certainly behind the times compared to advances that were taking place at the time in America. We know that both the British and the Germans indulged in heavy state control and propaganda, which hugely influenced public attitudes. These letters clearly reflect this.
F.Marion Braithwaite, who Esme describes at the demonstration in Trafalgar square, is also of great interest. It would be great to find out more about what happened to her. Such demonstrations are only vaguely alluded to in the few British Government communiques that we have (decoded from radio interceptions) and to have such a full account of what happened shows that, as we suspected, momentum was clearly growing in the Resistance movement.
Of course a lot of this is conjecture on my part, and much other evidence about these women is hearsay, especially about the secretive roles they took in the resistance, but these letters seem to confirm lots of things. At the very least we now know what happened to Evelyn Fitzpatrick. I cannot begin to imagine what it must have been like for her in that northern hospital. At least those in the south died pretty much straight away when the blasts came. Those in the north and the other extremities of the UK often died slow horrible cancerous deaths caused by the radiation. All those that couldn't make it the west coasts or didn't know that we sent ships to get them out. And God knows we saved so precious few of them. Evelyn probably died strapped to that hospital bed.
Her story needs to be told Jo. All of these stories need to be told. This is important. If the American government had supported these women much more forcefully in the fifties then maybe the Great War could have been ended sooner, before the nuclear rockets and radiation that has affected us all.
I can't tell you what an amazing find this is Jo! Of course we need to check and verify everything. Where and how exactly did you find these letters? Are there any more? What other evidence or artifacts did you find with them? God I would love to know what happened to Jimmy and Esme; I wonder if he made it across the channel? I wonder if he managed to see her again before the rockets hit?
Thank you so much! Keep me posted on your progress,
Nancy Albright,
Associate Professor of History.
Josephine Tyler BA MsC PhD
University of Michigan
Anthropology & Archaeology Faculty
Field Research Unit
'Remembrance expedition'
C/O USS Robert F. Kennedy
Atlantic station
Email:
[email protected] Thursday 1st November 2012
Dear Nancy,
Just a quick email before I have to go and suit up for the helicopter. I promise I will write again soon with more details, but I've got to tell you how I found those letters. I knew you would love them!
We found a street in a northern part of the city - in an area called Harrow - with one or two houses still standing. One of the houses was strangely near perfect and when my colleague tried the front door it just opened as if it had been left unlocked for us to come in. Much of the inside was in remarkably good condition. Lots of artifacts from the time undisturbed, apart from a patina of radiation filled dust.
There were three bodies downstairs or what was left of them. Two women and a soldier, his dog tags intact. In the kitchen together; I imagine they were just sat down at the table taking tea when the first atomic rocket hit.
I awkwardly climbed the stairs in my suit, and there, in the back bedroom, were two more desiccated bodies lying on the bed together. One still in uniform and the woman in a faded flowery dress. It looked like they were holding hands. And there between them were all of the letters; thin paper in remarkably good condition. Just lying between them on the bed, as if they had been reading them together. So it is true Nancy. Jimmy actually made it back to Esme...
Yours
Jo,
The End
Simon Poore is a tall English writer from Norwich, a fine city…
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