Would she still be in Polperro or were we just going on a wild goose chase?


We Shall Fight On The Beaches...

Chapter 5

By Susan Brown

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Previously...

As the train gathered speed, we all looked at each other and then Glad started laughing, followed by the rest of us. It wasn’t a natural laugh as it seemed to me almost hysterical. Maybe we needed that release and it was either that or crying our eyes out.

We had escaped discovery this time. I wondered how long our luck would hold and whether we would be able to find my Nan.

And now the story continues…

The train gathered speed and soon we were rattling along at a fast pace. I felt my eyes droop a bit and before I knew it, I was asleep. You might be surprised that I could actually sleep after all that had happened, but it was a fact that we had been living on the edge for such a long time and something had to give.

After a while, I awoke. The others, I could see dimly, were all asleep. Looking out through gap in the wall of the wagon, I could see country going by and then some buildings, but I hadn't a clue as to where we were or where we were going to actually end up.

I tried to remember my Nan, I hadn't seen much of her and what I had seen of her just left the impression that she was nice, kind but a little distant maybe. I was only a kid when I saw her last – that made me laugh, I was still a kid, but all that had happened made me feel less like one than I should have been. Mum had kept in touch with her by letter but that was about as close as we had been in contact with her for a number of years.

Would she still be in Polperro or were we just going on a wild goose chase?

Ethel woke up then and looked at me.

‘Where are we?’ she asked, yawning and stretching.

‘England?’ I replied.

‘Ha,ha,’ she replied.

‘I think that its mid afternoon now. Glad had a watch but it got broken, so I haven’t a clue what the time is.’

We were holding the conversation with our heads close together. The noise of the wheels over the tracks made it impossible to have a normal talk. The others, from what I could see through the gloom, were still asleep. Helen, bless her, had a thumb in her mouth and she looked about six years old. It must have been very hard for her and I thought that it was wonderful the way she was coping.

Just then, the rattling of the wheels grew louder as we went over a series of points.

Looking out through the gap, I saw us pass through a station and I managed to see the name.

‘Exeter, we are getting closer to Cornwall.’

‘We’ve been very lucky to get this far,’ said Ethel, ‘just imagine how long it would have taken by foot!’

‘Months probably!’

The train carried on and stopped a few times for some reason. By this time, we were all awake, but still worn out from our experiences and the less than comfortable journey.

I wasn’t complaining though, as I knew that the further we went on the train, the nearer we would we be to our destination.

Helen put a spanner in the works when she piped up, ‘there are lots of branches on this line, we could go anywhere.’

I had already told them that my Nan lived in a small fishing village on the coast called Polperro. I only remembered it vaguely but recalled that it was very pretty.

‘As long as we stay on the main line to Penzance, we should be okay,’ said Helen, ‘but we can’t just stop the train, we have to get as near as possible to, I think, Liskeard and the get off. Otherwise we could just go all the way to Penzance, which is miles away from where we want to go.’

‘Well,’ said Alison, ‘I’m getting fed up with all this. I think that we should have stayed in London.’

‘You never said anything about that before,’ said Claire, crossly.

‘We don’t know where we are going to end up, that’s the trouble. The train isn’t going to stop just where we want it to. It’ll probably go off in a different direction and we will end up in Scotland or something.’

‘This line doesn’t go up to Scotland,’ said Helen.

‘That’s what you say,’ said Alison dismissively.

‘Enough,’ said Ethel, ‘arguing will not help. Alison, you agreed to come and it’s no good you coming out with silly talk like that. We all agreed that we would come down here and I for one am pleased that we are out of London. I think we should all pull together and not argue.’

Alison looked at us all and could see the agreement on our faces. She then turned away and for some reason burst into tears.

Glad went over to her and hugged her and then looked over to us and mouthed something like ‘rag,’ for some reason. I thought that that was a funny thing to say and I turned to Ethel and she looked at me knowingly.

‘Rag?’ I said.

