Remembering Uncle Ivan - an extract from Midnight

Sadly, on August 5th 2016, my beloved Uncle Ivan passed away, aged 88.

Like all of my Great Uncles, Uncle Ivan was a real character and a talented man. He was the keenest gardener I have ever met and he worked in people's gardens well into his eighties. His knowledge of plants was nothing less than encyclopaedic and his garden stands a testimony to his and my Auntie Hazel's skills and green fingers.

When he wasn't busy with his plants, Uncle Ivan loved to paint. I remember him showing me his painting room, which was piled high with beautiful paintings he had produced over the years. My personal favourites were his tree silhouettes against sunsets.   



 
Another vivid memory is of Uncle Ivan dancing his socks off at every opportunity, be it a party or a karaoke night. He loved to dance and was always a lot of fun!

I have very fond memories from a few years ago, of searching for haunted grottos in Friday Woods with Uncle Ivan and Auntie Hazel. We got lost in the woods, caught in a rainstorm and had a really entertaining and enjoyable afternoon together, laughing and joking. That's how it was every time I visited them. 

The sixth child of 8, my Grandad's little brother, Uncle Ivan was, like his brother Cecil, a mischievous child, who got into plenty of scrapes along with his brothers and who loved his sister Joan to pieces. The novel I am working on - 'Midnight' will tell the story of the effect World War II had on their lives. The stories he and his siblings shared with me, of those times are unbelievable. When I decided to write the novel, his enthusiasm for sharing his stories of life during that time was obvious and he seemed to enjoy the extracts I was able to share with him.

My Uncle Ivan was a joyous, cheerful and delightful soul, with an enormous capacity for fun and laughter and I loved him very much. As a family, we all loved him very much. He will be sorely missed by all who knew him. 

A few years ago, when we lost Uncle Cecil, I shared an abridged version of an extract from 'Midnight'. It is the tale of one of the many adventures shared by this pair of naughty boys. It's completely based in fact - you couldn't make it up! I wanted to do the same for Uncle Ivan. I hope you enjoy it.

Extract from 'Midnight'

by Annie Bell 

Left to Right - Cecil, Michael, Ivan

The sun beamed into the kitchen, as Cecil and Ivan gulped down their porridge (Cecil 'Hollow Legs' was already on his second bowl). I spotted them nudging each other, seeming a bit too quiet.

“What are you two up to?” I asked.

“Nothing,” Cecil beamed.

“Can we go out for the day?” Ivan blurted out. “We want to go to Brightlingsea.” 

Cecil scowled at him, adding “We haven't been there for ages.”

“I've told you before,” I scolded. “The coast is off limits, cause of the war.” I felt bad. They had been pestering for ages about the beach but what could I do?

“Mum...” they whined, smiling innocently, as though butter would never soften in their mouths, let alone melt. 

“No.” I insisted. “Mention it again, you'll have your father to answer to.”

“Humph. Ok … Can we play with Dennis instead?” asked Cecil.

“Yeah. That'd be fun,” nodded Ivan. “We're not stupid enough to go to the beach after what you just said, Mum.” 

I waved them off, despite my better judgement, and carried on peeling potatoes.

I later discovered that, within an hour of leaving, the boys scampered along the train tracks to Brightlingsea. As their naughty plan drew to its climax, they raced onto a swing bridge behind a train, risking being tipped headfirst into the estuary mud. How they weren't caught sooner, I will never know.

Reaching their destination, they ran to the now heavily altered beach. Dense structures of scaffolding, barbed wire and other unfriendly objects scarred the waterline. Our disobedient heroes ignored the warnings and raced off, dodging between the defences as if they were driftwood.

“Let's go crabbing!” cried Cecil joyfully, tramping through the sand. “We can practise forts too. Then we can beat the others, when the war is over!” As Cecil sped off, Ivan hesitated, my warnings ringing in his ears. “Come on Ivan!” yelled Cecil. “I want to catch a massive crab.” At that, Ivan forgot his concerns and followed, giggling, as Cecil's voice was drowned out by the roar of a Wellington bomber. They both stared skywards, their mouths hanging open as it flew over. Unfortunately, the Merlin engines stifled the frantic warnings from a soldier, who had just spotted them from a bunker. Too late, they heard him.

“STOP!” he yelled. “Minefield! Don't move!”

Both boys froze. My words echoed in their ears louder than ever but it was too late. Horrified, Ivan glanced at Cecil. Cecil stared back, lip quivering; tears welling up in his eyes. How would they get out of this scrape?

“Grab that stick!” the soldier barked at Ivan. “Prod the ground at an angle and move slowly towards him. When you're together, come to me.” Ivan nodded and tentatively inched forward. Cecil flinched each time the stick pierced the sand.

After several painful minutes, Ivan reached Cecil. 

“Walk in his footsteps,” the soldier told Cecil, as Ivan continued prodding the ground.  Both were scarcely breathing as they crept back towards safety. 

Ten feet from the soldier, “Oh my God!” Ivan shrank backwards, knocking Cecil off balance.

