The Sun Will Shine Tomorrow (26 page)

‘Do you think it was Danny?’ I asked

Granny and Lily both said yes but Granny said, ‘I’m almost sure it’s Danny, Ann, but, if Maddie sees it, maybe she’ll confirm it.’

So Lily and I hurried to Perth Road. Hattie wasn’t there and Maddie and her parents were surprised when we almost burst in. We must have appeared half demented with our red faces and breathless appearance. I told them what we had seen and Maddie jumped up. ‘The Pathé News will be on all the cinemas,’ she said as she grabbed her coat and, along with Mr Pringle, we all hurried to Green’s picture house in the Nethergate.

We had to wait for the first house to finish and it was hard trying to sit in our seats patiently waiting for the second house showing. Luckily the Pathé News was on first and the same footage was shown.

Maddie almost leapt from her seat. ‘That
is
Danny! I’m sure of it. I wonder if we can see the film again?’

We followed Mr Pringle to the manager’s office but he said he was sorry but the answer was no. He had to put on the full programme for the hundreds of patrons who now occupied the seats. He did, however, say the family could come back the following morning and he would show the news once more for them.

Back at Perth Road, Maddie couldn’t settle, especially as the commentator had hinted that prisoners in the hands of the Russians could be held for years. The Pringle family would see the film in the morning and, if they were sure it was Danny, Mrs Pringle said she would get the Red Cross to investigate the sighting.

All these things were set in place but Christmas came and went and there was still no news of Danny. Maddie and her parents were convinced the soldier was Danny but everything was in such a state of chaos that they had to remain patient while the Red Cross did all they could to help.

Then came some bleak news three days after Christmas. The Red Cross reported back that there had been a disastrous fire in the hospital and two wards had been burned with no survivors. There were Polish and German survivors from the two other wards but Danny had not survived. Of course, Maddie was inconsolable, as we all were.

I wished we had stayed quiet about the sighting. That way, Maddie would never have known the terrible news. She told Daniel about his daddy and the wee boy took it pretty well but then he had never known his daddy. For him, he was merely someone in a photograph in a frame.

Maddie wasn’t sleeping and Mrs Pringle asked me if I could come and stay for a few nights just to be with her.

Maddie’s sadness was terrible to see and she grieved over the fact she wouldn’t be able to bury him. ‘You know the worst thing, Ann? I won’t be able to go and put flowers on his grave.’

On these occasions I just held her close and listened to her heartbreaking crying. Hattie tried to put on a brave face on this awful news but she wasn’t coping very well either.

She also confided to Granny that her relationship with Graham was almost over. ‘He’s changed so much since we met,’ she said. ‘I really thought he was in love with me. In fact, I’m sure he was but there’s someone else in Clydebank. I’m positive about that.’ She gave a huge sigh. ‘And now that Danny’s dead … well, I feel that life’s not worth living.’

Granny became firm with her. ‘Now listen to me, Hattie. Thinking like that will do you no good. We’re all grieving for Danny and God knows how we’ll all manage without seeing him again but talking like that will not help you.’

Hattie shook her head. ‘I lost Pat in one war and now I’ve lost my son in another.’

Granny said she knew how much she was grieving for both the men in her life – three if you counted Graham. Later, Hattie left the house still weeping.

The family at Lochee were also grief-stricken, especially George, Kit and Kathleen and, although they didn’t voice it, I knew they were comparing Sammy’s homecoming with Danny’s death. Ma, however, was as stoical as ever.

On Hogmanay, nobody felt like celebrating the first New Year of peace and we went to bed early. The Pringle family had to go and visit a sick relative who lived in Fife. Maddie, who didn’t want to go, finally agreed when the old lady said she wanted to see Daniel. Maddie said it would have been cruel to deprive her of this small bit of pleasure. They would be away all day on the 1st January 1946.

Granny and I awoke early in the morning and made some tea. Sitting by the side of the dying embers of the fire, I couldn’t describe the sadness we felt. It felt like a heavy iron chain around my neck and I wondered if anyone of us would ever feel happiness again.

It was still dark outside and a strong wind was blowing flakes of snow. It would be another cold day both inside and out.

