Description
Anita Holmes was born on 6 May 1941. Her arrival proved to be a traumatic event for her father, who could handle the rigours of war but was all at sea when it came to ‘things that ladies did’ to keep the human species from dying out.
Their evacuation consisted of a rented bungalow in the grounds of a poultry farm near Tonbridge, Kent. Anita spent her early years in the village living with her mother, her aunt Joan and her cousin Yvonne while their respective fathers were away at war.
As they grew up, Anita and her cousin Yvonne were blissfully unaware of the devastation of towns and the deprivations of the British people.
After the war Joan and Yvonne went to live in Luton and my father set up an architectural practice in London. I eventually left school and went on to college to do a crash course in secretarial studies. I was interested in fashion and journalism and went to work for Condé Nast Publications as a secretary for Vogue fashion editor, Lady Clare Rendlesham.
Anita met Paul and married in 1964 and had three children. Paul had a very successful career in banking. We are both retired now and enjoy life in a semi-rural village, gardening and having our children and seven grandchildren over to visit.
