Week 26 : 25th June-1st July 1967

Around the world this week in 1967:-

• 25th June 1967 – An estimated 400 million viewers around the world watched Our World, the first live, international, satellite television production. The two-hour program was seen in 26 nations on five continents. It opened with the birth of a baby in Mexico City and the debut of The Beatles’ song “All You Need Is Love” live from London.
• 27th June 1967 – The first automated teller machine (ATM) began service, at a branch of Barclays Bank in North London. The system used printed “Barclaycash” vouchers that were issued to pre-approved customers who were also entrusted with a personal code number. Inserting a voucher and entering the PIN would result in cash being dispensed. Inventor John Shepherd-Brown had originally planned to have the machine respond to a six-digit PIN but, “discovered that his wife could not remember more than four digits”. Thus began the worldwide standard for four digits PINs.
• 27th June 1967 – Carl Wilson, the lead guitarist of The Beach Boys, was acquitted of charges of draft evasion. Wilson testified that he was a conscientious objector, the defense that had been rejected earlier in the month for Muhammad Ali.
• 28th June 1967 – Pope Paul VI formally ordained 24 new cardinals at a ceremony in the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City. The newly ordained cardinals included Archbishop Karol Wojtyla, who would, in 1978, become Pope John Paul II.
• 1st July 1967 – The first colour television broadcasts in the United Kingdom took place at 2:00 in the afternoon as BBC 2 showed a Wimbledon tennis match on Centre Court between Cliff Drysdale and Roger Taylor. After initially broadcasting between 15 and 25 hours a week of colour programming, a full colour service would begin on BBC 2 on December 2.

Back in Oxshott, here’s what Peggy and the family are up to:-

Sunday 25th June 1967
Sue for day.
Tim & Co calling in.
It’s Thursday night now – so I must think back!! Had a full day! Sue arrived at 12:15 – boys at 4:50. I was very concerned that Tim was so tired.

Monday 26th June 1967
Put in a lot of hours today – office and home. Can’t remember doing anything else but I suppose I must have!

Tuesday 27th June 1967
Helped Mary entertain the Molesey Young Wives this evening. Pity I was out when Joan rang.

Wednesday 28th June 1967
Philip’s Sports Day.
Cyril went to Cardiff. Philip did well in his sports. In the first three in each of his heats and in the first three in the finals. Gill to Brownies. Brought work home.

Thursday 29th June 1967
Worked all through lunch till quarter to four. I was up and ironing at 6:30am. Consequently am now very tired. Our Mur (Muriel) moved to Andover today.

Friday 30th June 1967
Had a telephone call from Mur this evening. They like their new quarters – I’ve told them we will go and see them soon – perhaps next weekend. Joan rang.

Saturday 1st July 1967
I was pleased to hear that Tim is O.K. after his tiring trip home. We went to Esher and then to Gamages – Cyril has bought me a lovely watch as an anniversary present. I’ve bought him a pen. Very hot and we’re all tired now.

 

Week 25 : 18th-24th June 1967

Around the world this week in 1967:

