Heroes, Heartbreaks And Loves

It was only when Annabel Venning, 46, decided to delve into her family’s past that she learnt their amazing story

With a ready laugh, a cloud of dark brown curls that only started greying in her 90s, a stream of entertaining anecdotes and a throaty chuckle, Annabel Venning’s great-aunt, Ruth, was always good company. Although she was a widow for nearly 50 years, she had never seemed to be lonely. As well as children, great-grandchildren and nephews and nieces, she had a wide circle of friends, old and young, who were all drawn to her joie de vivre.

‘I always enjoyed seeing her when she came to my parents’ house for Sunday lunch, always accompanied by her dachshund,’ recalls Annabel. ‘She came to my wedding – and when my children, Will and Alice, were born, I made sure that they got to know her. She was a wonderful role model, with her cheerful, “glass half-full” attitude to life.

‘I’d tell my kids all about how she “lived through the war” and “saw history happen”,’ says Annabel.

But it wasn’t until Annabel’s mother mentioned that Ruth had nursed during the war that she realised she ought to ask her more about her past before it was too late. Little did she know what an extraordinary tale would unfurl.

‘What she told me was an astonishing story of thwarted love and incredible courage, a wartime epic, featuring bombs, a plane crash and heartbreak,’ says Annabel.

Ruth had been the youngest of six children and was close to her big brothers, Edward, Walter, Peter and Harold, though they gave her a hard time. Walter, Annabel’s grandfather, used to make her warm up the loo seat in the outdoor privy at their home in Tiverton, Devon, and put the toothpaste onto his toothbrush. She was a tomboy and loved playing cricket and football with the lads, even if they sometimes used her as a goalpost.