The Shadow of War by Jack Murray (read this if TXT) 📕

icy chill gripped her as she looked at her two boys. Both strong young men,but boys. One seventeen, the other twenty one. Their life was meant for otherthings, not this. What had happened to the world? The natural order of life wasworking in the village, falling in love, marriage. Thefamily was being ripped apart by forces that Kate did not understand. Life wasnot meant to be this.

Neville Chamberlain’s reedy voice halted all thoughts. Shelistened to the words that she’d dreaded hearing for days, if not years. Stanstood up from the kitchen table and walked to his armchair, puffing on his pipe.Danny and Tom stared at the wireless, in a mixture of excitement and dread.

‘This morning,’ announcedChamberlain, ‘the British Ambassador in Berlin handed the German government afinal note stating that, unless we heard from them by 11 o'clock that they wereprepared at once to withdraw their troops from Poland, a state of war would existbetween us. I have to tell you now that no such undertaking has been received,and that consequently this country is at war with Germany.’

Danny sat back from his hunched position. Hissenses tingled as he listened to the Prime Minister continue relaying thesombre news.

‘You may be engaged in workessential to the prosecution of war for the maintenance of the life of thepeople - in factories, in transport, in public utility concerns, or in thesupply of other necessaries of life. If so, it is of vital importance that youshould carry on with your jobs. Now may God bless you all. May He defend theright. It is the evil things that we shall be fighting against - brute force,bad faith, injustice, oppression and persecution - and against them I amcertain that the right will prevail.’

The family looked at oneanother when Chamberlain had finished. They waited for Stan to say something.Instead, Stan remained silent, staring ahead with a stony countenance.Unreadable.

‘What does it mean for theboys, Stan?’ asked Kate, unable to hide the fear in her voice.

Stan thought for a moment andthen said, ‘For the moment, nothing.’

‘For the moment,’ replied Katefearfully. The answer hung in the air, like mustard gas. But Stan remainedsilent, lost in his own thoughts. He looked at his wife. His eyes were likesunken pits and she felt like crying. As young as he was, Danny could read hisfather’s mind.

‘It means we’re all on alert,’said Danny. ‘If this Polish thing finishes well and Germany leaves, then we’reback to where we were. If they don’t leave and we commit troops then it’s amess and it will not end quickly. I think we’ll have to deal with Hitler onceand for all.’

He looked at his father as hesaid this and could see the sadness in a man who recognised, with all due senseof fear and dread, what the next few years would bring. At last Stan rose fromhis seat and trooped out of the kitchen and headed back towards the forge. Thefamily watched him go. They looked at one another. Tom put a comforting armaround his mother but could find nothing to say.

-

Later that evening, Danny satwith a group of his friends in the centre of the village. All of the young menof the village were there. Normally such get-togethers were marked by fairlyrobust banter. However, the mood was solemn. Instead there was discussion aboutwhat they would do. A few of them had lost family during the Great War andthere was an unspoken agreement that, amongst them, there would be no bellicosebehaviour. The conversation centred on one topic.

‘They’ll start calling us up inthe new year, wait’ll you see,’ said Hugh Gissing with absolutely no evidenceto back up this claim. But they knew he was right. It was just a question ofwhen.

Danny was unusually quiet. Histhoughts were scattered like the leaves on the ground. He felt an emptinessthat he couldn’t be sure wasn’t fear. The certainties he’d felt as a child hadslowly begun to erode over the last few years. War was a hastening rather thanan end to a process that had been developing in the library at Cavendish Hall.

Over the last few months he’dbegun to make frequent trips, at Henry Cavendish’s invitation, to the Hall. Muchof his spare time had been spent in the library. His reading had been focusedon history initially but slowly expanded out as Henry introduced him toscience.

His reading of historysuggested that the war would take time to progress. Listening to Henry made himcomprehend just how unprepared the country was. Any call up might take much longerto occur than they realised. As the nation made provision for the comingstruggle, it would need to develop strategies that encompassed military andcivil life: the building of armaments and ensuring the security and continuityof food production was more important now than battle planning.

Without dismissing Hugh’scomment, Danny explained this to the group, who listened in silence. Afterwardsit was clear that, to a man and boy, they would all volunteer to serve. Some ofthe farm hands wanted to volunteer immediately but Danny counselled againstthis.

‘I’m telling you, right at thismoment the best way we can help is to do what we’re doing. The country needsfood,’ said Danny looking at Bert Gissing and his friends, who had been most infavour of immediate enlisting. ‘We’ll hear soon enough what’s needed of us.’

There was a quiet authority inDanny now that seemed at odds with the lad they had grown up with. The younglad they rememberedwas someone always on the lookout for a bit of mischief. Now he’d changed. Theyhad all changed of course, but the change in Danny went beyond the merelyphysical.

All knew of the friendship withCavendish family. All knew how much time he spent up at the Hall. No onebegrudged him this. He was still one of them. Instead, there was an unspoken pride in the factthat Lord Cavendish could also see what they had long suspected.

Of course, boys will always beboys. The gravity of the day gradually gave way to the enthusiasm andirreverence of youth. War was on everyone’s mind now but no more or less thanthe other overriding interest of these boys.

A few girls began to