Kit had invited us to Lochee but I knew I wouldn’t be going. What was the point now there was no Danny? I remembered all our times together when he had been a tower of strength to me during my time at the Ferry and also afterwards. I recalled his bright blue eyes and brilliant red hair, his laugh and his merriment. Suddenly the tears started to flow and I cried and cried. Sobbing harshly into Granny’s shoulder, my tears turned the sleeve of her flannelette nightgown into a sodden mass.

She let me cry for what seemed ages then said it was time to go back to bed. ‘Get some sleep, Ann. Our troubles will still be the same in the morning but there’s nothing we can do. It’s just a matter of getting through each day as best we can.’

We both went back to the large bed in the corner of the room and, in spite of myself, I soon fell asleep. My dreams were so disturbing and they were all about Danny.

It was daylight when I awoke and Granny was sitting by the newly lit fire darning one of Lily’s school stockings. Outside, the weather was grey and miserable-looking.

She saw I was awake. ‘Just you stay in bed, Ann, and I’ll bring you some tea and toast.’

We didn’t wish one another a happy new year because whatever 1946 brought us it wouldn’t be happiness. I sat up in bed with my tea, waiting for Lily to wake up. She was missing Danny so much – just like the rest of us.

Before we went to bed the previous night, she had said, ‘I’m glad we saw Danny on that newsreel but I wish I had said cheerio to him in the Plaza.’

In time would Maddie feel like that? I wondered. Would she look on it as a sort of goodbye to him?

There was a knock on the door. Granny sounded annoyed. ‘I hope it’s just Alice and not some drunk first-foot.’

She went to open the door with the darning still in her hands and I gazed listlessly at her. She opened the door and there stood Danny. I leapt out of bed, spilling tea all over the quilt while Granny stood as if in shock, still holding Lily’s stocking and the darning needle.

We both burst into tears and Lily, on hearing the commotion, also began to cry when she saw him.

Danny seemed taken aback. ‘Well this is a great way to treat your first-foot, Granny,’ he said. ‘I went to Perth Road and there’s nobody there. What’s going on?’

We would tell him later but not just now. This was the moment to savour his safe return.

I said, ‘Maddie and her family are away to see her aunt in Fife, Danny.’

I quickly got dressed while he had some breakfast. I hurried from the house. For some obscure reason, I remembered the telephone number of Maddie’s aunt. In the telephone box I placed my pennies and when I heard a voice, I pressed button A. When Maddie came to the phone, she sounded apprehensive. I was crying with joy. ‘Maddie, it’s wonderful news. Danny is here at the Overgate. He’s looking ill but he’s alive. Get here as quick as you can.’

While I was phoning, Lily had run up to Hattie’s house to give her the wonderful news and she rushed down to the house. A coat over her nightgown which in my bemused mind was another first for her. When she saw Danny, she threw her arms around him and started crying as well. We were all weeping and Danny seemed nonplussed.

Later, I heard that Mr Pringle had driven at great speed and Maddie, Daniel and the family finally arrived to a joyous reunion. Afterwards, Dad, Rosie, Jay, Alice and Bella joined us plus all the family at Lochee.

We were all crying and Danny said it was like visiting the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. Still, I noticed his eyes were bright with unshed tears when he saw Daniel. He hadn’t got the news of his son’s birth and he was overcome with emotion.

Was 1946 going to be a good year? I wondered.

Danny was really ill. His leg hadn’t healed properly and his face was gaunt and haunted-looking. His hair was still as red and his eyes still blue but they now seemed to have faded to a paler version. On his arrival at New Year, I had quickly noticed the washed-out effect that his eyes seemed to have.

Maddie was just so pleased to have him home and Danny … well, he was quite overcome when he heard he had a son, Daniel.

Unfortunately Daniel wouldn’t go anywhere near him. He kept saying he wasn’t the man in the photograph and that his daddy had died – Mummy had said so. Maddie tried to explain to him that she had been wrong but he still ran away when Danny went near him or came into the room.

Although he was terribly upset by this, Danny told a tearful Maddie that it would all come right soon. It just needed time. We were all anxious to hear Danny’s story and, when he told it, it was really upsetting.

