H.P.H. & S.W.A.L.K. - Echoes of a wartime romance

Amongst a pile of ephemera bought at auction were scattered about 60 empty envelopes, bearing the head of George VI. On closer inspection, they were dated 1943 and 1944, and between a young couple; the girl in Eastbourne, the boy in Middlesex, and on active service.  

 

Their charm was is in the private messages inside and on the flap - S.W.A.L.K. (Sealed With A Loving Kiss) and H.P.H. (Hurry Postman Hurry.) These acronyms were widely used between couples in wartime, alongside B.U.R.M.A and N.O.R.W.I.C.H. and the racier V.E.N.I.C.E. and S.I.A.M. A reminder of how World War 2 fractured life for many people, and of the restrictions placed on everyday communications.  

It might have ended there. But via a community Facebook page in Sussex, the envelopes have been reunited with the family of that young couple and with the letters they originally carried. 

 

Alice Manktelow met John Dann as a result of their mutual love of cinema.  In 1941, John, aged 15,  placed an ad in 'The Picture Show ' for a penfriend and Alice, aged 16, responded. They were together for 52 years, inseparable apart from John's military service. 

 

John, the son of a nurseryman , was brought up in suburban Middlesex, but his family roots were firmly in Sussex. Alice came from Eastbourne, also in Sussex, and was the daughter of a power station worker and First World War veteran.  

 

For Alice, the Second World War changed everything. She was evacuated to Buckinghamshire, but soon returned home to find that her two older siblings were away in service and her four younger ones had been evacuated to safer parts of the country. She worked at one of Eastbourne's many laundries that serviced the local hotels.  

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John moved back to Sussex with his family in 1938, attending the village primary school in Blackboys, and helping his grandfather on his tenant farm nearby. When the war started the farm was  given up and John moved back to Middlesex, where he joined his father as a nurseryman. This is when he placed his fortuitous ad. 

 

When he was old enough he joined his father in the London Auxiliary Fire Service, where, because of his uniform, he could go to Eastbourne, which otherwise was a restricted coastal area. His regular visits to see his sweetheart involved many cinema visits (supper would be taken after shows at Alice's grandmother's, who would send them off early but tell Alice's parents a much later time, so they could linger along the way), miles of walking and cycling in the countryside and sometimes included all night fire watching duties on the South Downs above Eastbourne - so, perfect courting conditions! 

 

When John signed up, aged 18, for the 'duration of the emergency', he travelled to Brancepeth Castle in County Durham for his basic training. He served with the Cheshire Regiment before joining the Middlesex Regiment, becoming  a machine gunner and seeing action in Belgium and Holland before reaching Germany at the end of hostilities. Later, he was posted to Egypt, where he worked in  the Military Police.  When he was demobbed, his life-long politics were confirmed after the recent electoral landslide of 1945, and an incident while spud bashing on the troop ship home (the eyes in potatoes were only to be removed for officers!) 

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On John's enlistment, Alice moved to Middlesex to keep his mother company.  As with many Wartime weddings, the arrangements were made at the last minute (John got 14-days leave.)  Alice worked as a laundress at Harrow School, where she ironed the shirts of several high-profile pupils, such as the future King Hussein of Jordan. 

 

When John returned home, he and Alice continued to live with his parents. Then, in the Summer of 1950,  a job came up for a gardener at a manor house back in Blackboys, with a tied cottage. John could walk to work in five minutes, coming home for both breakfast and lunch, something he did for the next 24 years.

 

John threw himself into virtually every aspect of village life, including helping out the neighbouring farmer at hay-making time.  His later working years generally involved retail work, but always with a horticultural theme. Ultimately, despite his politics, (Sussex always being a 'true blue' county), he was privileged to tirelessly represent his community on Framfield Parish Council for 25-years, ten as chairman.  

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Alice was expected to work a few hours for the lady of 'the Manor'. She was then offered a temporary job as a dinner lady in the village school, where John had studied, and which her two sons now attended.  32 years later she retired! Beyond her work,  the cottage became a magnet for visits and holidays for relatives and friends (their country house) from all quarters. 

 

John sadly passed away at the age of 67.  This coincided with a hard fought battle to build six affordable homes in Blackboys, which were not completed until after his death.  These have become a memorial to him by being named 'John Dann Close'. 

 

Alice never really recovered from her loss but bravely stayed in their home, supported by her two sons and their families who lived nearby, her extended family and many friends built up over the years, until her death 17 years later. 

 

So, the pile of envelopes, seemingly insignificant in themselves, tell a story of a wartime romance which survived the disruption and danger brought to the lives of many young people, and which blossomed into a lifetime partnership for a couple who were hugely valued by their family, their community, and each other.

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 (Words in collaboration with Peter Dann)