The bomber pilot of Dresden

In memory of Phil, World War II Dresden raids Lancaster pilot and gentle soul.

Bath, United Kingdom, late 1970s
A young couple of German backpackers arrives at the tourist information just before closing time.
The lady at the accommodations desk helps them find a bed & breakfast within walking distance of the train station. She makes a couple of telephone calls, points to the map in front of her, "how about here?" The youngsters are happy, thank the assistant and are on their way.
Some ten minutes later, they arrive at a stern looking building on a street corner, ring the bell, and an older lay opens.

After a few minutes of chat and administrative details, as well as paying in advance for three nights, the couple get their room. A very British room, two separate beds, springs from another era, several layers of thin sheets, Paisley wall paper.

The next morning, they have breakfast and meet a Polish exile who offers to show them around town later. They agree to have dinner and a drink together that evening.

As they leave for the day, the room next door is open, a vacuum cleaner and cleaning supplies sit in the hall way beside the door. An old man, thin, grey haired, wearing an apron steps out to fetch a broom.

Good morning, he greets as he sees them.

Good morning, they reply.

At the foot of the stairs, the landlady catches them: May I bother you for a minute? See waves, and they follow her into the now empty living room.

I'm afraid, I did not catch where you are from. Are you from Australia?

We are from Germany.

Oh, dear. You see, we don't take German guests, because, well, because of the war. I worked with the military, and Phil, you met Phil upstairs, right, he was a bomber pilot. We'd understand if you wanted to leave, I'll refund the money.

Oh, sorry. We are fine with that, but if you prefer us to leave, we'll do it right away, of course.

It's more about Phil, she said. He was a Lancaster bomber pilot in the war, and he flew in the raid on Dresden. It has not been easy since.

He seems like a very nice man.

He is a darling. He was my seventh fiancee, you know. The others were all shot down and killed by, by the Germans.

How hard that must have been.

Well, we have been together ever since.

The conversation went on for quite some time afterwards. They stayed at the B&B, and when they came back in the evening, they ran into Phil, who was visibly happy to see them.

The next couple of days, they spent more time than usual talking to their B&B hosts, and they left wiser than they had arrived.