The Girl Friend's Photograph

I was at Birmingham University between 1949 and 1952. In my second year I moved into new digs in the company of three other undergraduates these though being in their first year. One of them was from my old school and a friend of mine. The other two were strangers and both from Lancashire. One of these lads(I'll call him Tom Bassett) kept a photograph of a pretty young lady(I'll call her Joan) on his bedside locker. We gathered that Joan was from Tom's home town and was his current girl friend. He regularly received letters from Joan but was always slow to reply and we all decided from this and various comments he made that she was very keen on Tom though his feelings were cooler. Tom failed his first year and left the university. I went on to graduate in June 1952 and in the December of 1952 was called up to the RAF on National service. In early 1953, after completing square bashing I was posted to Bad Eilsen Air Traffic Control Centre in north Germany. From memory I had been there for about a year when a new airman, fresh from square bashing in the UK joined our office early in 1954 and was allocated a bed in my billet, a room that accomodated four people. He was a Scot and I'll call him Angus. When he'd unpacked his gear he put a photograph of a young lady on his bedside locker and, (you've guessed it) the photo was of Joan, the self same photo I'd seen alongside Tom's bed in Birmingham between September 1950 and June 1951. Once I'd got to know and work with Angus for a few weeks I could hold back no longer. I mentioned Joan's full name and asked if it was indeed her photograph. He confirmed that it was and understandably asked how I knew. When I mentioned Tom Basset's name he looked a bit flustered and said that yes, Joan had once known Tom but had finished with him and was now very firmly his(Angus's) girl friend He also conceded that Tom was still around but that she would have nothing further to do with him. I felt that, despite this, I had innocently caused Angus some anxiety and that deep down he worried that Joan might still have feelings for Tom. Angus wrote very regularly to Joan and seemed as keen on her as Joan had been on Tom though I can't comment on her feelings for Angus since, aware of my background knowledge, I never again mentioned either Joan or Tom's name to Angus. I was demobbed in December 1954 and when I left Bad Eilsen Angus and Joan were still communicating regularly. I've never met or heard of any of the cast in this little Drama of Coincidence ever again but have often dined out on the story. Bad Eilsen was a large camp though I can't say exactly how many airmen were stationed there during my time.If Angus had not been posted to Bad Eilsen or allocated a different room I would not have been able to follow up the cotinuing saga of Tom and Joan's relationship, but he was and I could. Story ends! My name is Graham Edwards and I live in Bristol