Bill Yeadell kept a diary all his life: a brief daily record of his personal life and professional activities, and occasional comments on wider events.  Follow this link to read a transcript of selected entries from his 1946-1948 diaries, chosen to highlight his experiences when joining and serving with the British Element of the Control Commission for Germany.  WRDY’s entries are in cursive font.

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Walter Reginald Douglas Yeadell (WRDY) was born on 24 March 1914, the second child and only son of Walter and Muriel Yeadell.  The family had fallen on hard times and lived in relative poverty on a council estate in south London, from where WRDY won a scholarship to Eltham College, leaving after matriculation in 1931.  He then worked for Wymans, a booksellers and stationers, where he met and fell in love with Olive Perry, who rechristened him ‘Bill’. On 10 September 1940, at the age of 26, Bill enlisted voluntarily in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR); and married Olive two years later on 28 August 1942.  She was 20. 

 

Bill served in CCG and then with the British High Commission.  With the formation of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1955, he became a founder member of the Joint Services Liaison Organisation (JSLO), established to manage the relationship between British Forces in Germany and the Federal Government.   He finally retired in 1977 at the age of 63.