Shelby Babies in World War Two
I know that Finn, Michael and Isaiah probably went to fight in WW2 but it breaks my heart when I think about Charlie, Karl and John’s sons going aswell. So here’s a headcanon so you guys can feel my feels too, sorry! Also, been a while since I did research on ww2 so I was going with stuff off the top of my head, my apologies for inaccuracies my dudes!
Tommy wouldn’t have wanted Charlie to enlist and he’d have struggled to let him go at the train station
He’d grip his son’s uniform with shaking hands because he’d know what was awaiting him and didn’t want him to face it, wouldn’t’ve wanted him to endure it
He’d kiss Charlie’s forehead and tell him he loved him, something neither of them said often
“I’ll be home before you know it.”
“Come back sooner, my son.”
Charlie would try to make jokes to lighten the mood and to see Tommy smile but he’d be scared shitless, his skin deathly pale and the uniform feeling too heavy and too tight at the same time
“I’m going with Finn and Michael and Karl it’ll be one big piss up dad!”
Tommy’s heart would clench as the train left the station because he truly felt like it was being torn out from behind his ribs
Charlie would be expecting the snow and the harsh cold of Europe but would eventually end up in North Africa, in Egypt
He’d be amazed by the massive expanse of blue sky and yellow sand, the tanks and the pyramids
“It’s fuckin’ hot here ain’t it”
“I ain’t never seen a camel”
Charlie would stay close to Karl, both of them under the watchful eyes of Michael Finn and Isaiah, all of them sleeping and eating together and at first it would be a laugh
They’d spend most of their days doing scouts and sweeps and sitting around base goofing off
They’d all get sunburned which would often turn into blisters but they’d all tan up nicely
Isaiah would flirt endlessly with the pretty foreign nurses and get them to tend to his blisters almost daily
They’d all be absolutely blown away by the Maori Hakas, getting shivers and riled up with intense energy
Charlie would write to Tommy every chance he got, at first unknowing that a lot would be censored for being sensitive information
“Camels are a lot like horses except they spit at you if you piss them off”
“I met some truly mad Australians but I can hardly understand a thing they say! The only thing worse than their accent is the Kiwi’s.”
“Have you ever seen a Haka? It’s a war dance from New Zealand.”
“Everyone is fine here but if this sun doesn’t fuck off soon I’ll shoot it out of the sky myself, I’ve never wanted to see the clouds of Birmingham so much before in my life.”
But in 1940 when Graziani advanced into Egypt Charlie would experience his first taste of warfare
Finn would be extremely protective of Charlie and would end up getting himself shot in the shoulder trying to push Charlie away from the line of fire
Charlie would feel tremendous guilt but would bravely keep watch, continuously firing, while Michael helped patch Finn up as best he could
“It was the fucking wops, not you mate”
Charlie would be involved in the take over of Tobruk in 1941 and by then he’d be a lot harder and sterner
Like Tommy he’d end up laughing less and less and become a lot more sullen as time went on
After a long day out under the hot sun a photographer would take their photo, claiming they were
“The most charming boys in Tobruk!”
They’d have been enjoying their lunch and a cigarette each, talking and bickering amongst one another
Their shirts would be wrapped around their heads, bare chests and faces burnt, dog tags dangling from their necks and guns slung over their shoulders
Finn would have his arms around Charlie’s and Karl’s shoulders, both of them smirking boyishly, legs crossed at the ankles and leaning against a tank
Isaiah and Michael would sit squat above them, on top of the tank, arms up high holding water containers and lit cigarettes hanging loosely from their mouths
That would be one of the best days of Charlie’s time away at war, one truly happy moment among many painful ones
When the letters came Charlie would read his and hold back tears at the sight of his father’s handwriting and the small comforts of home that Tommy had sent him
Unlike Finn, Charlie got a good education so he’d read Finn his letters after they ate dinner together
On a rare night that everything was calm and the air was a little more bearable Finn, Karl and Charlie would sneak off with some of the Australian troops to drink stolen whiskey
They’d get so drunk that Charlie would agree to getting a tattoo from one of the Australian troops
“You sure about this mate?”
“Yeah I’m sure just don’t fuck it up!”
Finn would hold the lamp and be snickering at Charlie’s face scrunched in pain
He’d get an angel on his ribs for Grace
Charlie would celebrate his 18th and 19th birthdays in Tobruk with Michael, Finn, Karl and Isaiah, digging tunnels and moving artillery, none of them giving him any slack
Finn would give him a small present though; a fancy new sheath for his knife and a lighter engraved with “in the bleak midwinter”
On the night of his 19th though, they’d all get another tattoo, this time a nasty looking rat on their forearms
“We’re the fuckin’ Rats of Tobruk boys!”
Finn and Isaiah would pinch some more whiskey and they’d spend the night sitting in the sand, guns by their side, boots unlaced, smiling and laughing and reminiscing about home
Charlie would go on to watch, first hand, as the friends he made died one by one
He’d’ve held the hand of a young Australian as he spluttered frantically in the sand and promised an English boy, even younger than himself, that he’d make sure his belongings got back to his mother in Bristol
He’d be right beside Michael when he got shot in the hip and fell to the ground and Charlie would have to continue fighting while Michael screamed in pain at his feet, begging for mercy from whoever would hear him
Michael would be moved after that
“Please let Aunt Polly know that Michael got shot. He’s ok but they’re moving him. We don’t know where. Hopefully he’ll be coming home.”
After the Australians left to defend the Pacific, Isaiah and Finn were moved too, leaving Charlie and Karl behind and alone
They’d always been the babies of the family so with none of the older boys to help them along they felt even more lost and even further from home
Charlie’d never been particularly religious but after that he prayed in whispers almost nightly
He wrote to Tommy as much as he could be he didn’t know what to say, England was being bombed, the entire world was at war and Charlie found it increasingly hard to be happy and youthful
When Charlie eventually returned home he didn’t arrive with anyone he left with and he wasn’t able to notify anyone at home of his arrival so he got off the train by himself and walked down Watery Lane toward the old family betting shop
His pack had never felt so heavy and his feet had never felt so much like lead
He’d look up and see Finn standing on the opposite end of the street, the betting shop in the middle of them
Charlie would blow out an amused breath of air and smirk, shaking his head in disbelief
“Fuckin’ hell mate I’m glad to see you!”
They’d meet halfway and hug, packs being dropped and heavy claps landing on each other’s backs
“Nah Charlie, they flew me in!”
The door to the betting shop would open and an absolutely drained Tommy Shelby would stand their looking at them awestruck
Tommy would cry and tug his baby brother and only son in for a hug
He’d hold their faces and shake them struggling to comprehend that they were home
Tommy would speak to them in Romani, utterly lost for words but unable to stay quiet for once
Michael would’ve returned home after being shot but would’ve continued fighting and helping the home front
A month later Isaiah would return with Karl and two of John’s sons in tow
Although all of the Shelby boys returned home whole none of them returned the same and Tommy understood that
He would give Charlie time to fix himself and readjust and he’d never bring it up unless Charlie did
Charlie would cry when he got the photograph taken on the tank in Egypt and he’d put it away with all his other war stuff, willing himself to forget it
