University of Oxford
Browse

Wartime diary of a headmaster's wife

online resource
posted on 2024-06-05, 17:07 authored by Their Finest Hour Project Team

My grandfather was a headmaster in Harwich, and the school was evacuated to Gloucestershire. The diary covers part of the time they spent there. Day-to-day stories of what it was like, with comments about the war, hearing planes flying over, and bombing Bristol contrasting details of church services and general life.

She also wrote a letter to her father, which I have, describing visiting the U-boats in the River Orwell, Essex, in 1918.

History

Item list and details

The wartime diary from June 1940. The scanned wartime diary and letter belonged to Gladys May Lewis Betts who was the wife of a headmaster and who was evacuated along with the school.

Person the story/items relate to

Gladys May Lewis Betts

Person who shared the story/items

Gillian Allison Shipp (nee Cooper)

Relationship between the subject of the story and its contributor

Gladys May Lewis Betts was the contributor's grandmother

Type of submission

Shared at Troop Cafe, Llandudno, Conwy on 12 December 2023. The event was organised by Royal Welch Fusiliers Museum.

Record ID

121998 | TRO001