Dear Loll

The Manchester Guardian journalist Gerard Fay was called up to fight in World War II in the summer of 1940. He joined the army as an ordinary soldier and his wife Alice or 'Loll' (short for Lollipop) remained in the north of England. There began a fascinating correspondence between the couple recording Gerard's commission in the South Wales Borderers which led to his service on D-Day on 6 June 1944 and subsequent wounding, and Alice's life on the home front raising two children.