1917 Eagles Fall (3 page)

The journey back to England was far jollier than I had expected.  Bates looked after us like a faithful sheepdog.  The two young pilots were happy to be part of the group and Gordy was as excited as a puppy with two tails.  Even Charlie seemed more relaxed and managed to call me Bill!

We had a compartment to ourselves.  Bates rarely sat down for he was usually fetching or carrying for one of us.  Gordy took out the letter from Mary when we pulled out of the station at Amiens.  “Now, it would be inappropriate for us to stay at Mary’s and so she has booked four rooms for us at the Lanchester Hotel.  It isn’t far from the church.  Of course, after the wedding there will be a spare room.”

Johnny asked, “Why is that sir?”

Freddie laughed and nudged him in the ribs.  He whispered in his ear and the young lieutenant blushed.

“I will need to get a room for Bates here when we arrive.”

Charlie smiled, “He can bunk in with me if you like, Bill.”

Bates was outraged, “A very kind offer, sir but I could not take a gentleman’s room.  Do not worry, Lieutenant Sharp, I know the Lanchester.  They have rooms for servants and I am sure I can arrange something.  I shall find the conductor and see what time we reach the ship.  There is no buffet car aboard this train! The French!”

Charlie laughed after he had left. “A gentleman! We live in a little two up two down house!”

Freddie asked, “Really?  Where do the servants live?”

It was Johnny’s turn to clip his friend around the ears.

I laughed, “The point Lieutenant Sharp was making was that four of us here were not born gentlemen. We are gentlemen because of our rank.  My family are servants.  My sister is a housekeeper and my brother in law is a butler.  If the war hadn’t come along then I would have followed in their footsteps. I would be a servant rather than having someone like Bates to take care of me. It takes some getting used to.”

“But you are all gentlemen.  Some of those who visited our family might have dressed well and spoken well but they were no gentlemen. I think, sir, that being a gentleman is something you are born with and, if you don’t mind me saying so, all four of you are gentlemen.”

“Thank you, Freddie.”

Charlie was probably as excited as the young pilots but for different reasons. He had been lonely as a gunner being a very shy young man but now he was part of a team and he had real friends. For him the Royal Flying Corps had opened doors, not closed them.  In addition this would be the first wedding he had attended. That was also a cause for excitement, especially as it would be in London, a city that Charlie had never visited before.

Poor Johnny and Freddie looked disappointed when they left us at Victoria.  We had really had a good time on the boat and the trains and we had laughed a ridiculous amount at jokes and stories which did not warrant such laughter. That was war.

When we arrived at the Lanchester it was the inestimable Bates who, confidently, took charge. He decided that the rooms we had been allocated were not good enough for someone who had won the Military Cross. He had a word with the manager. We found ourselves in the best four rooms in the hotel while Bates was more than happy with his accommodation. He had a servant’s room on the top floor. He even gave us the address of a good restaurant nearby. It was too late to meet with Mary, Beatrice and Alice anyway and the five of us had a boys’ night out in London.  Bates ensured that we all behaved but he had to help me put a very drunken Lieutenant Sharp to bed. He was simply too big for me to handle on my own.

As he took me back to my room to lay out my clothes for the following day I asked, “What did you get up to Bates?”

“Oh I just wandered the streets of London. It is such a lively place. You seem to have had a pleasant night.”

“Well Mr Sharp certainly did.”

“He is a nice chap, that Lieutenant Sharp.  The men in his flight think the world of him.  I dare say one night where he is the worse for drink is no bad thing; just so long as he doesn’t make it a habit!” I think Bates would have made an excellent teacher!

I forced Bates to take the next day off and enjoy the sights of London while we went to meet Mary and Alice. Trafalgar Square was the place we had chosen as the rendezvous. The four of us were there early admiring the magnificent lions and the monument to a great hero. My dad had never been in the navy but he admired Nelson.  I think one of my ancestors must have been a Jack in the Navy.

