A World War II Love Story

War tears most things apart

War tears most things apart. But in the case of Jack and Eileen Breedlove, it was war that brought them together, wearing the uniforms and standing up for the cause of their respective nations, America and England. Jack hailed from Toxaway, then a quiet mountain village, where he was born on a snowy April morning and grew up in robust good health, never sick a single day. Graduating in 1937, he was selected as high school Valedictorian. He went to work in the forest and eventually landed a great job with Duke Power. Fortune seemed to be smiling on him. He even owned a car.

But there were rumors of war. A sense of duty, the lure of adventure, practical considerations, the decisions made by friends — all had their sway. In the summer of 1940, Jack drove to Charlotte and enlisted in the U.S. Army. After basic training he saw an opportunity to become an Army Air Force Radio Operator. He applied successfully, soon training in Illinois. Upon graduation, Jack was assigned to fly as Radio Operator and Gunner on the Martin B-10 bomber, one of the fastest and most advanced aircraft in the sky.

Martin B-1 Bomber, one of the fastest aircraft in the sky

Eileen Friars

Britain’s ATS in formation

An ATS searchlight troop

Two million young American servicemen

The U.S. Army was not unaware that flooding England with two million young American servicemen constituted a social invasion of sorts. In a land of severe rationing, the Yanks were well supplied with chocolate, gum, sweets — even nylon stockings. GI’s received a 38-page pamphlet titled A Short Guide to Great Britain. The War Department sent anthropologist Margaret Mead to study British courtship habits. The island of Great Britain was packed with young people for whom the shadow of war could not eclipse the need for some adventures and fun.

Two such young adults, wearing the uniforms of their allied nations, Jack and Eileen met in an English Sergeants’ Mess one evening in October. Both enjoyed strong family ties and a good Christian upbringing. Jack was flying dangerous missions over Europe and Eileen was to depart soon for ATS officers training school at the University of Edinburgh. Eileen regularly claimed that “I do NOT date Yanks!” Nevertheless, four months later, on February 2, 1943, shortly after Eileen’s 21st birthday, Jack and Eileen bound their future in marriage with a ceremony in the English town of Windsor.

Eileen prior to her marriage

June 6th, D-Day

 As 1944 arrived, Eileen had just turned 22 and was pregnant. On June 6th, D-Day wrote itself into the pages of history. Seven days later, Germany unleashed the first V-1 flying bombs upon Britain. The 21-foot-long V-1 was really the first cruise missile. It was rapidly named a “doodlebug” or “buzz bob.” Three weeks into the Doodlebug’s reign of terror, Eileen found herself taking refuge in a bomb shelter, very pregnant. In fact, she went into labor and gave birth underground with no doctor present. And so on July 3rd, 1944, Yvonne Jacqueline “Jackie” Breedlove was born, literally a war baby.

In August 1944, Paris was liberated. By year’s end, the Battle of the Bulge, in which Jack flew missions, marked the last great turning point of the war. 1945 found Eileen freshly turned 23 and a new mother of six-month-old Jackie. By May 8th, Germany had collapsed and the war in Europe was over. By August, victory over Japan occurred suddenly and the world was no longer at war.

Jack and Eileen faced a gigantic choice: would they make a new home in Britain or America? They were not alone as 70,000 American soldiers had married British women. The American congress passed the War Brides Act, opening the door for them to become Americans — the option chosen by Jack and Eileen. After months of waiting, Jack sailed home on a troop ship leaving Eileen and Jackie to wait another five months for transport.

Some lucky War Brides were assigned passage on cruise liners pressed into service, but the majority had to make do with uncomfortable cargo ships. Such was Eileen and Jackie’s fate when finally boarding in early summer. Worse, they had the misfortune to be placed on a decrepit ship operated by an incompetent crew. Conditions were much as one would have encountered on Atlantic sailing ships two centuries earlier. Disease broke out. Several infants died and were buried at sea. But Eileen and Jackie managed to stay healthy. Jackie had her second birthday, and Eileen was pregnant with their second daughter, Susan.

Arriving in New York, Eileen and daughters boarded a train for Asheville, watching as the landscapes of their new country rolled by behind the train window. Jack had committed to stay in the Air Force and picked up his family at the train station while on leave from his first assignment to Scott Air Force Base in Illinois. Before reporting for duty, they had several days to meet Jack’s family and share their home, and endure a bit of culture shock no doubt as England met America.

Eileen and Jack and their three daughters

Jack served an additional 15 years in the Air Force. He and his family moving regularly as assignments took him from base to base. Jack and Eileen had a third daughter, Sarah. The Korean War caused a long separation of 28 months, such that Sarah was two when she first met her father. In 1958, Jack served in England accompanied by Eileen and their daughters, Eileen’s first trip back since the war.

L-R: John Luzena, Susan Breedlove, Chris Whitmire, and Janis Allen with the newly released book: “They Answered the Call.”