the back seat as soon as the butler opened the door and gave them such a pleading look that they changed their plans and spent the weekend with Wuda instead of at Claridges (Derek’s favourite hotel).
Shortly before the outbreak of war Derek and Pam went to America on a visit arranged through Derek’s boss, Professor Lindemann, on behalf of the Admiralty. This trip gave them the opportunity to visit Jessica and her husband Esmond, who had by now settled in the US. Pam often made surprise visits to her sisters as their letters to one another show and this was no exception. ‘I was amazed at Woman turning up here,’ Jessica wrote to her mother. The sisters were delighted to see one another but Derek and Esmond did not get on; also, Pam was very worried when Jessica told her that they hid their money between the pages of books. She was sure that they would forget where it was or leave it behind when they left.
Esmond, however, was fascinated when he learned that they planned to fly back to England. Since June 1939 the Americans had operated a transatlantic flying boat service which carried up to seventeen civilian passengers. On 4 August a British service began to operate and Derek booked them in on the second trip in a Caribou flying boat. Pam wrote to Jessica:
Our flying journey was wonderful, but rather frightening when we took off. The plane seemed far too small to battle across the Atlantic. We came down at Botwood in Newfoundland, and were able to go for a walk while the plane was being filled up with petrol. The next stop was at Foynes in Ireland. The whole journey only took 28 hours!
Her matter-of-fact description is another example of the quiet, largely unknown Mitford sister’s courage and spirit of adventure. She would probably have been one of the first 100 women to fly the Atlantic, but she took it entirely in her stride.
Unsurprisingly, the journey caused something of a stir and before they boarded the seaplane, journalists were waiting to question them about the purpose of their journey. ‘We are in rather a hurry to get home for our little dog’s birthday tomorrow,’ said Derek, in what must have been a particularly convincing fashion. However much they loved the dogs – during their stay in America they had a competition each morning to see who would wake first and sing good morning to the dachshunds back home – the truth was that Derek was carrying top-secret papers, which he refused to trust to the diplomatic bag in case they should fall into the hands of the Russians.
Horses, too, played a big part in their lives, both in the hunting and racing worlds. Pam had got to know Derek well while he was riding to hounds with the Heythrop Hunt with which he went out frequently; another of his passions was to ride as an amateur in National Hunt races where he enjoyed fair success. He kept most of his horses with trainer Bay Powell and Pam would often accompany him to Powell’s yard near Aldbourne when he went to ride them out on the downs. She also looked after those which were kept at Rignell and it is very obvious from his letters before and during the war that Derek entrusted them to her care. In August 1940 he wrote to say: ‘I am writing to Bay [Powell] to have all the horses sent home. They will have to stay out all winter – buy oats and hay.’ In February 1941 he was advising her to ‘have the two-year-olds back as soon as the weather seems to get warmer’, and when she told Derek about a colt with an injured leg, he said that it should only be led out enough to get the swelling down, and not turned out.
In their love letters Derek would often assume the character of a horse and at the end of one letter, written in January 1936, he drew a miserable-looking horse above the words, ‘the poor Derek horse is crying because you aren’t here to stroke it’. He would always sign himself Derek (H-D) for Horse of Dog, the pet name they used together, sending, of course, his love to the DDs
Shortly before the outbreak of war Derek and Pam went to America on a visit arranged through Derek’s boss, Professor Lindemann, on behalf of the Admiralty. This trip gave them the opportunity to visit Jessica and her husband Esmond, who had by now settled in the US. Pam often made surprise visits to her sisters as their letters to one another show and this was no exception. ‘I was amazed at Woman turning up here,’ Jessica wrote to her mother. The sisters were delighted to see one another but Derek and Esmond did not get on; also, Pam was very worried when Jessica told her that they hid their money between the pages of books. She was sure that they would forget where it was or leave it behind when they left.
Esmond, however, was fascinated when he learned that they planned to fly back to England. Since June 1939 the Americans had operated a transatlantic flying boat service which carried up to seventeen civilian passengers. On 4 August a British service began to operate and Derek booked them in on the second trip in a Caribou flying boat. Pam wrote to Jessica:
Our flying journey was wonderful, but rather frightening when we took off. The plane seemed far too small to battle across the Atlantic. We came down at Botwood in Newfoundland, and were able to go for a walk while the plane was being filled up with petrol. The next stop was at Foynes in Ireland. The whole journey only took 28 hours!
Her matter-of-fact description is another example of the quiet, largely unknown Mitford sister’s courage and spirit of adventure. She would probably have been one of the first 100 women to fly the Atlantic, but she took it entirely in her stride.
Unsurprisingly, the journey caused something of a stir and before they boarded the seaplane, journalists were waiting to question them about the purpose of their journey. ‘We are in rather a hurry to get home for our little dog’s birthday tomorrow,’ said Derek, in what must have been a particularly convincing fashion. However much they loved the dogs – during their stay in America they had a competition each morning to see who would wake first and sing good morning to the dachshunds back home – the truth was that Derek was carrying top-secret papers, which he refused to trust to the diplomatic bag in case they should fall into the hands of the Russians.
Horses, too, played a big part in their lives, both in the hunting and racing worlds. Pam had got to know Derek well while he was riding to hounds with the Heythrop Hunt with which he went out frequently; another of his passions was to ride as an amateur in National Hunt races where he enjoyed fair success. He kept most of his horses with trainer Bay Powell and Pam would often accompany him to Powell’s yard near Aldbourne when he went to ride them out on the downs. She also looked after those which were kept at Rignell and it is very obvious from his letters before and during the war that Derek entrusted them to her care. In August 1940 he wrote to say: ‘I am writing to Bay [Powell] to have all the horses sent home. They will have to stay out all winter – buy oats and hay.’ In February 1941 he was advising her to ‘have the two-year-olds back as soon as the weather seems to get warmer’, and when she told Derek about a colt with an injured leg, he said that it should only be led out enough to get the swelling down, and not turned out.
In their love letters Derek would often assume the character of a horse and at the end of one letter, written in January 1936, he drew a miserable-looking horse above the words, ‘the poor Derek horse is crying because you aren’t here to stroke it’. He would always sign himself Derek (H-D) for Horse of Dog, the pet name they used together, sending, of course, his love to the DDs
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