More on Dorothy Campion

Some time ago I wrote about Take Not Our Mountain by Dorothy Campion.

Recently I was contacted by Dorothy Campion's nephew Jonathan and he was kind enough to send me some photo's. Jonathan regularly visited Waye and Dorothy Campion at the farm where they lived (Nyth Bran) and loved it.        

'Waye was a sheep farmer and former WW2 Commando who had been badly wounded at Monte Casino in Italy and his damaged lungs couldn’t work well at low altitudes hence he built Nyth Bran himself and farmed the land. Waye was also a mountain guide, regularly being called out in winter time, I recall. He was a great fellow. He was certainly a tough chap, but very caring and gentle with kids and animals. Fond memories for me.'

Earlier on I received information about Waye found by Clarien on The Commando's Archive . This includes a photo contributed by his son Andy. Jonathan is positive Dorothy never had any more children, so maybe Andy was Waye's son from another marriage.

To continue with Jonathan's story:  'Dorothy was born in 1925.  After divorcing Waye (who died about three years later) she married businessman Dennis Luckham and moved to a large house near Brighton. She died in 1978 when living in Cambridgeshire.  My mother, a year younger than Dorothy, died in 1980.
Dorothy’s maiden name was Johns. She was married three times and was considered quite glamorous and a tad racy'. Jonathan is almost certain Dorothy wrote no other books, so maybe the titles I found were written by another Dorothy Campion.

Jonathan's mother wrote under her maiden name June Johns. She was a chief reporter on the Daily Mirror national newspaper in London before becoming an author. Jonathan's father, Jack Smith was an international photographer after being a war correspondent in WW2. 

Among the books June Johns wrote were: 

Little Brother

Zoo Without Bars

King Of The Witches

The Mating Game

Black Magic Today

Practical Yoga.

This photo shows Dorothy Campion with her father Peter at their family house near Manchester where Dorothy and June were brought up. It was taken around 1949.  

 

 This photo shows Dorothy's mother Edna, Dorothy's sister June Johns, Waye Campion, with Dorothy's daughter Jane and nephew Jonathan in front.

 

Holiday reading

We're back from our cycling trip through northern Germany, Denmark and Sweden. On the way I learnt that Denmark is nót flat, well not to flatlanders like us anyway! We came back a bit early because of the rain, but we plan to take another little trip starting next week. When you are a 'pensionado', as we are called in Dutch, you can do that.

Some time ago, on Sue's blog I discovered some British World War II diaries which I found fascinating. I found a few more to read on holiday. My favourites are:

These Wonderful Rumours by May Smith. A schoolteacher with a sense of humor, May records the goings on in her family, her school, her village and the country. May loves clothes, is always short of money and is pursued by two beaux: Dougie Dear and Old Friend Freddy, or Faithless Fred, depending on May's mood. Her tone reminded me of the Provincial Lady. Though repetitive, I found the diary fascinating and could not wait to find out if it was going to be Doug or Freddy.

A Very Private Diary by Mary Morris. Mary, who was from Ireland, came to train as a nurse in England in 1939. After qualifying she joined the Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps, and served in France and Germany. Nurses diaries from WWII are very rare as keeping a diary was forbidden, but Mary kept one anyway. I am so glad she did, as she writes very well.  Though I have read many books about the war this one really brought home the sheer horror that soldiers and nurses went through. 

Back in a while!