“What? What?” Cecil steadied himself.

“Mine!”

“Oh my God, Ivan! What do we do?”

“Look behind you. See the footprints?” the soldier advised. “Step back carefully and go round it.” Cecil stepped exactly into the marks in the sand. Ivan followed carefully. He prodded the ground a foot to the right of the mine. The coast was clear. A few breathless minutes later, they reached the sea wall.

The soldier, now purple with rage, grabbed the boys' ears and dragged them kicking and screaming to the police station, depositing them with the constable.

“Found these two playing in the minefield,” he scowled at the two miscreants. “Lock 'em up and throw away the key!” Ivan and Cecil, terrified at the thought of rotting in jail, both burst into tears.

“I'm so sorry,” Cecil sobbed. “Please don't put us in prison. Please.”

“No, please don't,” Ivan wailed. “We didn't know. Sorry.”

“Hmm …” the constable pondered. “Get in the car, before I change my mind.” He followed them out to his police car and drove them home, to tell me what they had done; none the worse for their ordeal but eating humble pie like there was no tomorrow. 

© Annie Bell 2013

WriteNight meeting 8th July

On Monday night, WriteNight met for our fortnightly meeting.

As regular readers will know, WriteNight is a group for writers, from the Colchester area, who love writing and want to spend time with like minded, writerly people.

This time, we met at the Castle Pub and we spent about an hour working on a writing exercise.

Using the WriteNight anthology (available in paperback or ebook here), we took 15 of the stories, went to the seventh line and noted down the seventh word. We then shared the list of words with each other and selected an opening and closing line at random. 

The results were interesting! We ended up with a random selection of topics, many of which seemed to focus on the current difficulties people are suffering, under austerity. It was interesting, as always, to see the different ideas everyone came up with.

If you want to have a go at the exercise yourself, here are the words.

sweet, paradox, dicks, riding, rustle, master, look, washing, mumps, instrument, research, general, mind, away, I.

Opening line: "Eventually we went from village to town, throughout our homeland but the war was everywhere."

Closing line: "Death would come quietly."

Below is what I came up with, which links in with the novel I am working on, about my family, during World War II ('Midnight'), which you can find out more about if you look back through this blog.

If you love writing and would like the company of those who love it as well, then come and see us! We meet on the 2nd Monday of the month at the Castle Pub, Colchester and at 15 Queen Street Colchester on the 4th Monday of the month.

Grandad

by Annie Bell

"Eventually, we went from village to town, throughout our homeland but the war was everywhere." Grandad paused for breath, his ruddy cheeks glowing with exertion. "Do you want a cup of tea?" he grinned, shaking my leg brusquely, eager for refreshment.

"Love one, Grandad," I grinned, scribbling notes in my book, along with the date - 3rd February 2013 - and pausing my dictaphone. Grandad groaned, as he hauled his tubby frame from his seat, staggering a little, as he gained his balance, before shuffling off into the kitchen.

I was so loving having the opportunity to research my family's role in World War II. Prior to this, Grandad had never spoken of his role in the war. I had only discovered it, after a chance conversation with Grandad's brother - my Uncle Cecil - had led me to the graveside of my Uncle Ken in Northern Germany. I had decided to write the book and Grandad had suddenly opened up, sharing tales of army cameraderie. No longer remembering the names of the other men, they were all Toms, Dicks and Harries, trying to master bridge building with the complex instruments involved; washing in ditches, whilst thinking back to the sweet ladies that awaited them at home.

I had shared in Grandad's heartbreak, as he revealed the darker side of the war; the bloated corpses of horses, formerly the riding horses of German soldiers, killed and dumped at the roadside, to prevent them becoming the tools of the Nazis. Jerry, he called them. He remembered the rustle of leaves in the bushes, as they broke their cover; the look in the enemy soldiers' eyes, as they breathed their last; the horrible paradox of knowing they were no different really - just pawns of their respective governments. Generals had sent them out to kill indiscriminately. The Germans, fighting in the name of a flawed and dangerous regime; the British in the name of a freedom, which now, in the time in which we now live, is being eroded away by our own representatives.

"Course, I caught mumps, whilst I was out there, Darling," Grandad's voice broke my reverie, as he shuffled in, with two mugs of steaming tea in his hands. 

As he sat, I noticed gravy stains down the front of his shirt - signs of his increasing frailty; he was 92, after all.

*   *   * 

I awoke, tears streaming down my face. It was all too real but it was all in my mind.

Poor Grandad. He never got to tell me his tales, as his brothers did.  Aged 73, on February 3rd 1996, as he carried his laundry through the car park of the Silver Oyster pub, a heart attack had ended his days. For this war hero, there was no Remembrance Day parade and no big commemoration. For him, death would come quietly. 

© Annie Bell 2013

'Midnight' and Memories of Uncle Cecil

Sadly, on March 11th 2013, my beloved Uncle Cecil passed away.

I would like to share some of the things that made him so great. 

Aged 83, he was a real character.  A keen motorcyclist and fan of motorsport.  We enjoyed numerous Formula One races together, cheering on the 'good guys' and trying to work out ways to stop those Ferraris from winning again!  

