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Here Brian Backhouse recalls the second part of an intriguing tale that began in Liverpool and is documented under that county on this website. This second episode took place when he was in his 50's.
After leaving the army I became involved in youth work in Kent and in the early 80's a young girl aged sixteen, from one of the Youth Clubs, came and told me she was three months pregnant from a relationship with a youngster who wanted nothing to do with her.
Obviously distressed, she told me she wanted to keep the baby but she lived with her widowed Grandfather following a break-up of her parents' relationship. Her grandfather said she'd have to have the child adopted as there was no way she was going to keep the child there.
As my wife Jean had been in the same circumstances shortly before meeting me in 1962 and had had to have her child adopted (terrible stigma in those days, with no support) I thought that the best thing to do was for the girl to speak to Jean, who invariably the 'kids' at the clubs treated as a 'mother figure' and to see if the grandfather could be persuaded to change his mind.
Jean went round with the girl to her home and getting a somewhat cool reception invited the Grandfather to our home for Sunday dinner to meet me and to discuss the matter. Jean said that he was obviously looking for a way out as he readily agreed.
Comes the day, who should walk in with his Granddaughter - yes - the Ack Ack soldier I had met elsewhere in life. (Referred to in the previous instalment under Liverpool).
Well, that was the ice broken, solutions came readily. The girl had a son, they lived at home with Granddad with all the help and support that was available from all sources.
The boy was the 'apple of his eye' but unfortunately the Grandfather died shortly after we moved up here to Milton Keynes in 1983. In the mean time she (the girl) had met a young man and they married shortly after the grandfather died.
We went to their wedding, just a quiet affair and it was then that they told us they were emigrating to Australia.
Almost her last words were before we left and came home were 'You know, Brian, my Grandfather told me after I had had the baby that he had said to you, many years ago, that you would meet a woman who was your soul mate; you my girl will one day meet a man who is destined to be your soul mate. Brian, I know that I have met him'.
Well, you know the way things are, we got a letter saying that they had arrived safely and then somehow we lost touch. Other things came up, our own children and seventeen grandchildren taking up our time and with Jean having to take care of me because of my disabilities the lives of others (non-family) got pushed into the background.
That's the story of the Ack Ack soldier.
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