The Faith and Fire Within Us

by

Thom Goddard

Silence VOICE OVER The following play is based on a true story

INTERIOR NOISE OF BUSY TRAIN STATION - steam rushing from engines, peoples footsteps, doors opening and closing, and many other sounds from a train station during rush hour. TRAIN GUARD (Shouting) All aboard! YOUNG MALE VOICE - DAVID (Hurrying and out of breath) Excuse me, sir. Is this the Portsmouth train? TRAIN GUARD (Grunts in a self-important, cant you see Im busy manner) Uh... DAVID The train to Portsmouth Harbour? TRAIN GUARD Er Yes, yes... Come along now sir. DAVID Thank you. Can you please tell me which carriage is first class? TRAIN GUARD ALL these carriages are first class sir! SHORT QUIET AND COUGH AMONGST THE THRONG OF THE STATION TRAIN GUARD The carriage for first class passengers is third from the engine, sir. Please board the train. We do have a schedule to keep - even in wartime. DAVID Thank you. Good-day. SOUND OF DAVID BOARDING A TRAIN FILLED WITH PEOPLE TALKING AND BUSTLING. SOUND OF THE TRAIN PULLING OUT OF THE STATION DAVID PUSHES HIS WAY THROUGH THE CROWDED TRAIN TO GET TO FIRST CLASS DAVID ARRIVES AT FIRST CLASS, OPENS THE DOOR, ENTERS THE COMPARTMENT, PLACES HIS THINGS IN THE OVERHEAD SHELF AND SITS DOWN OLD MAN David! It is you!

OLD WOMAN - DAVIDS MOTHER MILDRED (Very emotional) Oh David! What an amazing coincidence. How wonderful to see you. DAVID Mother! Father! How are you? OLD MAN - DAVIDS FATHER FRED All the better for seeing you my lad. MIDRED Oh David it is so amazing to see you. (She starts crying) You look so well... Its been so long... And Ive... Weve missed you so much. FRED There, there Mother. We should be happy the fates have brought us together.

DAVID Oh mother. Please dont cry. Its wonderful to see you too. Two years of boarding at school, the War Office not allowing school children to travel on the trains and... other things... have made it so long since we were last together. MILDRED IS QUIETLY WEEPING FRED Shes... just had a bad day. So, my boy, how are you? DAVID Im very well father. Completed my exams and hope to go to Oxford... a little later on. FRED David, thats wonderful. We are so proud of you. Arent we Mildred? MILDRED SNIFFLES AN AGREEMENT TRAIN GUARD Clapham Junction! The next station is Clapham Junction. SOUND OF TRAIN SLOWING AND PULLING INTO THE STATION

FRED Quite amazing to get the carriage to ourselves. I know were in First Class, unlike those poor devils behind us - packed in like sardines. Men ready to give their lives for this country packed in with women about to create new lives for this country. PAUSE I suppose its so quiet because everyones already gone. The invasion of Europes coming soon - youll see. The build up of troops and vehicles around home is truly something to behold. It will be the start of the second front - the invasion of Europe. Something everyone in England wants and fears so terribly. DAVID Im sure youre right father. SOUND OF THE TRAIN STRAINING AND PULLING OUT OF THE STATION

FRED Of course Im right. The go will be soon, very soon. The Americans have been training around our land. Do you know they even took old farmer Maltbys land? Just took it! Gave him three weeks to get out and then moved in themselves. FRED BECOMES ANGRY The boys at the Conservative Club and I cant believe whats happening. Have you heard theyve put an American in charge of our forces? Not Monty, the hero of El Alamein. Eisenhower! Who is he anyway? Churchills obviously gone insane. Our cigar chomping leader should come down and see our local common. I find piles of munitions lying around everywhere. I had to stop the children playing with live rounds the other day. And i dont just mean flares and such. On Monday I found a box of antipersonnel mines. Just lying beside the road. I ask you! The Americans! Over-paid, over-sexed and over here. They force all these nice, innocent English girls to fall in love with them and then theyre off to galavant across Europe. MILDRED Oh do be quiet Fred. Look at these poor girls on the platform. Theyve come to see their men off, not knowing if their love will return. Waving good-bye as frenzied as if they were standing on the tip of England seeing their men disappear into the unknown. MILDRED WEEPS QUIETLY DAVID Father. What are you doing in London? You and Mother? FRED Oh... Well, weve been up to see... To go to...

