‘What’s the film?’ asked Lily.

‘Angels One Five,’ said Tom.

‘What’s it about?’

Tom looked surprised. ‘Sorry, I thought you knew. It’s really popular and got great write-ups in the Herald. It’s set during the Battle of Britain.’

Lily bit her bottom lip. ‘Oh, I see,’ she said quietly. ‘A war film.’

The Odeon cinema was stylish, with an art deco interior, and Tom bought seats in the dress circle. It had opened in a blaze of publicity in 1937 when all 1,484 seats were sold out in ninety minutes. Lily was unaware that the fifteen-year-old Vera had attended on that opening night with her father and collected for the Poor Children Fresh Air Fund. On that long-ago evening it had cost sixpence for a cheap seat in the stalls. Two shillings for one of the best seats in the dress circle was considered an extravagance by her father.

Lily settled down to watch one of the most popular British films of 1952 as a dense pall of cigarette smoke drifted up to the ceiling. Tom explained that Angels One Five referred to an altitude of radar contact of fifteen thousand feet. The plot centred on a young fighter pilot immediately before and after the Battle of Britain in 1940. John Gregson’s character, ‘Septic’ Baird, was mortally wounded and in a dramatic finale crashed to his death. Jack Hawkins played a fiercely patriotic group captain, ‘Tiger’ Small, while the other two stars were Michael Denison and Dulcie Gray. Lily had read a recent issue of Picturegoer, the national film weekly, and recognized these two. She whispered to Tom, ‘They’re married in real life. You can tell by just looking at them,’ and Tom wondered why. The film also featured a beautiful young actress, Veronica Hurst. ‘Her hair is like yours,’ said Tom when the lights went up.

A fish and chip shop was across the road from the cinema and Tom took Lily’s hand. ‘Let’s finish the evening in style,’ he said with a grin.

‘You know how to treat a lady.’

‘Last of the big spenders, that’s me,’ joked Tom as they hurried inside. ‘Four pennyworth of fish and chips twice, please.’ He leaned over the counter and flashed a smile at the young assistant. ‘With a few scraps, please.’

Lily smiled at the request.

The girl, red-faced from the heat of the boiling fat, shovelled an extra scoop of the batter bits from the pan and added them to the feast. Then she folded the two portions expertly in newspaper and handed them over the counter. ‘Let’s eat them in the car,’ said Tom.

He put the parcel inside his coat to keep it warm and, on this cold night, he appreciated the heat on his chest. The car windows steamed up as they enjoyed their supper, while Lily recalled days long ago in the Land Army when a fish supper with all the girls was a special treat.