My research uncovers a sad tale. Having misplaced his badge, William was adjudged a shirker. Women handed him white feathers. Thugs roughed him up. Perforce, his marriage to Brenda Routledge didn’t occur.
William emigrated.
On Zoom, I show Joey his great-grandfather’s discharge badge. He laughs when I mention the cancelled wedding and holds up a photograph of William and great-grandma Brenda Roberts.
“Never doubting her hero,” says Joey, “they eloped.”