by Mary Arden
I went behind the curtain, got up on the couch and then called the doctor.
‘This won’t hurt, I promise,’ she said kindly, ‘now please open your legs.’ I did as she asked and opened my legs, but when I felt her hands push my legs open wider and realised that she was putting her fingers near my private parts, I snapped them shut, before she had time to do what I thought she was about to do, and held her arm in a vice-like grip. She just smiled and asked me if I had still been a virgin when I had got married.
‘Of course,’ I replied somewhat indignantly.
‘I thought so,’ she said. ‘Now, just relax, dear, I have to do this, but I will be as gentle as I can.’
I tried to relax as she examined my lower regions, and think about something else, and fortunately it was all over quite quickly and then she told me to get up and get dressed.
‘Now, Leading Wren, how long has it been since you had your last period?’ she asked, with a pen poised ready to write down my answers. I told her that I had been so busy since I had been in Ireland that I hadn’t even thought to check.
‘Do you remember the date of your last period, before your wedding?’ she then wanted to know, so I told her that that was an easy date to remember, as I had been thankful it was over before the big day. She then asked if I had experienced any giddy attacks or felt sick recently.
‘Oh yes, actually both! But I expect it’s probably the yummy food here and the long hours I have been doing at work, sitting in a dark room every day,’ I explained.
‘Have you noticed your body changing shape recently?’ she said looking at me intently.
‘Yes, I have worse luck! My waistline is no longer eighteen inches, it’s more like twenty-four now,’ I giggled, ‘so I’ve put myself on a very strict diet,’ I assured her.
‘Did you use birth control methods on your honeymoon?’
I blushed scarlet, and the doctor must have realised that I was embarrassed as she said kindly, ‘This is important dear. I’m not being inquisitive, I need to know.’
‘Yes, we did,’ I replied, blushing again, ‘well except for once – when I caught my first salmon!’
She looked at me in disbelief. ‘Salmon? I’m sorry you will have to explain that one to me!’ So I told her all about our day fishing for salmon, and how it had ended up as a spontaneous lovemaking session. I could see that she was trying to suppress a smile, but when I then told her that I had sat in the freezing cold river after we’d ‘well, you know what’, as my husband had thought that would do the trick, she could contain herself no longer and laughed out loud.
‘Well, Leading Wren, I’m afraid it didn’t do the trick,’ she said grinning from ear to ear. ‘I am delighted to inform you that you are three months pregnant!’
I felt icy cold and then everything went blank. The next thing I remember was seeing several strange faces looking down at me, and a voice saying, ‘It’s the shock.’ Another voice told me to sniff, so I did. It must have been a bottle of smelling salts, as it felt as if my nose was being burnt off, so I pushed whatever it was away.
Remembering what the doctor had just told me, as she helped me to my feet, I whimpered, ‘I can’t be pregnant now. It’s war time and I’m too busy working, and anyway, we were going to wait until after the war to have babies.’
‘I’m sorry, dear, but I’m afraid it’s too late now, you’ll have to go back to being a civilian as the Wrens don’t keep pregnant girls on their lists,’ she said, ‘but there isn’t time to discharge you from the Wrens until after the New Year is over, so just have a happy break and don’t lift anything heavy.’
I quickly left the Wrens Sick Bay, went straight to my hut and then, thinking that Duncan would be cross with me, cried my eyes out.
That evening, I rang home to tell my parents that I was pregnant.
‘That’s wonderful news, darling!’ my mother said. When I told her that this ‘wonderful news’ would mean that I would no longer be allowed to be a Wren, she calmly said, ‘You’ve done your bit for the war, Mary, and I think the Royal Navy can most probably survive without you now, so when you are ready to come home, do so and we’ll be waiting for you.’
I then heard my father, who must have been standing right next to her, say, ‘Well for starters, my dear, we’d better let Duncan know!’ He then told me that he still had friends in the Admiralty, so he would see to it that Duncan was contacted without breeching security, as it would take far too long for him to get the good news by post.
I was just about to ask him not to contact Duncan’s family until Duncan had been informed, when my father suddenly burst out laughing.
