A Soldier's Lighthouse Christmas

Cape Bonavista Lighthouse, Newfoundland. Photo by Annlynn Ward.

Christmas 1943 (a true story)

Private William Duval shivered as he rubbed his hands together over the small stove heater in his barracks. Man, this place was cold! Despite sharing a room with 19 other guys, the room never warmed up.
Some of the guys didn’t mind the cold so much. But back home in Louisiana, it just didn’t get as cold as here in Newfoundland. Why couldn’t he have been sent somewhere warm?

But then again, that’s where a lot of the fighting was – in the Pacific islands. Guess he should be thankful he wasn’t sent there. Who would’ve thought he’d end up in Canada, on a US base built to protect the northern coastline from German invasion?

He glanced at the pinup calendar hanging over his bed, his heart squeezing at the sight of his girlfriend’s picture thumbtacked over the movie star’s photo. Christmas was just weeks away, and what he wouldn’t give to spend it with Angela back home. Home where it was warm, where family and friends gathered together for food and fun. He could just see them all going around singing Christmas carols to their neighbors. If only the war would end before Christmas. Chances were slim with all the heavy fighting going on, but a guy could hope, couldn’t he?

His buddy Pete came in, slamming the door against a blast of frosty air. “Billy! We’ve been invited to the lighthouse for Christmas. Wanna go?”
“The lighthouse? What would we do at a lighthouse?”
“I hear the family there is swell – and real big too! Seems folks all around here go to the lighthouse for Christmas. Sounds good to me!”
“Well, it’s gotta beat staying in this barn. Sure, I’ll go.”

When Christmas day arrived, Billy and a bunch of other soldiers climbed into an Army Truck. After plowing through the deep snow, they reached the end of Cape Bonavista where the white lighthouse with vertical red stripes gleamed in the sunlight. Billy stepped inside the house and an array of tantalizing aromas drew him toward a table laden with food. Trays of Christmas cookies lay beside towering cakes and golden-crusted pies. At the other end of the table, platters of sliced meats and bowls of steaming vegetables invited.

A teenage girl ran up and introduced herself as one of Lightkeeper Hubert Abbott’s eleven children. Soon Billy’s stomach was full of Christmas dinner. Afterwards, he joined in the singing as everyone gathered around the family parlor while a man played Christmas carols on an accordion.  After singing, the folks played a variety of games, just like they did back home. As daylight began to dwindle over the Atlantic Ocean, Billy said his goodbyes to the hosts.

“Thank you, Mr. Abbott, Mrs. Abbott. You really made me feel like family today.”
“We’re glad you came, Billy. We’re all part of God’s family, and what better time for a family to be together than Christmas?”
Billy didn’t get to go home for the holidays, but thanks to the Abbotts, he didn’t spend the holiday alone.

The holidays can be a lonely time for people separated from their families. Many find the holidays especially difficult because their loved ones are no longer alive to share them.  God wants us to reach out to others, not just at Christmas, but all year long. Perhaps this Christmas season you can invite someone into your home, or find others who are alone and create a family environment together.

“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in," Matthew 25:35

I pray you all had a blessed Christmas. 

This is my last post for the Heroes, Heroines and History blog, as I've taken on more responsibilities and need to let go of others. I will miss you all, but hope to stay in touch by reading this blog along with you. As a parting Christmas gift, I'm offering a drawing for a copy of my book, The Christmas Gazebo. To enter, please leave a comment with your email address so I can reach you if you win. 

The Christmas Gazebo

by Marilyn Turk and Lenora Worth

Two Christmas Romances of past and present 

https://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Gazebo-Romances-past-present/dp/1947523724/

 A “literary archaeologist,” Marilyn Turk writes historical fiction flavored with suspense and romance for Barbour Books, Winged Publications and Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas. One of her World War II novels, The Gilded Curse, won a Silver Scroll award. She has also written a series of novels set in 1800 Florida whose settings are lighthouses. In addition, Marilyn’s novellas have been published in the Great Lakes Lighthouse Brides collection and Crinoline Cowboys. Marilyn also writes for Guideposts magazine and Daily Guideposts Devotions.  She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Romance Writers of America, Advanced Writers and Speakers Association and Word Weavers International.

When not writing, Marilyn and her husband enjoy boating, fishing, playing tennis or visiting lighthouses.

Marilyn is a regular contributor to the Heroes, Heroines and History blog. https://www.hhhistory.com). Connect with her at http://pathwayheart.com, https://twitter.com/MarilynTurk, https://www.facebook.com/MarilynTurkAuthor/, https://www.pinterest.com/bluewaterbayou/, marilynturkwriter@yahoo.com.

