SARAH Robinson, an Army wife of 20 years and mum of two teenage daughters, took time this summer to read Eve’s War for Army&You. She tells us what she thought….  


Eve’s War is a compilation of diary entries, which were written by a lady called Evelyn Shillington, an Army wife. The diary entries span from 1935 through to 1947.

The book starts off with Evelyn and her husband, Rex, returning from a posting in the Middle East. Unlike today they have to wait a while before they get their own quarter so have to live in a hotel for a while, however, when they eventually get allocated a house they are able to choose the wallpaper, paint and carpets – very different from today!

The diary entries tell of Evelyn’s very active and often glamorous lifestyle, theatre trips, days on the river and the Army wives’ coffee mornings, which don’t seem to have changed.

Moving on to the build up to the Second World War and the duration of the war, I read how Evelyn becomes involved in volunteer work to help the war effort and to keep busy while her husband is away.

She has the same thoughts and worries as Army spouses do today when our soldiers are deployed. Evelyn, however, is lucky as her husband is needed in the UK so joins him at his various postings, something we would not be able to do today.

Overall, Eve’s War is a very interesting read. My favourite part has to be when a new wife moves to the area and ‘takes over’ the running of the wives coffee morning, something that Evelyn was doing very well and the fracas that ensues is quite comical.

I would highly recommend this book; it gives a fascinating insight to an Army wife’s life throughout the Second World War and the differences and similarities between then and now.

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