MILDRED (CLEAR AND SERIOUS) Weve been to a memorial service. A friends memorial service. (VOICE BECOMES WARM) And its so fortuitous to meet you like this David. Youre look fabulous - very smart; thats a wonderful suit. Im so glad you dressed up to come home. DAVID COUGHS MILDRED Well...??? You are on your way home arent you? You are very lucky. We have the car as your father still has petrol due to his role in the ARP. And we will have such a feast tonight. I will prepare your favourite, roast lamb with... DAVID Im not on my way home mother. MILDRED But my dear where else could you be going? DAVID Im on my way to Portsmouth. FRED (WITHOUT THINKING) What on earth are you going to do there? I thought you said you were thinking about Oxford? You cant... DAVID Father! Im joining up with my unit. THERE IS A STRANGE QUIET - ONLY THE PUFFING STEAM ENGINE CAN BE HEARD MILDRED (VERY STERN) Why? DAVID I joined The Rifle Brigade - just like you dad. FRED (ALMOST LAUGHING) Dont be ridiculous. Youre still at school. DAVID I finished school 9 months ago! IN A SOFT VOICE I volunteered for your Regiment, father, because I didnt want to be conscripted into the regular army. The way youve talked about the brigades history and dedication to duty, it was an easy choice. I was honored to become part of the Prince Consorts Own. And... follow in your footsteps.

FRED I dont believe you. Youre not wearing a uniform. DAVID I finished basic military training on Thursday... MILDRED TAKES A SHARP INTAKE OF BREATH DAVID And am meeting up with my unit this afternoon. The staff sergeant will have all my equipment. They will take care of me. Just like they took care of you... TRAIN GUARD Woking! The next stop is Woking! SOUND OF TRAIN PULLING INTO THE STATION FRED Oh David! Why didnt you tell us. DAVID I wrote to you several times when I finished school. And during training. My letters must have disappeared in the post. All the wartime censorship I suppose. SHORT PAUSE - SOUND OF PEOPLE GETTING ON THE TRAIN I just wanted to make you proud father. You brought Maurice and I up on stories of your distinguished service with the Rifle Brigade. The heroic campaigns, bravely fighting the enemy and the medal you won in the First World War. SOUND OF TRAIN PULLING OUT OF THE STATION FRED David... DAVID You won The Distinguished Service Order for bravery under fire... FRED David... DAVID In the Great War where so many fell, you surpassed all others... FRED (SHOUTS) DAVID! I did nothing of the kind. Before 1917, the medal was given under conditions equivalent to service in actual combat. I was a staff officer - a pen pusher. I was awarded the medal because I was good at my job, good at filling in request forms, NOT because Im a hero.

THERE IS A DEATHLY QUIET - ONLY THE PUFFING STEAM ENGINE CAN BE HEARD MILDRED So it was all lies FRED I told those stories to entertain the boys. To inspire them to better themselves... MILDRED To inspire themselves to throw their lives away. And for what? In pursuit of honour and glory? FRED NO. I never meant to hurt them. I loved Maurice and David desperately and never wanted them to follow in my footsteps. FRED FALLS SILENT. HE IS ON THE VERGE OF CRYING MILDRED So... David. Do you know whats in store for you? DAVID (PAUSES BETWEEN EACH SENTENCE AS IF IT HURTS TO SPEAK) I know that at 19 I am one of the youngest lieutenants in The Rifle Brigade. My training took only 7 months. Something big is coming up. I dont know what as we havent been told but everyone is very excited. I joined straight out of school so I wasnt conscripted. I passes my exams and will be able to go to Oxford... MILDRED When you return FRED (ANDRY) IF he returns... MILDRED Fred... FRED Oh David. How could you have been so stupid! MILDRED Frederick! How dare you!