The Girl Guide Spies

Today, I'm very happy to welcome fellow author Patty Smith Hall, who will share an interesting story about Girl Guides. Leave a comment at the end for a chance to win a drawing of our new novella, Crinoline Cowboys, which is coming out in five weeks. 

Thank you for having me today, Marilyn.

You’ve probably heard of Mati Hari, and how Julia Child spied for the Allies during World War II, but recently, I discovered a group of females that ‘spied’ for the MI5 from the second year of World War I to the palace of Versailles where the treaty was signed. This group of patriots have been kept secret since their service until last November on the hundredth-year anniversary of the end of World War I. So, who am I talking about?

The Girl Guides or as we know them in the United States, the Girl Scouts!

The Beginning

When Great Britain entered the war in August of 1914, their secret service agency, the MI5 faced a daunting challenge. German spies had infiltrated the country, seeking information regarding troop movement and battle plans. English men were scarce, so the MI5 turned to an unexpected source for help—the Boy Scouts. But problems arose. The boys were loud and bragged to their friends about their position with the MI5 which in turn, put the boys in danger. It was then that MI5 turned to the Girl Guides for help.

The Girl Guides weren’t idle during the first year of the war. Many of them learned to hunt and fish to provide food for families in their communities. Some learned medical skills and volunteered to drive ambulances at the front. Even the youngest members were involved with making and rolling bandages. But serving with the MI5 was something even the organization’s leaders hadn’t considered.

Qualifications of a Girl Guide Spy

First, the ninety girls chosen had to be between fourteen and sixteen years old, and in good standing with their troop. They needed to be quick, cheerful, and willing to do the work, swearing on their honor never to read any of the messages or paperwork they carried. They also had to sign a statement saying they had permission to serve from both parents as well as the Girl Guide leader who recommended them. After they were accepted, the girls served a three-month probational period, earning 30 pence (37 cents American) a week with dinner and tea included. They alternated working 9-6 or 10-7 and every other Sunday. The girls were allowed a week off during the summer as well as a short break at Easter and Christmas.

Not Your Ordinary Workday

The girls reported to Waterloo house or one of the other two houses used. They would dust, fill inkwells and disinfect phones during their first hour of work. After that, they would collect documents and post them, deliver messages at various areas around London, sort cards, collect paperwork to be burned and repair typewriters. They also delivered secret messages verbally.

By January 1916, the Girl Guides had proved to be so valuable to the MI5, they were giving their own company within the organization. Each patrol was assigned a different floor of the headquarters to work.

When the war ended, a select group of Girl Guides were taken by the British delegation to France for the peace treaty deliberations where they ran errands and delivered messages to the parties involved. After the peace treaty was signed, the girls returned home. Yet, very few talked about their time with the MI5 or their contributions toward winning the war.

Have you ever heard of Girl Guides before? Were you in Girl Scouts?

Multi-published author Patty Smith Hall lives near the North Georgia Mountains with her husband, Danny. When she’s not writing on her back porch, she’s spending time with her family or working in her vegetable garden.

A Cowboy of Her Own by Patty Smith Hall

Bookish southern belle Madalyn Turner knows what she wants—to be a cowboy and own a Texas ranch. But books are far different from real life and soon she realizes she needs help.

     

      

The Ghost Army

By Marilyn Turk

With this month’s celebration of the 75th anniversary of the D-Day invasion in World War II, much has been written about how the final phase of the war was won by Allied Forces. A combined force of over three million troops from the United States and eleven other countries participated in the largest seaborne invasion ever carried out.
But did you know about the Ghost Army that was also part of the plan to overthrow Hitler’s Army? A couple of months after the D-Day invasion, this secret army arrived in France with a special mission: to deceive, mislead and befuddle the enemy by conducting a traveling road show.

Fake convoy

Officially known as the 1st Headquarters Special Troops, this 1100-man Army unit was trained to impersonate other Allied Army units. Many of these soldiers were recruited from art schools, advertising agencies and other occupations that encouraged creative thinking. In civilian life, they had been artists, actors, set designers and engineers.

There were four basic tactics the ghost army used to deceive the German Army: Visual deception, Sonic deception, radio deception and atmosphere.

Fake airplane

The visual deception was carried out by the 603rd camouflage engineers which used inflatable jeeps, cannons, tanks, trucks and airplanes which the men would inflate with air compressors, then partially camouflage them so the enemy could still see them. They created dummy airfields, troop camps (complete with laundry hanging on clotheslines), motor pool, artillery batteries and tank formations.

Inflatable rubber tank

Under the Signal Service Company, sonic deception was carried out. Aided by engineers from Bell Labs, a team went to Fort Knox and recorded sounds of armored and infantry units onto a series of sound effects records. These sounds were “mixed” to match the scenario they wanted the enemy to believe. Recorded on state-of-the-art wire recorders (predecessor to the tape recorder), the sounds were played with powerful amplifiers and speakers and could be heard fifteen miles away.

