see what’s going on in there.’

  Alice slipped her shoes off and did as she was told. Doctor Marshall’s hands were cold as he lifted her dress and touched her bare flesh. She flinched as he palpated her stomach.

  ‘Sorry about the cold hands,’ he said, helping her down from the couch, ‘but I don’t think there’s any doubt. We’ll get a urine sample test done to confirm.’ He handed her a small labelled bottle and filled in a form with her details, to take to the nearest chemist. ‘I’ll have the results back early next week, if you want to pop back then, and I’ll arrange for you to book in with one of our midwives. They will look after you for the next few months and then we’ll arrange for you to have your baby as locally as we can. Unless of course you prefer to be delivered at home?’

  Alice shook her head. ‘I’d like the hospital if possible. It would be less for my mam to worry about.’


  ‘Well that’s fine. And congratulations, by the way. Where are you working at the moment, Alice?’

  ‘Rootes Munitions,’ she replied. ‘I was told to ask if that’s still okay. I’m on riveting duties on the aircraft wing frames.’

  Doctor Marshall nodded. ‘You’re okay to continue as long as you are not near cordite or other explosives and the work doesn’t involve any heavy lifting. You’ll need to finish around the end of July. Give yourself some time to have a rest before the birth. The midwives will speak to you about all that nearer the delivery date.’

  Alice got to her feet and thanked him. She made her way home and dashed upstairs to the bathroom. Her sample completed, she hurried up to the chemist’s on Lark Lane and handed the bottle and form to the white-coated assistant. She popped her head into the newsagent’s and spoke to her mam, telling her what Doctor Marshall had said.

  ‘I’m going home for a cuppa now and then I might pop round to see Mrs Lomax. Shall I get us something nice for tea?’

  Mam smiled. ‘You’ll be lucky, but you can try, chuck. Don’t forget to take the ration books with you. They’re in the top drawer in the kitchen. See if you can get a bit of meat and we’ll make a pan of scouse. There’s some veg wants using up, and we need a loaf as well. Don’t go mad.’ She laughed at her own joke.

  ‘Chance would be a fine thing,’ Alice said. ‘See you later then.’

  Alice strolled back up Lark Lane. The day was chilly but bright. It was lovely to have a bit of time off and just go at a slower pace. She let her thoughts turn to pushing her new baby around nearby Sefton Park in the summertime in a shiny new pram, Terry strolling proudly by her side. She blinked away tears as she spotted the postman on his bike turning into Lucerne Street, and quickened her pace. As she turned the corner she could see him pushing something through the letterbox. A joyous feeling rushed through her veins. Praying it was a letter from Terry, she ran down the street and let herself in. Sure enough, on the doormat were two blue envelopes with forces postmarks; one from her brother Rodney, addressed to her mam, and the other from her darling Terry.