THE WAR BRIDE CLUB

THE WAR BRIDE CLUB

SORAYA LANE

A Note From Soraya

When I first started researching British war brides from World War II, I couldn’t believe how many women were prepared to marry American soldiers, knowing they would have to move halfway across the world, leaving their families behind forever. Back then, moving to America was like moving to the moon – it was so far away that most women would never see their friends or families ever again. This kind of love is perhaps what gave people hope during wartime, and while many wartime marriages ended in heartache, many more resulted in life-long love affairs.
 

This story has been a work-in-progress for many years, but it’s one that I’m so thrilled to share. Many of my books are dedicated to my mother, and this one is no different – without her help with my young son each day, I’d have no time to write!
 

I love to hear from readers, so please visit my website
www.sorayalane.com
to contact me direct. You can also connect with me on twitter -
https://twitter.com/Soraya_Lane
.

You may also enjoy my other best selling books, including MONTANA REUNION, THE NAVY SEAL’S PROMISE and THE SOLDIER’S SWEETHEART.

At the end of World War II, more than 100,000 British women had married American soldiers. These women, some with children, were desperate to travel to America to be with their husbands, and in 1945 the United States Embassy in London was picketed with war brides demanding ships.
 

      On December 29
^th
1945, the War Brides Act was passed by the United States Congress, which allowed war brides and minor children of American citizens entry into America.

      The War Department commenced project ‘Diaper Run’, an operation to reunite husbands with their foreign brides and children in America. The first ship set sail on January 26
^th
1946, arriving in New York Harbor to sounds of ‘Here Comes the Bride’.

“You have undertaken to become an American – just as millions of other people have done before you. Getting to know your adopted country will be an exciting adventure: the future is before you.
 

You have no doubt heard a great deal from your husband about the part of the United States you will probably live, but you may still be wondering how you will get acquainted with people, what they will be like, and how you will manage your new home. This short guide cannot answer all your questions, but it may help you in making plans and adjusting yourself to American ways of living.”

-Good House Keeping Magazine (1945)

P A R T
 
O N E

CHAPTER ONE

MADELINE Parker clutched her hat to her chest and waved goodbye to her parents. The ship groaned and heaved beneath her feet, as if straining beneath the weight of so many women. Heels cascaded over timber, the decibels of high-pitched female voices assaulting her eardrums, but nothing could quell the excitement beating a steady drum in her stomach.
This was it.
 

      A ship that had once transported soldiers to war was now taking them across the ocean to their husbands. To a new life so far from London they could have been travelling to another world.
 

      A shriek made Madeline turn. She watched a young woman fall to her knees, sobbing as the ship pulled away. Madeline looked back to catch a final glimpse of her own mother, of her father bravely holding his wife against him. Tears fell absently down her cheeks, but she held her head high. She was leaving home for the man she loved. It was time to start her own adventure, and she couldn’t wait.
 

      All around her, women cried, giggled, screamed and chatted. It was incredible. All these girls fleeing their families, leaving everything they’d ever known, to be with their handsome GI’s.
 

      “America,” whispered Madeline.
America
. It sounded so exotic, so unknown,
so decadent.
       

      Her heart skipped its rhythm just thinking of her husband. Three weeks they had known one another, three exhilarating, exciting weeks they had spent together in total, and now she was finally going to be with him. All those months of waiting, hoping, and the day had finally come.
 

      Madeline lifted her bag and moved away from the ship’s edge, the people on the dock like specks now, dots in the distance.
 

      She was surrounded by women, although she knew no one. But she didn’t feel alone. They were all leaving England with the same purpose, all wives who had patiently waited to be transported to their new homeland.
 

      Signs had already started to be pinned to boards, with different States scribbled across the top. Madeline watched as a group of women scrambled to add their names to a list. At the entrance to the lounge was a huge poster – a map of the United States of America. She could see painted fingernails tracing every inch of it.
 

      The flutter of identity cards pinned to jackets made her look down, then finger her own. Each color represented the state they were destined to live in, and right now hers made her feel like a refugee or cargo being shipped to the other side of the world.
 

      “Great idea, don’t you think?”

      Madeline turned. The voice belonged to a pretty blonde, her hair a shimmer of short curls falling almost to her shoulders. A sweep of red lipstick adorned full lips that were set in a wide smile.
 

      “Ah, yes, it’s clever.”

      “Alice Jones,” said the other girl, extending a petite hand. She turned her shoulder to reveal another woman, standing behind her. “And this is June West.”

      “Madeline,” Madeline replied.

      They shook hands and smiled, before a shyer June stepped forward.
 

      “Where are you headed?” asked Alice. “Besides into your husband’s arms, of course!”
 

      Madeline couldn’t help the smile that tugged at her lips. She held up her red identity card.

      “New York.”

