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Bernard Goodwin, born during World War II in 1940, went to Heanor Grammar School, and still lives in the same house he was born in.
It's well over fifty years ago now since the small town of Heanor, in Southern Derbyshire, became the talking point of The British Isles.
It was during the Second World War that U.S. Staff Sergeant William Thompson, an American G.I. at that time stationed at Cheltenham, met Nora Carpenter, just an ordinary girl looking for love.
They became lovers soon after meeting, and then some time later, Nora found she was pregnant. Can you imagine the surprise when she discovered she wasn't expecting one baby, but four?
The family were aghast when local mid-wife Nurse Bryan delivered two boys and two girls, on February 28th 1944, at their home on Derby Road.
They were named Michael, Maureen, Madeleine, and Macdonald Carpenter, and Nora's brother Don, a retired coal miner, recalled how they wrapped the babies in blankets, and placed them in draws in the home, and soon afterwards they took them in a neighbour's car to Heanor Maternity Home.
Sadly, MacDonald, the last to be born died about two weeks later, and Nora became so ill she was taken to Derbyshire Royal Infirmary. The three surviving quads stayed in the Maternity Home for several months, and were later Christened by the Vicar of Heanor, Douglas Smith.
The event raised interest throughout the whole of Britain, despite the war. The local cinema, owned by The Midland Empire Theatres, gave them Christening robes, and Savings Certificates, and even free tickets for life!
Heanor postmen carried special large postbags to cope with the increase of mail and parcels from all over the country. There were envelopes with money, clothing coupons, and even a proposal of marriage!
The babies all had blue eyes and blonde hair, just like their father, who visited and stayed at weekends. He was demobbed in 1945, and went back to the States.
He obtained a divorce from his American wife and in 1946, Nora flew to the U.S.A. to join him, with the three children, and of course, to get married!
Nora Thompson is believed to be still living in Pittsburgh with daughter Madeleine. Husband William Thompson died some years ago, but Nora has returned to Heanor twice since she left.
She says she has had a happy marriage with no regrets. At first she was homesick, but the children kept her too busy to think about coming home. All three children married.
Michael Thompson lives in California, Maureen spent two years in a convent before marriage, and Madeleine has two children.
So ends a happy story, when Britain was at war, a ray of sunshine amongst the cold of depression. How do I remember this, when I was only four years old at the time?
Well my mum was one of Nora's neighbours at the time, and she kept a scrap book with all the newspaper cuttings and memories, which was handed down the family after she died.
Some years later when I was in the entertainment business, I was given a 16mm film of the event, now possibly the only surviving record in colour of the event!
Bernard worked in cinemas and theatres around the Midlands, and also as an entertainer (singer) doing summer season shows.
Bernard Goodwin, Heanor, 2002
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