• 18th June 1967 – Guitarist Jimi Hendrix and rock group The Who made their American debuts, appearing on the final day of the Monterey Pop Festival.
• 19th June 1967 – In a secret meeting, Israel’s cabinet of ministers approved a resolution, approving the eventual return of the captured Sinai Peninsula to Egypt if diplomatic relations could be established and if Egypt recognized Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish nation. The same condition of a return to pre-war borders would be offered to Syria, but not to the West Bank or Gaza Strip.
• 20th June 1967 – Muhammad Ali was found guilty of draft evasion by a federal jury in Houston and sentenced him to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. The next day, Ali’s lawyers filed an appeal and Ali remained free pending the its outcome. Now barred from boxing, Ali spent the next three years on the lecture circuit and appearing in movies and even on the Broadway stage, before the Supreme Court reversed his conviction in 1970.
• 20th June 1967 – The U.S. House of Representatives voted, 385-16, to approve a bill to make the burning of the American flag a federal crime. It was then discovered that they had passed a bill that had left out the word “burning”.
• 21st June 1967 – Ruhi al-Khatib, the Arab mayor of the formerly Jordanian East Jerusalem, raised the flag of Israel over the town hall in a ceremony attended by the Mayor of Israeli Jerusalem. Mayor Kahtib, who had been a civil servant in British Palestine, shook hands with Mayor Kollek and said, “All of us love Jerusalem. We will do our best for Jerusalem”, while Mayor Kollek said “Now we are again citizens of united Jerusalem. We shall both have to adjust ourselves.” Only eight days later, the Israeli government dissolved the Palestinian municipal government of East Jerusalem and fired Khatib.
• 22nd June 1967 – British Home Secretary Roy Jenkins announced in London that the United Kingdom would adopt year-round “summer time”, moving clocks forward one hour on February 18, 1968, and keeping them at one hour ahead of Greenwich Mean Time.
• 24th June 1967 – Tornadoes, rarely seen in Europe, killed at least 22 people and injured 200 as they swept across France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Six villages in the Nord Department of France were struck, killing seven and injuring 40, while six were killed and 17 hurt in the Dutch provinces of Noord-Brabant and Gelderland. In Belgium, the village of Oostmalle was heavily damaged.

Around Oxshott, here’s what Peggy and the family are up to:

Sunday 18th June 1967
Dads Day! So Cyril had a cuppa in bed!! I’ve been quite busy but have had a pleasant day. Collected the books this am and did the bank statement. Very hot. Children had pool out.

Happy Fathers Day Pa. Love you. Miss you.

Monday 19th June 1967
Failed my test again and feel very miserable. Had a wretched night with Philip so called on Dr Little and he has given him some sleeping pills.  (!!!)

Tuesday 20th June 1967
Getting over my disappointment. Mrs Stiles and I working hard on a trial balance! We worked all through lunch hour till 3.30pm. Quite a good Young Wives meeting. No longer Young – just Wives now.

Wednesday 21st June 1967
School day off.
Gillian rang me up at noon as Philip was coughing so. I got Sue to run me home. He had been in long grass and was okay after a bit. Very warm this afternoon. Joan rang.

Thursday 22nd June 1967
Worked very hard at office again today – right up till 4.15pm. Mrs S and I are having no luck with our trial balance. Have cleaned brass, done washing and all sorts tonight – tired out.

Friday 23rd June 1967
Morning off – meet Stan at L/A.
Cyril and I went (with Phyl & Julian) to meet Stan. Plane on time and all well – until we got to Claygate on the way home when Julian was very sick! I went to work all afternoon.

Saturday 24th June 1967
Cyril did the shopping while I washed, cleaned carpets and did all sorts. Then I went to the office for 2½hrs. Played canasta and won three games.

 

 

 

 

Week 24 : 11th-17th June 1967

Around the world this week in 1967:

