Diary Entry: Mother, V[Veronica] & Fritz to Tun. Wells. I spent day Orc[hard] Cot[tage] & returned Wembley Diary notes: This family outing to Tunbridge Wells on Boxing day may have been to see Aunt Consie (Constance Evershed (1868-1951), unmarried elder sister of Nellie Dell, and perhaps the closest of her Aunts to KPD, who visited …
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Diary Date: 25th December [1944]
Diary Entry: Fritz over for lunch & stay. Diary notes: ‘Fritz’ was ‘Fritz Hopkins’ and was related to Henry Dell (KPD’s late father), and often visited 35 Broxbourne Road.
Diary Date: 23rd December [1944]
Diary Entry: Tea Orchard Cottage. Diary notes: Orchard Cottage, Crofton (near Farnborough, Kent) was the home of the Lewis family, former employers of KPD who became good friends.
Diary Date: 22nd December [1944]
Diary Entry: Saw “Step Lively” & “Our hearts were young & gay” Diary notes: “Step Lively” is a 1944 American musical starring Frank Sinatra. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Step_Lively_(1944_film) “Our hearts were young & gay” is also a 1944 American musical, based on the real life of the comic misadventures of Emily Kimbrough and Cornelia Otis Skinner; it …
Diary Date: 21st December [1944]
Diary Entry: On laundry afternoon. Mill Hill pm Diary notes: A normal day’s work for KPD it seems.
Diary Date: 20th December [1944]
Diary Entry: Afternoon off. Met Flora ice rink. Supper Nessy – Kensington Diary notes: Flora’ is Flora Gardner, a friend from a family living near Berkhamsted, where KPD had lived years before, now living near Llangollen and working at Vron, near Wrexham. KPD frequently socialised with her during these years. ‘Nessy’ was a friend, possibly …
Diary Date: 18th December [1944]
Diary Entry: Went Barnet & Potters Bar. a.m. Called Mrs Dabbs. Victoria afternoon. Diary notes: Still working for the Army Kinematograph. ‘Mrs Dabbs’ is mentioned several times in the diary, but who exactly she was is unclear.
Diary Date: 16th December [1944]
Diary Entry: On rushes. Went Gerrards X[Cross] night. Diary notes: Dulcia (& her husband Ian) McDiarmid were friends of KPD’s mother, and of KPD herself and lived in Gerrards Cross.
Diary Date: 14th December [1944]
Diary Entry: Met Flora & went Queens Ice Club Diary notes: ‘Flora’ is Flora Gardner, a friend from a family living near Berkhamsted, where KPD had lived years before, now living near Llangollen and working at Vron, near Wrexham.
Diary Date: 13th December [1944]
Diary Entry: Helped (?) Ex Wing. Saw C.O. about posting to Camberley. Bad fog. Diary notes: Could ‘Ex Wing’ be shorthand for ‘Executive Wing’. An example of KPD trying to manage her own A.T.S. career here – despite later saying that her work at Wembley was the highpoint of her army work.
Aunt Pamela's War 