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Summary
The story of Anne Hughes' Diary is a complex and confusing one. In describing its background and relating the story of our research, it's difficult to avoid telling the tale the wrong way about, and some repetition is inevitable. Again, while not adding to overall clarity, our attempt to include the small seemingly insignificant details, is also deliberate. This website is as much about finding answers as imparting information and, given the lapse of time, some answers may well come from memories of otherwise seemingly insignificant events. We hope, despite the complexity, that you have enjoyed learning about the puzzle that has kept us engrossed for so many years.
So where do we find ourselves now on the path to finding a provenance for this book? We have discovered far more about the period in WW2 when the Diary disappeared. With the wider dissemination of this information via the Internet, there is now a better chance that someone somewhere will recognise an incident or a photo and be able to help answer some of the unresolved questions.
Since previous research efforts were made, we have homed in on other likely locations where Anne Hughes may have lived and worked. Further study and help from local historians and other experts may reveal something to make a definite connection with Anne.
Finally, if by putting our latest research findings into the public arena we have generated a renewed interest in Anne Hughes' Diary and in the kind of lives that ordinary people lived in the eighteenth century, we hope it will benefit the study of this period and that we will have served Anne's memory well. We hope too that she would be pleased that the bulk of the royalties from the re-issue of her diary will benefit those whose memories and personalities are stolen from them by Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia. Mollie was one. Dementia is a truly horrible illness and poses an incredible burden on those who care for the sufferer. Here is what one carer wrote about her war hero husband, another former 6th Armored Division soldier.
http://www.super6th.org/alzheim_ww2.doc
Anne Hughes was the kind of person who wanted to help those less fortunate and in need. Perhaps she's doing so still.
Paying Tribute
If, as an older person, you've ever tried to recall the names of your school classmates in old black and white photos from fifty years ago, you'll know how hard it can be and how elusive their names sometimes are. To all the people who've helped us by racking their brains for names and details from even further back, we'd like to say a heartfelt, 'Thank you'.
We're particularly indebted to CCB veterans, Jack; the late Bill Coulter; Al; Dean; and especially Mel. It's been a privilege to be able to e-mail him and ask him the kind of mundane questions omitted from the history books, but so important to us. Thanks also to Pat, Colonel Moncrieff, web-master Bruce and those in the super6th thread. It is perhaps pertinent that the year this website was created saw the sixty-fifth anniversary of the World War Two Normandy Landings. Many of the soldiers we've been considering were involved. Many were injured and, for some, there would be no return. We should never forget their sacrifice.
We're grateful, too, to the local people who've invited us into their homes and shared their local knowledge, memories and friendship. We're especially indebted to Alan, Graham, Sarah, David L and the late David Crudge from Churchill and to Graham, Nina, Peter, Norman and Artin who, as children in the area, went to places and saw things that adults didn't. Then there's former Sarsden land girl, Kath to thank and her contemporaries like Gwen and especially munitions worker, Win.
Assumpta and Peter at the Chequers always remember a face and always make us so welcome. Thanks to them. And thanks too, to the people who've invited us onto their property in Sarsden, without which important discoveries could not have been made. People in Herefordshire have also helped us with local information and contacts, especially Jan and Jenny and Ron. Then there are the people in far flung places like, Australia, Ascension Island and the USA who have passed on key information via e-mail, as well as official and unofficial experts, both near and far, generously contributing their expertise about munitions or the history of military units. Thanks, especially, to Jeanne's grandson Colin and his wife Margaret whose support and access to their family documents and photographs provided a basis for much of this research. Finally, thanks to our respective partners for their support and patience and most particularly to Anne for her web-weaving skills in coding and creating this website, and to Phil for funding it's first year. The list goes on and we find it's impossible to mention everyone, but we acknowledge and are grateful for all the help we've received.
So, this is where we are today. It's the last page of our story so far, but not of our research. That continues and any updates to it will first be posted on the next and final page; 'Research Updates'. We hope you enjoyed the puzzle and thanks for your interest.
The Anne Hughes research Team
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