Land girls, and Leek Wootton’s indomitable Doreen

The popular event on Saturday, June 2, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee weekend, will tie in with the unveiling of Leek Wootton History Group’s project Doreen’s Diary: The Life of an Indomitable Woman in Warwickshire during World War II.

The group has been working on the diary since March 2011 when members were asked to transcribe the handwritten diary of Doreen Wright. The diary was found in 2004 and covers the period from May 1940 following her husband F/O Gilbert Wright of 605 (County of Warwick) Squadron being posted missing in action, to December 1942 when she finally accepts his loss. Her diary covers many events of international significance including the Battle of Britain, the Coventry Blitz - during which Doreen towed the Women’s Voluntary Service canteen to provide refreshments to the exhausted people of Coventry- and the bombing of Pearl Harbour.

The Heritage Lottery Fund supported the project, and the diary is due to be published in late May. It will be available to purchase at this year’s Kenilworth Show.

Brenda Semple, a member of the history group as well as a committee member of Kenilworth and District Agricultural Society, will be spreading the word about the Doreen’s Diary project on the day, accompanied by other members of the history group.

She said: “A lot of hard work has gone into the project ever since the diary was discovered by Doreen’s family. We’re really looking forward to seeing the diary in print and to mark its publication we’ll be leading the vintage tractor display in the main ring on our tractor and dressed as Land Girls on June 2.

“We will also be collecting donations at the Kenilworth Show for the Women’s Land Army Tribute campaign being led by Staffordshire Women’s Food and Farming Union.”

For more information on the project, visit www.doreensdiary.org.uk