'Bletchley Girl 'Pat Davies Says The Pandemic Is 'In No Way Like The War'
96-year-old local resident on the boredom of being confined at home
Pat received the Freedom of Hounslow, pictured with the Mayor Tony Louki
Chiswick resident and former 'Bletchley Girl' Pat Davies, has been interviewed on television twice recently about her wartime experiences.
But, the 96-year old, who is in isolation in her home in Grove Park says that she does not believe there can be any comparison made between the coronavirus pandemic and WW2.
The interviews were made over the internet from her computer and she said it 'brightened up the week no end' as she is feeling bored at home, living on her own.
Pat, aged 21, as a WREN
"Jeremy Vine asked me whether I thought it was like the War but I don't think it is like the War, which was more an upbeat time as we all wanted to get involved. As a teenager I was worried it would finish before I could join the WRENs but it didn't. In the War you could do something constructive. But this business of being locked in and seeing the statistics of how many have died from this virus is more depressing."
Pat has been honoured a number of times for her wartime services. She was granted the Freedom of Hounslow at a ceremony in Chiswick Town Hall last November and six months prior to that, was awarded the French Legion d'Honneur for her work as a Royal Navy Wren, when she was responsible for interpreting intercepted German Naval messages which were then passed onto the code-breaking operation. She had learned to speak German from the cook at her grandfather's house.
Pat was one of thousands of women whose story featured in The Bletchley Girls, which documents the lives of fifteen women who worked at Bletchley Park - it is thought that up to 7,000 women known as Bletchleyettes, worked at the secret codebreaking HQ during the war.
You can read our previous stories on Pat and her involvement with Bletchley here.
Going over old memories- file picture
Pat has a carer who comes on three or four days and her neighbours have been very helpful in checking on her and getting anything she needs. "It does show how nice your neighbours are, all sorts of people have rung me up to check how I am."
She is spending her time reading a stack of books and has been asked to write an article for the Daily Mail, where she used to work in the 1950s. In the sunny weather, she enjoys sitting in her garden.
Pat's sister is also living alone in her house in a village in Lancashire. "We ring each other up a lot and she is feeling bored too, she walks up the street for exercise, but she hasn't got a dog at the moment and that would probably help her if she did. She is a real bird-watcher and that keeps her busy. Another of my cousins rings up, she lives in the country but she has pugs and has to take them for walks, so that keeps her busy.
"I miss seeing my friends, there isn't any church service to go to at the moment and I used to go every Sunday and see everyone I know, and maybe have a sherry with somebody afterwards.
"I think it's quite depressing. I am 96 and you don't expect to spend your last few years cut off in this way from everybody. I would like to get back to a normal social life while I am still around- if you are very ill and old and you can't do things, seeing people is one of the most important things, and I miss it.
"I look out my front window and there are no commuters going by and usually there are aeroplanes, and noise coming from the lovely games fields across from me. The groundsman keeps the pitches beautiful but now nobody comes and plays."
She is looking forward to having drinks with her friends when the 'lockdown' is all over.
"For now I have a whiskey and soda at 6 o'clock. I usually find that picks one up."
Pat with some of the Chiswick Sea Cadets of which she is a patron
Two years ago, Pat and her sister Jean Argles collaborated on 1,000 Days On the River Kwai, the story of their father, Colonel Cary Owtram OBE, who kept a secret diary during his years as camp Commandant at Chungkai. The infamous camp was one of the largest POW camps during the Japanese occupation and the construction of the infamous Burma Railway during which several thousands British and Allied prisoners died.
Pat, who is a popular member of the community in Grove Park, has become a local celebrity in later life and is regularly asked to speak at schools and public events. She recently became one of the oldest participants in the Chiswick Book Festival.
Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We’ve always done that and won’t be changing, in fact we’d like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we’d be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you’d like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |
April 6, 2020