Page "RAF Bentley Priory" Paragraph 67

Dowding, by then a widower, lived a very quiet domestic life with his sister Hilda at a house called Montrose ( no longer standing ) in Stanmore.

He rarely went out socially and with an immense work load was happy to forgo all but duty functions.

Every morning he would walk through the grounds to his office in the Priory.

General Pile would walk from ' Glenthorn ' and they would talk about the War, and a variety of other subjects, as they were firm friends.

Visits to other stations in Fighter Command were made by his Staff Officers as he was much occupied with the work in his office.

He did, however, pay regular night-time visits to research establishments and the night defences around London when night raids started in earnest in September 1940.

These visits often followed periods of up to 48 hours at his desk and so, needless to say, Dowding became a very tired man.