A ray of hope

MILK?” Mrs Evans loomed over Alice Campbell’s teacup with a milk jug. The humidity in the tea shop was beginning to wilt the fabric violets in Alice’s little hat. She could see a few of the tiny flowe

Iris climbed down from the donkey cart that had given her a lift from Penzance station, being careful not to ladder her best stockings, and walked up the narrow lane to Nantolven Farm. There was no si

THE light was beginning to fade, and as Irene started to scratch her bare arms, she remembered anew one of the few things she disliked about being in the countryside. “The midges are out,” she complai

BONNIE MacGilvray was exhausted. She felt wrung out by life and the business she was in – all of it. A fortnight ago her husband had suggested that this might be the moment for her to go on a trip tha

OW!” Irene’s shriek cut across the darkness as she was thrown from her bike. Winded, she lay for a moment, her heart thumping against her ribcage. Then she sat up gingerly and took stock of which part

To mark the 80th anniversary of VJ Day, John Eskdale and other survivors share their harrowing memories of war and stories of hope