Valerie

It’s been a mystery all my life – who was Valerie? Well, I do know (from my mother of all people) that Valerie was my Dad’s love interest when he was a fighter pilot in WWII. My mother told me this in a matter-of-fact way. But that’s all I know.

My Dad and Mum married on October 12, 1945 back in New Zealand and they were married for 43 years – until Dad died in 1988. My mother died in 2007, just short of 91 years.

It’s a cute story, the way they met. Dad was on R&R in Sydney, Australia, on his way back to New Zealand. My mother (also a New Zealander) had moved to Australia with her parents a few years before and they were living in Clifton Gardens. My Mum worked for the American Armed Forces – I think she started off being a secretary for some General and then seemed to be taking servicemen on a bus tour to the Blue Mountains (about 2 hours out of Sydney). As she told it, she was like a hostess on the bus.

My mother’s side of the story is that there were a bunch of American men in uniform on the bus, looking dashing in that distinctive khaki uniform the Yanks wear. Onto the bus, stumbled two uncouth New Zealanders. Dad apparently needed the bus to stop so he could dash to the toilet. And then spent the rest of the time chatting up my mother. Mum said she couldn’t rid of him, so she asked my grandparents to put him up at their home in Clifton Gardens for a few days.

According to my grandmother, she clamped eyes on my father and decided he was the one for my mother. I suspect because she didn’t want my mother to marry her fiance and get shuttled off to the United States (he was an American soldier). Just think: I could have been born an American. I’m pretty sure this chap’s name was Stewart Jay Jnr III (or Stuart Jay Jnr III).

My father’s side of the story is slightly different. He told me he stepped on the bus and fell instantly in love with my mother. He didn’t recall asking for the bus to stop but he did admit he wrangled an invitation to stay at my grandparent’s house before his return to New Zealand. He was sure he could charm her parents. Obviously, his cunning plan worked because a few months later, they were married in New Zealand in a grand house of some relative of Mum’s.

But back to Valerie. I’m not sure if she was a New Zealander or British. But Dad named his plane after her and whenever my mother spotted this photo of Dad, she quickly changed the subject. This is a favourite photo of Dad, despite the Valerie factor. Dad looks younger but a lot like I remember him as I was growing up. Handsome, dashing and full of courage.

Maybe someone can help me: what is Dad’s plane? Spitfire?