• 12th June 1967 – On the final day of its 1966-1967 term, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in Loving v. Virginia, declaring unanimously that the criminal prohibition against interracial marriage, was unconstitutional. At that time, Virginia was one of 16 U.S. states that still outlawed miscegenation.
• 12th June 1967 – Venera 4 was launched toward Venus by the Soviet Union. On October 18, it would become the first space probe to enter another planet’s atmosphere and successfully return data.
• 14th June 1967 – Two days after the Soviet launch of Venera 4, the United States launched Mariner 5 toward Venus. Mariner 5 would reach Venus on October 19, one day after Venera 4 had arrived, and would pass within 4,094 kilometres of the planet during its closest approach.
• 15th June 1967 – Libya’s Foreign Minister, Ahmad Bishti summoned the United States and United Kingdom ambassadors to demand the closure of their Libyan bases in retaliation for American and British support of Israel during the Six-Day War.
• 16th June 1967  – The three day Monterey Pop Festival began in Monterey, California. One historian opined that it “ushered in the era of the major music festival”. The musicians who performed on the first evening were The Association, Lou Rawls, Johnny Rivers, Eric Burdon & The Animals and Simon & Garfunkel. The non-profit Festival attracted 50,000 paid admissions and a crowd of 125,000 unpaid spectators, and grossed more than half a million dollars.
• 16th June 1967  – A Brazilian Air Force C-47 cargo plane, with 25 people on board, crashed in the Amazon jungle while carrying supplies to a besieged monitoring outpost. There were seven survivors, including an Air Force physician, Dr. Paulo Fernandes. Despite a broken leg, Dr. Fernandes located the remaining men and kept all but two of them alive for 11 days until they were located by an aerial search and rescued.
• 17th June 1967  – The People’s Republic of China successfully exploded its first hydrogen bomb. Only three other nations; the United States, the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom, had successfully tested a fusion bomb. China’s achievement came less than three years after it had first exploded an atomic bomb.
• 17th June 1967  – The new Israeli administrator of territories captured from Jordan began the process of making Palestinian Arabs leave their homes in the Old City of Jerusalem, either with eviction proceedings for renters, or payments to residents who owned property. All those made to leave were required to sign a document relinquishing their right of return. About 600 buildings in the quarter were expropriated and either torn down or renovated for use by Jewish residents.

And back in Oxshott, here’s what’s happening:

Sunday 11th June 1967
A busy day – Cyril has put all the plants out in the the front. We’ve cleaned both cars and I had ½ hour out in the Anglia. Barrie rang again.

Monday 12th June 1967
YW Comm meeting.
Gillian to tea with Debbie.
Lovely day. I’m so glad Rob and Maggie have picked such a sunny spell for their holiday at Polzeath. Young Wives committee meeting went on quite late. I did an hour’s work before I went.

Tuesday 13th June 1967
Gillian to tea with Sarah.
Lovely day. My driving lesson went quite well. Washed a couple of blankets this afternoon and played some badminton with Philip. Have written to Dad and Mur.

Wednesday 14th June 1967
Have washed the scatter cushions and covers this afternoon – besides polishing the dining room and lounge. Worked till quarter to four too! Just packing up some sweets to send to Holland.

Thursday 15th June 1967
Mrs Stiles and I were very busy this morning – piles of work to do and wasn’t able to go back this afternoon. Played badminton. Gillian made her cakes this evening for her Cook’s badge tomorrow!!

Friday 16th June 1967
Had my last before test lesson – not too bad! Worked hard, washing, mowing lawns and ironing this afternoon. Joan rang. Tim having a good time. Bad night with Philip.

Saturday 17th June 1967
Brownie Revels 3-5:30pm
Cyril and I shopped in Esher – early lunch then we took children to the fete. Philip and I stayed there while Cyril took Gill to revels (Brownie). We came home about 4:15pm. Cooked salmon etc. for tonight.

Week 23 : 4th-10th June 1967

 

Around the world this week in 1967:

