She wore extra socks inside her boots because the airmen’s had worn through and, of course, there would be no more. Chilblains came and in the evening she rubbed on wintergreen, pressing it hard into her swollen toes, preferring the pain to the itching. With Chris each morning she fed Laura’s chickens and Helen and Heine, then threw a few logs into the basket before cycling along lanes shiny with ice but happiness had gone with the hot summer days. She did not look up as the planes flew from the base but she ached for him. In January British and American troops landed at Anzio and the bombing of Berlin and Germany by the Allies continued. They were cold in the village but reserved their fuel for the kitchen only, as the rest of the British were doing as shortages increased. In January the Russians broke through the siege line at Leningrad, and in February the Americans launched the Pacific assault and Claus sent through a parcel of warm clothing for Chris and tins of ham and so they shared their meals with Mrs Williams and Mr Reynolds.