‘It’s her time of the month.’

‘For what?’

‘Her period.’

‘What’s that?’

She looked at me pityingly and then started whispering in my ear...

There was an awful lot that I didn’t know about being a girl, some of it, not very nice!

Yet again, I was nearly dropping off to sleep and had totally lost any idea what time it might be or where we actually were, when the train braked suddenly with a squeal and I heard a noise over and above the sound of the train going over the tracks.

There were several explosions and the wagon that we were in, rocked from side to side and then, shuddering to a halt it sort of started leaning to the side!

We were close to panic and any sleepiness we had, instantly evaporated. There were more explosions and gunfire. We knew that we were a-goner if we stayed where we were. That wasn’t an option anyway as part of the side of the wagon fell away, leaving us looking at the ground. It was a miracle that none of us had fallen out. The boxes and crates were tumbled about all over the place and we had to extract Glad and Ethel from under a couple of them.

‘Quick,’ said Claire, ‘let’s get out of here!’

Easier said than done; there appeared to be lots of German soldiers about, running up and down the track and making plenty of noise. It seemed like they were mostly going to the front of the train though and we took our chances when there didn't seem to be anyone near us or looking our way.

Plumes of smoke came from the front of the train and we could see what looked like a huge crater where the tracks had been torn up with the explosion and the front wheels of the train hung precariously over the edge. The soldiers were all now at the front as far as we could see and we took our opportunity to escape down the bank and into the bushes by the side of the track.

Luck was with us for once and we were not seen. As quickly as possible, we left the scene and gradually the noise lessened. We had no idea why the soldiers were firing off their guns because, as far as we could see, there wasn't anyone around that they could fire at. We scrambled around the hill and then carefully made our way to the top and, keeping low and being careful not to be seen, we looked down on the carnage.

From our high vantage point, we could see better the mess that was at the front of the train. It had been a good job that the train had been going so slowly, as if it had been any faster, the damage to the train and U.S. Would have been much greater. As it was, the front of the engine was half in the crater and several wagons had completely overturned.

The wagon that we had been in was near the rear of the train and had a small amount of damage compared to ones nearer the front.

Lots of soldiers were milling about and obviously looking for whoever caused the damage. This meant that we were in the wrong place and had to get out of there fast.

‘Come on,’ said Claire, ‘let's get out of here!’

We didn't waste any more time and carrying our bags and cases, we went off down the bank away from where all the activity was.

Before us there stretched some fields and hedges; we had no idea where we were, but it was more important that we get away from the track as soon as possible, before we were caught.

We found a gap in a hedge and made our way through it. On the other side, was a lane and after a few moments of indecision as to which way we should go, we took pot-luck and went right, listening out for any noises that might indicate that we were not alone!

We must have looked a strange bunch walking along the lane with our bags and cases. We didn’t say much, each caught up with our own thoughts. I was wondering what had caused the explosion that ripped up the track and caused the train to derail. Was it members of the local resistance? That seemed like the most likely explanation.

We came to a sharp bend in the lane and we slowed to a stop whilst Alison went up ahead and peaked around the corner. After a moment she motioned us forward. I could see that we reached a crossroads. There was also a sign, which was helpful, but strange, because most signs had been taken down early in the war to confuse enemy spies. Anyway, the sign pointed to Menheniot in one direction (2 miles) and Looe (12 miles) in the other. I just that the sign hadn’t been tampered with.

‘Hang on,’ I said excitedly, ‘I think Looe is near Polperro, Mum mentioned it when we visited when Nan first went to live down here.’

‘Well, said Alison, ‘what are we hanging around here for, let’s get going!’

‘Alison is still feeling a bit off,’ I thought as we went down the lane towards Looe.

After walking for some time, we heard the sound of engines in the distance, coming towards us. We scrambled across the road, jumped over a gate and hid in a field behind a wall.

