The Girls Who Went to War by Duncan Barrett

Author:Duncan Barrett
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2015-03-16T16:00:00+00:00

The next morning, Kathleen was woken bright and early by the call of the bugle, relayed over the base’s Tannoy system. Bleary eyed, she rose, dressed in her uniform and made her way back to the mess for breakfast. She had just finished a bowl of porridge when the Wren officer she had met the night before walked up to her. ‘Come with me, Wren Skin,’ the woman told her. ‘You’re under arrest.’

Kathleen was astounded. She had only just woken up! How could she have done something wrong already?

‘Come on,’ the Wren officer said, leading her back outside, where a lorry was waiting for them.

As they drove through the camp, Kathleen recognised the route she had taken the night before, only now – in the daylight – she could see where she was going. Heading back in the direction of Argos Camp, she passed by an area of thick woodland, and off to the left she could make out a large airfield, with three runways in a triangular formation. That must be where she would be working, she thought – assuming she was allowed to work after all.

At Argos, Kathleen was taken into a building where the captain of HMS Hornbill had his office. As she sat outside waiting to see him, she was met by a familiar face. ‘Ginger! You’re here as well,’ she exclaimed, as the red-haired young man was led in. Someone had obviously decided he was a flight risk since his feet had been shackled together.

‘The captain will see you now,’ a stern-looking sergeant told Kathleen. Nervously she stood and made her way into the office.

Seated behind a large wooden desk was a smart, middle-aged man, clean shaven and with neatly parted grey hair. In his youth, Kathleen imagined, the captain might have been rather dashing, but now he had a distinctly fatherly air.

Kathleen approached the desk, and the captain looked up from the papers in front of him. ‘Wren Skin?’ he asked her wearily.

‘Yes, sir,’ Kathleen replied, giving an enthusiastic salute.

The man smiled. ‘I see you’re a newcomer,’ he remarked. ‘So tell me, how is it you have managed to arrive more than three hours late for your very first assignment?’

Kathleen met the captain’s gaze. ‘I’m very sorry, sir, but it wasn’t my fault,’ she began, launching into a blow-by-blow account of her journey the previous day. ‘I’d never even heard of HMS Hornbill,’ she told him, ‘and nor had anyone else on the train.’

By the time she had got to the man with the lantern at Culham station and the arduous trek she and Ginger had made from there to the front gate, Kathleen thought she saw a slight twinkle in the captain’s eye. ‘Well,’ he said, ‘I suppose I’ll let you off this time. But I want you to remember one thing.’ He leaned forward a little. ‘Naval time is always one minute before.’

‘Yes, sir,’ Kathleen replied, gratefully.

‘All right then, dismissed,’ he said, waving his hand for her to go.

Kathleen left the office and returned to the lobby outside, where Ginger was still waiting in chains.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.