Chiswick 'Bletchley Girl' Pat Davies To Be Given Freedom Of Hounslow

'Bletchley Girl' Pat Davies To Be Given Freedom Of Hounslow

The 96-year old local resident will be honoured at a ceremony in Chiswick

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Pat Davies Recalls Her Secret Wartime Career

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Chiswick resident and former 'Bletchley Girl' Pat Davies, is to receive another honour. She is to be granted the Freedom of Hounslow at a ceremony in Chiswick Town hall on 12 November.

Pat told Chiswickw4.com that she was delighted to be receiving the award . "I feel very honoured to be made a Freeman of Hounslow and look forward to finding out what it means."

Pat Davies recalls her life during the Second World War

The Freedom of the Borough is the highest honour that a Council can bestow and the tradition is maintained as a means whereby public recognition is given to the recipients as an expression of the highest esteem in which they are held by the Council and people of the Borough.

In June, 96-year-old Pat received the Legion D'Honneur for her work as a Royal Navy Wren, when she was responsible for interpreting intercepted German Naval messages which were then passed onto the code-breaking operation.She learned to speak German from the cook at her grandfather's house.

Pat, who is a long time resident of Grove Park, was one of thousands of women whose story featured in The Bletchley Girls, which documents the lives of fifteen women who worked at Bletchley Park - it is thought that up to 7,000 women known as Bletchleyettes, worked at the secret codebreaking HQ during the war.

pat davies and her sister with their fathers book

Two years ago, Pat and her sister Jean Argles collaborated on 1,000 Days On the River Kwai, the story of their father, Colonel Cary Owtram OBE, who kept a secret diary during his years as camp Commandant at Chungkai. The infamous camp was one of the largest POW camps during the Japanese occupation and the construction of the infamous Burma Railway during which several thousands British and Allied prisoners died.

Pat, who is a popular member of the community in Grove Park, has become a local celebrity in later life and is regularly asked to speak at schools and public events.

She is also a patron of the Chiswick Sea Cadets and recently became one of the oldest participants in the Chiswick Book Festival.

November 2, 2019