We felt as though the cares of the world had been lifted from our shoulders but that contrasted with the faces that we saw on the streets.  There were many women dressed in black; the deaths at the front had impacted greatly.  We had been at war for just over two years now and almost every home had been touched. We saw few men and the ones we did see were, like us in uniform.  We also saw a huge number of staff officers in smart red uniforms with the red band around the caps. We saluted them all but the senior ones, and there were many of them, seemed not even to notice us.  The junior ones seemed almost embarrassed when they saw us, especially when they say the M.C. on my chest.

The two ladies arrived together. Mary looked the same but Alice was not the little sister I had last seen when she had visited me in hospital in the summer.  She had not only blossomed she had changed. It was as though she had become a butterfly.  She was stunning. I knew it was not just me looking at her with a proud brother’s eyes; I saw officers turning to look as she rushed up to me. She dressed flamboyantly with a hat at a racy angle. I was not sure that mother would have approved of her make-up.

She flung her arms around me and planted a bright red kiss on my cheek. She suddenly seemed to notice my broken arm and she stepped back. “Oh Bill, wounded again! You must take care of yourself!”

I was aware that Mary and Gordy were locked in each other’s arms.  “Alice, this is Ted and Charlie, they are pilots in my squadron. Ted, Charlie, this is my little sister, Alice.”

She squealed with delight, “How delicious! I had worried that when Beatrice came I should be the lemon but here I am with two handsome officers to escort me.” She linked Ted and Charlie.  “Come on Mary, we have so much to do this morning!”

My sister had become a force of nature and both Ted and Charlie were not only taken aback they were under her spell from the moment she spoke and linked them. She led them off towards Piccadilly.  I waited until Mary and Gordy had had some private time and then Mary linked Gordy and me and we followed them.

Mary leaned in and spoke confidentially to me. “Your little sister is a pip, Bill. She has designed and made my wedding dress and dresses for her and Beattie.  I don’t know what I would have done without her.”

“Is she managing down here then?”

“She is already a huge success.  Lady Burscough’s friend is more than pleased with her.  She has had a pay rise already.” She paused to kiss me on the other cheek.  “There you have two red marks now!” She laughed.  I looked over and saw how happy Gordy was. It helped me to make my mind up, finally. I would speak with Beattie before the leave was over.  I had delayed long enough. “Beattie’s shift finishes at seven so we are meeting her at the Ritz.”

“The Ritz?  That sounds expensive.” Gordy looked worried.

“It is! But we are not having a honeymoon so this will have to do and the wedding breakfast is at my house so we have saved money on that.” She became serious.  “Oh don’t spoil it.  It is Alice and Beattie’s idea. They wanted to make it a special night. And we couldn’t have done it without Bill here.”

“Me?”

“Yes, when we tried to book it we were told they were full until Beattie said that you would be one of the guests.  She even had the photograph of the King giving you your medal and so they said they could accommodate us and would be proud to do so for a British Ace.”

I shook my head.  I was just a pilot who had been luckier than most. “I don’t like all this fuss.”

Gordy laughed, “If it gets us treated like royalty then I am happy enough!”

We had a wonderful day and managed to see just about everything from the Houses of Parliament to Buckingham Palace.  Alice insisted on taking us along the expensive shops in Bond Street and Burlington Arcade and then took us to a very fashionable dress shop where she showed us two of her dress designs in the window.

“Of course, until the war is over then we have to think about cost and be less ambitious but when the war is over… just watch me big brother.”

Both Ted and Charlie hung on her every word but it was Charlie who was definitely smitten. I hoped that Alice would not hurt him.  I would have to have a word with her later on. I felt responsible for Charlie; he was vulnerable.

Late in the afternoon we parted.  “Should we dress in civilian clothes or evening dress tonight?”

“Don’t you dare, our Bill! Wear your uniform and try to wear your hat at a jaunty angle.  You are a hero! Look the part!”

