This Token of Freedom

by Jon Helminiak

Overview

In the summer of 1940, the German Luftwaffe was preparing to destroy London by bombing it for fifty-six consecutive days and nights.

To spare British children from witnessing the carnage and from possible death, millions of youth were evacuated from their London homes and sent away to safe locations. For many boys and girls, their lives would start over in new towns and often with unknown families. Historically, the idea of evacuating an entire generation of children, separating them from their parents, was unprecedented.

This is the story of one of those evacuee children, Jayne Jaffe, who at age nine, began witnessing the best and worst of humanity: war, love, death, separation, tears, euphoria, destruction and rebuilding.

For the first time, Jayne’s remarkable journey is told with compelling narrative by author Jon Helminiak in This Token of Freedom.

“This Token of Freedom is an extraordinarily well written and heartwarming story about family courage in a time of historic global strife. It’s important reminder of the upheavals wrought by WWII on British parents and their children.” The British Literary Society

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781475943719
Publisher:	iUniverse, Incorporated
Publication date:	09/18/2012
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	154
File size:	4 MB

Read an Excerpt

THIS TOKEN OF FREEDOM

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By Jon Helminiak

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright © 2012 Jon Helminiak
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4759-4370-2

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Chapter One

Jack Hans Jaffé

It was Saturday night on the Isle of Jersey, and Jack Hans Jaffé raised his whiskey glass and addressed his wife and friends.

"Tonight in the Jaffé home, June 8, 1930, let us toast to the Queen and King of England and wish them, by the grace of God, everlasting health, wisdom, and good fortune."

He brought the glass to his lips and paused.

"Oh, I almost forgot." He looked at his young wife Maureen and his guests, then lowered his glass and cleared his throat.

"I'm going to be a father."

The guests roared their approval and advanced toward the expectant couple to congratulate them.

"No, wait!" Jack held up a hand and signaled them to stop.

"There's one last thing." The room fell silent.

"May we toast to peace between Germany and England. A peace that will allow our child, and all of us, to live on Jersey untroubled by the upheavals of warfare." There were murmurs of agreement.

"Now, let us drink."

The men raised and drained their glasses. The women sipped at theirs.

Jack put another handful of coal and wood into the heating stove as the guests helped themselves to slices of roast, potatoes, gravy, and turnip casserole.

"You know what, Jack?" asked George Pooley, one of Jack's business associates. His portly face had become flush with a bit too much whiskey. "You were too young to fight in the first big war, and you're too old to fight now. That is, of course, provided we have to fight the Germans once again."

"For that I have my mother and father to thank, don't I? They timed me quite well." Jack brushed his hands clean of soot and poured himself another whiskey. "And even if we do have a war, being a father at my age won't be so bad, either. I'll focus on raising my child instead of raising a bloody rifle above the mud wall of a battlefield trench."

Maureen added, "I don't think Germany would dare to fight the Crown again."

The conversations continued about war, children, Jersey, and England until the wee hours of the morning. Guests were always reluctant to leave; the Jaffé home was a comfortable retreat, and Jack and Maureen were engaging hosts. Best of all, there was always ample whiskey and wine, provided by Jack's business, J.H. Jaffé & Company.

Unlike Maureen, Jack Hans Jaffé had been previously married and had an adult daughter. Born in London in 1883, he developed into a handsome, athletic, and charismatic man. His well-proportioned, stocky frame was usually dressed in fine suits or sport jackets. His grin and easy laugh put others at ease, and his firm handshake punctuated his honest reputation.

By 1910, he was recognized as one of London's best golfers, playing in tournaments hosted by prestigious golf clubs throughout England. He was also a champion "punter" who raced in a punt boat, a wooden, flat-bottomed vessel with a square-cut bow. The punt, about the size of a small rowboat, was propelled by pushing a long pole off the river bottom. Weekend punters' races on London's Thames River were popular among participants and spectators alike, and Jack was one of the best at his craft.

Jack's good looks and athletic skills made him popular among the ladies, but he had little time for courtship. Then one evening, while he dined with friends at a London pub, one of his pals claimed he knew a "cheeky single girl". Would Jack like to meet her? The friend offered to arrange an introduction at the cinema on Victoria Street, where she worked as the movie house manager.

Jack accepted, knowing that he had little to lose. He could attend the silent feature film (all movies in the early 1900s were without sound) and meet the girl named Maud. They'd enjoy the movie together, and if they were attracted to each other, it would be a bonus.

On the evening they met, both Jack and Maud were equally smitten. They courted for several months, and eventually Jack asked Maud for her hand in marriage. It was 1906, and he was 23 years old.

Within the year, Maud gave birth to a girl whom she and Jack named Joy. Her friends and family nicknamed the girl "Pix", and Jack, Maud, and Pix lived happily together for about 20 years.

But then, for unknown reasons, Jack and Maud divorced. Given the stigma placed on divorce in the 1920s, especially between Catholic couples, their reasons for parting must have been considerable. Furthermore, Jack and Maud were considered upstanding, honest, and committed to each other.