• 4th June 1967 – Less than 12 hours after the deaths of 83 passengers on an Air Ferry flight, a British Midland Flight  crashed in Hopes Carr, Stockport, killing 72 passengers and crew. The plane was returning from Majorca and was preparing to land at Manchester when it went down. 12 people survived.
• 5th June 1967 – The Six-Day War began as Israel launched a preemptive strike on Egypt’s air bases shortly after dawn. By 7:30, all but twelve of Israel’s 212 fighter jets were airborne. More than half of the Egyptian Air Force fleet was destroyed on the ground and most of the others were unable to take to the air because of the destruction of the airfields. Without air support, the Egyptian Army in the Sinai was quickly overwhelmed by Israeli bombing.
• 6th June 1967 – The eleven oil-exporting Arab nations announced a halt of shipments to the United States and the United Kingdom. Egypt announced the closure of the Suez Canal to all ships in retaliation for American and British support to Israel during the Six-Day War.
• 7th June 1967 – Israel and Jordan agreed to a cease-fire called for by the United Nations Security Council. A few hours before the cease-fire had gone into effect, Israeli jets attacked King Hussein’s personal residence in an apparent attempt to assassinate him.
• 7th June 1967 – Died: Dorothy Parker, 77, American satirist and literary critic, died in her room at the residential Volney Hotel at 23 East 74th Street in New York City.
• 8th June 1967 – Procal Harum’s ‘A Whiter Shade of Pale’ began a six week run at No.1 in the UK chart.
• 8th June 1967 – The United Arab Republic (Egypt) agreed to the United Nations resolution calling for a cease-fire with Israel, shortly after Israeli forces defeated the remaining Egyptian soldiers fighting in the Sinai peninsula and blocked their escape routes back across the Suez Canal.
• 9th June 1967 – Abdel Nasser announced that he was resigning as President of Egypt, in an an address broadcast on nationwide radio and television. After he finished his broadcast, tens of thousands of supporters marched to his residence and urged him to reconsider. Nasser would discuss the matter with the National Assembly the next day and when the legislators told him that they would not accept his resignation, he withdrew it.
• 10th June 1967 – The Six-Day War ended five days after it started, as Syria and Israel agreed to a United Nations mediated cease-fire at 6:00 in the evening. During the war, Israel’s losses were 777 dead and 2,586 wounded; Egypt, Syria and Jordan had suffered 15,000 deaths and lost hundreds of tanks and airplanes, along with the Sinai peninsula, the Golan Heights, and the West Bank, respectively.
• 10th June 1967 – Thousands of Israelis spent the Jewish Sabbath crossing into places in Jerusalem that had been closed to them for nearly 20 years. They encountered no hostilities finding that, “Arabs in the old city were cautiously friendly with the swarms of Israeli tourists.”

Meanwhile, at home in Oxshott:

Sunday 4th June 1967 
Gillian, Philip and I went to Family Service at 10am – The new vicar made it very interesting. Cyril put some more plants in and took me out for half an hour’s drive before tea. Shampoo-es all round.

Monday 5th June 1967
Back to school.
Children went off quite happily and I went on to the office to find piles of work!! Had a driving lesson at 2pm and became a bundle of nerves going round the test course. Washed some more blankets.

Tuesday 6th June 1967
Big troubles in Middle East.
Mrs Stiles and I worked solidly all day – not even a lunch break. Looking stormy now (6:45pm). Cyril not in yet. I’ve mowed the lawns and washed three more blankets! Young Wives tonight.

Wednesday 7th June 1967
Fierce fighting in Middle East.
Feeling very tired this evening – it must be two days with long hours at the office. Cyril late home again. We’ve had to water the garden this evening – everywhere very dry.

Thursday 8th June 1967
PTA
We both went to the PTA meeting – Gillian’s work still leaves much to be desired – I don’t know what to make of her. Philip’s sums were quite good – but he is untidy too.

Friday 9th June 1967
My lesson wasn’t too bad today. We both feel tired today as Philip had us up and about in the night. Spoke to Tim this evening and also to Maggie – they leave for Cornwall at 5am tomorrow.

Saturday 10th June 1967
To Doris & Will.
Have had a nice lazy afternoon at Doris and Will’s. Did the dentist, bought summer trousers, trunks for Cyril – sandals for me and the children, in Cobham before we left at 10 to 11. Surprise telephone call from Barrie who wanted us to speak to David at school. Rang Barrie back later. Great excitement.