‘What’s so funny?’ I asked.
Still chuckling, he replied, ‘I’ve just realised that your mother will be a Grandmother. She’s not going to like being called a Granny at all!’
I then heard my mother laugh, and say, ‘Don’t you worry about me, Grandpa, you silly old fool!’
I was relieved that my parents were so happy for me, but didn’t think that Daddy-T would be quite as pleased when he heard my news, as it would mean that he would now have to train another NV Tester to take my place. I carefully composed a letter to him later that evening, apologising for the inconvenience, and assuring him that we hadn’t planned on getting pregnant until after the war. I hardly slept at all that night, as I felt that I had let him down badly and just prayed that Joanna would feel ready to resume her duties as soon as possible.
The New Year’s Eve party was not much fun for me, as I was now not drinking or smoking and didn’t really feel like doing much at all. However, it did give me the opportunity to say goodbye to the friends that I had made during my posting in Ireland.
Two days later, Daddy-T rang me to say that he wasn’t in the least bit cross. ‘Your condition isn’t completely uncommon or unexpected after a honeymoon you know!’ he chuckled. He then said that he’d been in touch with Joanna, who had told him that she felt ready to come back, and would replace me in a week’s time. He then said that he was being posted to the Far East. This news came as a complete shock and the thought of not seeing dear Daddy-T again made me feel very sad.
Two days later a dense fog covered the base, and by lunchtime all flying had been cancelled, so I decided to write a letter to Joanna. Just as I finished writing it, I suddenly sensed that there was someone else in the room with me and wondered for a split second if it was Fergal Kelly checking up on me, but when I looked up I nearly died of fright. Standing right in front of me was Duncan’s ghost!
‘Happy New Year, my darling girl!’ the ghost said, smiling at me.
I didn’t know whether to laugh, cry or scold him for frightening me out of my wits, so I just ran up to Duncan and put my arms around him.
‘I’m sorry, but I can’t stay for long, my darling. The damn fog was so thick that I couldn’t see the runway and I seem to have landed on one of the perimeter walls,’ Duncan said casually before adding, ‘so I’d better retrieve my plane before I get in trouble.’ He then said how thrilled he was that ‘we’ were pregnant, and told me to meet him outside the Wrens’ NAAFI at eight o’clock that evening to have a proper reunion. Then he was gone.
I was so overcome with relief that Duncan was alive and here with me, that I kept bursting into tears every few minutes for the next hour. When we met up again that evening, he told me that as soon as he had heard that he was going to be a father, he had become so excited that he’d flown his plane straight here from the Isle of Man, where his squadron was now based. Obviously, he shouldn’t have come here without permission, so he would most probably get into trouble, especially as he had damaged his plane, which he added, was still parked on the wall!
I was horrified, but Duncan just smiled and told me that it would all work out fine, as the Station Commander was a ‘very understanding man’ and had told him that he would see to his plane first thing in the morning, so that he could get back to the Isle of Man before he was missed.
‘Don’t worry, darl
ing,’ he said laughing, ‘I’ll do my best not to get chucked out of the Navy!’ We spent another hour together before I kissed him goodbye, wondering when I would get to see him again.
It wasn’t until the next day that I realised we hadn’t talked about what he’d been doing since I had last seen him. Perhaps he didn’t want to talk about it, or was worried that it would upset me, especially in my current condition. He’ll tell me if and when he wants to, I thought before heading back to my billet.
A week later, Joanna came back to work and told me how grateful she was that I had filled in for her while she had been away. I liked her so much, that I was sorry that we hadn’t had the chance to work together, as I think we would have got on famously.
After handing over my duties to Joanna, I went to see the First Officer who told me that it was time for me to go home and that I would be contacted by the Admiralty about my discharge from the Wrens in due course.
After saying my final goodbyes to everyone in Ireland, I then made the long trip back to Woking, where I spent a whole week with my parents being thoroughly spoilt, and when it was time to go to London to be officially dismissed, my father came with me.