Sound deception unit with 500 lb. speakers

The radio deception was also carried out by the signal company. Creating “spoof radio,” special operators created fake radio transmissions, impersonating radio operators from real army units. They were so skilled in mimicking a departing operator’s method of sending Morse Code that the enemy couldn’t tell that the real unit with its real operator had moved on.

Inflatable truck

“Atmosphere” was the term used to describe the theatrical effects which supplemented the other deceptions. Using various techniques, this unit simulated actual units deployed elsewhere by using copies of their insignia, painting it on vehicles, and pretending they were being deployed as if they were regimental headquarters units. Trucks were driven in convoys with only a couple of men seated near the rear to simulate a truck full of infantry under the canvas cover. The unit’s members put their theatrical skills to use as well, engaging in "playacting, like pretending to be MPs (military police) who would stand at crossroads wearing divisional insignia. Other actors spent time at French cafes near the war's front to spread gossip among the spies who might be there, to, as one former Ghoster put it, "order some omelets and talk loose." Some actors would also play the parts of Allied generals, dressing up like officers and visiting towns where enemy spies could see them.

Fake artillery 

All these tactics were amazingly effective at creating believable scenes. From their landing in Normandy until the Allied Forces crossed into the Rhine River Valley, these men staged more than twenty battlefield deceptions, or “illusions” as the men preferred to call them, with some taking place just a few hundred yards from the front lines.

Kept classified as a military secret until 1996, the Ghost Army is estimated to have saved tens of thousands of soldiers’ lives with its deceptions and to have been instrumental in several Allied victories in Europe.

Have you ever heard of the Ghost Army? Do you know of anyone who served in it?

Marilyn Turk’s roots are in the coastal South, raised in Louisiana, moved to Georgia, then retired to Florida. Calling herself a “literary archaeologist,” she loves to discover stories hidden in history. She is the author of two World War II novels, The Gilded Curse and Shadowed by a Spy, and the four-book Coastal Lights Legacy series set in 1800s Florida—Rebel Light, Revealing Light, Redeeming Light, and Rekindled Light—featuring lighthouse settings. Marilyn’s novella, The Wrong Survivor, is in the Great Lakes Lighthouse Brides collection and Love’s Cookin’ at the Cowboy Café, in the Crinoline Cowboys collection. She also writes for Daily Guideposts Devotions.


She lives with her husband, 10-year-old grandson Logan, and a 17-year-old cat. When not writing, Marilyn can be found playing tennis, gardening, walking, fishing, or kayaking. She and her husband have visited over 100 lighthouses so far, but the RV is ready to travel and go see more. Marilyn is the director of the Blue Lake Christian Writers Retreat in Alabama, www.bluelakecwr.com. Website: @http://pathwayheart.com

If you're interested in World War II history, you might like the books I wrote that take place during that era.

The Lighthouse Keeper Who Came Back from the Dead

Race Rock Lighthouse, NY,
Photo courtesy lighthousefriends.com

By Marilyn Turk

Off the eastern end of Long Island Sound, you’ll find Fishers, Little Gull, Great Gull, and Plum–a string of islands. Many ships pass between the islands, but the deepest gap, called “The Race,” is just off the end of Fisher Island near a reef called Race Rock. The dangerous current that flows through the gap has been the doom of many vessels, especially before 1871, when the lighthouse built on the reef became active.

A stag station (men only), the lighthouse housed one keeper and two assistant keepers. The families of the married keepers lived on the mainland, and were visited when a keeper had leave to go home. Located eight miles off the coast from New Haven, Connecticut, going to and from the lighthouse was sometimes difficult for the keepers, depending on the tide. Waves can run in two directions where the water at the mouth of the Race meets the water of Fisher’s Island Sound. In bad weather, these waves can be quite large.

In April 1892, the new head keeper at Race Rock, twenty-four-year-old Christopher Culver, ran into those huge waves. After a brief shore leave to visit his family in New London, Culver set out to return to the lighthouse in a twelve-foot rowboat with a sail. Captain R.M. Jerome, a retired sea captain, watched Culver as he made his way out to the lighthouse. When Capt. Jerome saw Culver’s sail go down in the rough seas, he reported that the boat had capsized.

The ensuing search showed no trace of the keeper, and the newspaper reported his drowning.

In reality, Keeper Culver had abandoned his attempt to reach the lighthouse, lowered his sail, and rowed instead to Great Hay Harbor on Fishers Island where he found food and shelter at Mr. Oakley’s farm. Two days later, the keeper arrived back in New London aboard a steamship, and was reunited with his relieved and jubilant family.

At his sixty-ninth wedding anniversary, Culver recalled his premature death notice published sixty-four years before, thankful for the life he’d had since his “death.”

