Free Under the Apple Tree by Lilian Harry Page B

however, and he wore that
    over his dark suit, while the bishops of both Anglican and
    Roman Catholic churches were resplendent in blue and gold, and black, gold and cherry-pink respectively.
     
    The procession was led by the Royal Marine Band, its
    trombones dazzling, its drums muffled with black crepe. It
    was followed by twelve Rolls-Royce and Daimler hearses,
    each driver wearing a top hat, and the coffins draped in
    Union Jacks. Beside the hearses, in a slow march, walked the
    servicemen who were to act as pallbearers, and behind them
    came a parade of all the Armed Services, including some
    from the French Navy, as well as members of the ARP and
    Home Guard. Tommy Vickers was there, his yellow hair
    glinting in the sunlight when he took off his hat in respect
    for the dead.
     
    Polly was smart in her new green WVS uniform, standing
    in line with the other volunteers along the road. The icy
    pavements were packed with mourners, and a number of
    people who had just come to watch.
     
    ‘Sightseers!’ Judy said indignantly as they walked back to
    Southsea afterwards. ‘Got nothing better to do. As if
    watching a lot of coffins being put into a grave was
    entertainment!’
     
    ‘Well, I’m sure they were upset about it too,’ Polly said.
    ‘And you’ve got to admit it was a real sight, for all it was so sad. I didn’t know Kathy Simmons but I couldn’t help
    shedding a few tears. All those poor souls being put into one
    grave - and all those people standing there, absolutely quiet,
    watching. And those words the bishop said, about us being
    a “proud people” and calling them “Citizens in the City of
    God”. I don’t know how they think these things up.’
     
    ‘Neither do I,’ Judy said caustically. ‘All that about them
    being “happy dead” and “winning a victory”! I bet Kathy
    Simmons isn’t happy being dead, and I bet she doesn’t think
    she’s won a victory either. It’s just words, Polly, and they
    don’t mean a thing!’ Her cheeks flushed and her eyes
    brightened with anger. ‘Just because he’s a bishop, we’re
    meant to believe him and be proud that so many people were
     
    killed and injured and bombed out of their homes, and I tell
    you, I’m not! I’m not proud at all!’
    Polly looked at her in surprise. Judy had never expressed
    such feelings before, but when you came to think about it,
    perhaps she had a point. The bishop’s words had made her
    feel proud, but it was true that she hadn’t felt like that
    beforehand. She’d been sad and upset and frightened. She
    thought for a moment and then said carefully, ‘I suppose
    he’s trying to make us all feel better - stronger. Being
    miserable isn’t going to help them, or us. If we can feel
    better about them dying, perhaps it helps us to carry on.’
    She sighed. ‘Pompey’s not the only place hit this week.
    Plymouth and Bristol have had bad raids too. I suppose this
    sort of thing’s happening there as well. What I wonder is
    where they get all the coffins from. They surely don’t have
    all that many ready at the undertakers.’
    ‘I reckon they’ve got places making them specially,’ Laura
    said. She and Judy were also in their new WVS uniforms,
    with warm greatcoats over their jackets and skirts. ‘They
    won’t tell us about them though, because of spreading
    panic’
    They reached the Royal Beach and went inside. The
    offices were busy, with half a dozen girls clacking away at a
    bank of typewriters and clerks sitting at paper-strewn desks
    and dining tables. All the forms and official documents had
    to be printed and sent out to homes and businesses all over
    the city, and on top of that the bombed and damaged
    premises must be surveyed for repair or rebuilding. There
    were lists of people who needed rehousing, lists of places
    where they could be sent, lists of those who had decided to
    take evacuation, lists of places in the country that could
    accommodate them. Lists, lists, lists, Judy thought as