Chapter 11

11

POOLE HARBOUR – FEbrUARY 1941

When Peggy arrived at the harbour master's office the next morning, she was surprised to find Charlie there waiting for her by the fire.

‘Morning, Miss Symonds.' He smiled brightly, and Peggy thought she heard a quaver of nerves in his voice. ‘Miss Foster asked me to wait here for you this morning,' he said, nodding in the direction of Pat's office.

Peggy raised an enquiring eyebrow to Pat as she went in to collect the launch key.

‘I met him yesterday afternoon, Peggy. I sent a note round to his lodgings and he got it when he went home for dinner, then he came in to see me late in the afternoon. He seems to know the ropes pretty well, so I thought the best thing was for him to spend a day with you and you can work out what he's capable of,' Pat explained.

‘No problem, Pat, I'll take him with me now. Later today, I have to do some driving deliveries so he might come with me then too. Will you organise that with Rose Stevens, or shall I leave him behind?'

‘I'll telephone through to Rose with all the details, and when you come back in with him after this run, send him up to meet her so she can cover anything she needs to,' she said with a nod as Peggy took the key and gathered Charlie up with her as she left.

‘We've got one of our usual runs to Salterns Marina and out to a waiting C-class, and then we can take you for a little run of the harbour if you like. And perhaps you can take the controls for a while – show me what you can do,' Peggy told Charlie as they stepped into the launch with Eileen and Nora, then cast off to start the day's work.

Within an hour, the crew, passengers, and luggage were all loaded onto the C-class and Peggy had overseen the take-off from the main runway, then she turned to Charlie who had been more than helpful with the work so far.

‘We're at high tide right now, so there aren't many places we can't go as the launch doesn't draw very much, but at low tide, we have to stick to the main channels. You've seen the marker buoys, of course,' she said as she saw him taking in the familiar signs that he obviously recognised.

‘There's a chart below that stays on board, and others back at the office we can lend you to learn your way around. Right then, take over, Charlie, and we'll go on a little trip around the island,' said Peggy as she handed the helm over.

They were facing west and so they passed the Pottery Pier on their left as they rounded the western end of Brownsea Island first, and Peggy noticed that Charlie was taking a keen interest in the island, and the channel markers around it.

‘Just up around that way, on the southern side of Brownsea Island, is the Upper Wych channel. There're quite a few flying boats moored up here, though some of the moorings are still taken up by some Dutch boats that came over with the refugees last year,' she said, and Charlie seemed surprised at the news.

‘How many boats were there?' he asked.

‘Oh, around a hundred originally, I believe. Some of them went off to Dunkirk and never came back, and some of them have left with their owners for other parts of the south coast. A few have remained in the harbour, but they anchor elsewhere now. There are just a handful left here,' Peggy said as she pointed out the few schuyts and one barge, which were left moored up now.

‘Can we go and take a look?' asked Charlie, and when she nodded, he slowed the launch and drew into the channel.

Charlie seemed to use the opportunity to demonstrate his skills, coming up close by one of the boats with expertise as if they had been about to board her, then took off again to continue on their jaunt. Peggy was impressed, and was happy to tell him as much.

‘You certainly do know how to handle a boat, Charlie. You'd have no problem at all doing what I do,' she said, a comment that she knew must sound strange to his ears when he'd probably been handling boats his whole life. But so, she realised, had she. Times had changed. This was no longer a man's world.

‘Thank you, Peggy,' he said with a smile and the acknowledgement that they'd agreed on first-name terms earlier in the day. ‘I must admit I've missed this.' He sighed and indicated the boat and harbour before him. ‘I'd be very glad to have some work with you if there's any going.'

Peggy nodded in response but was determined not to make any commitments to him now.

‘You mentioned the Dutch boats are in other parts of the harbour. Where else have they ended up?' he asked.

‘There are one or two up the Frome River – on the way to Wareham – and I think I saw one at anchor over by Arne a few weeks ago. But the Dutch themselves have melted into the crowd, as it were. There is a lady called Lotte who's working at the Fish Shambles – she came with the refugees. Her husband is a fisherman and she's got work at the market there. Other than that, I've not seen any of them in months now,' Peggy added conversationally.

Peggy allowed Charlie to bring the launch all the way around the island, and she showed him the harbour entrance with its chain ferry. She pointed out the small Royal Navy base at the marina as they passed and showed him the Harbour Heights Hotel up on the hill where they were often asked to collect passengers from or deliver cargo to.

‘You may as well take her all the way back into the quay, now, Charlie. You'll see the main channel markers here, and then heading west around the docks, that's the way up to the RAF base where all the non-civilian flying boats are based, and from there on to the Wareham Channel where you find the mouth of the River Frome. That takes you all the way up to Wareham.'

Charlie was very interested in the way to the River Frome and told her that sounded like a lovely place for a day out on a boat.

Once back on the quay, and after he'd helped the ladies to secure the launch, Charlie went home for his dinner with Mrs Rogers, and agreed to meet Peggy outside the pottery at two o'clock for their driving job. But first he would have to go inside to meet Rose Stevens.

‘You must be Charlie Edwards,' Rose said with warmth as he opened the door to the security offices on the first floor of the pottery. He realised now that he'd seen and admired the dark-haired Rose around the quay before, and he thought her beautiful, but in an unreachable way that he couldn't explain. Not like friendly, chirpy, blonde-haired Peggy.

He lowered his eyes now as he greeted Rose with deference, and pulled out his identity papers.

‘Thanks, Charlie, just take a seat and I'll get your employment documents organised. We need an account of everyone who passes in and out of the BOAC offices and boats here, just to keep us all on the safe side, you see,' she explained kindly and sat at her desk to begin the paperwork.

‘So, Pat – Miss Foster – tells me you have quite some experience working on boats?' she asked as she worked, as if to make small talk, but Charlie knew this was part of his interview process.

‘Yes, I've always been on or near the water. The docks in London on the river Thames, and several other ports around the place. I can handle a launch no problem at all, as I believe Miss Symonds will attest,' he offered politely.

‘Oh yes, Peggy's very happy to have you around to help. And can you drive a car?' she asked more pointedly with a glance at his left leg.

‘I can't I'm afraid, not with this weakness. It's my left leg that's dodgy, you see. But I'll be glad to help with the loading and unloading.'

‘That will be very helpful, thanks, Charlie. Here you go – you need to keep this pass on you at all times while you are working with us, just in case you're ever called on to prove your employment status. And also because some of the passengers we have on the flying boats are of the more diplomatic kind,' she added meaningfully.

‘Of course, Miss Stevens. Glad to help.' He hesitated at the door and Rose looked up enquiringly.

‘Is there something else, Charlie?' she asked.

‘I'm just wondering what I should tell them at the docks. Will you be needing me for long?' he asked tentatively.

‘Oh, right – sorry Charlie. Consider yourself permanently full-time on the BOAC staff and, if I were you, I would tell them at the docks that you've been asked to work for us as we need your skills. The pay will be a little higher than they give you, I'm sure,' she said.

Charlie was glad of the extra money, of course, but the big win for him was time on the water, which after just one morning had made him feel much more like himself again. He was so buoyed up by the change in events of the last two days that he whistled to himself with something resembling joy as he walked back along the quay. He'd almost forgotten what that felt like, with all the loss this war had brought him. His time in Poole was going very well indeed and he knew he'd found the place where he could settle and start again.