Keeper Culver didn't really die, he was just misplaced. 

At Easter, we celebrate the real resurrection of Jesus Christ, who really did die and really did come back from the dead, defeating death and sin simultaneously. We therefore have even more reason to be thankful for the life Christ has given us now and forever. 

Marilyn Turk

Historical fiction flavored with suspense and romance

 Marilyn Turk’s roots are in the coastal South. Calling herself a “literary archaeologist,” she loves to discover stories hidden in history. She is the author of two World War II novels, and the Coastal Lights Legacy series set in 1800s Florida—Rebel Light, Revealing Light, Redeeming Light, and Rekindled Light—featuring lighthouse settings. Marilyn’s novella, The Wrong Survivor, is in the Great Lakes Lighthouse Brides collection. She also writes for the Daily Guideposts Devotions book.

She lives in Florida, with her husband, 9-year-old grandson, and a 17-year-old cat. When not writing, Marilyn can be found playing tennis, gardening, walking, fishing, or kayaking. She and her husband have visited over 100 lighthouses so far, but the RV is ready to travel to go see more.

Website: @http://pathwayheart.com

Email: marilynturkwriter@yahoo.com

Norman Rockwell - His Art Told a Story

Triple self-portrait by Norman Rockwell

by Marilyn Turk

*Leave a comment and your email for a chance to win a new book!

I’ve always loved Norman Rockwell’s painting. To me, they tell stories of America in the best light with few exceptions. Small town life with baseball games, children playing, family dinners, town meetings, the local diner—all came to life with his brushstrokes. In his own words,

Without thinking too much about it in specific terms, I was showing the America I knew and observed to others who might not have noticed.

Rockwell always wanted to be an artist, and when he was 19, he was hired for his first job as art director for Boys Life, the magazine for the Boy Scouts of America. When Rockwell's tenure began with The Saturday Evening Post in 1916, he left his position at Boys Life, but continued to include scouts in Post cover images and the monthly magazine of the American Red Cross.

A scout is kind.

In 1926, he resumed work with the Boy Scouts with production of his first of fifty-one original illustrations for the official Boy Scouts of America annual calendar. His last commission for the Boy Scouts of America was a calendar illustration entitled The Spirit of 1976, which was completed when Rockwell was 82.

His work with the Post lasted until 1963, a span of almost fifty years, producing 321 cover drawings for the magazine. During those years, Rockwell showed what America experienced through wartime, and the patriotism the country shared. His famous cover of Rosie the Riveter showed the role women played during World War II when they took jobs formerly performed by men so the men could go to war.

Rosie the Riveter

In 1943, during World War II, Rockwell painted the Four Freedoms, which was completed in seven months and resulted in his losing fifteen pounds. The series was inspired by a speech by Franklin D. Roosevelt, wherein Roosevelt described and articulated Four Freedoms for universal rights. Rockwell then painted Freedom from Want, Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, and Freedom from Fear. 

One reason I like Rockwell’s painting so much are the facial expressions on the people. His brush truly captured the character. As he said,

If you are interested in the characters you draw and understand them and love them, why, the people who see your picture are bound to feel the same way.

As a writer, I can relate to this statement because I want to write my characters so that my readers will understand them as much as I do.

"Going and Coming" - Doesn't this show the true feelings of going on vacation and coming back?

Space does not allow me to cover more of Rockwell’s work, a lifetime that produced more than 4,000 pieces of art. I personally have many favorites as well. What is your favorite Rockwell painting?

*Enter a comment with your email for a chance to win a copy of Rekindled Light.

 

The war destroyed their engagement. Misunderstandings keep them apart. Will a mysterious arsonist be the only one fanning a flame or can their love be rekindled?

 

Historical fiction flavored with suspense and romance

Multi-published author Marilyn Turk calls herself a “literary archaeologist,” because she loves to discover stories hidden in history. Her World War II novel, The Gilded Curse, won a Silver Scroll award. When readers asked what happened to the characters after the book, Marilyn wrote the sequel, Shadowed by a Spy. Her four-book Coastal Lights Legacy series—Rebel Light, Revealing Light, Redeeming Light, and Rekindled Light—feature Florida lighthouse settings. Marilyn’s novella, The Wrong Survivor, is in the Great Lakes Lighthouse Brides collection. She has also written a book of devotions called Lighthouse Devotions and writes for Daily Guideposts. 

Marilyn is also the director of the Blue Lake Christian Writers Retreat. http://bluelakecwr.com.

She lives in the panhandle of Florida where she and her husband enjoy boating, fishing, and playing tennis when time permits (and it’s below 100 degrees).

Website: @http://pathwayheart.com

Email: marilynturkwriter@yahoo.com