By the time they divorced, Pix had grown into a stunning woman in her early twenties. She had honed her natural musical talents into a career, playing piano and singing at local theaters and private events. With Pix living her own adult life, Jack decided to move to the Isle of Jersey. It was time to start over, and Jersey would be a tranquil place to begin.

Within days after arriving on Jersey, Jack joined the LaMoye and Royal Jersey Golf Clubs. Soon he was appointed captain of the LaMoye golf team and won many club championships.

Being active in the golf clubs was an efficient way for Jack to expand his business and social networks, including the circle of single Jersey females. Already he was enamored with a girl named Maureen Conway who worked at the LaMoye Golf Club. She was 23 years his junior, but undeterred by the age gap, he made his romantic intentions known, and Maureen was receptive.

Initially they chatted casually at the club or ate together when Maureen was off work and Jack had finished his rounds of golf. But the club lacked privacy, and Jack and Maureen grew weary of the disapproving stares of their club friends and work colleagues. Many felt it was inappropriate for an older man to date such a young, innocent girl.

So they took their courtship elsewhere: to pubs, beaches, and parks. And despite their generational differences, they developed an easy rapport. Maureen liked Jack's easygoing style. This athletic, savvy businessman always knew how to have fun between responsibilities. Jack loved a strong drink, a good party, and close friends.

In turn, Jack thought Maureen very mature for her age. She had a strong constitution, seemed very determined, was quick to laugh, and enjoyed being social. Like Jack, she was of strong and stout build, yet at 5 feet 3 inches tall, she appeared very feminine. Her straight, auburn hair fell to her shoulders, and she carried herself with poise and distinction.

In short, Jack and Maureen worked well together as a couple.

On September 5, 1929, Jack and Maureen were married in St. Helier, and Maureen moved into Jack's home outside of town. There they began their life together, filled with the promise of longevity, love, family, friends, and stability.

Yet to the east, the resurrected sabers of the German army were rattling. But neither Jack nor Maureen gave it much thought. Their life on the little island was as safe and secure as it could be. Maureen had a successful and loving husband, a warm home, and good friends. Both she and Jack looked forward to living happily ever after.

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On the days before Maureen was expected to give birth, the Jaffé kitchen was prepared with supplies needed for home birthing: bowls, antiseptic, towels, and blankets. There were only a few small clinics on Jersey, and its doctors and beds were reserved for seriously ill patients. Most children were delivered at home by parents, family doctors, or midwives.

On the morning of November 15, 1930, Maureen Jaffé awoke and told Jack it was time. Jack lit a candle, took Maureen's hand, and led her down the stairs into the kitchen. There he helped her lie on the blanket-covered kitchen table, and he summoned the family doctor who lived nearby. By midmorning, Jack held a crying baby girl.

Jayne Jaffé was born.

The Jaffés adjusted well to their new daughter. Jack continued to work at J.H. Jaffé & Company while Maureen tended to Jayne and looked after the household. It was a relationship typical of the times: father earned the income, and mother raised the children.

Compared to other families on the island, the Jaffés lived well. Most others on Jersey weren't so fortunate; they lived in tiny flats or small houses, subsisting on meager incomes from menial labor and farming.

But the Jaffés frequently hosted parties and attended functions at the LaMoye and Royal Jersey Golf Clubs. Jayne was enrolled in a private school, the Jersey Girls College, in nearby St. Helier. During the summer, the Jaffés sailed across the English Channel to visit relatives in London, a trip that very few people could afford at the time.

Jersey provided Jayne with a fine country childhood. She grew up between the countryside and the sea, romping in the fields and building sandcastles on the beach. There were farms with sheep and cows and fishing boats whose crews' unloaded fresh fish in the harbors. From the top of the hills, she could spread her arms in the crisp sea winds and pretend she was flying like one of those new machines called airplanes. In downtown St. Helier, the main promenade was always filled with men and women in their best clothing, the women holding umbrellas to shield themselves from the sun, and the men in knickers, ties, and hats.

Without a brother or sister, Jayne was included in most of the adult activities, and she adjusted well to the older crowd. She enjoyed school and befriended many children her own age. Her plucky and independent spirit enabled her to adapt easily to nearly every situation, and both young and old found her to be pleasant company.

As for Jack, he was proud of Jayne and enjoyed his second round of fatherhood at age 47. He would often invite Pix, his daughter from his first marriage, to visit Jersey and stay with the new Jaffé family, which she often did, along with her husband Con Boddington. Con was a career military man, and his strong physique and chiseled face complemented Pix's movie-star looks. They made a stunning couple, and by all accounts they got along well with Maureen and Jayne. For the rest of his life, Con affectionately referred to himself as Jayne's "big brother".

Jayne's Jersey childhood was untroubled – with one exception. Although she had a warm home, loving parents, and friends of all ages, she worried about her father, who seemed weary and less chipper and was plagued by a nagging cough. While her mother claimed otherwise, Jayne suspected something was wrong. She would ask her father how he felt, and he'd reply with a smile, "I'm fit and happy!" Then he would sigh and add, "Your Daddy is just a little tired, that's all." Maureen did what she could for her husband, taking him to the family doctor and ensuring his comfort at home.