Week 22 : 28th May-3rd June 1967

Here’s what was going on around the world this week in 1967:-

• 28th May 1967 – 65-year old Sir Francis Chichester completed his round-the-world voyage sailing into Plymouth Harbour in his 54-foot yacht, Gipsy Moth IV. He was greeted with cheers from 250,000 spectators. Chichester had departed Plymouth on August 27 and stopped only in Sydney, Australia.
• 30th May 1967 – King Hussein of Jordan made the fateful decision to sign a five-year mutual defense pact with Egypt, effectively placing Jordan’s regular army, Egypt’s command in the event of a war with Israel. Israeli Foreign Minister Abba Eban would say later that King Hussein’s decision was, “the final step that ensured the inevitability of war”, and that until then, Israel had planned to leave Jordan (including the West Bank and East Jerusalem) out of the conflict.
• 1st June 1967 – The Beatles released their iconic album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. It would be the number one best selling album in the United Kingdom for 27 weeks, and number one in the United States for 15 weeks.
• 1st June 1967 – The McDonald’s fast-food chain went international with the opening of its first restaurant outside the United States, in Vancouver, Canada.
• 2nd June 1967 – A race riot began in predominantly African-American Roxbury suburb of Boston, the first of many riots during the summer of 1967. When the rioting in Boston ended after three days, 70 people had been injured, 100 arrested, and millions of dollars of property damage had taken place. Violence in June would follow in Philadelphia, Tampa, and Cincinnati, Dayton, Lansing, Michigan, Atlanta, and Buffalo.
• 3rd June 1967 – All 83 passengers and five crew on board an Air Ferry flight carrying British vacationers to a Mediterranean holiday crashed into the side of the Canigou mountain peak in the Pyrenees while circling the resort city of Perpignan preparing for landing.

But here’s what’s happening in Oxshott:-

Sunday 28th May 1967
Another stormy day. Cyril took me out for ½hr in the Anglia. The children and I spent ages clearing out the playroom and bedrooms. Landing carpet down and looking lovely. Children up late tonight – watching Francis Chichester come home.

Monday 29th May 1967
Bank Holiday.
Had a lie in this morning. Then I did some washing and had a trip to Kingston market with Mary. Bought towelling to make a beach cape. Pottered this afternoon – mowed the lawns.

Tuesday 30th May 1967
Children very good while I went to work – I came home at midday – Cyril was in town for lunch. Collected some work for the evening.

Wednesday 31st May 1967
Pay day.
Quite a nice day – children sat outside painting most of the morning. We took Gillian along to a party at 3:00pm. Had to stay in – waiting for the TV repair man.

Thursday 1st June 1967
Flaming June – but not quite! Haven’t collected my salary yet. Cyril in Cardiff, so we had a makeshift lunch then went off to Hampton Court and Bushey Park along with Phyl and Julian. Didn’t get home until 6:15. Very tired.

Friday 2nd June 1967
Worked 4 hours at the office and several hours in the home – washing, hoovering etc. etc! Collected my salary – biggest ever and have split it between deposit and current account. Cyril home from Cardiff at 5:00pm.

Saturday 3rd June 1967
Brownie fete.
Weather kept fine for the fete. Gillian and I were there from 2:20-6:15pm and was I weary! The ‘men’ left about four-ish. Have done my ironing since our return, but that’s about all. Have an aching elbow so am going to have a couple of disprin and go to bed – it’s 10:50pm – Cyril has beaten me to it!