FRED Oh, dont you see! Its the big one, the invasion of Europe. Were going to land in France and theyre all going to be killed. Dont you remember Dieppe? We could only read about it in The Times so we dont know the half of it. But the entire invasion force was wiped out or captured. The military know absolutely nothing. It didnt work the first time so lets do exactly the same thing again Of course! Churchill! Hes always loved maritime invasions. FRED SPEAKS IN A SILLY VOICE Gallipoli worked out well, lets do that again MILDRED Fred, stop it! FRED They just dont care about the cost... our blood-thirsty leaders. To them were all just a number. The more that die, the better. Shows how hard were trying DAVID SHUT UP! Father I HAVE joined the Army, I AM going to fight in this war and I AM going to come back alive. THERE IS A STRANGE QUIET - ONLY THE PUFFING STEAM ENGINE CAN BE HEARD MILDRED Alright dear. Calm down. Lets talk about someth... TRAIN GUARD Guildford! The next stop is Guildford! SOUNDS OF TRAIN PULLING INTO THE STATION SOUNDS OF PEOPLE GETTING ON THE TRAIN MILDRED (QUIETY) David, my darling. Why didnt you tell us? SOUNDS OF TRAIN PULLING OUT OF THE STATION

DAVID Tell you? Mother, I havent heard from either of you in almost 2 years. Or my brother Maurice. I have been isolated and alone. First at boarding school and then at basic military training. In fact, there wasnt much difference between the two. DAVID SMIRKS. I have tried everything to contact you. Ive written letters and handed notes to friends living locally to pass on to you. I even tried calling the local pub to leave a message for you, father. Its been impossible to travel by train so I havent been physically able come home. HE PAUSES I do miss it. The big house and my cosy room, the beautiful common and walking the dogs, and just being there with you mother... And you father... And my brother. MILDRED (CRIES) Oh David! DAVID And I hadnt heard from you. No word on what you were doing, where you were... RAISING HIS VOICE Or if you were alive. There is a war on. I led myself to believe you didnt care about me - thats why you hadnt written. I just couldnt believe any other possibilities. Why havent you written to me? Why havent I heard from you? What have I done that you pack me off to school, never to hear from you for TWO YEARS? FRED Now David, calm down. MILDRED Oh David. Im sorry. Oh darling, we love you so much. I am so sorry we never tell you how much we love you. And we have neglected you. So terribly. We... your father... thought staying at school, away from us, would benefit you. FRED (SHEEPISHLY) Make you more of a man... MILDRED

Oh shut up Fred. Youve done enough. TRAIN GUARD Witley. The next station is Witley. SOUND OF TRAIN PULLING INTO THE STATION DAVID Father... I shouldnt say this, we are sworn to secrecy, but... MILDRED What? SOUND OF TRAIN PULLING OUT OF THE STATION DAVID Do you remember what Maurice used to say? Because he so loved the sea, instead of Loose Talk Costs Lives it was Loose Lips Sink Ships. MILDRED (UPSET) David. DAVID (QUIETLY) The second front is coming... soon. FRED (QUICKLY, ALMOST INTERRUPTING) There you go! I knew it! MILDRED We all knew it. It didnt take a genius. Go on David. DAVID Monty... that is Field Marshall Montgomery came to our training base last week. He said we are off to do a job soon and must all have confidence that we will succeed. He isnt well liked by some of the men - certainly some of the older NCOs who were training us. They called him Flyem in Monty. But I do have confidence in him and confidence that we will be victorious HE PAUSES IN THOUGHT Do you know, he chatted to a friend of mine. Archdale, Nicholas Archdale. Montgomery asked him what his most prized possession is. Archdale replied My rifle, sir and Monty looked him straight in the eye and said: No. Your life. And Im going to save it for you. I dont know why but... I believe him MILDRED And now youre here. With us. On the train that takes you home... And the train that carries you into the war... It is fate that has brought us together

