Category Archives: Uncategorized

Diary Entry: Got off early. Hitched Reading (lunch) & on Pangbourne. Stayed Lewis’ White House. June home. Diary notes: KPD spoke of hitching during WW2 in later life, saying that wearing a uniform made it easier (and perhaps safer?) Even though the war was finally over, she was still prepared to hitch (and was still …

Continue reading “Diary Date: 13th October [1945]”

Diary Entry: Spent evening Cosgroves. Diary notes: Another evening KPD mentions spending with the ‘Cosgroves’. Could they be her landlords/ladies?

Diary Entry: Towed to Putney with 513. Saw “The Great Lie” at Neasden. Diary notes: Clearly the day working yesterday didn’t get her car back on the road.  “The Great Lie” is a 1941 US drama film starring Bette Davis and Mary Astor (who won an Oscar for her performance). See:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Lie 

Diary Entry: Car V.O.R. [Vehicle Off Road] again. Changed wheels. Diary notes: Another day when KPD could not work driving for the  Army Kinematograph Service.

Diary Entry: Returned Wembley. Diary notes: Back to her duties, but as the war was completely over, she must have been counting the days! 

Diary Entry: V.J. [Victory over Japan] leave. Diary notes: A slightly surprising leave – ‘Victory over Japan’ leave two months after the actually victory. Could KPD have somehow been given this as she was working earlier? 

Diary Entry: Home 9.30pm C. Oakley there. Diary notes: Home for KPD was still her Mother’s house in Orpington. ‘C. Oakley’ seems to have been a friend of Nellie Dell. 

Diary Entry: Rushes London, Gerrards X[Cross] & Denham. Went Tun. Wells. Tea V.M.S. [Violet M Stevens] Night Aunt Consie.  Diary notes: ‘Rushes’ refers to the raw film shot during one day. See: https://www.mediacollege.com/glossary/r/rushes.html  Quite a busy day – Gerrard’s Cross and Denham from Wembley is around 30 miles, then to Tunbridge Wells another trip of …

Continue reading “Diary Date: 6th October [1945]”

Diary Entry: London district Diary notes: Presumably a pretty ordinary day’s work for KPD as she doesn’t say specifically where she went it may well have been a number of local stops, too many to list. 

Diary Entry: London a.m. Croydon, then Perivale Southall & Feltham. Evening Valerie.  Diary notes: KPD spent another day driving round London. ‘Valerie’ may well be ‘Valerie Evans’, who was a friend KPD had met after joining the A.T.S., but there are other Valeries she knew around this time.