Week 21 : 21st-27th May 1967

Here’s what’s happening in the world this week in 1967:-

• 21st May 1967 – In anticipation of war, Egypt called up its entire military reserve into service, while Palestinian commandos in the Gaza Strip announced that they were ready to attack Israel.
• 22nd May 1967 – A fire at L’Innovation, the largest department store in Brussels, killed 322 people. The blaze started with simultaneous explosions at the third-floor restaurant and the children’s clothing section on the second floor, and was fed by exploding bottles of butane gas and cardboard displays throughout the 5-story building during its “American Week” sale. Belgian police found “anti-American pamphlets demanding a ‘clean out’ of the store” scattered in the street, however, suspicions of arson would never be verified.
• 24th May 1967 – U.S. President Johnson convened a National Security Council meeting to discuss the impending war in the Middle East, and whether Israel had atomic weapons. The memorandum of “Discussion of Middle East Crisis” was only partially declassified in 1983, with more in 1992  but three sections remain secret, including all the details of, “a brief discussion of possible presence of unconventional weapons”. Response to the President’s question “What do we do?” is still redacted, as well as his response to General Wheeler’s statement that, “we would have to decide whether we were going to send in forces and confront Nasser directly.”
• 25th May 1967 – Celtic F.C., defending Scottish League champions, came from behind to become the first football club from northern Europe to win the European Cup, defeating Inter Milan, 2-1, in the final at Lisbon.
• 26th May 1967 – The 12-team United Soccer Association played its very first game, with foreign teams competing under different names in American and Canadian cities. Play opened at Washington, D.C. as the Cleveland Stokers (Stoke City F.C. of England) visited the Washington Whips (Aberdeen F.C. of Scotland). Maurice Setters of the Stokers scored the first USA goal, and Cleveland defeated Washington, 2-1 before a crowd of 9,403.
• 27th May 1967 – In a referendum in Australia, voters overwhelmingly (90.77%) approved the removal of two provisions in the Australian Constitution that allowed discrimination against the indigenous Aborigines. “Ever since,” an author would note later, “the 1967 referendum has popularly been memorialized as the moment when Aboriginal people gained equal rights with other Australians, even won the right to vote. In fact, the referendum did not achieve those outcomes.”
• 27th May 1967 – The folk rock band Fairport Convention played their first gig, with a concert at St. Michael’s Hall in Golders Green, North London.
• 27th May 1967 – Born: Paul Gascoigne, English footballer, in Dunston, Tyne and Wear

• But here’s what’s going on in Oxshott:-

Sunday 21st May 1967
Beautiful day and a very impressive ceremony at Jonkerboss. Then an excellent lunch at Erica. Jacques took us out for a drive – about 80 miles up to the German border and then sightseeing in Nijmegen. Home 5:30pm.

Peggy(on the right in the hat) at Jonkerboss.

Ceremony at Jonkerboss. 21st May 1967

(Thank you to Eileen for the photos from Auntie Joan’s collection)

Monday 22nd May 1967
A poor day! To start with our coach was over an hour late. Then it rained all day. The long trip to Amsterdam hardly seemed worthwhile – a trip on the canals – in rain! Lunch, then home – 1¾hrs late! The evening social was very good.

Tuesday 23rd May 1967
Shopped in Nijmegen. To Erica for a very good lunch. Back to Jacques house and the shops!! We are loaded! Packed eventually and bade a tearful farewell to the de Rooijs at 8pm. Train left at 8:40pm, Hook about 10:30pm. Calmer crossing but we couldn’t sleep. Pouring at Harwich on arrival.

Wednesday 24th May 1967
Arrived Harwich about 7am. Left at 8:10am. Home 11:15am. Rang Cyril from Harwich. He wasn’t able to meet me so I came home to an empty house. After unpacking I had a couple of hours on the bed. Children gave me a hearty welcome. It’s good to be home, but I’m so tired!!

Thursday 25th May 1967
Back to work today. What a load of work there is!! I’ve been at it all day and this evening too. Very showery weather. I managed to cut the lawns before another downfall this evening.

Friday 26th May 1967
Another busy day at the office – trying to catch up and get straight. Cyril was home today – he has put in four boxes of plants and is suffering with his back. Have written to Jacques and Lie. Cyril and I went shopping at lunch time – shops crowded. Joan rang.

Saturday 27th May 1967
We went to London Airport at 8:45am to meet Ron F – plane delayed and we weren’t home until 12 noon. Have pottered since then. A quick trip to Surbiton to buy underlay for the landing carpet. Phyl home – she and Julian looking very well and very brown. Nasty wet day.

