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 I think most of us probably find it astonishing that a 1940s woman viewed the housewife trope to be an outdated norm.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. 

Google your Way to Genuineness by Eleri Grace

Setting plays an important role in my novels, but I mostly make do with experiencing the setting from afar. Much as I would love to travel and do first-hand research, some of my settings are simply too far-flung or currently dangerous for that to be a viable option! For those novels, Google has become my best friend, and I'm grateful to have so many resources at my fingertips. It's hard for me to imagine how I might have created the level of detail that I do in my novels without the internet and all its fabulous resources. 

Restored control tower and base of 100th Bomber Group, Thorpe Abbotts, England (2016)

For my first novel, set primarily on a US bomber base in southeastern England, it was easy to draw on my experiences from having lived in that very area while studying abroad in 1989 and from a more recent research trip led by the National WWII Museum. That tour allowed me the opportunity to not only visit two of the restored air bases but also to chat with some of the locals who were children during the war and have vivid memories of those years with all the American airmen who served there. While we did not visit the base that I had already chosen as the focal setting for Courage to be Counted, it was still incredibly helpful to see these bases and imagine how similar they were to what my characters experienced at Chelveston. 

Historical re-enactors: 95th Bomber Group, Horham, England (2016)

St Andrews Church, Quidenham, England, stained glass window in honor of USAAF 96th Bomber Group

Red Cross Girls doing laundry in a river in New Guinea, circa 1943

My second novel Carry a Crusading Spirit followed my heroine from Australia (that would have been a great trip if I could have managed it!) to New Guinea and then to Tinian Island in the Northern Marianas. Time and finances didn't allow me to visit these places in person (and New Guinea is not particulary safe either), but I made great use of online sources. Google Earth is an extraordinary resource for authors looking to get a better feel for the topography, and I used it often for my hero's New Guinea flight scenes. In addition to photos, maps, and Google Earth, I have had great luck with videos -- not only current ones that show a general idea of the lay of the land, but many historical videos are available online. 

My latest novel in progress is set in India and Burma (now Myanmar). Obviously Myanmar is not a safe destination at the moment. I found quite a few travel blogs -- most of which relate to trips taken prior to the last couple of years -- with great photos and details. One travel blogger drove the old Ledo Road, and he included some incredible photos that show how arduous the construction must have been. Speaking of video research, just this past weekend, I found myself wondering if it was possible to kill a tiger with a bow and arrow, and lo and behold if I don't find a video (circa 1963 no less) that literally shows a skilled archer bringing down a tiger in India. 

Red Cross Girl in India, circa 1944

So even though I don't have personal photos in my collection from these Asian locales, I've been intrepid enough to locate some pretty amazing sources that have added depth and variety in bringing the settings of my novels to life. 

You can buy my books on Amazon, learn more about me and my writing on my website, and follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. 

You Should See Us Now - by Eleri Grace

This month's theme of strong women in literature and history is TAILOR-MADE for me and my novels! Don't misunderstand - I know so many authors are strong women and write kick-ass heroines set in all periods of history. 

But my Red Cross Girl heroines bucked tradition and normative gender roles for the era *before* they then went overseas and became larger-than-life heroines. I believed their accomplishments and bravery had gone unnoticed far too long and resolved to do my best to write novels that did justice to their amazing stories. 

The American Red Cross hired only 1 in 6 applicants for the overseas staff positions. They wanted women who had a college degree and some professional work experience. They also evaluated applicants for a host of other character and personal attributes -- ARC wanted women who were adaptable self-starters, who were resilient and able to handle long days of demanding work paired with social expectations, who could handle themselves in a male-dominated environment, and who were charming, cheerful, and classy. The typical Red Cross Girl was independent, spirited, and driven. She was also a woman who had already pushed up and around walls and boundaries her entire life and was eager to "do her bit" for the war effort in unconventional and exciting ways. 

Once they arrived overseas, they challenged assumptions and expanded their role beyond what the ARC or the military might have imagined. The Red Cross Girls served closer to the front lines overall than even the combat nurses. A history of the ARC WWII service published in 1945 notes: 

"They had a ringside seat at one of the greatest dramas of all time, moving with more freedom than many soldiers. Even war correspondents could not drive in and out of the battle lines as the Red Cross Girls did every day. In and out of the rain and mud they moved with the headlines, from hedgerow to plain, from orchard to orchard, and from bomb craters, shell holes, and crumbled towns. To the boom of artillery and the whistle of shells, they took their freshly made doughnuts and steaming coffee right to the GIs on highways, in hospitals, rest areas, gun sites, and even to the edge of foxholes." 