      “Oh my goodness. Us too!”
       

      Alice clutched Madeline’s hand and linked arms with June, before marching them off in the direction of the lists.
 

      “We
must
sign up now. Imagine who else we could meet.”

      “Are we assigned to rooms?”

      Alice shrugged. “I don’t know, but we’ll bribe whomever we have to so we can all room together, don’t you think?”

      Madeline nodded and hurried to keep up with her new friends. She guessed, from the still-shy expression on June’s face that she was a new recruit of Alice’s too.
 

      She was relieved. It was going to be a long journey and having someone fun to pass the time with was precisely what she needed.
 

The beat of heels on the wooden deck was deafening, the sway of the ship as she moved out in to deeper ocean already sending unwelcome rumbles through her stomach. Betty Olliver pressed one hand to her belly and tried to focus on breathing. In and out, she reminded herself, but it wasn’t as easy as that. She had forced her over-size stomach in tight under her blouse, terrified one of the authorities would notice her pregnancy, and now all it was succeeding in doing was making her feel faint. So faint she had a feeling she was about to keel overboard.
 

       
Betty grasped a nearby railing and wished she could just let her waist out from its restraints. She’d been determined not to wait around at home and give birth without a husband near, but now she was starting to feel differently. Very differently indeed.

      When the letter had arrived telling her it was time to depart, there was no chance she was going to be left behind.
But now.

      “Oh dear, are you okay?”

      She looked up and into the kindest blue eyes she’d seen in a long time. Betty just nodded, squeezing her own eyes shut for a second as if the act itself would give her strength.
 

      “Oh no you’re not,” said the voice again. “I shall call an official over.”

      “No!” Betty expelled the word with all her might, reaching for the woman’s wrist. “No.”

      The blue eyes turned from kindly to uncertain. Betty released her grip. She noticed two other women standing slightly to the left, and wished she hadn’t spoken so rudely.
 

      “I’m sorry, it’s just, well,” she dropped her voice an octave. “I’m in the family way.”

      The three women looked at one another. Betty felt dread shiver down her spine. Had she been too quick to voice her condition? Too trusting?

      “Alice,” said the first woman, her smile reaching her eyes. “And this is Madeline and June.”

      Betty smiled back at them, grateful they were being so kind.
 

      “Betty Olliver.” She regained her composure and straightened her shoulders. “I’ll be fine in just a moment.”

      “Do you need to sit down?”

      She didn’t need to think that one over. She’d never been so in need of a seat. “Yes. Oh yes.”

      Alice wound her arm around her and took her weight. Betty didn’t want to be a charity case but she wasn’t above admitting she needed help.
 

      “I really owe you,” she managed, feeling a sharp pain with every step despite the help. “I just…”

      “You’re not wearing a corset under there are you?” Madeline hissed, pulling at the back of her cardigan. “Ooohh, you are, aren’t you?”

      They all stopped. Betty knew she looked guilty, but what could she say? It was wait around alone or get on the first ship to find her husband. The first plan wasn’t an option she could have ever entertained. Not when she had no family at home in London.

      “I might not know a lot, but medical matters are what I do know something about. You could hurt the baby, not to mention yourself. And what if it brought the labor on before you’re both ready?”

      Madeline looked angry and Betty didn’t have the will to fight. Maybe it had been a silly plan, but she was on board now and there was no going back.
 

      “Quickly, let’s undo these laces and you can throw this shawl over yourself. No one will notice, not with everything going on.”

      “Thank you.” It was all she could say. “Thank you, thank you so much.”

      Madeline tsked and Alice just smiled kindly. So did June. Betty was on the verge of bursting into tears. It was nice not to feel so alone, to have company after so long without it.
 

      “There are medics on board,” said June, her voice whisper-soft. “If something does happen, there’ll be someone to care for you.”

      “Come on, let’s find a cabin,” announced Alice, holding out a hand. “I’ve heard there are eight hammocks in each, but the ship’s not full and I’m sure we can get one together.”

The girls huddled around Betty as she attempted to catch her breath. Lying down, without the corset, was helping. Her lungs still felt like they were heaving, even now her breathing had slowed, and she was grateful for the help. With her parents dead and no siblings, she’d been pregnant and alone for so long. For once it was nice to be cared for.
 

      “How many months are you?”

      Betty gulped. This was not a question she wanted to answer. The girl, Madeline, seemed to know a lot about pregnancy, and she’d probably think even less of her once she knew.
 

      “It’s okay, we won’t tell.”
 

      Betty smiled at Alice who, she’d decided, was perhaps the prettiest girl she’d ever met. All smiles and dimples, with a face that couldn’t be called anything other than beautiful.
 

      She noticed that Madeline was pursing her lips. She had a feeling she was the one who
would
tell. Or judge her. But maybe she just knew the most about babies.
And dangers.