gb0551ms-33-87

Transcription

[Page] 87
[continued from page 86]

[Margin]
Subsequently the
Alpine & Rock Garden Club
made me their per:
:manent Hon. [Honorary] Vice
President. Sir William
Wright Smith being
President. ---

more to do with it Now after these brief details
of an active life, I may come to the stirring
events. which have caused me again to take
out my journal and write in it.
Since 3rd Sept. 1939 we have been at war with
Nazi-Germany, and the face of Britain has
changed. Everywhere are young men in
uniform, and swift aeroplanes dash
across the sky at intervals all day, keeping
constant watch. Every few hours there are
news broadcasts on the wireless and, to me,
most notable of all, has been the cessation
of all my pre war activities in Edinburgh.
The Contents of Museums and galleries
have been packed up, and sent to places
of safety, and most of my committees
have been laid up in flannel till peace
comes again. Mary is a F.A.N.Y [First Aid Nursing Yeomanry]
in plain words, one of an organised body
of women motor drivers, and her particular
task, from head quarters of the Scottish
Command, is to drive Staff Officers hither
and thither – mostly in the neighbourhood of
Edinburgh. She passes somewhat comfort:
:less nights in a large villa at Colinton with
the other members of her corps. To begin

with discipline was applied to a laughable
extent, and red tape made life almost
unendurable. But as accounts of the conditions
got bruited abroad discipline was relaxed
somewhat, and under the advice of superiors,
existence became easier. Meanwhile I
live on here, engrossed in my garden, and
very unwilling even to go into town. I inter:
:view Catherine our cook, who has been with us
over 20 years, every morning – arrange about
my simple meals, and settle domestic matters,
There is a quiet, but unquestioned determina:
:tion expressed by all throughout the
country to see this thing through; and so
manage matters that Germany will never
again be in a position to break the peace
of Europe, and act as a gangster among
the nations. Everyone behaves with quiet
dignity. Heavy burdens are cheerfully borne,
and infringements of liberty accepted without
complaint. Our petrol, coals, gas, & electricity
are all rationed, and shortly, we shall receive
food cards rationing our food.
So far though we have been at war for nearly
six weeks. we have suffered little from war’s
alarms. I have constructed an air raid
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