The Whalebone Theatre

In a letter to Cristabel, Digby reveals that he is training as a private in the army. He describes making friends with another soldier named Groves. Groves is from Yorkshire and comes from a family of miners. Digby enjoys being treated like an ordinary person.

Cristabel writes to Digby about his parents’ distress when they realized he had joined the army. Willoughby was angry, while Rosalind was distraught. Cristabel admits that she and Flossie are also devastated. Cristabel has joined the Women’s Auxiliary Airforce (WAAF). Meanwhile, Perry has left for London, hiring Leon as his driver. Before leaving, Perry advised Cristabel to tell her senior officers that she speaks both French and German.

Digby responds enthusiastically to Cristabel’s news of joining the WAAF, declaring that she is “born for adventure” (242).

In a letter to Digby, Cristabel describes training with other recruits. She has been selected for “Special Duties.”

November 1939

Apart from the few servants left at Chilcombe, only Flossie, Rosalind, and Willoughby remain. Rosalind feels that Willoughby is detached and uninterested in her. She increasingly turns to alcohol and sleeping pills, while Flossie spends her time reading romantic novels.

Digby sends a postcard to Willoughby from Dover. He reveals that he is waiting to be sent to France and wants to make his family proud.

Myrtle sends a note to Flossie with a box of Turkish Delight. She describes how profoundly London’s National Gallery has been transformed; it now hosts concerts instead of paintings.

December,1939

In a Christmas card to Leon, Cristabel light-heartedly refers to his unsuccessful attempt to sleep with her. She reminds Leon that she is not like other women.

January,1940

Cristabel writes to Digby that she is now an “Operations Plotter.” Her job is to interpret radio signals and plot the position of planes. Cristabel speculates that staging a play in the summer now seems unlikely. Perry believes that the war may last years. Flossie is now using The Whalebone Theatre as a vegetable garden.

May 26, 1940. France.

Digby writes a note to Cristabel, although he cannot send it. British troops are in retreat from the German forces. In the process, he and four other soldiers, including Groves, have become separated from their battalion. Digby is unable to sleep and cannot stop shaking.

May 27, 1940

Digby witnesses German planes bombing French civilians as they try to escape the villages and towns.

May 28, 1940

Digby describes sheltering in a recently abandoned house. He and Groves drink wine by candlelight.

May 30, 1940

Digby recites Shakespeare to his friends to lift their mood. Groves also tries to boost morale with his sense of humor. The men sleep in a pigsty.

June 2, 1940

Reaching the coastal town of Dunkirk, Digby and his comrades find thousands of soldiers waiting to be evacuated as German pilots drop bombs from overhead. Small boats are deployed from British destroyers to collect the men a few at a time. Digby waits for rescue for two days. A soldier next to him shoots himself in the head.

June 4, 1940

Digby and many other soldiers wade into the sea when a British fishing boat appears. Groves helps Digby to climb aboard but disappears under the water before Digby can pull him to safety. The fisherman refuses to stop as Digby shouts Groves’s name. Digby ends his account by noting that he is now on a train in England.

June 25, 1940

Flossie writes an incomplete letter to Cristabel, revealing that Rosalind has gone to London and Willoughby to Ireland. However, Flossie is not alone, for child evacuees are now staying at Chilcombe. Consequently, she now sleeps in Rosalind’s room. Flossie also describes Digby’s brief visit. Digby believes that he will be sent to North Africa to train as an officer. Meanwhile, Britain is currently preparing for the potential invasion of German forces. Local Defence Volunteers practice military exercises in the Chilcombe woods before coming to the house for tea. The house’s valuables have been wrapped up, and the glass dome in the ceiling has been removed.

September 1940

Cristabel writes to Digby from Fighter Command, which is located at a country house. She knows that she will not be permitted to post the letter. Cristabel is conducting covert efforts to track approaching German aircraft. Based on her findings, RAF fighters are sent to intercept the German pilots. Cristabel wishes that she could make a more direct contribution to the war effort.

March 1941

The German bombing campaign known as the Blitz is underway in London, and civilians regularly shelter in the Tube stations at night. However, Rosalind prefers to visit other underground venues such as bars and jazz clubs because she enjoys the attention of the servicemen who frequent them. As Rosalind arrives at the Café de Paris to meet Myrtle, a German bomb falls through the nightclub’s ventilator shaft and explodes.

March 17, 1941

Myrtle sends a note of condolence to Flossie and Cristabel, accompanied by flowers. She remarks on her luck in being rescued from the ruins of the Café de Paris. Reflecting on Rosalind’s death, Myrtle suggests that it may have been a blessing for a woman who “never wanted to grow old” (275). She urges the young women to remember Rosalind fondly but not to follow her example. Myrtle also explains that she cannot attend Rosalind’s funeral because she is transporting valuable artworks to New York to keep them safe. While there, she will also attend Taras’s new exhibition.

The catalog from Taras’s New York exhibition reveals that the artist trained in France along with Modigliani and Chagall. The paintings on display include titles such as The Faceless Woman of the Roses, Cristabella the First (a portrait of a fierce girl with a sword in her hand), Mademoiselle Aubert Takes Up Arms, Maudie at Chilcombe, Miss Florence, and Bones by Moonlight.