Potatoes and pen pals

In 1951 in postwar London, a young woman was working as a bookkeeper and decided to take a holiday in the fresh air. She and a girlfriend from the office chose to go to a student’s camp in Warehorne, Kent in September, 1951. They travelled by train from Victoria and were picked up by a lorry which took them to the camp. They arrived there on a Saturday morning, and were told that there were a group of German students already there. Indeed, these were the first Germans she had ever seen in real life.

On Monday morning, their group were taken to a farm to help a farmer harvest potatoes. On the field were big weighing machines which had a sack fixed to it. They had to fill the sack to one hundred weight, (CWT), and tie the top up and pull it away, and then put another sack on the hooks. They had two metal baskets to fill and it was hard work. Our young woman, Thelma, took Tuesday and Wednesday off because she had twisted her ankle, but was back at work on Thursday. Everyone--English, German, French, and African--got on well together and had a healthy holiday. 

On the Friday evening before the girls left to go home there was a dance and she danced with a blond, blue eyed young man who she had seen now and again to speak to during the week. He spoke very good English. The next morning the girls were packed and ready to leave, but Thelma wanted to take a photo with her Brown Box Camera of the girls they had met. Just as she took the picture, the blond man came and stood behind them--what we would call a photo bomb today. She then asked him whether he would like a copy of the photo and he said yes please and gave her his name (Alfred) and his home address. 

She had the photos printed and sent them to him. He was so pleased to get a photo which he liked of himself. At that time Alfred was 25 and our young woman, Thelma, was 17. It was nearing Christmas, and she sent Alfred a book of John Milton poems. He sent a parcel as well: his mother had baked German Christmas cookies. When she opened the parcel there were only crumbs but they were delicious. They wrote to one another now and again--both were busy, he at university and she was working long hours, making her own clothes and taking some evening classes.  

But they kept writing to each other. Their friendship deepened, and they managed the odd visit: he came to England and they camped out overnight and waited for the Queen's coronation procession. They continued to write, and their letters took a personal turn. Alfred's family invited her to visit their little village. It was her first trip abroad.

She went to Victoria station by bus, then by train to Dover and boarded a boat from there to Ostend. From there, she took the train to Stuttgart, and her Alfred came to pick her up. She was welcomed in Betra by his mother, father and sister and spent two weeks with them. Alfred took her to go see Lake Constance. They had a lovely day and returned back again in the evening. There were no lights on the walk up the hill back to his home and it was raining, but Alfred had an umbrella with him. However, his father did not know they had an umbrella and thought he would come and bring one. Alfred took the chance to steal a first kiss. Just at that moment Alfred’s father shone a flashlight on them! 

The visit went all too quickly and Thelma had to go home again. By now they realized that they wanted to stay together. It took several years of study and work, many letters, and a few visits, but in the summer of 1958, Alfred came to England, this time to marry Thelma and take her home to Germany. 

Yes, she baked the cake and made the dress herself!