40+ years later … a British sailor returns.

In a recent blog entry I wrote of the British sailors that my family entertained in WW II. A total of 126 visited during those years and we enjoyed them all. However, most of them had a very short stay in Boston (while waiting for repairs to their ships) and we never heard from them again. That was not the case with Ron Brown and Bert Entwistle (the two boys pictured here with me, age 10).

They were stationed at the naval base for the duration of the war and, whenever they got leave, they would hop on the train from Boston to Wellesley Hills, where we lived. They shared their lives with us and I remember in particular how Bert loved to tell us about his infant son John who was born just days before he was sent overseas.

We stayed in touch with the two of them for years and in 1976 Bert and his wife Dora flew to Massachusetts from England to help my Mother celebrate her 80th birthday. I hadn’t seen Bert for 32 years and had never met Dora so you can just imagine the fever pitch of emotions displayed. It was a glorious reunion and although my mother, Dora and Bert (and even his son John) are all gone now the memory is still with me.

(* blog alert) If the name Entwistle rings a bell be sure to check out my next entry … to be posted in 5 days.