This is quite something. It's a 1964 interview with Katie Morter, a mill girl from Manchester who married Percy at the beginning of the First World War, saw him recruited by the music hall star Vesta Tilley and then, when she was seven months pregnant with their child, got the letter from his company sergeant saying Percy had been killed.
I use the word "interview" but in fact it's a perfectly-delivered monologue. She tells you details only when you need to know them. She doesn't need the prompting of an interviewer to clarify anything. Her voice quavers occasionally but she doesn't break down. It's like being there.
And as if one World War wasn't enough, she would go on to live through another one barely twenty years later.
ReplyDeleteTragically beautiful...Thanks for the link
ReplyDeleteTragically beautiful..thanks for the link
ReplyDeleteRemarkable. Told so simply, with no drama and with great dignity.
ReplyDeleteThanks for bringing this to our attention, David
It's all there in her face when she speaks, like she lives it again. The glee when she talks about eating only carrots when she was pregnant and the shock of the letter.
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