Called up to fight in World War II in the summer of 1940, the Manchester Guardian journalist Gerard Fay joined the army as an ordinary soldier while his wife Alice or ‘Loll’ (short for Lollipop) remained in the north of England. 

 

On the 80th Anniversary year of VE Day, Dear Loll brings to the stage the compelling correspondence between the young couple. The thousands of intimate letters are their only means of communication and are full of drama, humour and emotion. Writing virtually every day, sometimes twice a day, their correspondence over four years is previously unheard testimony to the experiences of ordinary people in World War II and gives a fascinating insight into how one couple survived, both physically and mentally. They describe the warp and weft of a marriage and the loneliness of separation – a grief that was shared by tens of thousands. 

 

During WWII, the importance of mail to the armed forces was said to be second only to food.​​​​ ​