One by one she made contact with the five planes, although because of the crackling on the receiver she had no idea which one was Giles, but soon they were swallowed up by the night sky and all she could do was listen with concern in case any of them reported they were in trouble. From the direction the bombers were taking it appeared that they were heading yet again for London and Livvy’s heart was in her mouth as she wondered how many poor, unsuspecting victims would lose their lives that night. It was a clear, moonlit night with stars twinkling high in the heavens, making the towns and cities easy targets for the deadly planes, and Livvy began to silently pray.

In London, Susan and her friends would be hoisting Nellie, as they had christened the barrage balloon they flew, high into the sky and the ack-ack guns would be peppering the sky, but as they all knew to their cost, these were only partially successful deterrents against the deadly German bombers.

‘I say, have you seen the new pilots?’ Monica asked the next morning as she brushed her hair in the mirror above the sink in the washrooms before twisting it into a neat bun. ‘A couple of them are very dishy indeed.’

‘Are they?’ Livvy finished brushing her teeth, which were chattering with cold. Unfortunately, the washrooms were very primitive indeed.

‘Hm, I’m hoping we’ll get another glimpse of them at breakfast,’ Monica chuntered on as she straightened her tie in the mirror. ‘Although it’s unlikely, I suppose. They didn’t get back to the airfield till the early hours of the morning, did they, so they’ll probably still be sleeping. It was a very successful night, wasn’t it? All of our boys came back in one piece and they shot one of the Jerries’ planes down and it went into the River Thames in flames. Good riddance to bad rubbish, that’s what I say. I just wish we could shoot the lot of the murdering bastards!’

Livvy raised an eyebrow. ‘I dare say the Germans aren’t all bad,’ she pointed out as she began to brush her own hair, but her heart was hammering painfully. She’d had very little sleep the night before.

Monica snorted disdainfully. ‘Everything that comes out of Germany is rotten,’ she insisted. ‘But get a move on. You know what the chaps are like. All the decent bacon and sausages will be gone if you don’t hurry up.’

The canteen was teeming with people when they arrived and as they approached the counter Livvy quickly scanned the room and was surprised to feel slightly disappointed when there was no sign of Giles.