Little Known Incidents of WWII (No 5) Gay Version

Johnny and Tommy were lovers
 but in 1930's Britain, homosexuality was an imprisonable offence.

So,they had to hide their secret from everyone they knew.
.

They met an inexperienced young, gay man, called Eddie, and became friends.
Tommy and Eddie would often go out riding on their motorbikes......

Johnny knew Tommy was an inveterate cottage queen.
He trusted him to keep his hands off Eddie

but he thought it was too early to show him the places
 where the other gays went to meet up.

Eddie wasn't yet wise to the dangers there,
the Police raided the cottages regularly

Tommy was very quiet when he came back that night.

A week later Johnny heard that Eddie had been arrested 

Picked up at a cottage and charged with indecency

Facing public shame and prison, he had hanged himself in the cell that same night

When Johnny tackled Tommy about it, he admitted taking Eddie there 

Johnny was furious with him for not keeping Eddie safe

He couldn't control his anger and their relationship ended in acrimony
They went their separate ways.

~

Many years later,  after the war started, Tommy and Johnny met up again

By coincidence, they were assigned to the same tank unit in the Western Desert, 

Johnny, now a Sergeant, was in command.
 He was still angry with Tommy and they constantly had arguments.

4

Their little spats were like lover's quarrels and bewildered the other crewmen. 

 After just one mission, Johnny tried to get Tommy transferred to another unit.

So they had to continue to work together but Johnny's resentment never slackened.
Some time later they were involved in a clash with the enemy and their tank was destroyed
To avoid being taken prisoner, the surviving crew had to trek across the desert.

It was a long journey in merciless heat.

When he held Tommy in his arms the old feelings started to return

 Their trek to safety continued but it took it's toll on the crew.
Finally, only Johnny and Tommy were left alive and Tommy was very sick.

In a state of delirium one night, Tommy talked about what actually happened to Eddie,

7

But now Johnny realised he had been wrong about his former lover all along.
He decided he should make it up with him when he regained consciousness.

But that very night, Tommy wandered off into the desert while Johnny slept.

Like Captain Oates, he reasoned Johnny had a better chance of reaching safety, 

if he was not burdened with a sick man.

When he woke and realised what had happened,
Johnny went out desperately looking for him but in vain.

He was finally found unconscious by a passing patrol.

In a Hospital bed for several weeks Johnny had a lot to think about.

About his foolish anger and mistaken assumptions. 

About his lack of trust and disloyalty to Tommy in not listening to him.
He realsied now that Tommy had never stopped loving him.

8

When he eventually returned to his unit he was healed in his body

But he frequently found himself looking out over the desert,

hoping to see Tommy come staggering towards him, still alive

or roaring in on his motorbike, laughing like he used to.

He grieved for him and all the lost years when they should have been together.

It felt like the future he was fighting for had now been taken from him.

But it was a sadness he could not reveal to anyone in his command.

They wouldn't understand about love between two men. He was totally alone.

~

I adapted this story from a War Comic saga (No 724) called 'Fight to Survive'. 
I reviewed this story in a previous post and discussed the artwork and the gay theme which seemed to simmer just under the surface. The same frames are presented here and the only changes I needed to make was to alter the cause of Eddie's death in frames 1 & 7. I changing it from crashing a defective motorbike to suicide after being arrested for gross indecency in a cottage (a public toilet). I made minor changes to other frames as well and filled out the accompanying narrative to suit my purpose, but they were not necessary to effect the conversion, such was the compatible tenor of the original story and it's artwork.

In conclusion I'd ask you to consider the title of this little epic.
 Obviously it fits any war scenario, but is remarkably apt for a gay storyline too.