They thumbed their nose at danger and chafed at restrictions. The ARC definitely had not fully considered that their hiring profile was not the sort of woman who would accept anything less than independence and control over her own work and destiny. Just as any WWII veteran might tell you that his war service years were the most life-altering and memorable over his life, so too were the Red Cross Girls irrevocably changed by their war-time experiences. Many of these women left behind engaging, inspiring memoirs, and I have drawn on their experiences for my novels. One of my favorites was penned by an unknown Red Cross Girl in the form of a letter to one of her ARC instructors back in Washington. She wrote of her experiences in Normandy and Belgium in the winter of 1944 and noted that searing experiences near the battle lines had left their mark -- we're all "terribly calloused and never quite callous enough." 

"We went through Normandy like the Army went through -- fast and in the field. We spent Christmas morning diving into foxholes and serving doughnuts and coffee between alerts. . . . It's a great racket! Crawling out of the sack at seven and loading the trucks and taking off early to serve in the ruined, rubble-strewn, blasted towns and out among the snowbound gun emplacements. You wheel home, unload, race to chow, dress up and go out again. You smile and talk all day, give with the fast patter and jive around to canned music. Dance in the snow and mush and on ice, dance with the rain or sleet falling, dance in ruined old stables or in cellars or mess kitchens or on the Clubmobile among the coffee urns, doughnuts and people, or sometimes in a big hall with a good GI band. Red Cross hasn't done badly at all in picking personnel. Working here is being what you've been all your life, but disciplined and worn down smooth, so that you smile when you're dying."

She goes on to tell her former instructor that she recalls fondly how she and her classmates enjoyed their training in DC: "Strictly garrison we were. You should see us now."

Reading their memoirs and letters, looking at the photos from their wartime service, I am forever in awe of these amazing, trail-blazing women who served literally all over the globe with such distinction and courage. When I'm writing my novels, I always remind myself that they, like the men in uniform, didn't have a crystal ball. When they signed up, they didn't know how long they would be gone, where they would be sent, or whether they would return at all. Strong women all -- they are my heroines. 

You can read more about my Clubmobile Girls series on my website, on my Amazon page, and in my social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. 

It's All Relative by Eleri Grace

 It's been a year, hasn't it? A year unlike any other in recent memory for most of us. A year the vast majority of people are happy to see end in a few short weeks. 

And things look better for 2021. With any luck, most of us can be vaccinated sooner rather than later in 2021, and life can gradually return to some normalcy. 

As I reflect on this year, it's certainly easy to focus on all the things that changed, often dramatically. It's natural to be some combination of sad, angry and bitter about the missed opportunities, the grievous losses many people have endured, and the problems the country will obviously be faced with for some time to come, even after vaccines help us round the corner on the pandemic itself. I'm grateful that I thus far have been spared any personal losses and pray that continues. And since I work from home, my personal day-to-day life hasn't been upended in a major way. My heart hurts for what my children are missing -- they've each essentially lost a year at a formative time (sophomore year of college for my daughter and sophomore year of high school for my son). But in their young lives, this is but a blip. They will return to the normal fast-paced daily routines and the fun soon enough. 

I can't help comparing the national resolve and spirit of the WW2 years with our current stark divide in approaches to navigating these troubling challenges. Of course, I'm sure that there was more grumbling and push-back in the war years than the popularized rosy images of complete unity of spirit and purpose we see now. But even so, there's no denying that there are lots of people who might benefit from reflecting on the tribulations faced and sacrifices made in earlier times. 

I was reminded of a lovely blog post from 3 years ago that a man wrote in tribute to his mother, who had served as a Red Cross Girl in Europe from 1943-45. He recounted a special table-top Christmas tree decorated with simple handcrafted decorations made from everyday items that he and his mother would put up each year. It was many years later before he understood the significance of that small, humble tree, which stood in such contrast to his family's far larger "real" Christmas tree in the front living room. His mom's wartime journal described the small simple tabletop tree she and her fellow Red Cross Girls created for themselves and the units they were attached to at the time in December 1944. 

What her journal doesn't describe was that her clubmobile group likely had made a sudden move back into France from Belgium or Luxembourg. The Germans launched their Battle of the Bulge offensive in the early morning hours of December 16, 1944, and several Clubmobiles and crews were caught behind or very near enemy lines. Even the ones who had been situated reasonably back in western Belgium were forced to trek back into France for their safety. It took up to Christmas Eve for all the women to reach their units back in France. 

Though happy to see the safe return of their friends, that Christmas was also marked with mourning for one of their own who had died while recuperating from a mild illness in a hospital that was bombed in the battle. The women also, as his blog described, continued to be profoundly affected by their work with soldiers who had been in the thick of battle and were left physically wounded and/or psychologically scarred. His mother often included photographs of "her boys" nestled into the Christmas tree -- that bitterly-cold and uncertain Christmas of 1944 lived powerfully in her memory for the rest of her life. If you wish to read the entirety of his blog post, it can be found here.

My hope for 2021 is that we regain some measure of the national unity that has been missing for too many years. I hope we all might put our recent challenges into a longer-view perspective, might recall the selfless spirit of the Greatest Generation, and be guided by kindness, generosity of spirit, and optimism for a brighter future.