Memories of Jill Cross (former name Iris Sylvia Volk known as 'Babs')
Iris Sylvia Volk known as "Babs" was born in 1914. Bab's father was Cecil
Volk. He and Babs' mother were living in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, where he
worked as a railway surveyor. Their first two daughters, Cecilie and Barbara
were born there. In 1914 their mother returned to Britain when she was
expecting "Babs". After the First World War was declared Cecil returned to
Britain to join-up. He served as a petty officer in Royal Naval Air Service.
Cecil served at Gallipoli. He received a letter from home to say that their
daughter Barbara had died of peritonitis when a swab was left in the wound
after an operation to remove her appendix. She was only 5 years old. Babs was
told that her father - on reading this news - leapt onto the parapet and
shouted "Shoot me!" His friends pulled him down to safety. Whilst in
Gallipoli he was bitten by a mosquito and had malaria. "Babs" remembers that
every year afterwards he suffered a malaria attack, so bad that he was bed-
ridden for a week at least. He had no visible wounds or signs of this
condition but he was wounded as a result of his service, the same as other
men's wounds.
Living at 11 Priory Gardens, Barnes, near London "Babs" remembers a Zeppelin
Raid, circa 1917. She was woken up by her mother and gathered up in a paisley
pattern eiderdown with her older sister Cecilie, and with their mother they
sheltered underneath the kitchen table. She would have been 4-5 years old at
the time, and the strongest memory is that paisley pattern!
Late in the War "Babs" remembers visiting her father at his base in
Roehampton. She was lifted into the basket of an observation balloon, and
screamed until she was lifted out again - she was scared she would be carried
off by the balloon. The basket was not even attached to its balloon!
On Armistice Day 11 November 1918 "Babs" remembers being given a flag and
waving it on the street in Barnes, in very large crowds.
After the war Cecil did not return to his surveying work - apart from
occasional jobs - for which Babs remembers holding the theodolite. Instead he
decided that motor cars were the future. He took over a building in Brighton
owned by his father (who had established Volk's Electrical Railway in 1883),
and set up a garage. "Babs" remembers serving petrol at the pumps (1 shilling
4d a gallon!) Cecil also raced motorcycles at Brooklands.
Title |
Memories of Jill Cross (former name Iris Sylvia Volk known as 'Babs')
|
---|---|
Author |
Cross, Jill
|
Subject |
Volk, Babs; Volk, Cecilie; Volk, Barbara; Volk, Cecil;
|
Notes |
Jill Cross (formerly known as Iris or "Babs") also submitted a large collection to the archive about her husband Sergeant Jim Cross, despatch rider.
|
Item date |
1917 - 1918
|
Creation place |
Unknown
|
Item source | |
Item medium | |
Content | |
Cataloguer |
Alun Edwards
|
Filename |
GWA_7122_Memories_of_Jill_Cross__former_name_Iris_Sylvia_Volk_known_as__Babs__.txt
|
Copyright |
The Great War Archive, University of Oxford / Primary Contributor
|
Digital repository | |
Contributor name |
Alun Edwards
|
Contributed on the behalf of |
Jill Cross
|
Collection
Citation
“Memories of Jill Cross (former name Iris Sylvia Volk known as 'Babs'),” by Cross, Jill. The Great War Archive, University of Oxford / Primary Contributor via First World War Poetry Digital Archive, accessed May 3, 2024, http://ww1lit.nsms.ox.ac.uk/ww1lit/gwa/item/8032.
Permitted Use
This item is available for non-commercial educational use under the terms of the Jisc Model Licence. Further details available at: http://ww1lit.nsms.ox.ac.uk/ww1lit/permitteduse