As I had promised some time ago, I was honoured to enjoy an all too brief visit to a dear old couple, who both played interesting and important roles in World War Two. You may remember I posted photos the Husband had allowed me to copy, showing life as a British Tank Commander, in Africa. In 1944, he waded ashore at Normandy, driving/piloting/captaining a Duplex Drive tank. He also appears in a couple of videos on YouTube. Search for Victory Parade London 1946, you can see him standing through the turret hatch opening of his Churchill, with straight arms holding onto the sides of the ring.
His Wife, the subject of this thread, had an equally significant role. She, and a select group of other young women were entrusted with teaching basic mechanics and driving to Their Royal Highnesses, Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret. Fast forward more than seven decades, and the then Princess Elizabeth, is now Her Royal Highness, Queen Elizabeth II, monarch of the British Commonwealth. To this day, the dear lady who was one of her instructors still has periodic contact with/from HRH. Imagine that! A connection still remains, so many years after the event.
The following, are the photos I took last Tuesday, showing two seperate clippings from a London newspaper that carried the story of the driving and maintenance training. I will post the 'untouched' photos first, then I will show the same photos again in a second post, identifying the lady I speak of. Be aware that according to royal protocol of the day (might till be), some photos were intended to only show The Princesses, and as a result, the others were not permitted to face camera. Luckily, my lady remembers exactly where she was standing in every shot.
Hope you enjoy!
