139:(1912–1933), and two sisters, Cynthia (born 1916) and Daphne (born 1922); "I started life as a disappointment – because I wasn't a boy", she recalled. "I continued being a disappointment – because I was ugly. Instead of minding, I determined to ride better, run faster, be funnier and give more generous presents than the rest of the family." Their father, Griffith Robert Poyntz Llewellyn, was dashing, popular and extravagant; his lack of caution was to have disastrous consequences, and he lost the family fortune on horses and houses when Hermione was thirteen. "We became poor very quickly", she reported. Their mother, Emily
304:, the Commander-in-Chief for the Middle East. Wavell could take no direct action since SOE did not come under the War Office, but sharing her concerns, he asked her to pass on any documents that aroused her suspicion. She achieved this by stealing questionable documents from the office each evening, typing a copy of them and then returning the originals to their positions the next morning. Her subterfuge led directly to a major reorganisation of SOE Cairo in the summer of 1941.
247:. Dan turned to their portly cook-butler, Whitaker, and asked if he was coming too. Hermione recorded that "Whitaker sat there looking fat and rather red, and he said, 'To the war my Lord?' and Dan said 'Yes'. And Whitaker said: 'Very good, my Lord,' as though Dan had asked for a cup of coffee." The exchange was to provide the title of Lady Ranfurly's war diaries, which proved to be an unexpected publishing success in the 1990s.
292:
remove her passport, she became the highly efficient secretary to George
Pollock, the head of the SOE. At first pleased with her job, she quickly became concerned about the SOE's actions, intentions, and dubious security and finances, and considered that the organisation was working "across, if not
175:. She had scarcely ever been in a kitchen, and had difficulty giving personal advice to customers. Nevertheless, she became a successful saleswoman and wrote that "people seemed to like it when I said: 'Always buy a gas cooker with a large oven, then you can commit suicide with your husband'".
257:
Hermione thought that with her secretarial skills, she would easily find a job in the Middle East. It proved more difficult than expected, and in
September 1940 a one-eyed brigadier ordered her forcible repatriation to Britain with other "illegal wives". Determined not to be separated from her
166:
In 1930 and impoverished, a 17-year-old
Hermione moved to London to look for a job. As she noted, she was "ill-prepared for life beyond the bounds of a country estate", and had no qualifications except "good English and good manners." It was the height of the
254:. Regulations barred wives of the Yeomanry from joining their husbands at the front. However, Hermione ignored the rules, and in February 1940 managed to obtain a passage to Egypt from a shady London travel agent, arriving in Palestine two weeks later.
324:, the Supreme Allied commander in the Mediterranean. She was renowned for the tenacity of her desire not to return to England, and General Wilson described Hermione as having "outmanoeuvred every general in the Middle East" to achieve her goal.
55:
469:, an old friend, arranged for her to get a contract for their publication; however, Hermione got cold feet, and repaid the advance nine days later. A daughter, Lady Caroline, was born in 1948. On 20 October 1953, Lord Ranfurly was appointed
477:. Hermione took a great interest in all aspects of Bahamian life, and was concerned by the lack of books in libraries and schools. She asked friends to send unwanted volumes, a project that was to become the Ranfurly Library Service in
315:
in Italy for three years, escaping in 1944 following the
Italian armistice. In the interim, Lady Ranfurly received special permission to remain in the Middle East from General Wavell, and worked first as a personal assistant to Sir
284:, but gradually her return became known. Her actions infuriated the British military authorities, which made finding a job difficult. However, her secretarial skills were in short supply and she was soon recruited to work for the
508:
was published in 1994. The diaries were an immediate success, and one reviewer noted that they offered "a madcap, aristocratic window behind the lines of war". Encouraged by its success, she published a memoir of her childhood,
185:. She remained short of money, and though invited to balls and for weekends at country houses, she had to decline, as she could not afford to buy the necessary clothes. In 1937, Hermione went to Australia as secretary to
407:, and was taught to shoot by a mysterious red-faced man called "Abercrombie" so as to be able to do her part against the Germans. By the end of the war, she likely knew more secrets than any other civilian in the area.
