By Anne Appelboam, Creative Writing group 3

It was a striking vintage coat, dark burgundy with a nipped in waist and wide lapels; an authentic piece of wartime clothing with the CC41 Utility label still attached. Lucy loved it. She was helping at a sale of good quality second hand clothing, and one of the perks of the job was that helpers could purchase items before the doors opened to the public.

Back home she tried it on again, together with a brimmed felt hat, also bought at the sale. It would be perfect for the Goodwood Revival festival she was attending at the weekend. As it smelt a bit musty she decided to have it cleaned, and on checking the pockets she was surprised to find a folded sheet of paper. Opening it out and smoothing out the creases, she was able to read the faded but still legible writing:

July 20th 1942

My dear Myrtle,

I so enjoyed meeting you last night at the dance in the village hall. It is wonderful to get away from the base and have time to
relax on those rare opportunities when we are free. The future is so uncertain, and at the moment we can only live from day to day, but should the opportunity arise, I should love to make your acquaintance again.

In the meantime, if you have a moment, it would be so nice to hear from you.

Yours sincerely
Benjamin Sheverton

This was intriguing. Lucy wondered if there had been any future for this couple. It was wartime, and as Benjamin appeared to be based in the UK, perhaps he was in the RAF; a fighter pilot or in bomber command, or maybe a plane dispatcher? Was Myrtle a local girl he had met by chance? As she was in mufti one would assume she was not in the forces. With her love of family history, Lucy opened her laptop and logged in to her favorite website. Both their names were fairly unusual, so that would help.

She loved this detective work, but was frustrated when she only found three people with the name Benjamin Sheverton; two were born way back in the nineteenth century, and the third was only a baby in the forties. Ah well, it was a mystery, but Lucy continued to speculate on the previous owner of her coat, imagining romantic liaisons, tragic wartime endings……

She enjoyed the Revival festival and her outfit was much admired, but she was still determined to find out more about its history. On getting home she retrieved the letter and scrutinized it once more. It had obviously been written in haste, and the name in particular was hard to decipher. Maybe the e was actually an a; could it be Shaverton, it was worth a try. Back on the laptop and there it was, Benjamin Shaverton, born 1918, appearing in the 1921 census and in a marriage record for 1945. And the spouse’s name, Myrtle Smith!