‘I was sheltering with a group of my comrades in a house at Dunkirk when it was hit by a shell and I landed with a broken leg. The order then came for us to make our way back to the beach but, as I couldn’t walk, I thought I would have to stay where I was. Then this big burly chap put a rough splint on it and put me over his shoulder and carried me towards the beach. He had been a rugby player before the war and he said my weight was nothing new to him. Then the next thing I remember was waking up in a field hospital, not knowing who I was. I had been in a coma for ages with a head wound seemingly and I was really confused. One day this big lad came to see me and it was the rugby player. He was also injured and he told me we had both been hurt by shrapnel and we hadn’t made it to the beach. Then, still not knowing who I was, I was transferred to a German hospital. It was ages before I got my memory back. Then one day Sammy appeared. He had also been injured but not so seriously and he was being transferred to some prisoner of war camp. The German doctor was wonderful. He told me that not all the German people were Nazis. Anyway, he got in touch with the Red Cross with details of all the injured servicemen in his hospital and that would be when you got word about me still being alive, Maddie.’

She went over and gave him a huge hug. ‘That’s what kept us all going, Danny – that letter.’

‘I’d no idea where Sammy went to and the doctor didn’t know either but the Red Cross were told he was all right. The doctor tried to keep a lot of us in hospital but one day these SS guards arrived and we were all taken to a camp. We seemed to travel for ages and it was at least four days that we were in this cramped and overcrowded train and, when we arrived, the camp was full of Russian and Polish prisoners. We later found out the camp was on the Russian border.’

‘But we saw you on the newsreel, Danny,’ said Maddie.

Danny nodded. ‘I seemed to have bad luck when it comes to breaking my leg. The Russians were advancing and the camp guards rounded us all up and placed us in this block which was then hit by a shell. We were all buried and …’ His voice was full of emotion and tears filled his eyes.

I looked at him. ‘Don’t go on with the story, Danny. Leave it for another time.’

He shook his head. ‘No, it’s better to get it off my chest now and then I’ll try and forget the whole thing.’ He stopped for a moment, trying to get his emotions under control. ‘As I said, the entire block was demolished and most of the men inside were killed or very badly injured. My leg was broken again but I was saved by this big Polish chap who managed to lift a wooden beam from my leg. He saved my life and thankfully he also survived. Then the Russians arrived in the camp and we were all carted off to a Russian-run hospital. Sadly a lot of the injured men didn’t make it. I kept telling the doctors I was a British soldier but they didn’t seem to understand me and just kept telling me to lie down, lie down. One morning this French camera crew arrived. I later found out that they were filming the destruction and horror of the thousands of displaced people who were now refugees without homes or a country.

‘I didn’t get the chance to speak to the film crew as they were only in my ward for a short time but soon after this filming, the doctor in charge of this small, makeshift hospital told us that the war was over. All the Russian prisoners who had been with us in the camp had been taken away by the Red Army and it was only Polish and German soldiers in the hospital. I was the only British soldier. Of course we were all overjoyed and hoping to be sent home in the not too distant future. Then ten days later the tragedy happened.’ He stopped speaking and wiped his eyes.

‘Don’t go on Danny,’ said Maddie, clearly distressed.

‘I must finish the story Maddie and then perhaps I can try and forget all the horror and carnage of this futile war.

‘One night I couldn’t sleep and I kept thinking of all my family. Ma Ryan’s voice kept popping into my head and I couldn’t stop thinking she wanted to tell me something. My bed was next to the window on the ground floor so I decided to slip outside for some fresh air and to think things out in my mind. I went and stood by the fence that overlooked a forest. The moon was full and it was a beautiful frosty night with huge stars in the sky. I kept thinking how peaceful it was and surely it would only be a matter of time before I was sent home.

‘Then I heard the explosion and saw flames shooting out of the window of my ward. I tried to hurry towards the building but by the time I reached it the whole side of the building was well alight. There was pandemonium and chaos with patients jumping from windows, and the hospital staff trying to do their best to get everyone out. They managed to save the lives of patients in two wards but my ward and the one next to it were totally gutted. Everyone had died in their beds.

‘The next morning was even more chaotic. A couple of the doctors and some nurses also died in the fire and no one noticed that I had survived. But to be honest I was still in shock at the tragedy. Then we were all herded onto a truck to be taken to Poland but when we reached the Polish border the truck broke down. The men were all ill with breathing in the smoke and some had injured themselves in the evacuation from the building. We were all in dire straits.