THIRTEEN
TICKET TO AUSTRALIA - FOR ONE
The weeks between Thomas's announcement that he might be posted to the flagship of the Australia Station Commodore, and the time he actually left Florence to take up the new post flew by. To her it seemed that almost every day she saw him in her room in Devonport brought with it a new and exciting snippet of information and news. The news of his appointment to the ship as Electrical Artificer Grade Four had been broken to him during late September, together with his issue of new tropical uniform. One Saturday in the middle of October Florence sat in her room reading a short book on her future new home country. A knock on the front door announced his arrival. Florence skipped happily to the front door, to find him standing there his arms loaded with his kitbag. Florence smiled and opened the door wide for him to enter.
'What on earth have you got there Tommy?' she asked.
'Wait and see,' was all he would say. He squeezed past her as she went to close the door after him and followed him into her room. Thomas placed the heavy kitbag on her bed and turned around to take her in his arms.
'Go on,' she said 'Tell me.' Thomas just grinned at her and slowly removed his greatcoat, throwing it down on the bed by the side of the lumpy kit. Without saying a word he bent to unfasten the cord around the top of the kitbag, and took out his new tropical uniform, white and brand new. Quickly he took off his outer clothes and replaced them with the new kit, then stood before her to display himself in the new tropical gear, which he anticipated he would be wearing for the forthcoming months, or years. When eventually he had changed completely into his new 'rig' he stood in front of her for inspection.
'Oh Tommy. You look so smart, just like an officer,' she said, her face wreathed in smiles. Thomas grinned and adjusted the flat cap on his head to a more regulation angle instead of the rather jaunty one he had originally set.
'Can't be an officer love, I work for my living,' he joked. He did look smart though, as he would be the first to accept. All rigged out in white trousers and collarless round neck jacket, with a white flat cap on his head, he looked the part. When she had inspected him from top to toe her mood calmed a little.
'When are you due to go Tommy. Have they given you a date yet?' she asked quietly. She stood before him with one hand on her hip and the other with a finger resting on the tip of her chin. He caught her look and gently replied
'In a couple of weeks love. The replacement crew are leaving on the twenty fifth on the Powerful and due to dock in Freemantle a few weeks later.' He paused and flicked at a piece of grit lodged on the lower edge of his tunic. 'I suppose it depends which way we go as to how long it takes. We might go via the Cape or through the Canal, in which case the time we arrive in Australia will vary. Can't be sure 'til we know.'
'I need to get to know more about this place you're going to don't I?' She asked, almost to herself. 'I think I'll get myself down to the library in Plymouth after you're gone and find out more. I don't even know where Freemantle is.' She paused then said, 'You will write to me won't you?' moving in to run her hands up and down the smooth fabric of his jacket.
''Course I will. Count on it love,' he replied, removing the cap from his head and placing it on the table by their side. 'I'm only going to Australia, not the moon, and anyway, you will be coming out to live there, won't you?' he asked. Florence nodded her head and laid her face against the fabric of his jacket.
'I just think I'll miss you a lot Tommy' she said quietly, 'And I don't want us to be apart for too long.'
'Don't you worry your lovely head my flower. As soon as I think I've got my feet under the table I'll write and you can come out. Shouldn't be more than a year before we are together again.' Florence nodded her head silently into his chest and then pulled away and sat down on the edge of her bed. A year was not what she had in her mind, far less. Tommy started to take off his clothes and replace them with his ordinary uniform. Florence's heart sank a little as the realisation of how long they would be parted sank in.
'Tommy' she said quietly. 'You're not going to be one of these Jacks who has a girl in every port are you?' The worry showed in the tone of her voice and in the downcast look on her face as she studied her hands held in her lap.
'Now listen here my lover' he replied. 'I'm not one of these young fellers with no ties nor responsibilities. I'm married to you, and that means a lot to me. I'm not going to be looking for some fresh wife somewhere, ever. I loves you Flo, an awful lot, and I can't ever see anybody else taking your place.' He smiled down at her and held out his hand. She took it in hers and rose from the bed, folding herself once more in his arms They stood silently for a few moments until he pulled away and said gently, 'Now I got to be getting back to the ship, else I'll be catching it from the Bosun.' He smiled at her then kissed her once more on the lips before pulling away and, picking up his cap from the table, placed it squarely on his head.