But on April 27, 1939, the championship golfer and businessman, charismatic and handsome Jack Hans Jaffé, suddenly died. He was 57 years old. The official cause of death was lung abscess, a bacterial caused form of pneumonia.

Maureen, who was emotionally shaken by the passing of her husband, now faced the challenge of single parenthood. But there were other, more alarming issues that could affect not only the future of Maureen and Jayne but every citizen of the Channel Islands.

Just 400 miles to the east in Germany, Adolph Hitler was making headlines. The London Telegraph, England's most widely-read newspaper, printed unsettling reports of a rapidly expanding German military with sophisticated warships, tanks, and aircraft.

Already in 1938, German troops had invaded Austria. The country succumbed without resistance, and its people were now living under Nazi oppression. By March 1939, all of Czechoslovakia was under German control, breaking the terms of the Munich Agreement that Hitler had accepted. Despite calls for help from Czechoslovakia's government, neither Britain nor France was prepared to intervene, naively hoping that Hitler would end his conquests with Czechoslovakia's capitulation.

There was concern in Parliament, however, that Poland might be Hitler's next target. Many lawmakers believed that the bombastic Hitler was plotting to occupy all of Europe, including England. Should he act on his ambitions, it was likely that the Channel Islands, being the closest English territory to Germany, would be the first British soil invaded.

And so, silently and reluctantly, the residents of Jersey began contemplating what they would do in the event of the unthinkable: an assault on their island home by the German armed forces.

Chapter Two

The Islands Shall Not Be Defended: Impending War and the Evacuation of Jersey

In 1939, the English people were in no mood for another war, and the nation was not prepared to fight one.

Memories of World War I, just 20 years earlier, haunted nearly every British adult. World War I had been so horrific that it was referred to as the "Great War". More than 800,000 British men, or 20 percent of the male population, died in battles fought in trenches, in cavalry-style advances, and in fogs of poison gas. The dead left behind grieving parents, girlfriends, widows, children, and friends. For these people – nearly everybody over age 30 – the thought of another war was inconceivable.

Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and much of the British Parliament agreed. The prevailing sentiment was that the military should not have priority for government funding. As a result, the armed forces of Great Britain were gradually depleted and the military dwindled to its lowest number of soldiers in decades. The British naval fleet consisted of ponderous and under-armed WWI-era steamships, and the British Air Force was virtually nonexistent, with just several squadrons of outdated fighters and no heavy bombers. Pilots were young, and few were combat-ready.

Conversely, since 1934, Germany had pursued an aggressive military buildup to avenge what it viewed as a humiliating defeat in WWI. The newly-elected Nazi Party set about rebuilding its military with sophisticated aircraft, battleships, submarines, tanks, and artillery.

The Nazi Party also fueled a rebound of radical German pride. Newsreels showed thousands of goose-stepping, swastika-clad soldiers parading down the avenues of Berlin, hailed by thousands of waving citizens. Hitler himself was a charismatic figure, assuring the German people through fiery speeches accompanied by wild gesticulation that their years of economic depression were over. Germany was to be great once again.

But as with all dictators, "greatness" for Hitler meant persecution of citizens who held beliefs deemed incompatible with the state. It also meant the occupation of other nations, government control of the news media, conscription of large industries, and nationalized health care. Certain religions, especially Judaism, were deemed incompatible with Nazi Party goals. Slowly and incrementally, the German population was weaned from self-reliance to government dependency. With promises of the "good life" ahead, the German citizenry embraced the Nazi Party without recognizing the toll it would take on their nation.

British Prime Minister Chamberlain calculated that Hitler's imperialistic ambitions would end with the occupation of the Sudetenland in 1938. He even traveled to Germany to meet with the leader of the Reich and found the Führer to be cordial and engaging. Hitler accommodated Chamberlain in luxurious chalets and bestowed upon him the finest German hospitality of ample food and beverage. He told Chamberlain that he had no designs on England; he even liked England! So, despite Hitler's track record of deceitful negotiations with other nations, Chamberlain naively assured his people that their island nation would be safe.

Many disagreed. Winston Churchill, a veteran of WWI and long-standing Member of Parliament, warned that Hitler's ambitions would extend across Europe and beyond. Taking advantage of his pulpit as an elder British statesman, Churchill used parliamentary speeches, newspaper articles, and meetings with foreign dignitaries to spread his conviction that a storm of military aggression was brewing in Germany.

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from THIS TOKEN OF FREEDOM by Jon Helminiak Copyright © 2012 by Jon Helminiak. Excerpted by permission of iUniverse, Inc.. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Contents

Foreword....................vii
Acknowledgements....................xi
Introduction....................xiii
I. Jack Hans Jaffé....................1
II. The Islands Shall Not Be Defended: Impending War and the Evacuation of Jersey....................8
III. In Brighton and London....................15
IV. To America....................32
V. Where in the World Is Wisconsin?....................69
VI. Back Home to England....................94
VII. The American Dream....................119
Afterword....................133
About the Author....................135