Across the Mersey - Annie Groves [159]
‘Well, none of us is privy to everything that’s known, of course,’ Seb answered, ‘but the Government has said that Hitler has cancelled “Operation Sealion”, which was the codename for his planned invasion of Britain.’
‘The German Navy is still a very real threat to our shipping, though, and we mustn’t forget that,’ Sam put in.
They all looked grave, knowing that only that week 12 ships in one convoy had been lost, and a U-boat torpedo had sunk the SS City of Benares, which had been on its way to Canada, killing 77 children and 248 crew.
‘How much longer can it go on for?’ Jean asked. ‘We’re having air raids every other night, and London’s taking a real pounding from the bombers; even Buckingham Palace has been hit.’
By the time the Mersey had been crossed, and they had all disembarked from the ferry, Grace had the satisfaction of knowing just from listening to her parents and her siblings talking to Seb and without there being any need to say so, that they liked him and were prepared to accept him into the family.
Not of course that she had imagined for one minute that they would not.
Even so, as Seb himself remarked later as he walked her back to the nurses’ home, he felt relieved that he had ‘passed muster’ and that they were now an official couple.
Grace sent up a small prayer for an early end to the war so that they could all get on with their lives in peace and safety.
TWENTY-FIVE
‘In less than a month it will be Christmas.’
Seb grinned and hugged Grace closer to him as they sat together on the tram. They’d spent the evening with Grace’s parents and now Seb was seeing Grace back to the nurses’ home before returning to his own billet.
‘Ernest Brown Junior Technical School, Durning Road,’ the conductor sang out as they approached a tram stop.
Ignoring him since it wasn’t their stop, Seb teased, ‘If that’s a hint about Father Christmas …?’ but then fell silent as the familiar sound of the air-raid siren began.
‘There’s a public shelter at the Technical School, just past the tram stop,’ the conductor yelled as the tram came to a halt, and dutifully everyone stood up and filed off.
Because they had politely held back to allow the older passengers to go first, Grace and Seb were amongst the last to reach the shelter, which was so packed with people that they only just managed to find a small patch of standing space right by the door. It was too late to look for somewhere else, though, as they could already hear the planes quite clearly approaching.
Those in charge were grumbling about the extra intake of people as the doors were closed.
In the distance they could hear bombs exploding.
‘We wouldn’t normally be out so late but we’d bin visiting the wife’s parents,’ a man standing next to them, his wife and two young children with him, explained to Grace and Seb.
Deeper into the shelter people had started to sing Christmas carols, and the children, one held tightly by each parent, immediately started to join in.
Some typical Liverpudlian wag started up singing ‘Silent Night’ and after a laughing cheer, others joined in. They had just reached the end of the first verse when there was the loudest explosion Grace had ever heard, followed by the thunderous sound of falling masonry and breaking glass, thick brick dust filling the air as the lights went out.
‘We’ve bin hit,’ someone announced unnecessarily.
In the darkness Seb reached for Grace, pulling her close. She could feel the heavy thud of his heart and she knew that her own was racing with fear. All around them people were crying and calling out to one another. There were other sounds too, moans and worse, familiar to Grace, who started to turn towards those sounds, driven by her training to want to go and give what aid she could, but it was impossible for anyone to move.
People were demanding that the doors were opened, but they wouldn’t move.
Torches were being