Nell and the Girls by Jeanne Gask

Author:Jeanne Gask
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Myrmidon Books

13. Visiting Days

Nell was reading a letter from Tom that had just arrived.

‘My goodness!’ she exclaimed. ‘It looks as though the camp’s on the move . . . they’re being moved back to France.’ She looked up. ‘Wouldn’t it be wonderful if Daddy was back in France? He seems so far away – all that way on the other side of Germany . . . He also says – and this is the really wonderful news – that wives may be allowed to visit.’

Jeanne stood up and shouted out excitedly, ‘Me too . . . me too . . . can I go? Please Mum, can I go? I want to see Daddy.’

Nell sighed. ‘Come on, Jeannot, be sensible . . . it’ll be enough of a wonder if I’m allowed to go.’ Trying to placate her, she added, ‘I think it’s very unlikely that it’ll ever happen, anyway.’

In the winter of 1943, following many international negotiations, the internment camp was moved back to France lock, stock and barrel. According to the Geneva Convention, after a certain length of time civilian internees had to return to the country from which they were captured.

They travelled by train to the Vosges Mountains of eastern France, not far from the Swiss border, and a derelict French army barracks was opened up at Giromagny, a village near Belfort. As soon as they arrived, the internees had to clean out the barracks and make them fit to live in. It was freezing cold and their most urgent requirement was to keep warm. Anything, absolutely anything at all, that was not wanted was burned on the stoves in the middle of the huts – doors, chairs, wood lying around outside the huts.

So the men settled in and waited for spring.

The other most urgent job was to see to the camp’s defunct electricity generator, and this is where Tom’s skills were called upon. As he was an electrical engineer, he was made a ‘trustee’ and allowed, under armed guard, to go into the village to order his electrical equipment and all other requirements whenever he wanted. He was also put in charge of supervising volunteer electricians, and soon had the camp power running to his satisfaction.

Now that he was back on his own patch, speaking his own language, Tom-the-fixer became well known in the village. He even made friends with the local Resistance, some of whom were caught and shot during his stay there. Nell and the girls were mystified when they started receiving letters addressed to ‘Mademoiselle Beatrice Marie’, postmarked ‘Giromagny’. These were letters from Tom, smuggled out of the camp and given to French friends to post for him. This was the first opportunity they had had to receive uncensored letters from him, and they could now learn how things really were in the camp, how he felt and his innermost thoughts. These letters were a joy to read. The censored letters had always been so guarded, full of veiled references and personal codes.

Yes, Nell thought, things are really going to be different now he’s back in France.

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