Uncle Cecil was a true eccentric artist.  He created numerous beautiful pictures, the most famous of which is still painted on his garage door.   

The seventh child of 8, my Grandad's little brother, Uncle Cecil was a mischievous child, who got into plenty of scrapes along with his brothers and who loved his sister Joan to pieces, often referring to her as his 'Second Mum'.  The novel I am working on 'Midnight' will tell the story of the effect World War II had on their lives.  The stories he and his siblings shared with me, of those times are unbelievable.  When I decided to write the novel, his enthusiasm for sharing his stories of life during that time was obvious and he seemed to enjoy the extracts I was able to share with him.

Uncle Cecil was a wonderful, if complex man, who meant the world to me.  I feel absolutely lost without him.  In his memory, I have included (below) an abridged version of an extract from 'Midnight', which is completely based in fact - you couldn't make it up!  I hope you enjoy it.

Extract from 'Midnight'

by Annie Bell

The sun beamed into the kitchen, as Cecil and Ivan gulped down their porridge (Cecil 'Hollow Legs' was already on his second bowl). I spotted them nudging each other, seeming a bit too quiet.

“What are you two up to?” I asked.

“Nothing,” Cecil beamed.

“Can we go out for the day?” Ivan blurted out. “We want to go to Brightlingsea.” 

 

Cecil scowled at him, adding “We haven't been there for ages.”

“I've told you before,” I scolded. “The coast is off limits, cause of the war.” I felt bad. They had been pestering for ages about the beach but what could I do?

“Mum...” they whined, smiling innocently, as though butter would never soften in their mouths, let alone melt. 

 

“No.” I insisted. “Mention it again, you'll have your father to answer to.”

“Humph. Ok … Can we play with Dennis instead?” asked Cecil.

“Yeah. That'd be fun,” nodded Ivan. “We're not stupid enough to go to the beach after what you just said, Mum.” 

 

I waved them off, despite my better judgement, and carried on peeling potatoes.

I later discovered that, within an hour of leaving, the boys scampered along the train tracks to Brightlingsea. As their naughty plan drew to its climax, they raced onto a swing bridge behind a train, risking being tipped headfirst into the estuary mud. How they weren't caught sooner, I will never know.

Reaching their destination, they ran to the now heavily altered beach. Dense structures of scaffolding, barbed wire and other unfriendly objects scarred the waterline. Our disobedient heroes ignored the warnings and raced off, dodging between the defences as if they were driftwood.

“Let's go crabbing!” cried Cecil joyfully, tramping through the sand. “We can practise forts too. Then we can beat the others, when the war is over!” As Cecil sped off, Ivan hesitated, my warnings ringing in his ears. “Come on Ivan!” yelled Cecil. “I want to catch a massive crab.” At that, Ivan forgot his concerns and followed, giggling, as Cecil's voice was drowned out by the roar of a Wellington bomber. They both stared skywards, their mouths hanging open as it flew over. Unfortunately, the Merlin engines stifled the frantic warnings from a soldier, who had just spotted them from a bunker. Too late, they heard him.

“STOP!” he yelled. “Minefield! Don't move!”

Both boys froze. My words echoed in their ears louder than ever but it was too late. Horrified, Ivan glanced at Cecil. Cecil stared back, lip quivering; tears welling up in his eyes. How would they get out of this scrape?

“Grab that stick!” the soldier barked at Ivan. “Prod the ground at an angle and move slowly towards him. When you're together, come to me.” Ivan nodded and tentatively inched forward. Cecil flinched each time the stick pierced the sand.

After several painful minutes, Ivan reached Cecil. 

 

“Walk in his footsteps,” the soldier told Cecil, as Ivan continued prodding the ground. Both were scarcely breathing as they crept back towards safety. 

 

Ten feet from the soldier, “Oh my God!” Ivan shrank backwards, knocking Cecil off balance.

“What? What?” Cecil steadied himself.

“Mine!”

“Oh my God, Ivan! What do we do?”

“Look behind you. See the footprints?” the soldier advised. “Step back carefully and go round it.” Cecil stepped exactly into the marks in the sand. Ivan followed carefully. He prodded the ground a foot to the right of the mine. The coast was clear. A few breathless minutes later, they reached the sea wall.

The soldier, now purple with rage, grabbed the boys' ears and dragged them kicking and screaming to the police station, depositing them with the constable.

“Found these two playing in the minefield,” he scowled at the two miscreants. “Lock 'em up and throw away the key!” Ivan and Cecil, terrified at the thought of rotting in jail, both burst into tears.

“I'm so sorry,” Cecil sobbed. “Please don't put us in prison. Please.”

“No, please don't,” Ivan wailed. “We didn't know. Sorry.”

“Hmm …” the constable pondered. “Get in the car, before I change my mind.” He followed them out to his police car and drove them home, to tell me what they had done; none the worse for their ordeal but eating humble pie like there was no tomorrow. 

 

© Annie Bell 2013