At the front door, she stood and embraced him again from the top step whilst he stood on the lower step. As they pulled away from each other she reached up and tipped the side of his cap a little sideways so that it sat at a jaunty very un-naval attitude on his head. Thomas smiled and kissed her once more.
'See you in a day or so my lover,' he said. His voice had started to affect the west country burr of a Cornishman, in addition to picking up a few of the words and phrases of that county. He walked down the few paces to the street, turned to wave to her and then walked smartly away towards the dockyards.
Florence went back into her room and sat on the bed with her back against the wall, and her legs stretched out along the length of the bed. For an hour she sat there and thought of Tommy and herself, their lives apart and her impending upheaval from England to Australia. Soon, the sun started to fall down towards the western horizon, over the back of the dockyards and the ship her Tommy was working on. The sky turned from pale blue to deep blue, and night clouds started to form as the sun disappeared. Major changes to all aspects of her life were about to overtake her, and she had many things to plan before the first of those would occur.
..............................................................
On a cold day late in October in the early hours of the working day, Florence stood on the Hoe at Plymouth wrapped in her heaviest overcoat and her wide brimmed deep purple hat. Around her neck was wrapped a thick woollen scarf which her mother had made, and on her hands a pair of leather gloves her Tommy had bought for her at the onset of winter. Pushing her fingers deep into the gloves, she hugged her arms around herself as she stood on the path which ran along the sea front along the length of the Hoe, and tried to stop the keen west wind from biting into her and making her feel even colder than she was. The sun had risen a little after seven that morning, and now in the dim light two hours later it was difficult to believe that it had risen at all. The sky was filled from horizon to horizon with a dense layer of grey cloud which hung there limply without any perceptible movement. Occasionally, sharp squalls of rain blew in from the sea striking her face. Florence watched the sea, and the place where she knew HMS Powerful would exit from the dockyards into the Sound. Several times before this day she had stood in this same position as Thomas, onboard his latest ship, had left shore for yet another bout of training to bring him, finally, to the required level for the Royal Navy and his first posting. Even now, she thought, she wouldn't get to see very much of the ship he was now serving on.
Another blast of cold wind tried to whip the hat from her head. Florence became aware that there were five or six other women strung out in a silent uneven line along the path she was standing on, obviously other Navy wives. All of them were waiting, like her, for the ship to depart. All of them seemed to be dressed in similar clothing to her, designed to keep out the cold and occasional rain, all standing quietly by themselves. Except for one woman, who had two small children, a boy of about ten and a girl who appeared to be some years younger, standing by her side. All three of them were wrapped up well against the cold and occasional rain. She felt a wave of sympathy for them, knowing what they were feeling and trying to guess what they were thinking. Were they also thinking the same thoughts which went through her mind, or had they been through this farewell several times before? She tried to examine each of the women in turn without it becoming too obvious that she was staring at them. They seemed to fall into two distinct age groups; young agitated women like her, and older women with an air of acceptance and resignation on their faces. She wanted to go to them and ask they how they felt, but knew that any interruption in their private thoughts would not be welcomed. She stood quietly and watched the occasional white tipped waves and the grey sea, until finally the bow of a ship appeared, cutting slowly across the headland in front and to the right of her.
In the dull cold morning light Florence had difficulty in identifying much detail on the ship, as it made its way slowly from the dockyard out into the Sound. She saw the guns pinned into the side of the ship, looking a little like stunted arms sticking out from the side of a small child which was trying to struggle into a coat too small for it. She could easily make out the four funnels standing proudly from her deck, and the cranes in front and behind the funnels. It's guns were not clearly visible, but she could see tiny men figures scurrying around the deck. Whilst she could just about see the men, identification of individuals was impossible, they were like mice in a flour barrel. Though the ship was not moving very quickly, to Florence there was too much to be taken in on the one passage past her vantage point, and soon she realised it was disappearing from her view out towards the open ocean.
She stood in the morning chill, a solitary figure with her solitary companions, watching in silence until the ship disappeared from view, taking with it their men, their loved ones, away from England to their final destination in Australia. As the last feint blur of smoke from the four funnels faded into the horizon the cold worked its way slowly through her clothing and into her bones. She shivered as she stood on the Hoe watching it, and silently wished her Tommy a safe journey until she could meet up with him once more in that far off land.
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