DAVID Yes... maybe. It is a funny thing meeting like this on the train These trains have been full to bursting with all the troops moving to the south coast. My officer chums and I were meant to join our units two weeks ago But our trainings been so quick they hadnt taught us grenade drills... PAUSING AS HE DOESNT WANT TO TELL HIS PARENTS And how to respond to casualties. I think I am ready... I hope I am ready FRED (SARCASTIC) Well, bravo! You THINK youre ready Ready for the savagery of war? You wont know whats hit you. Combat presents a strange mix of everyday routine and desolate horror DAVID (EXASPERATED) Father! What horror have you seen? FATHER Let me tell you something. We are in a state of total war, erasing the distinction between civilians and the military. Thousands of Londoners continue to flood to Hampshire, two years after the end of the Blitz. And these people are not there for a better life - they are there to escape the horrors of a devastated London. The police found one family living in a cow shed: two adults and five children starving to death but glad to be out of London and alive. FREDS VOICE BECOMES VERY SERIOUS, ALMOST THREATENING And the other day a slightly damaged Hurricane landed on the common. No big holes in the fuselage or excessive damage. Everything seemed fine except the pilot was desperately trying to escape the plane. The fire that consumed him soon told us why. And he screamed David. Screamed like a banshee from Hell. Didnt ask for help, didnt have time to. He just screamed... MOTHER (CRYING) Oh stop it! Stop it! DAVID You see what your words do, father!

You hurt everyone around you and push them away You literally incarcerated me in boarding school... FRED (INTERRUPTING) Thats a lie! DAVID And you pushed my dearest brother, Maurice, into running away and joining up MILDRED WAILS FRED NO, I DID NOT! DAVID Yes, you did Face it. All the pressure to succeed, to do your duty, to be the best... It was all your terrible fantasy to get the best out of my boys FRED (WHIMPERING) I didnt push Maurice away DAVID (CONTROLLED ANGER) Yes... He couldnt take it any more and joined the Navy And do you know why hes joined the Navy, father? Sailing is the only thing he is good at. He loves boats and being on the water But no, you forced him to play football and forbade him to go near the lake You took his young life away from him! MILDRED IS OPENLY CRYING FRED (HOWLS IN TEARS) I didnt kill him! I didnt kill Maurice THERE IS AN INSTANT QUIET - ONLY THE PUFFING STEAM ENGINE CAN BE HEARD DAVID What? DAVID IS VERY STERN WITH HIS PARENTS DAVID Tell me MILDRED (WEEPING)

Oh David, please... DAVID Tell me, mother MILDRED David, please Leave it and focus on your future DAVID My brother is dead??? My brother Maurice is dead??? Oh my brother! DAVID CRIES MILDRED Come here SOUND OF DAVID AND HIS MOTHER HUGGING AND RETURNING TO THEIR SEATS MILDRED CONTINUES TO OPENLY WEEP FRED (TALKS EFFICIENTLY TO STOP HIMSELF CRYING) Maurice was killed on Thursday last week. His Motor Torpedo Boat attacked a German convoy in the Channel We are on this train because weve just come from his memorial service DAVID I cant believe it! FRED The boat was completely destroyed - all the crew died. There were no remains so... HE IS UPSET we couldnt hold a funeral The Admiralty hold a memorial service once a month for those whove given their lives on the sea We learnt of Maurices fate two days ago and decided to... honour him DAVID Why didnt you tell me? MILDRED David, we love you There hasnt been time to write to you and there was no other way to contact you DAVID

Oh Maurice!

