D-Day Hero

Andy Corbley

张倩云编译

In 1943， Royal Navy Bill Caldwell wrote a postcard to his uncle Fred， enclosed l it in anenvelope with a picture， and instructed the Royal Mail to "post early in the day".

77 years and 7 months later， and that same postcard has finally arrived at the Liverpooldoorstep of his family home to the shock and delight of his children.

The Royal Mail admitted they hadn't the faintest idea of why it took so long fordelivery2， but posited that perhaps it had been found and reposted by someone.

Caldwell's first message back from the military3 was simple， and typical of a man whodidn ' t ever send letters or postcards.

"Well I am in blue at last. I did not think it would be like this-you don't get much timefor yourself， do you？

"But I like it alright.

"I will write a letter to you all when I get half a chance so will you hold on a bit？ I have19 weeks here yet.

"Give my love to everyone. Love， Bill."

Caldwell would go on to man4 a minesweeper during the D-Day landings， travel all overthe Pacific， visit Japan， and carry prisoners of war back to Australia. His naval careerconcluded5 with four medals.

"It was the most surrea16 thing on a Friday night to suddenly read a postcard that Dadhad written 77 years ago when he was training to be a sailor in the Navy，" his daughter JoannaCreamer said.

Another of Caldwell' s daughters， 58-year-old Elizabeth， said， "It's a crazy story and it'shard to believe. My mum wrote letters and postcards but Dad never wrote. To actually see hishandwriting was beautiful."

"He had such an influence on us and our kids， and he was such a great role model，"Elizabeth added. "Mum wrote on his gravestone7 'A Liverpool gentleman' and that's what hewas.

1943年，（英國）皇家海军的比尔·考德威尔给他的叔叔弗雷德写了一张明信片，同一张照片一起装在了一个信封里，并吩咐（英国）皇家邮政“尽早邮寄”。

77年零7个月后，这张明信片终于来到了位于利物浦的他家门口，让他的孩子们感到震惊和高兴。

英国皇家邮政承认，他们并不清楚为什么递送花了这么长时间，但他们推测，可能是有人找到了它并重新寄出。

考德威尔从军队寄回的第一个消息很简单，是典型的没有寄过信或明信片的人的风格。

“我终于穿上蓝色衣服了。我没想到会是这样的——我没啥时间独处，不是吗？

“不过我还是挺喜欢的。

“我一有机会就会给你们写封信，你们能再坚持一下吗？我在这里待了19周了。

“把我的爱转达给每个人。爱你的，比尔。”

考德威尔后来在诺曼底登陆期间驾驶扫雷艇，横跨太平洋，到达日本，并将战俘带回澳大利亚。他在海军生涯中共获得四枚勋章。

他的女儿乔安娜·克里默说：“在一个星期五的晚上，突然看到一张父亲在77年前进行海军水手训练时写的明信片是最不可思议的事情。

考德威尔的另一位女儿，58岁的伊丽莎白说：“这是一个疯狂的故事，真让人难以置信。我母亲写过信和明信片，但父亲从来没有写过。实际上他的笔迹真漂亮。”

“他对我们和我们的孩子们产生了巨大的影响，他是一个如此伟大的榜样。”伊丽莎白补充说，“母亲在他的墓碑上写了‘一位利物浦绅士，他就是这样的人。”

（英语原文选自：goodnewsnetwork.org）

[Notes]

1.enclose [?n?kl??z] v装入

2.delivery[d??l?v?r?] n.递送

3.military [?m?l?t?r?]n.军队

4.man[m?n]v操纵

5.conclude[k?n?klu?d] v作结论;结束

6.surreal[s??ri??l] adj，离奇的;不真实的

7. gravestone [?ɡre?v?st??n] n.墓碑

Discussion议一议：

1.What do you know about D-Dav？关于诺曼底登陆日你了解多少？

2.Do you want to send a postcard to vour future self？ And whv'？你想给未来的自己寄一张明

信片吗？为什么？

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