484:
When the
Ranfurlys returned to the United Kingdom in 1957, Lady Ranfurly extended the Ranfurly Library Service project to other developing countries short on English books; the organisation later changed its name to
375:'s beret, though she did not think much of the "corny Englishman" complaining that he "would drop his macintosh on the floor and then shout at someone to pick it up." She dined with kings:
294:
516:
Lady
Ranfurly enjoyed her old age, noting "you have so many more memories than when you are young". She died at her home in Buckinghamshire on 11 February 2001 at the age of 87.
1177:
437:. He rescinded his offer at the last moment, leaving Hermione without a job, luggage or reference. With Dan Ranfurly in Rome, she managed to find a job working for Air Marshal
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Dan
Ranfurly was reunited with his wife in Algiers in May 1944, and after a brief trip to England, Hermione resumed her work as secretary to General Wilson in Algiers and
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In
November 1944, Hermione Ranfurly accepted General Wilson's request that she continue as his secretary when he moved to Washington, D.C. to be head of the
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269:, and succeeded in obtaining an aeroplane ticket back to Egypt by implying to a travel agent that she was a spy on a secret mission. The
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Lord
Ranfurly died of cancer in 1988, and the Countess continued to work her diaries in Buckinghamshire. Her old friend and neighbour
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147:. The family accompanied her to Switzerland for treatment. There was further family tragedy with Owen's death in an air crash.
465:, while Hermione attempted to put her wartime letters and diaries in order while seated on the sitting room floor. The writer
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office in Cairo. Despite continued opposition from the Army, who failed in an attempt to have
British ambassador Sir
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117:; 13 November 1913 – 11 February 2001) was a British author and aristocrat who is best known for her war memoir
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209:. The day she returned to England, she found Ranfurly seated on the sofa in her London flat, reading the
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On their first wedding anniversary, Lord Ranfurly left with the Sherwood Rangers for a posting to
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Parachutes, Patriots and Partisans: The Special Operations Executive and Yugoslavia, 1941–1945
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235:. Cutting short their trip, they returned to London, where a telegram awaited them from Dan's
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against, the war effort". In March 1941, she expressed her concerns to the visiting
143:(née Elwes), became mentally ill during Hermione's childhood and was diagnosed with
438:
418:. Hermione was well-positioned for more noteworthy encounters: she taught Admiral
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for tea: "he was short and stocky and dressed to kill" according to the hostess.
729:
The Ugly One: the childhood memoirs of Hermione, Countess of Ranfurly, 1913–1939
532:
The Ugly One: The Childhood Memoirs of Hermione, Countess of Ranfurly, 1913–1939
526:
To War With Whitaker: The Wartime Diaries of the Countess of Ranfurly, 1939–1945
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182:
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To War With Whitaker: The Wartime Diaries of the Countess of Ranfurly, 1939–1945
54:
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Henderson, Nicholas (9 November 1998). "The Countess who sold gas cookers".
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135:, into a wealthy family of Welsh origin. She had an older brother, Griffith
215:; the two immediately became engaged, and were married on 17 January 1939.
178:
Hermione took a secretarial course and subsequently found employment in a
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339:, and met many of famous names who passed through the region, including
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On arrival in Cairo, Lady Ranfurly lay low in the flat of her friends
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442:
155:
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At the end of the war, Dan Ranfurly obtained a job in insurance at
414:, while her husband joined Fitzroy Maclean's liaison mission to
711:"The Countess who dined with Eisenhower and despised Monty".
1003:
SAS Zero Hour: The Secret Origins of the Special Air Service
320:, the High Commissioner in Palestine, and later to General
307:
In April 1941, Dan Ranfurly was reported missing after the
637:
Buchan, William (28 November 1998). "A Cinderella story".
809:
The Wartime Diaries of the Countess of Ranfurly 1939–1945
327:
Between 1941 and 1944, Hermione Ranfurly lived in Cairo,
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77:
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31:
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676:. Vol. 25. Genealogical Society of PA. 1968.
387:. She befriended a number of intelligence and
481:. The couple also founded a children's home.
8:
831:: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
790:"Hermione Countess of Ranfurly – Obituary".
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227:holiday in Scotland when the news came that
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1121:(Supplement). 30 December 1969. p. 12.
954:. Univ of Wisconsin Press. pp. 50–51.
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986:Ranfurly (1994), pp. 158, 194–5, 206, 221
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1006:. Naval Institute Press. p. 174.
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811:. London: Heinemann. pp. 11–14.