Alice kissed us all goodbye as she hurried off to her lodgings.  Mary laughed as she kissed Gordy. “She is a peach, Bill!”

Charlie seemed in a dream world as we walked back to the hotel. Ted chuckled.  “Your Mary is right, Gordy.  She’s like a breath of fresh air.  I’d forgotten what it was like to laugh.”

They went ahead while I lit my pipe. Charlie asked, “Do you know if your sister has a young man, Bill?”

I stopped, “I don’t think so why?”

“She’s lovely.”

“You have only just met her.”

He replied, earnestly, “Oh I know.  I am just saying she ought to have a young man.  Any boy would be honoured to walk out with her.  I know I felt ten feet tall when she linked me.”

I didn’t know what to say. Our Alice just liked fun.  Perhaps she had only been pleasant with my two friends because they were my friends.  I know Ted hadn’t taken any of it seriously but then he was much older than Charlie. I could not do much about it. I would seek the advice of Beatrice; she would know what to say. As we entered the hotel I wondered about Mary’s use of ‘
Beattie
’. Did she want me to call her by a shortened form of her name?  I had only ever used Beatrice and she had never corrected me. I tapped my pipe out in an ashtray. I was just like Charlie- I was out of my depth.

Bates was sitting in the lounge drinking a cup of tea and reading a paper when I returned.  He folded his paper and stood.  “A good day, sir?”

“Excellent and tonight we dine at the Ritz.”

He nodded as we went up the stairs to our room. “And they will want you in your uniform I daresay.”

“How did you know that?”

He smiled, “Ladies like to be on the arm of a smart and handsome officer.  That is you, sir. I will clean you uniform.  You really need a decent spare sir.”

“I’ll go tomorrow and order one then.”

“That’s the ticket!” We entered my room.  “Now I shall draw you a bath and I will have the worst of the marks off this by the time you are finished.”

I didn’t know how I had managed before Bates.  He shaved you so closely, your face felt like a lady’s hand. He had also persuaded me, some time ago, to grow a moustache. He had trimmed it when I returned to the squadron and he did so again.

He stood back to admire me like a painting he had just finished. “There you are sir. I hope your young lady approves.”

“You can ask her yourself at the wedding.”

He seemed shocked, “I am invited?”

“Of course, you are a member of the squadron are you not?”

He seemed genuinely touched, “Thank you sir. I am honoured.”

We reached the Ritz before the ladies and stood outside smoking and admiring all the well dressed bright people who went in. We noticed that, while the women were all young, many of the men were almost old men.

Ted said, “Well I am an ugly old bugger but some of these chaps look positively ancient.”

Gordy laughed at him, “You are too stuck in your ways and you are a miserable old man.  You’ll end your days as a bachelor.”

He brightened, “Then I will keep most of my money then?”

When the three ladies arrived, they came by car. Beatrice and Mary got out first and Alice leaned back in to kiss the driver on the cheek.  I saw Charlie and his face fell. I think his heart broke in that instant. And then I forgot about Charlie completely for Beatrice was in my arms. “Oh you look so handsome!” She kissed me full on the lips. She reached up and whispered in my ear. “I have a week’s leave starting tomorrow afternoon.”

“That is wonderful news.” We walked through the entrance past the liveried doorman.  Alice had linked Ted and Charlie again. “What about going up to Lancashire for a visit to see my home?”

She gave me a mischievous look.  “Why, what is up there that I might want to see?”

I was crestfallen, “Well my family live there and I thought…”

“You thought what?”

“Well you and I, you know, we have been walking out and …”

I knew that I was being teased but I just didn’t know how to handle it. “And what?  What are your intentions Captain Harsker?”

I was suddenly aware that we were in the sumptuous lobby of the Ritz, all chandeliers and bright lights and the others had stopped to remove their coats.  They were all looking intently at me. “Well… er, well I want to marry you.”