A Quiet Triumph of Love (extract)
Jimmy’s unit in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers is posted to the 7th Armoured Division — the famed Desert Rats — through a Light Aid Detachment – the REME’s on-the-spot repair crews.
The REME engineers are expected to fix anything, anywhere, anytime, and as fast as possible. It’s the perfect fit for a resourceful man like Jimmy, who loves tinkering and problem-solving. His skills are put to hourly use, and he’s always head in an engine or underneath a Valentine tank these days. The pace is relentless.
When he writes to Dulcie, he includes the funnier side of stories, but hides the raw, dangerous nature of his life.
The other day he and the lads were called urgently to fix a Sherman tank that had been damaged after hitting a mine. They raced off in their Scammell Pioneer, ever aware that abandoned tanks can be booby-trapped by the enemy if left for any length of time.
The location of the tank was close to the front line so the tank crew had scarpered. Although Jimmy and the boys judged they were out of range of artillery for the present, they knew the roads were studded with German reconnaissance patrols just itching to pick off a recovery crew.
“Let’s get to it, lads!” said Jimmy, and they hitched up the winch. The Sherman was heaving itself out of the sand, when the crack-crack of rifle fire snapped across the open air. A sniper, maybe two. They dived under the Scammell, swearing and panting, firing off shots from their rifles to deter any further action.
Jimmy crawled flat on his belly to get a look at the tank’s underbelly. “Damn,” he muttered, “the drive sprocket’s shattered!” Working fast, he fabricated a patch-up with the gear ring from an old Italian truck, cutting, filing, drilling new holes and fashioning a sleeve to solder in place. It was hot as hell under the tank, and sweat ran into Jimmy’s eyes. Thankfully the snipers seemed to have found other interests for the time being.
Billy, keeping low, handed him tools, nuts, bolts, and pieces of advice. “Take yer time, Jim! We got til next week,” or “Give it a polish, Jim, it’s got to look good on parade!” Gordon was lying on his stomach, rifle cocked, alert to any sound or movement that could signal a threat.
Ten minutes later, and the Heath Robinson device was fitted. “It’s not pretty,” said Jimmy, crawling out, “but it’ll get us back to base.”
Gordon scooped up the tools and jumped in the Scammell. Billy and Jimmy scrambled into the Sherman. They slammed shut the hatch, fired up the engine, and limped back to base with the racket of the engine pounding their ears, and smoke belching from the rear.
A dangerous job like this is described by Jimmy to Dulcie thus: The lads and I went to pick up a tank that had sunk itself in sand. We had to patch a repair with old tin cans and a soup spoon, but we got it started. You should have seen me and Billy riding back to base with the hatch up, waving like Generals in a victory parade. He doesn’t want Dulcie to worry.
Extract: Jimmy: Chapter 12: Afterlife Encounters
“Can you get a sense of where Jimmy is?” asks Inessa, as we meditate on his photograph. I sense that he’s somewhere light, but he’s not moving. He seems heavy, either with sorrow or something else, but there’s also a warmth about him that I find encouraging.
Considering that Jimmy had no spiritual beliefs, he’s done well after his death. I see him in a light space, and learn from Inessa that I’m seeing the soul realm. Here, he spends time reflecting on his life and purifying himself of emotional burdens. He’s almost all the way through this part of his journey, but has slowed down in the final mile. Inessa finds that he’s burdened by connections to cancer, which afflicted him towards the end of his life. These connections to illness are like stones, dragging him down and making his progress slow. Some medication shadows also cling to him. Over-arching him entirely is an enormous grief and loneliness. “Ah, poor Jimmy. He still doesn’t understand that Dulcie is alive,” exclaims Inessa. “He thinks she’s gone forever, whereas she certainly is not.”
Jimmy can’t let go of his grief and will need our help.
Inessa begins to cleanse his soul of the burdens, whilst I send Jimmy warmth and affection to kindle a happier soul mood within him.
My heart goes out to him as I work. How sad, I think. I had hoped he and Dulcie had found one another long ago, and were happily walking through the spirit world hand in hand.
As a man gifted with great ingenuity, vigour and resilience on earth, Jimmy had used those talents well. He tilled the soil of earthly life diligently—crafting, gardening, relating, kind heartedness—but left one corner of the field untilled: his spiritual ground. Inessa can see that Jimmy pushed all thoughts of that nature away from him, with an almost fearful gesture. “Not for me”, is the message coming from him. But in doing so, he missed a key part of his karmic intentions in coming down to earth for this incarnation. Jimmy’s soul had intended him to find some spiritual connections, but it hadn’t happened.
After death, he harvested the crops of his life, both fruitful and fallow. His genuine efforts to embrace earthly life fully had caused him to develop multi-dimensionally as a personality and to strengthen as a soul. He was, in fact, so strong that he had managed to plough onwards in the soul world, despite the lack within him of spiritual knowledge and outlooks. He’d kept moving forwards against all the odds. But eventually, with no spirituality to fuel his progress, he’d run out of steam and ground to a halt. Here he’d stayed, for several of our earth years.
© 2025 Phebee Tallis