None too soon as just as we hid, several lorries went past us at speed heading the way we had come! I assumed that it was in response to the train crash and I was more than pleased that we had got away when we did.

We had to assume that any motorised traffic would be the enemies and we couldn’t take any chances.

By now, the sun was setting lower in the sky and we wondered, as we continued our journey, if we shouldn’t hide up somewhere for the night.

I wasn’t sure how far we were from Looe or how easy it would be to get from there to Polperro. We had a map before, but somehow it had been left on the wagon when we made our panicked escape.

Moments later we could hear the sound of engines again, but not cars or lorries but aero engines. Looking up at the darkening sky, we could see several large aircraft. Like most kids we could spot planes quite easily, even German ones, these were Junkers Ju52’s, transport planes, used extensively by the enemy. Judging by where the sun was, setting in the west, they were heading towards the east and London. Then we heard the sounds of more engines but not like normal ones, these had a much higher pitch and looking up, we could see several planes screech across the sky, they had a funny shape and I couldn’t see any props...

I later found out that it was one of those jets that Germany had been rumoured to have started producing...

I wondered if the planes were on a return leg after dropping off troops and or supplies to the West Country. I had hoped, due to the remoteness of Cornwall, that the war had not touched that part of the world, but after seeing the bomb crater and damaged train, the lorries going along the lane and now the planes up above, it appeared that the enemy was everywhere.

We carried on walking and soon the sun went down below the horizon and it was fast approaching dusk. Helen started limping.

‘What’s wrong? asked Ethel.

‘My feet hurt, theses shoes are pinching me. I don’t think that they fit very well.’

Helen had small feet and we had difficulty in finding ones that fit her, so it didn’t surprise me that she was in pain, what did surprise me was that she hadn’t complained before.

‘We should try to find somewhere to stop over for the night,’ said Alison.

I think that we all agreed as there was no arguing that one!

We had passed a few cottages and a large house on our travels. They had all appeared to be empty or had no signs of life anyway, but we had been wary of looking very closely, just in case they were inhabited by unfriendly residents or even more unfriendly Nazis.

About three hundred yards further on, we passed a track that looked like tractors and other vehicles had used occasionally. We took a chance and walked down the track. We nearly gave up and turned around, as it looked like the track led nowhere and the sides looked overgrown, but we went round a bend and there it was, a rose covered thatched cottage!

Claire and Glad went on ahead and had a look-see. In a minute, they came back to report that when they looked through the windows, the place seemed empty and looked like it had been that way for some time. They tried the door to the kitchen and it had been unlocked and when they went inside, they could see that the occupants appeared to have left in a hurry, not even bothering to clear some food from the table or wash the dishes.

It was starting to get really dark, so we decided to stay for the night and leave just after dawn the next day. Being out of the way and off the road, we hoped that we would be safe. It was only to be for one night and we were, by now, desperately tired.

It was a cosy cottage and luckily, we found some candles, so that we could at least see what we were doing. There were two bedrooms upstairs, but we all decided to sleep together in the sitting room. We didn’t take a chance on lighting a fire or the range, just in case the smoke might be seen in the strong moonlight from the clear sky. Instead, we ate some of the rations from our now ever dwindling supplies.

Once we all settled down, using blankets found in a cupboard to keep us warm, we discussed a plan of action for the next day.

‘Well Carol,’ said Claire, ‘what happens next?’

They all looked at me expectantly; making me realise that this was my show. I had persuaded them to come all the way to Cornwall to find my Nan and it was up to me to make sure that we found her.

I had a sick feeling in my stomach that if and when we did manage to find her cottage, she might not be there and like the people who lived in this cottage, she might be gone.

They were still looking at me.

‘First we need a map. Lets hunt around and see if there’s one here.’

So that’s what we did and once again, we were in luck as Helen found an AA Touring Map Guide Book dated 1938 in a book case.

‘Well done Helen.’ I said and she smiled with pride at the praise.

We went into the kitchen with a couple of the candles and all sat around the table.

