Page 11 - The Spirit of Christmas 1940

The Spirit of Christmas 1940

meet their loved ones, some waited in vain.

In some cases, officers would wait on the platform to inform
relatives of the loss of their brave family members, It was a truly
heartbreaking sight. Jimmy would always be on the look out for
such instances, the last thing he wanted to do would be to scream
out the laterst headlines when such devastating scenes were
happening. The quick minded Jimmy always knew when to keep
quiet. Happily, this was not one of those times but something had
caught his interest. He wandered across the platform to Rose who
was busy arranging her displays of flowers into stunning colourful
patterns.

“Ere Rosie, have you seen that soldier over there? This is the
third time this week I’ve seen him here. He was here a lot last
week too.”

Rose peered across to a tall solitary soldier standing by the ticket
booth by Platform 1. His face was completely expressionless and
seemed oblivious to the hustle and bustle of the station. Almost as
if he occupied a space completely seperated from normal daily life.

“I can’t say I’ve noticed him before” Rosie replied, although she
had indeed noticed him on a few occassions but had decided not
to make a fuss. Best leave him be, besides he appeared so sad as
if he knew the pain that was bound to be arriving at church street
before long.

Jimmy scratched his head in wonder. “Why does he keep
coming back? Don’t seem right.”

“Best just let him alone Jimmy. It’s not our business.” Rosie
didn’t want to labour the subject. She felt uncomfortable getting
involved in other people’s business.

“I’m surprised old Crispin hasn’t told him to sling his hook.
You know what he gets like when things dont seem right. Still, I
suppose you’re right.” Jimmy thought it might be a good idea to