Free East End Jubilee by Carol Rivers Page B

throw them. The last thing I need is some young piece with a bun in the oven.’
    Rose looked shocked. ‘Alan wouldn’t!’
    Anita sniffed loudly. ‘Don’t you believe it. They’re randy little sods at their ages. I’ve told Alan to tie a knot in it till he knows how to use it properly.’
    ‘Oh, your poor Alan.’
    Anita saw the funny side. ‘I remember what his father was like. Benny couldn’t keep it in his trousers from the moment we met. Gawd knows how I had the nerve to walk up the aisle in
white.’
    ‘Yes, but you did.’
    ‘Just about.’ She looked at Rose. ‘What about you?’
    ‘I wore white on me wedding day in 1945. It was summer and very hot. The war was almost over and we were still alive. Our service was a quiet one with just a few friends and neighbours.
Your mum and dad came. You was living with your in-laws in Stepney, remember? You couldn’t come to the service because one of your boys was down with the measles.’
    ‘Oh yeah,’ Anita nodded. ‘That was David. After which Alan caught it. We had to keep out of circulation for a while.’
    Rose smiled reflectively. ‘Em was bridesmaid and Arthur gave me away. Me and Eddie were only seventeen. Donnie was born the following year.’
    Anita grinned. ‘You and Eddie made up for lost time, then.’
    ‘Well, we were mates at school but we never went out or anything.’
    ‘Didn’t you fancy him?’
    ‘I never thought about it.’
    ‘So when did you?’
    Rose smiled. ‘After he got back from Normandy. He lied about his age to get into the army. He was only sixteen but said he was seventeen. They needed recruits for the second front and sent
him across on D Day. A bullet went through his shoulder as he tried to leave the landing craft.’
    ‘Blimey love, I ain’t heard him talk about that.’
    ‘No, he doesn’t much. He still can’t lift his arm above his head.’
    ‘It must have hurt.’
    ‘He don’t remember much. He was fished out of the water by a mate. He thought he was going to drown.’
    ‘But they brought him back in one piece?’
    Rose nodded. ‘I went to see him in hospital. The bullet chipped a bone. He was out of the action for six months and in a lot of pain. When he returned to his unit the war was almost over.
Our forces were closing in on Berlin. He wrote to ask me if I’d marry him when he got home.’
    ‘And you said yes.’
    ‘I knew I loved him and I’d nearly lost him.’
    Anita sighed. ‘Well, that’s really romantic.’
    ‘What about you?’
    ‘Benny was away in the merchant navy. I didn’t get back from Stepney much to see Mum and Dad. I still feel guilty about it now. But what with the doodlebugs and V2s you took your
life in your hands if you only went up the street. Benny never had a scratch on him at the end of the war. He’s a lucky sod.’
    ‘We were all lucky,’ Rose commented quietly.
    ‘Where did Em meet Arthur?’ Anita asked after a while.
    ‘He worked at the town hall in Poplar. The births, marriages and deaths department. He was exempt from the services because of his job. Em met him in the February of ’42. She’d
gone to get Mum and Dad’s death certificate and he was very helpful. He asked her out and they got married at Christmas.’
    ‘Was she up the spout?’
    ‘No. ’Course not.’
    ‘Don’t tell me she fell for Arthur’s good looks and outstanding personality, ’cos I won’t believe you.’
    Rose hesitated. ‘Well, she was still getting over Mum and Dad being killed. We were alone in the house. I suppose he was there at the right time, a shoulder to lean on.’
    They strolled slowly through the crowded market and stood by the fruit and veg stall. ‘So what about you and Eddie? Was it a mad, passionate romance?’
    Rose grinned. ‘To tell you the truth, Eddie was a bit shy. Though you’d never believe it now, would you? He never tried anything on. Not till just after he was discharged from
hospital.’
    ‘What happened then?’
    ‘He had to report back