Notes to my Daughter E-Book

Alexander Pierce

• Herausgeber: The History Press
• Kategorie: Sachliteratur, Reportagen, Biografien
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2010

Beschreibung

When Christine Cuss (née Pierce), was born in 1934, her doting father began a journal addressed to her. At first he recorded everyday details such as first teeth and family holidays, but as the 1930s progressed his words took on a more sinister tone, as Europe and the world prepared for war. As well as being a rare historical document, Notes to my Daughter shows another side to the Second World War. It was written by a man who was torn between his duty to his country and his duty to his family. In a poignant and heart-warming turn of events, at every crossroads Alexander Pierce chose his family, not least his only daughter, Christine. This little family is an example of the spirit and determination of the British people through difficult times. Old or young, the sentiments expressed in these love letters to a cherished child will not fail to touch and move all who read them, and open a window into the extraordinary life of an ordinary family.

Leseprobe

Contents

Title Page

Foreword

A Father’s Diary

1934

1935

1936

1937

1938

1939

1940

1941

1942

1943

1944

1945

Postscript

Notes

Copyright

Foreword

The capturing of memories for future generations is always a very great service. Christine Cuss, in providing a wider readership with the diary written for her by her father, Alexander, allows the reader to enter her world and that of so many other children who lived through the years leading up and encompassing the devastation of the Second World War.

Christine Cuss has presented the text of her father’s diary very faithfully indeed and the straightforward and often brief entries serve only to give a greater clarity to events that were so important for a father thinking of his only child. A document such as this forms an important contribution to our understanding of everyday life of a difficult and deeply significant period in our nation’s history.

At a time when the world once more faces many uncertainties, and families are called upon to carry the burden of separation brought about through the demands placed upon our armed services, the words of this diary will find a fresh resonance for many. May it also bring a sense of hope through the commitment to family life that is so evident in the pages of this book.

Richard Moth

Bishop of the Forces

A Father’s Diary

My father, Alexander Pierce, was born in Mortlake, Surrey in 1904, and was one of eight children. His eldest brother Bill was killed in the First World War. Because of this, my father left school early and joined the army, misleading them about his age. His education, therefore, was poor, so readers of his diary will observe many spelling mistakes, but that is what makes the diary so special, because it was written by a very ordinary man whose thoughts and fears represented so many during those terrible war years.

My father married Gwendoline and they lived in her parents’ house in Hammersmith, West London. I was born on 17 July 1934, and that was the day my father began his diary to me. His intention was to record various events in my life, like my first tooth etc. Little did he know that within a short while his entries would one day become a historic document.

Although I was an only child I had many friends and there were always uncles and aunts popping in. My mother supplemented the family income by making beautiful blouses at home for a West End company, often working well into the evening whilst dad kept me amused, before the war began. Sometimes I sat by my mother at her sewing machine and she taught me how to sew neatly, often making me unpick something if it was not right. We were a very happy family who enjoyed days at the seaside and holidays spent in my grandparents’ second home at Herne Bay for the first five years of my life, prior to the advent of war. However, when war came, it brought so many changes.

One of the most difficult decisions my parents had to make was whether to send me away for evacuation or not. Readers will be touched by the entry my father made on 1 December 1939: anguish felt by so many parents.

My father’s aim in life was to do his best to look after my mother and me, and he was very determined that I should receive the education that he lacked. I well remember him setting me a page of sums to do every day which I completed before he came home from work. So often my lessons were done in air-raid shelters, and every evening we went to sleep in a public air-raid shelter joined by all the neighbours. Had we not done this, we would not have survived the destruction of my home by a doodlebug in 1944.

Looking back on the time between 1943 and 1945, life must have been intolerable for my parents and grandmother as they had so much tragedy and sadness with which to cope.

I sat the eleven-plus examination as the war ended and my parents were so proud when I passed the entrance examination to go to the Godolphin and Latymer School in West London, one of London’s top schools. I settled well into my new life at a school that not only gave me a wonderful education, but which also broadened my horizons. We had survived the war and my parents had realised their ambition for their daughter.

Christine Cuss née Pierce

1934

17 July 1934

Christine Born at 4.15 P.M.

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September 1934

Mother goes in to Hospital.

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1935

22 January 1935

Christine posed for Artist model it was acepted and hung @ the Royal. Acadamey called Madona of the Bay.

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June 1935

Christine cuts her first two teeth, she was eleven months old.

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20 July 1935

Mother goes in to Hospital for operation appendix.

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1 September 1935

Went to Herne Bay for our Holidays, very nice time.

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1936

20 January 1936

King George V died @ 11.55 P.M.

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28 January 1936

Mother and myself went to see the funeral procession got up @ 5.30 A.M.

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30 January 1936

Grandad Morris went in to Hospital, operation for his Eyes.

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22 February 1936

Put 8.13.0. in the Bank for Christine. I hope she will kiss her Daddy some day for it.

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10 March 1936

Christine went to the pictures for the first time.

War between Italy and Abyssinian. Abyssinian were defeated.

10 May 1936

Christine and Mother went to Jaywick Sands, very nice time.

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1 June 1936

Christine went to the Zoo Rengents Park.

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10 June 1936

Christine had to go to hospital with a bad eye.

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4 July 1936

Christine went to Caister Nr Great Yarmouth for our holidays. We did not like it. Rained for 3 days.

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16 July 1936

An attempt on the Kings life, a man was arrested and charged @ Bow St Station.

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