Week 20 : 14th-20th May 1967

Here’s what’s happening in the world this week in 1967:-

• 14th May 1967 – On the pretext of responding to a threatened Israeli invasion of Syria, the UAR (United Arab Republic – an alliance between Egypt and Syria) sent two divisions of troops across the Suez Canal and into the Sinai peninsula.
• 15th May 1967 – The day after the celebration of the 19th anniversary of the formation of the State of Israel, Israeli Defense Forces paraded through Jerusalem, in defiance of the 1949 Armistice Agreements.
• 16th May 1967 – Russian author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn took a stand against censorship by mailing, 250 copies of a letter to members of the Union of Soviet Writers and to editors of literary newspapers and magazines. Listing eight instances where he had been silenced by the government, he complained that his work had been “smothered, gagged, and slandered”. In order to avoid the risk of anyone other than himself being blamed for the letters, he addressed each of the envelopes in his own writing.
• 17th May 1967 – Queen Elizabeth II announced that her 18-year-old son, Prince Charles, would be invested as Prince of Wales in the summer of 1969.
• 18th May 1967 – The US state of Tennessee repealed its law that made the teaching of evolution a criminal offense. On May 16, the state senate had voted, 19-13, in favor of a bill that permitted school teachers to discuss Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution in classrooms. The states of Arkansas and Mississippi would be the last to prohibit teaching evolution as the U.S. Supreme Court would strike down the laws as unconstitutional on November 12, 1968.
• 18th May 1967 – ‘Silence is Golden’ by The Tremeloes replaced Sandie Shaw’s ‘Puppet On A String’ as UK No. 1.
• 19th May 1967 – The 3,400 man UN Emergency Force departed from its observation posts along the 117-mile-longEgyptian/Israeli frontier in the Gaza Strip. At the same time, 12,000 troops of the Palestine liberation army took positions inside the Gaza Strip, and the first of more than 80,000 Egyptian troops and more than 800 tanks began crossing into the Sinai.

 

But here’s what’s going on in Oxshott:-

Sunday 14th May 1967
It’s poured with rain all day long! – haven’t felt much like work! Baked all afternoon. Philip in flood of tears tonight because I’m going away!

Monday 15th May 1967
Driving lesson went a bit better this evening – shan’t be having another until May 30th. Philip still seems a bit apprehensive about my going away. We all went out in the Anglia for 20 minutes.

Tuesday 16th May 1967
Cycle test.
Have worked hard today at the office – trying to get everything cleared up. I think all our pupils passed the cycling test, but I have a feeling it was a bit of a farce! Joan rang – she’s all set for Friday!

Wednesday 17th May 1967
Worked all day as Cyril wasn’t home to lunch – didn’t seem to get very far though! Came home and did some washing but then down came the rain and it’s poured all evening.

Thursday 18th May 1967
Hairdresser 4:15pm
Joan arriving.
Managed to get away from the office at 12:30! Turned out to be a lovely afternoon so I’ve done all the washing and ironing, cleaned the floors, had a hair do – bath and now waiting for Joan!

Friday 19th May 1967
To Holland
Left at 10:20am; boat 12 noon; off boat 6:45pm.
Joan and I left on the 7:58am train – leaving tearful children. I rang Cyril from Liverpool Street, he said they had gone to school quite happily. It was a two hour trip to Harwich and no coffee en route!

What a ghastly crossing – big waves – cups and glasses flying. I began to feel sick, but fortunately we were chatting with two fellows (!) about wartime and what have you and it passed the time. We didn’t arrive at Nijmegen until 9:30pm. Long day – it was 10:30 before we got to Lie’s house. It was very nice seeing them all again – we had much to talk about.

Saturday 20th May 1967
Went to Jonkerboss (war graves cemetery) and laid a wreath. Shopped in the afternoon and a meal at Erica (restaurant) in the evening.