John Smale

Peace, War and Love: a Tale of Growing Up, Going to War and Finding Peace in Love John Smale

This is a true story set in the days of black and white photographs that hid the colours of a reality that was blissful...until the War broke out. Young men and women answered the call to defend their country and to risk their lives and sacrifice their youth. It changed people, it changed lives. Although devoid of John Wayne style Hollywood heroics, the attitudes displayed were a real sense of heroism. Young people never knew from day to day what the future held. Hope was the mainstay of dreams but the smell of death was forever present. What was needed was a set of friends and a true love to keep smiling through knowing that they would meet again, some sunny day. And so it was, even though fate seemed to conspire against those two people, it was actually on their side. Jack had an idyllic childhood as the son of a carter on a farm in Dorset. Sophie's life started well but she found herself the nursemaid and mother figure to an ever increasing number of younger sisters. As the pressure built, she had to leave home at seventeen to live with her grandmother close to the bombing. Then she met Jack. They were married but parted for three years the day after Sophie became pregnant. Both were nearly killed, but yet they came back together, and remain that way today at 87 and 86 years old.