‘I’m to be trained as an aircrafthand,’ Dilys said, wrinkling her nose. ‘That means I’ll be in trousers and shapeless battledress tunics all day long. I’ll look an utter fright. We have to change into service dress for socials though.’
‘What about you?’ Bobby asked Mike.
‘Wireless operator,’ Mike said, sounding proud. ‘It’s what I wanted. I’ve been revising Morse for yonks so I’d be able to ace the tests. David will be thrilled.’
‘Why did you want to do that?’
‘The wireless operators transmit messages between planes and their base. They talk the aircraft down when they get into trouble. David told me an operator saved his life once. I knew then that when I joined up, that was what I wanted to do.’
Carol laughed. ‘I never realised you were so noble, Mike. You sound like Bobsy.’
Mike shrugged. ‘I can’t have depths?’
‘I’d have liked to do something like that,’ Bobby said with a sigh. ‘I just hope I don’t spend the rest of the war filing.’ She glanced over to the bunk opposite as Dilys once again sniggered at the leaflet Carol had given her. ‘What’s that thing you’re passing around?’
‘Take a look,’ Carol said, grinning. ‘Dilys, let her see.’
Dilys flashed Bobby a suspicious glance. ‘Are you sure we can trust her? She might tell.’
‘Don’t be silly, Dil,’ Mike said. ‘Let her have a look.’
Dilys passed it over, somewhat resentfully. Bobby took it, intrigued as to what could be on this contraband piece of paper.
The illustration on the front showed a woman sitting on a bed half undressed, her breasts exposed while she rolled down her stockings. Nearby, a foreign serviceman – American, Bobby thought from the uniform – was smirking as he loosened his tie. Underneath, it bore the legendWhile you are away…
‘It’s a riot, isn’t it?’ Mike said. ‘David would just scream if he could see it. It’s completely illegal for us to have it, of course, so you mustn’t say a word. Carol smuggled it back.’
‘I borrowed it from Mavis, the NCO I’ve been getting friendly with,’ Carol told Bobby, looking rather smug over this influentialnew pal. ‘The sergeant pilot she’s walking out with brought it back from North Africa.’
‘But what is it?’ Bobby asked, staring wonderingly at the lewd, highly detailed image. It looked like the cigarette cards of pin-up girls she sometimes used to find hidden while tidying her younger brothers’ room.
‘A Joe Goebbels special, in honour of the Yanks coming over,’ Carol said. ‘Propaganda leaflet Jerry’s been dropping on our troops out in Africa. The idea is to damage morale by making them think their women are all having it away with foreign soldiers at home. Of course it backfires completely, Mavis says, because the men just roar their heads off, thank old Joe for the picture and tear out the part with the nudey lady to pin up in their bunks.’
‘Don’t you think it’s funny, Bobsy?’ Dilys demanded, watching her through narrowed eyes. ‘Or will you go running to Stewpot and get us all put on a charge?’
‘Of course I do. It’s an absolute scream.’ Bobby forced a laugh, handing the lurid propaganda leaflet back to Carol.
But she couldn’t really find anything amusing in it. The sight of the half-dressed woman, preparing to go to bed with her foreign lover while her man was away, unsettled her. It made her think of Charlie, and her still-simmering guilt over Ernie King, and everything Mike had said about the assumption of infidelity during wartime.
Perhaps the women here were right. Perhaps she was too sensitive; too serious; too naive. She knew she was prone to thinking too much. Unfortunately it was the only way she knew how to be.
‘I’d love to meet a real-life American,’ Carol said dreamily, gazing at the male figure on the leaflet. ‘I bet they’re just like out of the pictures.’
‘My David knows a couple. Eagle Squadron,’ Mike told them. ‘He says they’re a pair of thugs. Anyway, Car, I’m sure you’ll get your chance soon enough. The papers say there are GIs pouring in by the hundreds now.’
Dilys sat up. ‘Come on, let’s go to the rec hut and play records until dinner. Might as well, since that’s the only fun we’re allowed to have.’
Mike lowered her voice. ‘Unless we sneak out after lights out. One of the girls in 19 told me there’s a pub in the village. It’s not a long walk.’
Carol snorted. ‘Stewpot never mentioned a pub when she was telling us about tea rooms and chip shops, did she?’
‘Some of the men are bound to hang around there. What do you think, girls?’
‘We shouldn’t,’ Bobby said. ‘What if we got caught?’
Dilys rolled her eyes. ‘How did I know you were going to say that?’
‘Come on, Bobsy.’ Mike hung over the edge of her bunk to peer at her. ‘Live a little, eh?’
