A Wren at King's Cross

I am writing this on behalf of Mrs Joyce Frayne, nee Charlton.

"I joined the WRNS in 1943. I was 18 and was sent to HMS Royal Arthur, Skegness. There were men, or should I say young boys of 18+ from all over England, France, Belgium, Norway, Yugoslavia and Holland.All thought the war would be over by Xmas, and they would all go home. Instead, after eight weeks training they were sent to sea, and in a few weeks we heard a ship had been lost, and we knew more than likely they were on it. After being home for the weekend I arrived at King's Cross to get the train leaving at 8 pm Sunday night, to get into Skegness at 8 the next morning. We found the gates were locked, we couldn't get on the platform. Then a train came in, full of soldiers that had lost legs, arms and so many had bandages over their eyes and were being helped out of the station. I had put this out of my mind until Thursday 7 July, when I heard on the news about the bombing at King's Cross etc. Now since then, I haven't had a good night's sleep, it's all come flooding back and I feel like crying my eyes out, in fact I am now. Yours sincerely, Mrs Joyce Frayne, nee Charlton, ex-Petty Officer Wren J.K. Frayne, MK61771. P.S. I lost my husband Colin on Sept 3, 2000 - a blood clot in the heart - we had been married nearly 55 years. We met in the Navy."

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