It didn’t take us long to work out roughly were we were and we could then see where we needed to go.

‘Hmm,’ I said, ‘the quickest way would be to go to East Looe; but we need to cross the river to West Looe and then we could make our way to Polperro. But getting across the river will be tricky as there probably isn’t the ferry running and even if it was, it’s bound to be controlled by the Germans or their sympathisers.’

‘Sympathisers, what do you mean by that?’ asked Helen, who was really coming out of her shell by now.

‘People who don’t mind the Germans taking over. Sometimes they’re called Quislings for some reason,’ said Glad, ‘they sometimes even help them run things. I read in the paper once that it happens a lot, it did in France, Belgium other occupied countries and I wouldn’t be surprised if it happens over here. Moseley and his mob of Black Shirts have supported Hitler for years and there are quite a few ordinary people who believe that the war and all our problems would end if Germany had its way. These stupid people somehow think that things will be better under the Germans.’

‘That’s rubbish!’ said Claire hotly.

‘We know that but others don’t so we have to be doubly careful who we get friendly with,’ I said.

‘This isn’t getting us anywhere,’ said Glad, ‘let’s stop arguing and decide what we are going to do. The way I see it is we either try for the River Looe and find a boat or something to cross it or we go the long way round by road.’

In the end, we decided that although we could to try to get across the river at Looe as it would save a lot of time, there would be every chance that a boat wouldn’t be available and even worse, we might be seen attempting to cross.

We knew that the longer time we spent on travelling, the more chance we would have of getting caught, but better to go a quieter route than chance going near a built up area when we had no idea if it was occupied by the enemy or their sympathisers.

After that decision was made, we got our heads down for a well needed sleep. We should have kept some sort of guard, but we were all worn out and desperately needed to get some sleep.

Dawn found us back on the road after a hasty breakfast of biscuits and lemonade, not perfect but that was all we had left of our rations. We had decided that we would try to find food somewhere that day, otherwise we would starve and an army marches on it’s stomach!

After our rest, we had felt a lot better and made pretty good time. We were alert at all times, knowing that we were now effectively in an occupied country and around every corner the enemy could lurk.

By now, I had almost forgotten that I used to dress as a boy. Skirts and blouses seemed quite normal to me and I had no intention of ever being dressed as a boy again. It was just about the only good thing to come out of the mess that I found myself in and it was something to keep hold of when things got rough, which it had frequently on our long journey west.

It was nice that all the girls considered me to be one of them. No one ever mentioned my past and for that, I was grateful. Helen too seemed to be much happier in skirts now and I could see that she had lost much of her shyness and she was coming out of her shell and not being so self conscious about her situation.

We stuck to small lanes with high hedging and walls, steering clear of any major roads and only crossing them when we were sure that no one was coming. We came up to a small village called Trewidland but luckily for us, we found it empty, making us wonder where everyone had gone.

That was the strange thing about all this; it was as if Cornwall was empty. There was nobody about anywhere. We learnt later that people that lived in the smaller villages and hamlets had been transferred to larger populated areas where they could be of more use to the Germans. Another reason why they did this was because the German army was by now stretched and they found it much easier to police towns than the smaller places dotted around the country.

Continuing on, we found ourselves crossing a narrow bridge, the river underneath was, according to the map book, the East Looe River. We were getting ever nearer to our destination! We went through the hamlet of Causeland, once again, deserted and saw the railway track to the left of us. Eventually we arrived at Duloe, a village with a pub in it. There wasn’t anyone around and so we decided to go into the pub for a rest and a pint – joke!

The doors weren’t locked, which was a surprise, so we just walked in. The pub looked like it was just waiting for the locals to come in and there wasn’t any sign of ransacking. Going into the kitchens we found some food in the larder including a ham and a huge chicken pie. The fact that these items looked fresh was a sure sign that the owners had only left in the last few days.

