Even now I’m not sure in what specific year Great Aunt Mary
was born. When I was growing up she always claimed to be a child of the ‘modern
era’, but as I got older and recalled the stories she’d told me of her youth, I
began to think that her actual birth day must have been in the last years of
the nineteenth century rather than the opening years of the twentieth. She was brought
back into my mind over these last months as I was liaising with my editor on the
re-issue of Remembrance, my book
about youth in WW1, the new edition of which is due to be published next month.
There was tweaking to be done here and there. Am I alone
in noticing places where my text would benefit from a comma / preposition more
or less when doing readings from my work? I also spotted a few typos that were missed
first time around, and had been carried over even during in the transition from
hardback to paperback. But the main bulk of my work was to prepare Readers
Notes for inclusion in this new edition.
And it was then that I started to think of Great Aunt
Mary.
In her youth the most obvious outrageous thing about her
was her appearance. She wore trousers. In
public. I recall my mother saying that it was known as a family disgrace, a
notable scandal in our very small town. She told me about this in a slightly shocked
tone of voice (tinged with admiration?) It wasn’t so much a girl wearing trousers
that upset people. It was the fact that they buttoned up the front. It would
appear that they would have been deemed infinitely more modest if they had been
fastened at the side.
‘I mean, Mary,’ a female relative
remonstrated with her, ‘they look as if they are men’s trousers.’
At this, Great Aunt Mary knocked the
ash from her cigarette and snapped back. ‘That’s because they are men’s trousers!’
She was the inspiration for Maggie, one of the lead
female characters in Remembrance. The
custom in Great Aunt Mary’s home was after dinner, which had been shopped for, prepared,
cooked, served and cleared up, by the women of the household, the family sat
before the fire for an hour or so before retiring. The men might smoke but the women’s
hands were not idle either. They busied themselves knitting, darning or sewing –
there was always work to be done. Father would read the newspaper and, when he had
finished, he would then read it out aloud and give them his opinion about the
items it contained.
As Great Aunt Mary progressed into her teens it dawned on
her that her father was censoring what he told them. It caused a tremendous row
one day when she voiced a different point of view. She quoted facts to support her
argument and he asked her where she got her information. When she replied, ‘In
the newspaper’ he was furious. She must not read his newspaper. It would upset
her too much. He knew what was best for her. He forbade her to do it again. Great
Aunt Mary went out and got herself a job delivering newspapers. Then she proceeded
to read every newspaper, magazine and journal she could get her hands on. Given
an opportunity she would have a set-to with her father and anyone else who
tried to tell her what to think.
In Remembrance
Maggie’s father reads out the newspaper to the family, omitting the negative
news about the progress of the War. It’s only after having a conversation with
Francis, the young man from the manor house outside the village, that Maggie realises
this.
I knew I wanted that scene. But I had to find the trigger
for it. Part of my research was going through copy after copy of The Times, making notes and collecting items
both ‘shiny’ and dull. This is what I found.
It’s an account of the battle of Loos where, after
suffering heavy losses to take a position, the Allied troops ran out of
ammunition. As Maggie’s twin brother is fighting on the Western Front this is a
news article that Maggie’s father would keep to himself. Aha! My story
progresses as planned. But wait! Here’s the thing. I had intended Maggie to
become a nurse. I had done the research. I had outlined scenes - with dialogue.
I read and re-read the chapters I’d just written re Maggie’s elation and sense
of fulfilment at reading the newspaper for herself, and of having enough knowledge
to be able to discuss the War on equal terms with another intelligent human.
But, after that, what would Maggie do? What did Great Aunt Mary do when she saw
the posters asking for women to help the War effort? There's a brother out
there fighting. The soldiers need ammunition….
Yes, indeed, a feisty girl would do War Work. Now I have to
dig up everything I can find about munitions factories and ask elderly
relatives about my personal Cranky Old Lady. Great Aunt Mary stories come
flooding back. The stand-off with management when they tried to restrict the
toilet breaks of the women workers, the ignoring of basic safety rules and
being called a traitor if you complained. Women munitions workers lost fingers
when dealing with unstable explosives. It’s not all in the book, but the
backdrop is there. And in time, so also is the decision, after staring at the ‘sullen rows of shells’ and thinking of
her brother lost in the War, Maggie makes to turn to nursing.
 |
| Shell cone from Western Front |
I felt a deep responsibility when writing Remembrance, not only to get the facts
right, but to be true to the people of the time. To connect to the past with a
life-line of real characters.
For this new edition, adding the section at the end to
show photographs taken when I visited the Battlefields of the Western Front, with
excerpts from my research diaries, and writing up the Readers Notes has taken
me on journey which I hope others can share.
Images and Photographs Copyright:
© SCARPA
THERESA BRESLIN WRITING
ON WW1
BOOKS
CONTRIBUTOR:
