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flew over and started dropping bombs. Their instant reaction - to lie
on and protect their dolls.

Mary’s lifelong interest and admiration of the Royals likely began
when a young Mary and Liz wrote to the then Princess Elizabeth
congratulating her on her marriage and sent her a gift. I’m sure
they would have been absolutely delighted when they received a
letter 3 weeks later on Buckingham Palace letterhead paper
thanking them for their kind present.

Mary moved on to Swanage Grammar School, and when she was
16 she was the first ever Swanage Carnival Queen, a title she was
very proud of and was able to celebrate again on a special carnival
float 55 years later.

Not long after she left school, she met her dearest Reg. They
would go to dances together, and it wasn’t long before they were
smitten with each other. When he went to work he would leave her
notes to let her know how much he loved and cared for her, along
with a reminder to empty the bins. They married in July 1951, and
moved to Hampton Court where they welcomed their first born
Peter in the December. Keith followed in 1953 and Tina in 1962.

Mary and Reg moved back to Dorset, living in Upton, Hamworthy
and Swanage over the years. But their greatest adventure was
moving to Australia, following Mary’s sister Liz and their own Peter
and Keith who had moved there in years previous. Mary and Reg
lived there for 4 years before returning to England. Whilst living
there, I have only just discovered, Mary worked for a time at
McDonalds!

Her desire to help others led her to be a member of the Swanage
British Legion, of which her dad was one of the earliest members.
In the women’s section she was the standard bearers escort for
many years. I recall once helping her put crosses on the graves of
ex servicemen and women around remembrance day.

She was always on the bus between Swanage and Poole, coming
over for family birthdays and gatherings, always keen to see her
children, grandchildren and later great-grandchildren when she

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