TRAIN GUARD Haslemere! The next stop is Haslemere SOUND OF TRAIN PULLING INTO THE STATION MILDRED David? Why dont you just get off the train? Go Away from this war Away from us DAVID You know thats not me, mother SOUND OF TRAIN PULLING OUT OF THE STATION DAVID And now its too late MILDRED (SOMBER) Then come home with us Alight at the next station, our home town of Petersfield, and come home DAVID You know I cant do that MILDRED (PLEADING) Please David. FRED You dont have to go You dont have to die You could come with us ... home DAVID Father! What about all your lessons in doing your duty and stepping up when your country calls? FRED I was wrong David I have been wrong about so many things... particularly with you...

both my boys

MILDRED You dont have to go

DAVID Of course I have to go I have to do my duty MILDRED (ANGRY) Like your brother? Maurice did his duty and look where it got him. He rushed off to fulfill his fathers idiotic dreams of glory. DAVID Maurice died a hero MILDRED (GETTING PROGRESSIVELY ANGRY) A hero? Maurice is nothing. Hes already been forgotten. Maurice has no grave, no memorial, nothing... Nothing for his friends to remember him by. Nothing for his family to remember him by. SOFTLY Nothing for his mother to remember him by. MILDRED (REMINISCES) Just before Maurice left, I watched him sitting with a paper, and he did not turn a page often. It all came back with a rush - the boys who set off so gaily and lightly. And did not come back. I could have screamed aloud: He has never hurt a thing in his life. Please Lord, dont let him go. It was dreadful thinking of him having to kill other boys like himself - to hurt and be hurt. It breaks my heart to think of all the senseless, formless cruelty occurring once more. We who remember the long, drawn-out agony of the last war feel ourselves crumble somewhere inside at the thought of what lies ahead. MILDRED (ANGRY) You men. Young and old. Young boys go off to die for old mens quarrels And for what? Honour? Glory? Duty?

Stupidity Come with me David and break the cycle of war that tears at our very hearts TRAIN GUARD Petersfield! The next station is Petersfield! After that this train is non-stop to Portsmouth SOUND OF THE TRAIN PULLING INTO THE STATION SOUNDS OF FRED AND MILDRED RISING FROM THEIR SEATS, AND COLLECTING THEIR BELONGINGS. MILDRED David SOUND OF THE TRAIN DOORS OPENING DAVID Ok mother. SOUNDS OF DAVID RISING FROM HIS SEAT AND COLLECTING HIS BELONGINGS. FRED Well done son. Its what Maurice would have wanted. MILDRED Its what we all want. SOUND OF THEM GETTING OFF THE TRAIN SOUND OF TRAIN DOORS CLOSING TRAIN GUARD All aboard! DAVID No... Mother. Father. Maurice wouldnt want me to honour him by running away. I have to follow in his footsteps. Not for glory. Not for duty. Because we are brothers. We STILL are brothers. And his memory...

Lives on through me. SOUND OF DAVID OPENING A DOOR, ENTERING THE TRAIN AND THE DOOR CLOSING SOUND OF THE TRAIN LEAVING THE STATION Tis the time for the trumpet to sound the song of peace, Tis the time for anger and hatred to cease, Tis the time to remember the valiant did not die in vain, Tis the time for differences, begin to wane. Never forget the reasons what those valiant men died for, But let us heal the wound from shore to shore. Let the nation be again brothers in peace and love; For this would be the wish, of our God in Heavens above. - Wayne C. Bengston Cast: David is a young man with a posh voice. He is intelligent and thinks he controls his destiny but insecurity is his achilles heel. Fred is a powerful man who knows what is right and believes everyone could learn from him. Mildred is a woman in her early 40s aged by the loss of her second son. When she speaks others listen. Train Guard - Man with deep, loud voice in his 40s Written by Thom Goddard