- The first black woman in the Royal Air Force, Lilian Bader, challenges the history books. Both she and her husband fought in WW2 yet there aren't any pictures of the contribution of black servicemen and women. Fifteen years after the war , Edith a person she had tried to help, arrives at her door and brings new challenges. During the war years, Edith was trouble. Now, she stands before Lilian in a twin set and pearls. Why is she there? and why now?—Cathy Tyson
- Bournemouth, 1960. Lilian Bader, a mixed-race war veteran of Barbadian-English descent had enlisted into the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) in 1941 as an instrument repairer and rose to the rank of Corporal through hard work and determination in an enterprise that welcomed and respected her. Having spent the post-war years bringing up her children, her husband Ramsay - a traumatized veteran of the Royal Artillery - settled in Bournemouth, where Lilian, many years later, enlists as a mature student after being rejected for many secretarial positions on account of her color. During her studies in the historical textbooks, she discovers the exclusion of black people allied to the British in the first and second world wars. After receiving countless rejections from school textbook publication companies regarding the omission and of the inclusion of black people, Lilian Bader attempts one more endeavor by writing to the headmaster of her son's school, requesting to accommodate the involvement of people of color in the historical lessons regarding the war.
Some weeks later, after sending the letter to the headmaster, she receives a knock on the door and is greeted by what is essentially a blast from the past. It is Edith Gimble, an old WAAF colleague she once shared a hut with during the war, notoriously known as Light-Fingered Eddy which was due to her predilection of stealing money and trinkets. At the time, their friendship had become close with Lilian acting like a big sister to Eddy, teaching her the rights from wrongs and forging a trust between them, only for Eddy to steal five shillings from her purse on their last day together. A misdeed Lilian never forgave. But when Eddy holds up the letter she had sent to the school, declaring to be a part-time secretary to the headmaster, Lilian's curiosity gets the better of her suspicion and allows her in the house.
Lilian's hopes are soon dashed when Eddy announces that the headmaster has no intention of doing anything regarding her request. Lilian begins to spiral into self-doubt and anger, pouring animosity onto Eddy, suspicious of her intentions of coming to her door to deliver the bad news. While offering encouragement, Eddy insists that the true nature of her visit was to make amends on a friendship she cherished and had never forgotten. How during her time of sadness in an unhappy marriage, Lilian's memory had acted as an inspiration through her bleakest moments, changing her ways from being a liability to an honest woman. Lilian is genuinely moved, and a new bond begins to develop between the two women again.
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