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359:. She shared a house in Baghdad with
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916:Crete: The Battle and the Resistance
868:. London: Hamilton. pp. 93–96.
371:in Algiers, and helped fix General
243:, telling him to report to duty in
105:Hermione Knox, Countess of Ranfurly
1193:English expatriates in the Bahamas
1153:20th-century English women writers
1085:"Aiding Africa's poor by the book"
1035:Ranfurly (1994), pp. 248, 251, 221
673:Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine
258:husband, she jumped ship from the
25:
1072:. 13 November 1953. p. 6069.
1044:Ranfurly (1994), pp. 302–306, 313
504:read her work, and with his help
199:Daniel Knox, 6th Earl of Ranfurly
1183:English expatriates in Australia
1083:Corbett, Sue (16 January 2003).
53:
1203:English people of Welsh descent
1053:Ranfurly (1994), pp. 324, 356–7
1026:Ranfurly (1994), pp. 68, 93, 98
796:. 13 February 2001. p. 23.
595:"Hermione Countess of Ranfurly"
150:She completed her education at
367:shopping in Cairo, dined with
18:Hermione, Countess of Ranfurly
1:
1218:British women in World War II
1148:20th-century English diarists
1188:English expatriates in Egypt
1168:Writers from Gloucestershire
286:Special Operations Executive
252:British-controlled Palestine
1158:21st-century English people
435:British Joint Staff Mission
207:Australian Governor-General
191:Governor of New South Wales
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1163:21st-century English women
948:Williams, Heather (2003).
920:. Westview Press. p.
866:Cairo in the war 1939–1945
189:who had been appointed as
173:Gas Light and Coke Company
896:Ranfurly (1994), pp.66–72
845:Ranfurly (1994), pp.18–23
52:
864:Cooper, Artemis (1989).
345:Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
273:was sunk shortly after.
223:The Ranfurlys were on a
39:The Countess of Ranfurly
977:Ranfurly (1994), p. 103
753:London Evening Standard
471:Governor of the Bahamas
426:, and received Marshal
487:Book Aid International
461:, and later farmed in
377:Peter II of Yugoslavia
152:Southover Manor School
369:Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
322:Henry Maitland Wilson
506:To War With Whitaker
489:. She was appointed
391:officers, including
282:Patrick Hore-Ruthven
34:The Right Honourable
727:Hermione Ranfurly,
717:. 14 February 2001.
600:The Daily Telegraph
389:Special Air Service
1118:The London Gazette
1069:The London Gazette
603:. 22 November 2001
373:Bernard Montgomery
271:Empress of Britain
262:Empress of Britain
65:Hermione Llewellyn
1013:978-1-59114-805-0
961:978-0-299-19494-9
931:978-0-8133-2080-9
818:978-0-434-00224-5
683:978-1-4223-6921-0
475:Winston Churchill
459:Lloyd's of London
420:Henry Kent Hewitt
341:Lady Diana Cooper
318:Harold MacMichael
295:Foreign Secretary
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193:. On a visit to
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383:and the future
381:Farouk of Egypt
363:, took General
353:Gaston Palewski
349:Walter Monckton
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605:. Retrieved
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511:The Ugly One
510:
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493:in the 1970
483:
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439:John Slessor
432:
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393:Orde Wingate
326:
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298:Anthony Eden
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83:(2001-02-11)
26:
1213:Secretaries
1208:Salespeople
1143:2001 deaths
1138:1913 births
1113:"No. 44999"
1064:"No. 40015"
513:, in 1998.
441:, first in
361:Freya Stark
357:Noël Coward
183:typing pool
95:Nationality
1132:Categories
1097:31 January
714:The Herald
689:31 January
607:31 January
539:References
416:Yugoslavia
201:, who was
197:, she met
180:War Office
1090:The Times
827:cite book
793:The Times
653:0038-6952
329:Jerusalem
267:Cape Town
141:Constance
127:Childhood
115:Llewellyn
90:, England
73:, England
69:Postlip,
1093:. London
1000:(2006).
912:(1994).
884:18742516
647:(8886).
453:Post war
237:Yeomanry
225:stalking
195:Canberra
337:Algiers
333:Baghdad
205:to the
98:British
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958:
928:
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534:(1998)
528:(1994)
479:Nassau
447:VE Day
443:Naples
355:, and
347:, Sir
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