The Signaller Wren

A very proper romance from World War II. The bundle of letters from Ann was discovered in a long since perished rubber band. She was a Signaller Wren of the Royal Navy.

The letters had been written while on night duty in the signal tower of the naval base, Rosyth, in the Firth of Forth. They are here religiously transcribed to the last blot and weary mood. They had been addressed to an officer serving in the Indian Army in a Gurkha Battalion in the North West Frontier Province now in Pakistan. At the time of the Normandy landings he had been at sea in the North Sea in training for a commission in the RNVR.

He became surplus to the requirements of the navy and in 1944 after one week’s leave he was saluting differently, halting on the other foot and learning Urdu in the Indian Army. Transfer between the different armed forces was most irregular but of the 22,500 who had trained for a commission in the RNVR thirteen did.

This is an unusual work recalling the author’s experiences during the Second World War. Both his time in the Navy and with the Gurkhas are recorded intriguingly and with many illustrations and photographs. Snippets from his tender years include a lovely memory of a pre-war birthday party aboard HMS Hood. Shore leave is packed with fond memories of special time spent with Ann and shows the reader the life style of young people during a most difficult era. These contrast with accounts of the demanding duties of watch keeping and arduous training leading to a serious loss of sleep.

The Indian section includes an account of the author’s birth among the tea estates, the elephants and tigers, of the Nilgiri hills south of Mysore. He shares his evocative memories and paints vivid images of Indian culture, cities, animals and the friends he made. Most of the time he spent with the Gurkhas was under canvas and often above the snow line. At that time the roads were only open to traffic on two designated days each week after the army occupied the hill tops to prevent sniping by the tribesmen.

In the final year of British India many who had previously lived peacefully as neighbours now became deadly enemies as aspiring politicians sought to carve up this vast land. There were near impossible demands made upon the army to provide protection and succour to both Muslims and Hindus.

After five years away it was now time for the author to return home, to Blighty; to his home where recovery was not going to be at all easy.

The Signaller Wren is available from most booksellers, including Waterstones and Amazon