Eighty years ago this week, the forthcoming visit of King George and his Queen to the Isle of Man between July 4 and 6, had the effect of disrupting Kathleen Oates’ planned VE (Victory in Europe) leave. Earlier, her regular leave at home in Leicester had chanced to coincide with the official VE celebrations in May, which were a public holiday. However, Ronaldsway could not afford to stop training pilots for the Pacific War and thus its personnel were granted VE leave at staggered times over the next few weeks, following the earlier nationwide holiday.

So, Kathleen had been due to take her VE leave commencing July 2. However, the upcoming visit of the Monarchs meant that plans had to change. ‘I’m afraid I shan’t be seeing you at the weekend after all. All VE leave has been cancelled for the rest of the week, owing to the visit of the King and Queen.’ Kathleen was fairly sanguine as her plans were simply delayed by a week – and she hoped she might find the Royal visit interesting. ‘It’s very annoying – but I shan’t miss my leave, as I’ll be able to come on the following Monday, which is the 9th, I believe. I don’t expect we shall see much of the King and Queen, though there is to be an inspection and march past next Friday [presumably July 6]. I hope I’ll be able to take part in it if I’m not on duty – I’d rather like to see their Britannic Majesties!’

Kathleen was well aware that other Ronaldsway personnel were far more inconvenienced than her by this unplanned alteration. ‘Jane‘s parents had booked rooms at a hotel in Manchester and were meeting her there, so you can guess what she thinks of this last minute cancellation!’ Cynthia, it seemed, was lucky to have got away in time as she was ‘spending her VE leave in London. Her parents are meeting her and they’ve booked for at least three shows.‘

Now that the south of England was no longer being bombed, Kathleen’s parents and younger sister Dorothy had been holidaying on the Isle of Wight and were very happy with where they were staying. Mum Elsie reported contentedly that ‘food continues to be luxury food: egg custards, junket, fruit pies, cream on everything – one almost forgets there is a war still being fought’ .

Needing to return to her office job in Leicester, Dorothy returned home before her parents and visited London for the first time ever, passing through the capital on her way back from the Isle of Wight. She wrote an excited account of her brief time there between trains, as she left her suitcase in the Waterloo locker room and walked over the Thames past iconic landmarks like the Savoy, to Trafalgar Square (thinking mistakenly that she had passed the British Museum there - not knowing it was the National Gallery) and down to Westminster Abbey before collecting her bag and taking the tube to St Pancreas for a Leicester-bound train. Of note is that this account was peppered with mentions of military personnel: there were sailors in her compartment when travelling to London; in Westminster Abbey, ‘there were a good number of Americans with guides, cameras and guidebooks’ – and when she got her suitcase stuck in the closing doors of the underground train when changing lines at Leicester Square, it was a soldier who had helped her retrieve it. Over a month after VE Day, wartime roles and uniform were still very much in evidence.

Dorothy had begged Kathleen to consider accompanying her on another visit to London, on a future leave, and Kathleen replied enthusiastically that ‘I’d like to visit the National Gallery now that it’s open again’.

For the present, however, she was combining relaxation and a more demanding work schedule. She wrote her letter, ‘sitting here on Watch at 7 pm on Wednesday [June 27]. Day flying is expected to go on till about 8 o’clock, then I have to come up here again at 10:30pm for night flying. This will probably finish about 5 o’clock tomorrow morning.’

However, she was not grumbling too much, since ‘prior to coming on watch this afternoon, I’ve been bathing on Castletown beach with several other members of the Cabin. We’ve been in every day since last Saturday. It’s really lovely being able to walk out of the camp, round the corner, and onto the beach! The water is so very clear here. My face and arms are getting quite brown but my legs, unfortunately are scarlet. They’re not so used to the sun as they are covered up with black stockings all the time!’

The lack of grumbling from Kathleen over delayed leave and an increased workload was possibly because she was not yet ready for the disruption that both present and former colleagues were experiencing. Her pilot friend Paul had written saying that he was expecting to arrive in England any time now. ‘He may be grounded, along with about 20,000 others, to replace ground staff people due for release. Everything seems very uncertain and no one seems to know what they’re doing. Several of the Wrens on this camp say goodbye to Naval life on Thursday as they are married – they all seem quite pleased about it. Don’t know how I shall feel when my turn comes! I’m very uncertain of the future, at least.’ For the moment, Kathleen appreciated the routine and camaraderie of Ronaldsway, which allowed her to delay any decisions over what her long term future held.