LONDON: Field Marshal Sir Archibald Wavell, who is to become the Viceroy of India on Lord Linlithgow’s retirement in October, can claim that the whole Wavell family is in the war.

Lady Wavell, who is a charming Irish woman, did much on behalf of troops’ welfare when they were in Egypt. For social life she ran Sunday afternoon parties and attended parties provided they were intended to benefit the troops. Pamela, her eldest daughter, did voluntary and detachment duty, and Felicity and Joan, the younger girls, worked as secretaries at General Headquarters.

Two years ago, Pamela and Felicity were learning to fly. Their only brother is serving in his father’s regiment. Of his daughters Field Marshal is reported to have told a story: “One word of command from me is obeyed by millions of troops, but I cannot get my three daughters, Pamela, Felicity and Joan, to come down to breakfast on time.”

The best known of the trio is Felicity, whom the army calls “the trooper” from the way she goes around with her father. Last year, she broke both her arms in succession, one as a result of a hunting fall and the other in an accident in bicycle polo.

Published in Dawn, June 20th, 2018