Wartime Friendships by Eleri Grace

 Our theme of relationships this month -- as it so often does each February -- brought me up short. I'm divorced and haven't even been on a date since before the pandemic. Sure, I could focus this blog on non-romantic relationships -- my relationships with my young adult children, with my wide circles of friends, with the larger writing community, and on and on. But I was not particularly inspired, nor sure how to tie those potential angles in with my writing. 

So I'm revisiting a theme from several years ago in February and putting a slightly new twist on it. In that blog, my focus was on how my Red Cross Girl heroines marched to the beat of a different drummer than their contemporaries in so many respects and how I, as a writer, have created novels that don't fully follow the standard tropes of historical romances or historical mainstream fiction. 

The Red Cross recruited extraordinary and accomplished women for overseas assignments. Marked not only by higher education and far more professional experience than most women of that era possessed, the Red Cross recruits possessed some or all of the following attributes in some measure: poise, charm, conversational skills, self-assurance, independence, ingenuity, adaptability, stamina, and creativity. Even in the earliest days of WWII, the Red Cross realized they needed self-starters who could draw on a range of varied life experiences to do unprecedented work. 

Because they were all so exceptional and at least somewhat out of step with the times, Red Cross Girls formed very strong bonds with one another. Fast friendships formed -- in the weeks of training stateside, on the voyage overseas or on location. One Red Cross Girl writing back to her training instructors from Europe noted: "Some fellas think we're brave, but we really don't know enough to be scared. Some think we'd be better off at home, where a woman's place used to be . . . about 200 years ago." I think most of us probably find it astonishing that a 1940s woman viewed the housewife trope to be an outdated norm. For some of these women, the war presented them with yet another opportunity to break free of strictures imposed back home. Based on many of the memoirs these amazing women wrote later in life, many of them went on to start or continue a successful career outside the home, whether they married or remained single. 

Yet, it took no small amount of courage to take such a leap of faith in signing on for destination unknown, duration unknown, and dangers unknown. The women frequently didn't know where they were assigned until they were out at sea (although they could make educated guesses based on whether they were shipping out from the east coast or the west coast). They didn't have a crystal ball to know the war would end in 1945. Most importantly, they had no idea what they would be called on to do or face in the course of their duties for the Red Cross, though most were smart enough to assume it would involve a lot more than serving coffee and doughnuts! 

Their unique qualities didn't shield them entirely from fear or from experiencing profound anxiety, stress, and war-weary despair. And in those times, they leaned on one another. The Red Cross friendships forged in wartime continued on after the war in many cases, with the women often remaining in touch for decades after their service. And like their male combat soldier counterparts, the women recalled their wartime service as the most significant years of their lives. The relationships they formed during those years, whether they continued on after the war or not, left their mark in so many important ways. 

You can find my Clubmobile Girls novels on Amazon, and you can learn more about me and my writing on my website or through my social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.