When we got back to Woking that night, I looked at myself in the bathroom mirror and said, ‘Goodbye Leading Wren Ogilvie, Hello Mrs Ogilvie!’
CHAPTER 18
1945
The first thing I thought of, as I got off the ferry in Douglas, was that the Isle of Man was much colder than it had been in Ireland, so after Duncan had collected me and we were driving to Ramsey, which was the nearest town to RAF Andreas, where he was now training to be a Commander Flying, I asked him if he had found us somewhere warm to live, but all he said was, ‘Let’s just say that it’s – err – a bit different!’
‘I don’t like the sound of that!’ I said, rubbing my hands to keep warm.
‘Don’t worry darling,’ he grinned, ‘I promise it’s not an internment camp, and I think you will approve of our new home once you have seen it!’
My father had told me about the internment camps before I left home. Apparently there were a number of them on the island, where refugees from the Nazis plus a number of Italians, Finns and even some Japanese would be interned until the war was over.
‘Oh, and I’ve bought myself a second-hand bike to get to and from the airfield, so we can go for bike rides together and explore the countryside,’ Duncan said, changing the subject.
‘Do pregnant women ride bicycles?’ I asked.
‘Of course!’ he replied laughing ‘until they are too big to see over their tummy anyway!’
‘It may be funny to you,’ I told him indignantly, ‘but I don’t want everyone staring at my huge belly.’
‘Don’t worry, darling, there aren’t that many people around where we will be living,’ he grinned, ‘so you’ll only have to worry about the sheep staring at you!’
My husband then told me that my bicycle, cases and a big crate with a few of our wedding presents, had all arrived safely, and that our Landlords, Doctor and Mrs Treconner, had kindly stored them all in their ‘spare’ garage. I thought that our new home must be a big house if it had more than one garage and started to imagine living in a lovely Georgian house—but I couldn’t have been more wrong!
When Duncan turned off the main road into a driveway lined with fir trees, suddenly all hell broke loose as dozens of crows took off at the same time and flew around us in circles, flapping and squawking and making a terrible din. I was so distracted by them that I didn’t see the house until Duncan had stopped the car directly in front of it. It certainly was a bit different.
The big old house had a tower, pointed gables, and ivy growing all over the outside of it, and looked like the kind of house that Walt Disney might have drawn for a wicked witch to live in.
As Duncan helped me out of the car, he pointed to the tower and said, ‘this is going to be our new home for the next few months or so. What do you think, darling?’
‘I love it!’ I said happily and then began to giggle as I imagined a maiden in distress being locked up in the tower who was then rescued by a knight in shining armour. A knight with lovely auburn hair like Duncan’s!
Dr and Mrs Treconner, the owners of this extraordinary dwelling, welcomed us both with a smile and a handshake. They were friendly, but also made it abundantly clear that the main house was ‘their’ area and the wing was ‘ours’. However, if we needed anything, we were to leave a note through their front door.
Mrs Treconner explained that, to get to our flat in the tower, we would have to open our front door, and then close it again, before trying to go up the stairs, because the door was so close to the staircase that there wasn’t enough room in the tiny entrance hall for us to be able to move unless the door was closed.
After following these instructions and making our way upstairs, I finally got to see our flat. Duncan took me into the tiny sitting room first. There were no armchairs or sofas, but it had two loom basket chairs and a few rather dreary mud-coloured cushions. There was also a pretty fireplace with a modern gas fire in the grate, which was operated by a meter that you had to feed with shillings. I’ll have to buy some new cushions, I thought as Duncan showed me the bedroom, which was quite spacious and had a big double bed. The kitchen was the size of a scullery with a sink, gas cooker, and a big cupboard across one wall. I then peered under the sink, hoping to find a rubbish bucket and perhaps an enamel bowl to do the washing up, but it was empty. The bathroom had a washbasin and a lavatory, but no bath.
‘Don’t worry, darling,’ Duncan grinned, ‘we are allowed to go into the main house on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays for a bath between five and seven in the evenings. It just means taking our towels and a sponge bag. Think of how many shillings that will save!’ he teased, ‘By the way, darling, Mrs Treconner warned me not to use the gas fire in the sitting room at the same time as the gas oven, as they won’t work at the same time; and not to put on the light on the stairs when boiling the electric kettle, as the lights will fuse!’
