it had been so hard for him to watch her leave. Tears started to roll down her cheeks as she thought about it. She could never have imagined anything this dramatic. But as she wiped them away, all it did was make her more determined to keep going, to keep fighting for herself and for her family. This was a night she would never forget but she girded herself with steel. Britain was counting on her and so many other women like her and she would have to be ready for the next onslaught because she knew the Germans would be back.
22
As Julia travelled to work on Monday, the transportation system was still in much disarray from the second night of bombing. A lot of the roads were shut down due to either dangerous buildings that were still unstable from the bomb attack or others that been entirely destroyed. There were remnants of them scattered about on the road, stopping her from getting through. She had to go across town on a different route, having to change two buses to get her to work. It took her a while to get just from Brixton into Whitehall. Still, the bus driver had to put her off early, and she had to walk nearly half a mile to get to the office, but she noticed something very interesting as she went. There was quiet defiance around everywhere. People were not just clearing up the debris; there was a determination in how they spoke to one another and how they were.
She wondered now that there had been two nights of bombing if this was going to be a regular occurrence from now on and was suddenly very glad her children were safe. Her thoughts returned to the day before, and the message that had been on the wireless about Churchill’s visits to the East End, to an area that had taken one of the hardest hits. A woman whose house had been destroyed was being interviewed, and the resilience in her tone had impressed Julia. ‘They will not tear us down,’ she’d said in a firm voice, and it echoed in Julia’s mind as she made her way through the city streets. Everywhere there were the WVS and air-raid wardens who were helping wherever they could. Outside one of the stations, she passed a makeshift tea stand that had been erected by one woman, who was handing out cups of tea to weary travellers to bolster them up. ‘Keep going,’ she was saying. ‘We’re not going to let him intimidate us.’
On the way to the gate at Whitehall, she noted, security was much more intense today. It took her a while to get through, and once she got down to the war rooms, the energy inside was electric.
Everyone was busy trying to come to terms with the situation. There were more people in the bunker than she’d ever seen before. As she passed the map room, someone opened the door and inside she could see a large group already in, talking, quietly whispering around the map, obviously attempting to get a read of what was going on in the air and in France. Ready to assess the damage and what needed to be done. In her own typing office, there was a hush and a buzz as all the girls quickly moved to type up assessed information being filtered through from the main office.
‘We’ll have our work cut out for us today,’ said Linda as she lit a cigarette. ‘I don’t suppose we’ll be going home tonight,’
Mrs Scriber suddenly appeared.
‘Sorry I’m late,’ said Julia, pulling off her hat and coat and sitting down at her typewriter.
‘No time to spare,’ she snapped. ‘Mr Churchill wants to see you right away.’
All the girls stopped typing and looked across at Julia.
Mrs Scriber continued. ‘He wants you to type up his speech for the broadcast on Wednesday.’
Julia scanned the room at all the other girls’ faces as they nodded their encouragement.
Nervously, picking up the typewriter, Julia followed Mrs Scriber at a clip to Churchill’s office. Balancing her typewriter on her knee, she perched on the edge of a chair outside the door, to wait for him. All at once, the prime minister himself appeared, chatting in a loud, animated way with a member of his cabinet. ‘I hear your point of view, and it’s not that I’m against it,’ he was booming as he rushed past her, ‘but sometimes, you have to fight to create the peace