War Generations (standard:adventure, 14542 words)
Author: JamesMcFall	Added: Aug 13 2008	Views/Reads: 3072/2071	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
A short story dedicated to the memory of Walter Pope who lived through two World Wars.

WAR GENERATIONS by James McFall Dedicated to Walter Pope 4th January
1911 - 9th June 2006 Dearly Missed, Never Forgotten RIP 

CHAPTER ONE Walter Pope witnessed two World Wars.  Wally, as he liked to
be called, had his own business which was working in landscape that 
included gardening private houses, hotels and even a few golf courses.  
The Pope family lived in the south of England about a mile from the sea 
which they all had a great passion for.  His wife Mary, from Ireland, 
who had left home at sixteen to work as a maid, began working in London 
in large houses owned by wealthy families.  That was where Wally and 
Mary first met as Wally at that time was a chauffer near where Mary was 
working.  They both shared many interests, the main one being travel.  
Wally had his own motorbike which they spent many a day on, seeing the 
country-side and bringing their own tent as they loved the outdoor 
life.  Mary loved to cook and bake and it never took her long to get 
some sort of meal on the plate.  Wally's job was to get a fire going on 
these outdoor adventures and to stop somewhere close to fresh water. 
Their longer adventures included a month in Ireland and two weeks in 
Northern Ireland.  Life was difficult for the young couple at the time 
as it was for many other couples like them, money and work were hard to 
come by.  On their second day in Northern Ireland they stopped to ask 
for some directions from two men who were building a stone entrance to 
a house.  The first thing one of the workers said to Wally was 'not a 
bad day', which he was not familiar with though Mary had heard it said 
before.  They all had a great talk, the men telling the couple that 
they had motorbikes as well and were very interested in the travels and 
adventures of Wally and Mary.  All went very well for them in Northern 
Ireland and both were sad to leave, more so for Wally as they were 
headed for County Carlow in the south of Ireland to meet Mary's 
Parents, Wally's new Mother and Father-in-law.  When they arrived in 
the south Mary grew very nervous, hoping that her Parents would like 
Wally.  Mary was an only daughter and thankfully everything welt well, 
Mary's Parents being very glad to see them.  When the couple returned 
to England, Wally continued working in the landscape business and Mary 
began work as a cook's assistant in a near by hotel.  The couple were 
now making good money and had enough to put a deposit down on a 
cottage.  Life was going very well now for the couple and they were 
able to buy the cottage.  Wally now had a small crew of men working for 
him and they were enjoying life in their new cottage.  Mary was now 
working as a full time cook at a local school.  She wanted to start a 
family and the first child born to the couple was a girl whom they 
named Laura.  Wally had bought a small boat which he named 'Laura' 
which they had many good times in, often anchoring about twenty five 
yards from the beach in summer and swimming ashore. Four years after 
the birth of Laura, Mary gave birth to a baby boy who they named 
Wallter after his Father.  Wally and his son became very close and when 
the boy grew older he became very interested in motorbikes, like his 
Father.  Mary continued to work part time at the school and the family 
enjoyed their summers on the beach but all was coming to an end as 
there was talk of war.  The talk soon ended with World War One having 
begun and Wally was on his way to France.  During this trip the 
thoughts of Wally and many men like him were of home and loved ones and 
he knew he had to be extra tough in order to make the journey back 
home.  Life in the trenches was not as bad for Wally as it was for 
others as he was no stranger to digging from his landscape business 
back home but at home he never had to kill anyone in order to survive.  
He quickly moved up the ranks becoming a sergeant and wondering what 
his wife back home would think of this.  Many of the men that Wally had 
started out with were injured and even killed.  On one occasion four 
men became trapped in one of the tunnels and Wally and two other 
volunteers succeeded in rescuing them.  One bomb caused Wally to be 
thrown into the air, landing on another tunnel, his arm badly broken 
and left ear hurt.  He received three medals in total and was given 
some sick leave back home to England.  When he arrived home Mary 
thought that the war was over but Wally told her that it was not.  The 
children were at a make shift school and when Mary brought them back 
home they were so delighted to see their Father, young Wallter now 
being called Wall for short.  The next day the family headed to the 
beach.  Mary told Wally that Wall had met a new friend called Bobby 
from Sheffield whose family were now living in the same area as them 
and like Wally, Bobby's Father was also in the army.  Wally just had 
two weeks shore leave and was not in the best of health.  A close 
friend took care of the children one day while he and Mary went off on 
the motorbike for old times sake.  Wally also spent time alone with his 
children and one day the three of them went to meet Wall's friend 


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