The Hospitality of Kitty Pratt

Above (L to R): Unknown, Kathleen Pratt, R. Linton Jones, and Kathleen’s Aunt, at Kathleen

and Dr Pratt’s home - No.2 Truscott Ave, Bournemouth, England.

(Notice Linton is holding the flask that Kitty gifted him.)

Kathleen Pratt, or “Kitty” as she liked to be called, opened up her home to all the

servicemen stationed in Bournemouth while they waited to be posted to an Operational

Training Unit. Many others in the Bournemouth community also held dances and other

entertainment for the young men, and invited them into their homes.

Kitty was the wife of a GP, Dr Pratt. They had two children, Donald and Moira, who had

been sent away during the war to be kept safe from bombing.

Linton had Sunday roasts at Kitty’s house, and wrote letters home sprawled out in front

of her fireplace. When Linton left for an O.T.U. Kitty gave him a silver flask that she'd

engraved with his initials. She also sent him weekly parcels of food and cigarettes.

Kitty often wrote to the mothers of many boys she opened her home to, and she

corresponded with Roberta and Innes for many years, and visited them at 'The Bluffs'

after the war ended.

Above: Linton at Kitty's house for tea, July 1942.

Above: Linton with the Pratt's family dog.

Above: Kitty Pratt (centre) with her two children, Donald and Moira.

Above: Dr Pratt, Donald Pratt, and Kathleen (Kitty) Pratt.

Above: Kitty and Dr Pratt.

Above: Kitty visiting her grandchildren, Jane and Giles, in Australia.

Above: Obituary of Dr and Kitty Pratt's daughter, Moira.