Kiley Family Home Page
Afterward
During his stay in Northern Ireland, Charles wrote some short pieces about his unit -- he called them "quickies" in a letter to Billee -- and sent them to The Stars and Stripes, the Army newspaper, then a weekly publication. In early October he had a furlough, for which he traveled to London with other members of his unit. He wrote the following account of his furlough to Billee:
Diary of a Furlough...or...Johnny Doughboy Visits London
Accompanied by Bob P. and three others, including our First Sgt., I had an uneventful 24-hour trip to London. I'm not at liberty to discuss the means of transportation or the routes we used. But we arrived in London at 9:15 a.m. on October 7 (Wed.)
WEDNESDAY: Having confirmed our reservations at the Hans Crescent Club (a former hotel now being operated by the American Red Cross) we set out to make a short tour. While walking along Piccadilly about noon we espied a sign, "American Bar," where I had my first side-car in ever so long. More walking about after lunch and then back to the Club. Bob and I took advantage of the Club's offering of tickets to a B.B.C. Quiz Programme broadcast that night and set forth to the Overseas League House where the broadcast was to take place. We were the only "Yanks" in the audience and were asked to take part in the broadcast. There were 10 guests, all servicemen. Two R.A.F., a flier from Rhodesia, another from Nigeria, two British officers, an Australian sailor and Canadian soldier joined Bob and myself. We were divided into two teams, and, our side won... 4-1/2 points to 4. The prizes were cigarettes, gifts of two women in Wichita, Kansas. I had two questions to answer. The first was one concerning the purchase of Manhattan Island by the Dutch settlers from the Indians for $25.00 and the other was something about a window, 6 x 8...how can it be made 8 x 10 or somep'n. I knew the first and with the help of a kibitzer got 1/2 point for the second altho I didn't and still don't have the faintest idea of what it was about...It was a Trans-Atlantic broadcast, 6:30-7:00 p.m., or, 12:30-1:00 p.m. EWT. I still wonder if anyone I know heard it. The introductions were simple (Corp. Charles Kiley of New Jersey, US.A.) and we didn't have time to say "Hello" or anything like that... Together with the two R.A.F.'s, Bob and I accepted an invitation to attend a lecture by a Member of Parliament (MP) at the English Speaking Union after the broadcast. We had dinner at about 9:30 (stumbled into a would-be nightclub) in the blackout.
THURSDAY: Ahhhhh...so good to arise at nine...hot tub... breakfast (served by the Red Cross women) and a visit to the House of Parliament. We all went, conducted by a Mr. Phillips Price, M.P. Very interesting visit...House of Commons, House of Lords, a good view of the Thames, a glimpse of the Prime Minister (W.C.)...Lunch at Toni's on Regent St...Visited The Stars and Stripes H.Q. in the afternoon to say "Hello" to those I've been sending my stories (as few as they have been) [a fateful visit]. In the evening, "The Man Who Came to Dinner," starring Robert Morley at the Savoy Theatre.
FRIDAY: Played table tennis with Bob most of the morning at the Club...dropped in to the Eagle Club and the Washington Club, other places operated by the Red Cross. Visited the Tower of London in the afternoon [before] seeing Anton Walbrook and Diana Wynyard in "Watch on the Rhine," a very good show that had quite a run on Broadway. Trying to find a restaurant in the blackout, Bob and I found ourselves in a Chinese place...So, what else could we say but "Chop Suey."
SATURDAY: A most memorable visit to Windsor Castle, in Windsor (23 mile from London). To see and listen to the guide in St. George's Chapel was worth the trip. But there were the other parts of what is incorporated in Windsor Castle..the main buildings, residence of the King and Queen...Frogmore, where the Duke of Kent was buried recently and where many English kings and queens are interred. King George V, King Edward VII, Queen Alexandra, King Henry VIII and Jane Seymour are among the many buried in St. George's Chapel. Sculptured marble likenesses of them all, lying in state, are placed above the spots under which there were buried...A hurried trip to Eton College, within walking distance of the Castle, passing the house in which Gray penned his "Elegy." Looking at the names of many great men carved in the panel-work of a room at Eton...19 former Prime Ministers, Shelley, Sir Anthony Eden, Fox, Gray, etc....Unable to keep from smiling at the sight of the very young students parading about in their top hats, striped pants and "tails"....Tea in a quaint place near the station and back to town in time to see a marvelous film, Noel Coward's "In Which We Serve," a tale of the present activities of the Royal Navy.
SUNDAY: Eight o'clock Mass at Brompton Oratory (rather unusual name for a church, I thought) and then a 45-minute ride to Sudbury Town where Bob and I were guests of a Capt. Elliot on a really tough golf course. Darling, my 114 put me in a class with the worst duffers of all time. Bob had a very good game. A dance at the club in the evening was interesting for about 30 minutes to us. Without having a dance (didn't feel like it, to be truthful, since I was thinking of our dances). So, another hot tub (No. 1,001) and to bed.
MONDAY: Morning and afternoon we browsed about...me on the lookout for a gift I could get for you. Everywhere it was "No coupons, sorry." Or, everything worthwhile was so expensive it would have been silly to get it. I did get my Christmas cards, though and before the day was over had them all addressed (44 of 'em). Got a special one for you...it hit me just right since it was titled "Solitude"...on Sunday night I had been sitting at the window of my room, staring into the darkness that was pin-pricked in a very few places with lamp lights (I never thought such a complete blackout could be achieved in such a large city). Still, one needs to simply glance about to see why the city is as cautious as it is...It was then that I wanted to share my vacation moments with you so much, as we planned, but sweetheart, you seemed so far away. I don't think I realized how far it was until then. Not that you were far away from my thoughts, ever, but the States did seem a million miles away that night. When I did go to bed I re-lived "our" lives again for the millionth time...To me it was "solitude."
TUESDAY: I should say now that the weather was beautiful during the entire trip. We had rain...all of five minutes of it one night. So, on this day Bob and I spent the morning in Hyde Park feeling the pigeons (peanuts we had brought with us). Everybody seems to get to Hyde Park and we must have seem every Allied nation in uniform parading before us that morning...male and female....Saw "Gay Sisters," a film with Barbara Stanwyck and George Brent in the afternoon...after dinner at the Lancastershire House (veddy swank, oh yes) we couldn't resist "Doctor's Dilemma" with Vivien Leigh, another hit on Broadway.
WEDNESDAY: Vacation almost over...slept unitl 10:30...lazybones, yes?...but still time to catch "Mrs. Miniver," very good wasn't it?, at an early matinee before catching a late afternoon train back...
By the end of October, Charles was back in London, having been transferred to The Stars and Stripes to work there as a reporter. The newspaper has been transformed into a daily publication, and needed to increase their staff. Charles spent the rest of the war reporting it, instead of fighting in it, a circumstance he no doubt appreciated for the rest of his life.
Besides Charles' letters to Billee, there is another account of his life at The Stars and Stripes during the war, in which Charles is featured and described: The Story of The Stars and Stripes by Bud Hutton and Andy Rooney, Farrar and Rhinehart, 1946.