Kairos had started his London adventure at the “Royal Victoria Patriotic School,” north of Wimbledon. The beautiful Victorian-Gothic Revival style building had once been a school for girls orphaned during the Crimean War. However, during WWII, it came to be known for its interminably long interrogations by the newly established B24 section of MI-5 interrogators, who interviewed over 30,000 WWII refugees at this “London Reception Centre” to ascertain whether they weren’t spies or “Fifth Column” agents.

This is where Kas de Graaf and Bob Celosse were finally able to confirm MI-9’s suspicions and put a stop to the Engelandspiel, or infiltration of N-Section (the Netherlands section of SOE) by the German Abwehr, which had been feeding the British fake information, thus sabotaging most Dutch missions and killing over fifty agents.

Besides all the places where Dutch people congregated, Kairos with his new allowance (courtesy of the Dutch government!) started exploring what London had to offer.

Initially Kairos stayed with a kind host family close to Wimbledon, so he almost felt and behaved like a tourist. This was the first time since he had left Holland that he was not in fear of his life!

Conveniently located, Devonshire Terrace # 25 was only 5 minutes from Hyde Park and 15 minutes from Oranje Haven. Kairos and Jerry Schooner rented rooms here from May 22 until August 15, 1944.

In mid-August, the boys moved again; this time to the cheaper rooms of #16 Philbeach Gardens. Although it was a little bit farther from downtown London, via the Earls Court tube, they could get anywhere they wanted fast.

With the allowance from the Dutch government, Kairos bought a small diary to keep track of the appointments he had at various war offices. Thanks to Dutch Queen Wilhelmina, Englandvaarders (Dutch men who had escaped) were allowed to try out various jobs for a month before deciding which unit was best for them.

For many, this was the first time that they had food, drinks, and music again, so the young men often enjoyed going out on the town. Various dates in Kairos’ diary have entries for nightclubs. Since he had always been fascinated with the USA, he welcomed the “Friendly Invasion” of the Yanks with their jeeps, pretty ladies, sweet crooners, and big bands.

However, when Kairos became melancholy, he preferred the British Vera Lynn’s soft promise “We’ll meet again” or the steadfast Bulldog Sir Winston Churchill’s rousing speeches.

While London with its iconic landmarks certainly lifted Kairos’ spirits, it was also a ravaged city of often mourning citizens who had lost so much…

For an amazing 1-hour private documentary of WWII London, see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFowTxEyZc8