Diary Entry: Went for special test to Woking. Had picnic on Chobham Ridge. Diary notes: It would be interesting to know what the ‘special test’ was for! Diary entries like this leave one wishing for more! ‘Chobham Ridge’ is actually a rifle range, linked to the nearby ranges at Bisley, and not perhaps the bucolic …
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Diary Date: 12th April [1942]
Diary Entry: Hitched to Bramley & had tea & supper Brook Grange with A[Aunt] Annette & U[Uncle] Cecil. Diana Knox there. Diary notes: Cecil Braithwaite was KPD’s (rich!) uncle, married to one of her mother’s sisters, Annette (née Evershed). Cecil & Annette had 5 children, one son (Arthur) died young in Egypt whilst serving with …
Diary Date: 11th April [1942]
Diary Entry: Aldershot, Farnham & Bentley. Tea Camberley afternoon & walked back across common. Diary notes: Seems like a busy day with both driving and walking! KPD was always active and enjoyed walking (and cycling).
Diary Date: 9th April [1942]
Diary Entry: Driving Wokingham. Dairy notes: Bearing in mind that KPD learned to drive before driving tests were introduced (“taught” by the chauffeur of her friends and former employers, the Lewis family!) , her standard seems to have met Army expectations.
Diary Date: 8th April [1942]
Diary Entry: Went Hog’s Back & Guildford. Diary notes: The second of 4 entries which show KPD driving all round mid-Surrey. The “Hog’s Back” is still a well known local spot: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hog%27s_Back
Diary Date: 7th April [1942]
Diary Entry: Drove ambulance. Windsor, Virginia Water. Diary notes: A rare occasion when KPD drove an ambulance, or at least mentions driving one in her diaries.
Diary Date: 6th April [1942]
Diary Entry: Left after tea. Ensa concert. Diary notes: KPD’s (32nd ) birthday. ENSA (Entertainments National Service Association – sometimes called ‘Every Night Something Awful’) was set up in 1939 to provide entertainment for servicemen/women. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auxiliary_Territorial_Service
Diary Date: 5th April [1942]
Diary Entry: “Breakfast in bed. Went to church” Diary notes: A Sunday, so perhaps a rare opportunity for a lie in at her friend’s house in Hindhead! Almost all her life KPD was a keen churchgoer, and so mention of attending church are common in her diaries.
Diary Date: 4th April [1942]
Diary Entry: Went to Hindhead to stay Mollie. Diary notes: ‘Mollie’ is probably ‘Mollie Browning’, a friend of KPD since the mid-1930s. She seems to have lived in or close to Hindhead during this period.
Diary Date: 3rd April [1942]
Diary Entry: Went driving in utility. Diary notes: This appear to refer to a class of military vehicles made by adapting civilian cars, used during the War. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilly_(vehicle) This is an Austin Tilly: By Joost J. Bakker from IJmuiden – Austin TillyUploaded by Oxyman, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15979605
Aunt Pamela's War 