We took turns keeping a lookout from an upstairs window whilst the rest of us ate our meal and drank soft drinks from the bar. Ethel wanted to try something stronger – just to see what it tasted like- but we all pooh-poohed that, as we didn’t need drunkenness added to our problems!

Inevitably, we started to wonder how things would work out for us and the also the country. It looked like there was some resistance dotted about but we couldn’t guess how widespread that resistance was. I also could not believe that we would just lie down and give in without a fight. We had all lost loved ones to this hated regime and we all wanted to get our own back; not just revenge, but to be free again and be able to live without fear.

All too soon, it was time to go and we found ourselves back on the road again. We felt somewhat better after stuffing ourselves with food and it gave us the energy to get a move on. We wanted to get to Polperro before it got dark. It wasn’t many miles, as far as we knew, but we had to be careful not to come across any undesirables, so every time we came near buildings, someone would do a recky to make sure that all was clear.

It was when we were only about five miles by our reckoning from Polperro, at T the junction where one way went to Looe and the other to Polperro, where we heard some heavy engine noises. We hid behind a stone wall as several lorries thundered pass us going towards Looe. Quickly peeping up, I could see that they were military lorries driven by soldiers and I was so pleased that we hadn’t been caught walking down that road, as there weren’t many places to hide.

The idea that Cornwall was empty was shot to ribbons then!

‘That was close,’ said Ethel as we came out from our hiding place and carried on.

She wasn’t kidding.

After that, we were, if anything, even more diligent as we continued towards Polperro.

Glad came up to me as we walked.

‘Carol, where exactly does your Nan live?’

‘Erm.’

‘What do you mean ‘erm’?’

‘Well, I don’t exactly know the address...’

‘What!’

‘I never took down the address,I was only little!' I replied rather crossly, ' but I do know the name of her cottage and I do know that it’s by the side of the harbour, and it had sky blue walls, a red roof and white painted windows and doors and the knocker is a brass dolphin, so there can’t be that many places that are like that.’

‘I hope that you’re right. Look, don’t tell the others what you told me, they’ll only worry...’

‘They’ll know soon enough.’

‘I know but let’s get there first.’

Maybe I should have told them before that I wasn’t sure where Nan lived, but how many cottages could look like that?

We eventually came to a fairly steep hill leading down to what must have been Polperro, although there were no signs up. We couldn’t see the sea as there were hills and trees in the way. But the seagulls and the sea air made it obvious that we were heading in the right direction.

At one point we hid behind a wall as several people passed us going back the way we came. Looking at them, they looked like locals, but we weren’t going to take any chances and we let them go without them knowing of our presence.

Then, almost immediately, we heard the sound of more voices coming our way and we had to, yet again, hide away. We could hear that they were speaking English, but we had no idea whether they were friends or foes. It was a terrible position to be in. It went totally against all I believed that there could be traitors amongst the British people that would go over to the other side and actually help the enemy to cause us so much misery, but there are rotten apples in every barrel and we were not taking any chances as our very lives depended on it.

When the people had gone, we had a hushed chat about what we should do.

‘There are more people about here, said Ethel, ‘we need to decide whether we should go on or wait until nightfall, up ahead are some cottages and all we need is for some nosy busybody to see us.’

‘I wonder if the Germans are here yet?’ said Glad.

‘They probably are,’ said Claire, ‘or at least an advanced party anyway. We should find somewhere to hole up and wait for tonight and then sneak in under the cover of darkness. What do you all think?’

Although I was dying to see my Nan, I saw sense in being cautious and so did everyone else. We had come such a long way and we didn’t want to get caught out now. I recalled passing a cottage further up the road that looked more or less abandoned, as there were weeds growing tall in the garden and the building had a general air of neglect. We agreed to stay there until the evening and then, under the cover of darkness, we would go down into the village and try to find my Nan.

We went back up the road and broke into the cottage. Any feelings we felt of guilt at doing this was outweighed by our need to get somewhere safe. We had a little food and drink saved from our previous place of refuge and we took the opportunity to get rid of the hunger pangs while we waited for darkness to fall.

