Chapter 1

Prologue: the Harlows, the Sullivans, and Childhood.

Unhappy Childhood

Childhood is the happiest time of your life the saying goes. Sadly, not for me.

To understand why the years between 1939 and 1946, after childhood, were the happiest of my early life it is necessary to understanding my motives in volunteering for the Women’s Land Army (WLA), where I was happy. And it is also necessary to know something of my parents and home life. For my parents were ill matched, leading to marital discord and unhappy children. How they met I do not know – and it is for the imagination, but meet they did and married in World War I before father volunteered, and went to France to serve in the British Army.Continue Reading