Duncan advised me always to have a torch handy upstairs and downstairs, so that I could find my way to the fuse box when he wasn’t around, and then I would be able to fix a blown fuse on my own. He also suggested that I buy some candles, just in case all the lights fused at once.
As soon as I had unpacked, I wrote a shopping list and decided that I would try to buy everything the next day when I went to Ramsey on my bike.
Later that evening, after I had made some scrambled eggs for our supper, Duncan turned on the gas fire and we relaxed in our own little sitting room. ‘Oh, by the way darling, I’ve made an appointment for you to see the doctor in Ramsey tomorrow, as you’ll need monthly check-ups to make sure ‘he’s’ alright.’
‘What makes you so sure that it’ll be a ‘he’?’ I asked.
‘I’m just teasing,’ he chuckled, ‘I don’t mind either way, as long as our baby is healthy.’
Duncan paused for a few moments and then asked quietly, ‘Would you ask the doctor if it’s still safe for us to make love and when we will we have to stop, as I don’t want to hurt you, or our baby?’
When we got into bed that night, Duncan pulled up my nightdress to say goodnight to the ‘bump’, as he was now calling our unborn baby. ‘We’ll wait until you’ve seen the doc,’ he whispered and then held me close to him. I was so happy to be with Duncan again that I was moved to tears.
The next morning as Duncan was leaving to go to work at RAF Andreas, he said, ‘Oh by the way, your bicycle is in the shed behind the tower. Good luck with the shopping.’ I looked out of the tower window as he cycled down the drive, and laughed when he shook his fist at the noisy crows.
After I had made the bed, I washed up and began to unpack the crate of wedding-present gifts: putting the china, toaster and kettle in suitable places in the kitchen and then arranging the china ornaments in the living room to my satisfaction. I then added to the shopping list all the other things I thought we woul
d need to make our new home perfect: the list grew and grew.
It was almost eleven o’clock by the time I left for Ramsey. As I wobbled down the long driveway on my bicycle, the crows screeched at me, so I screeched back.
When I got to Ramsey, I asked a friendly-looking woman if she could tell me where to find the ironmonger and, as she pointed the way, she commented, ‘You are the new officer’s wife at the Rookery, aren’t you?’ so I introduced myself. It doesn’t take long for the gossip to travel on this island, I thought.
After buying everything I needed at the ironmongers, I then realised that it wouldn’t all fit into my bicycle basket, so I was relieved when the ironmonger offered to deliver everything the following day.
‘To the tower, not the main house,’ I explained.
‘Yes, Madam, we know!’ the ironmonger said with a grin.
I asked him if he knew of anywhere I could buy some new cushions.
‘As you are only here for a short time, Madam, I’d recommend buying some second-hand ones at Mr Bright’s Wartime Exchange Rooms,’ he suggested.
I then went to the Grocer’s and he laughed when I asked for half a pound of pepper, ‘Are you sure Madam? I don’t think you will need quite that much; we usually sell it by the ounce!’ I confessed that I was new to being a housewife and wasn’t sure of the right amounts to order.
‘Yes, the Commander told us you’d been in the Wrens before you were married and were used to buying things by the dozen. Don’t worry I’ll help you,’ he said kindly.
Mr Bright’s Wartime Exchange Rooms were like Aladdin’s cave. It had everything a housewife could possibly need, or no longer needed.
As soon as I walked in I found some brightly coloured second-hand cushions that were still in good condition, which I thought would replace the dreary ones perfectly and two rag-rugs for the floor beside our bed. Before I left the shop I spotted a milk jug, some cereal bowls, some wooden spoons and a box of kitchen utensils. I tied the cushions and rugs with cord onto the grid on the back of my bike, as my basket was already full with a big bunch of flowers, and then balanced two carrier bags on the handle bars before cycling to the doctor’s house for the appointment Duncan had made for me.