The occasional vehicle, horses and people passed by the cottage but no military traffic. We could see that from the vantage point of the upstairs bedroom window. After eating, we took turns resting whist one of us kept a watch. As I lay down as best I could on a sofa, my mind began to wonder a bit.

Was it right for me to consider myself as a girl? I had always thought so, but now I was coming close to seeing my Nan, I had big worries about how she would react to my not being the boy she thought I was; would she recognise me? I had no ideas, as I can’t really remember her being around much as we grew up and I would have looked different to her, even dressed as a boy. Should I somehow try to look more boy-like when we went to find her, that’s all supposing that she was still in Polperro?

I shook my head. I would never dress or act as a boy again if I had anything to do with it.

Sighing, I shut my eyes and was soon asleep.

Glad gently shook my shoulder. Opening my eyes, I could see her shape in the gloom.

‘Time to go,’ she said.

Yawning, I sat up, then, as the others got there things together, I went to the outside toilet and did the necessary. For as long as I could remember, I had always sat down to use the toilet and it was as natural to me as breathing. I had seen some boys standing and weeing, but that was not for me. The only danger for me was whether my skirt had been caught up in my knickers, a big no-no for any girl!

Picking up our things, we were soon ready for the final short leg of our trip. We made our way down The Coombe towards Polperro as quietly as possible, not attracting any attention from possible curtain twitchers. Some of the cottages and houses had lights in them so the village was far from empty.

As we got nearer to the village centre, the building became more numerous and we became even more cautious. A few times we had to hide as there were now a few more people about including a policeman.

Now, in the old days, policemen were the ones we went to if we had problems, indeed the local bobby that used to patrol my street was a friendly man and was the uncle of one of my mates, but now, we had no idea what position the police force had with the invaders. Were they part of the administration or not?

We hadn’t a clue and we weren’t taking any chances. Six girls walking down the road with cases and bags would have caught the attention of anyone, and in particular a policeman, so we kept out of the way until the coast was clear.

We stayed hidden behind a garden wall for what seemed like ages but eventually, we ventured out again when all seemed quiet.

From what we could see in the gloom, Polperro was a pretty place with lots of brightly painted cottages, the occasional pub and a few shops. The area hadn’t seen or experienced the bombings like we had in London and if I didn’t know better, it would have been as if the war had never taken place, everything looked so normal. I did know that parts of Cornwall had been bombed heavily, especially around the various airfields dotted about the place. I also knew, because Mum told me, that pillboxes were everywhere, in case of invasion. Well they hadn’t been much use, had they?

The clock on Polperro Methodist Church said that it was just after ten o’clock and the centre of the village now seemed as quiet as the grave apart from the noise of the seagulls. Most of the lights had gone out and we had to rely on the moon to guide us on our way. Going downhill, we reached the harbour, full of bobbing boats, most of them used for fishing. The smell of fish was ever present as was the salty sea air. There were quite a few seagulls about, no doubt looking for food and there were the cottages were sprinkled all up the hillsides and huddled around the harbour.

Just then, we heard some piano music and laughter in the distance. Sneaking around a corner, we saw a pub called the Blue Peter Inn. I was tempted to go and look to see who was in there but, I was dragged back by Claire and told not to be silly.

It was a bit stupid, thinking about it!

Mind you, I thought that it was a bit thick, with all the terrible things happening, that people
could laugh and sing like that. Didn’t they know what was going on all around the country?

We went back around the corner and then everyone was looking at me.

‘What?’ I asked.

‘Well, where does your Nan live then?’ asked Ethel.

‘Erm, well girls, it’s like this...’

To be continued..?

Painting: The Spirit of London During the Blitz by Nettie Moon, 1979

Please leave comments and let me know if you want this to continue. Oh, and if you can, please do the kudo-thingie...thanks! ~Sue