Jan's Reviews > To War With Whitaker

An engrossing read based entirely on diary entries from Englishwoman Hermione Ranfurly's experiences during WWII. She and her husband Dan married shortly before the war began, and they ended up being separated for most of the war. He was a prisoner of war for some years, and the rest of the time was on active service.

Hermione had followed Dan to North Africa, and she ended up spending most of the war in this area and various spots around the Mediterranean, including Palestine, Cairo, Italy and others. In her role as secretary and PA to various highly placed military officers, Hermione met many famous and influential people, including Churchill, Eisenhower, Hollywood actors etc. She worked hard at her job, with many 12-hour days or longer, and billets ranging from good to terrible. Her separation from Dan, especially when he was a POW, was difficult and at times full of fear for him. Her story was quite moving at times.

It was a very interesting personal viewpoint on those chaotic, unpredictable and difficult years. Luckily for Hermione, both she and her husband survived and, in her own words, had their happily ever after. She always tried to make a diary entry before she went to bed, even if the hour was late. The diary entries ranged from a few sentences to several pages, and made the book easy to read, as the information came in small bites.

Overall, well worth reading.