Aunt Pamela's War

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My First Blog Post

Aunt Pamela’s War – who? Why? What?

This blog is designed to support a history project I am starting to mark two things – the 80th anniversary of the Second World War, and the life during the war of my Aunt, Pamela Dell, who kept a diary full of short, but I hope, interesting entries about her life and work on the Home Front during the greatest conflict of the 20th Century. I intend to post as Tweets each entry exactly 80 years after the day they refer to, and use this blog to provide more contextual and explanatory information for those who are interested.
In answer to the questions posed above: ‘Who?’ – the next blog will explain who my Aunt was; ”Why?’ – as a former (now retired) teacher of History, with a particular interest in social History, I believe any information extra that can be valuable, especially when it throws light on the lives of those groups who can be overlooked (in this case an unmarried working woman) and ‘What?’ – Aunt Pamela’s own words written 80 years ago as if she was aware of the word limitations of Twitter!
Pamela Dell on holiday in Belgium, April 1938 [Below]
— Oscar Wilde.

Diary Date: 6th December [1945]

Diary Entry: Went to Wembley in 15 cwt. Went to Guildford to be demobbed & home.

[This is the last diary entry during the War and Aunt Pamela’s military service.]

Diary notes: KPD’s last day in the A.T.S. – nearly four months after the end of the war her military service was over.

Peace would bring her three more jobs as a Matron in boarding schools (the Woodbridge post she had already secured, then a stint at Bradfield College and finally two years at Malvern College). Then after less than two years as a Nanny, she underwent a significant career change and spent more than a decade as a receptionist and part-time dental nurse in four Dental surgeries before moving to Sevenoaks and spending her last working years part-time in a shop and then in a solicitors’ firm as a receptionist. She finally retired in May 1971.

She continued to enjoy travelling, and her diaries list many holidays both in the British Isles and abroad (including Norway, France, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Ireland and the Isle of Man).

Having moved to Sevenoaks (where her only sister, Veronica, had also lived since 1955) in early 1966, she remained in her house until the new millennium, when a combination of frailty and the results of an accident (she was knocked over by a carelessly reversing car) meant she had to enter a nursing home. She died there in 2006, at the age of 96.

This is the last diary entry – thank you to all those who have followed KPD’s life during the war years, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I have enjoyed sharing it with you.

Diary Date: 5th December [1945]

Diary Entry: Went up to Baker St. to give in kit etc. Supper Cosgroves.

Diary notes: The last time KPD mentions spending an evening with the Cosgroves. Handing in her kit must have been a significant moment.

Diary Date: 4th December [1945]

Diary Entry: Went to “Claims” about accident

Collected release book. Went to “The Sullivans” in camp.

Diary notes: Was this the accident reported on 27^th November (“Motor bike ran into back of car”)? Quite possibly. KPD was clearing the decks in preparation for her demobbing.

“The Sullivans” (later called “The Fighting Sullivans”) is a 1944 biographical war film starring Anne Baxter and Thomas Mitchell. See:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fighting_Sullivans

Newspaper advert:

By Twentieth Century-Fox / Realart Pictures (1951 reissue) – Unknown photographer Self-scanned, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=57999680

Diary Date: 3rd December [1945]

Diary Entry: Had medical Dinner José & Valerie there.

Diary notes: José and Valerie were both friends KPD seems to have made during her service in the A.T.S. This dinner may have been a ‘goodbye’ for the three friends as their time in the services came to an end. KPD’s diaries continue to mention José until the 1970s.

This recently discovered photograph (thanks to Grahame Dell) shows KPD (on the left with case) and José McLelland after the war, probably 1947.

Diary Date: 2nd December [1945]

Diary Entry: Took Marcia walk afternoon.

Diary notes: Marcia Pitt was KPD’s godchild (and, perhaps as she was not a mother, godchildren were always important to KPD).

Diary Date: 1st December [1945]

Diary Entry: Home early. Tea Pitts.

Diary notes: Home was still Orpington, Kent, where KPD’s mother, Ellen ‘Nellie’ Dell lived.

The Pitts, who were were friends and neighbours of the Dells in Orpington. Elaine Dell, wife of Martin Dell, was a Pitt.

Diary Date: 30th November [1945]

Diary Entry: Took Maj. C. to Curzon St. Waited three hours & had sandwiches two majors.

Diary notes: Presumably ‘Maj. C’ is either Maj. Crawford or Maj. Cartwright.

Diary Date: 29th November [1945]

Diary Entry: Took Maj. C. Curzon St. Met Valerie & had supper Eastcote.

Diary notes: Presumably ‘Maj. C’ is either Maj. Crawford or Maj. Cartwright.

‘Valerie’ may well be ‘Valerie Evans’, who was a friend KPD had met after joining the A.T.S.

Diary Date: 28th November [1945]

Diary Entry: Very cold. Met Dulcia Eastcote & took her out to supper.

Diary notes: Dulcia (& her husband Ian) McDiarmid were friends of KPD’s mother, and of KPD herself and lived in Gerrards Cross.

Diary Date: 27th November [1945]

Diary Entry: Motor bike ran into back of car

Edie & I went to “Champagne Charlie” in camp

Diary notes: No mention of damage (to car, motor cycle or its rider), so one hopes this was a minor incident!

“Champagne Charlie” is a 1944 British musical film starring Stanley Holloway, Betty Warren and Tommy Trinder (whom KPD had seen ‘live’ back on 3^rd September 1943). For more information on the film: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champagne_Charlie_(1944_film)

By Ealing Studios – http://poster.scancollections.com/view.php?id=436538, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=47009851