^{For whatever reason, Paul started the first of a series of 26 Communiqués to his parents giving a detailed account of his experiences during the Blitz. These Communiqués give us considerable insight of what was happening at the time as seen through the eyes of an enthusiast trainee Doctor, excited to be there and planning to join the Royal Navy when he qualified. We are given reports of the bombing as well as some lurid details of his medical experiences in addition to reports of the normal day to day activities of healthy medical students of the day. The early Communiqués give considerable details of the bombing including his return to the city from a day out at Hill End Hospital on the 7th September 1940.}

The 14th Communiqué is interesting in that it is the first written after a two week break in York, having spent two months working in blitzed London. The tone of this letter changes radically, referring to London as his home, which he is delighted to return to. His mood, sensitivities and observations of that which was around him are notable and are best understood in the light of three letters he wrote from York to Gwen Marshall who was, within two years, to be his wife. Gwen worked in the same First Aid Post as Paul. It is unlikely that Paul met Gwen before August 1940. This presumption is based on the fact that Paul was at St Albans until about August of that year and that Gt. St. Helens First Aid Post where Paul and Gwen met would not have been needed until the first bombs were dropped on London on 24th August.

^{Paul once mentioned that he did not enter medicine because of a passionate desire to help or cure people but because he was fascinated by how the human body worked. This fascination extended to an interest into their minds and how people operated as a whole. This is clearly shown in his observations of the numerous people around him during the time that these Communiqués were written. But also, we see that this observational quality was flavoured by the pointers to his attitude to injustice and suffering of others and his anger at inadequate application of medicine by those that should know better. These aspects of his nature were going to be the hallmark of his professional life.}

^{As an aside, it is worth mentioning that during this period while Paul was in London, other members and future members of his family were in the area. His father in law to be, Alfred Marshall, who lived in Mitcham, was working at the Central Post Office and doing fire watch in the St Paul’s area. The future mother in law, Joan Dibdin, of his daughter to be (born 1943) was working at a First Aid Post at St Marylebone and unknown to most of us until after her death, his cousin Betsy was working at Bletchley Park. Paul’s father Colin who had worked for Friends Ambulance and the War Graves in WW1, was later on active service, during WW2, in Leeds while his mother, Mary, was active in York and Hull working for bomb relief.}

^{The last date mentioned in the Communiqués is 31st March 1941 and this was probably a marker for the end of the first blitz in London. Considerable bombing did occur throughout England in the next few years and London was hit again with devastating results in 1944-45. This was a period of considerable evacuation particularly of children because of the impact of the V1 flying bombs and V2 rockets.}

^{By this time, Paul was either working in Enfield or York in General Practice. His dream of joining the Navy was wrecked by illness in 1943.}

^{The sequencing of Communiqué 19A and B is a little confusing.}

^{It seems that Paul may have been writing Communiqué 19, to be called 19B, progressively and had not finished when he felt that he needed to send a quick letter on 20 Dec 40, the day after a very bad raid. This letter, he called Communiqué 19A and then finished Communiqué 19B in detail later. The story of 29th Dec 1940 continues in Communiqué 20 which is of significant interest historically, as it is a detailed report of Paul’s observation of the state of the City after the raid of 29th December 1940. London was plastered with incendiaries and much of the city was on fire. Paul and his student colleague roamed the streets through the fire hoses and rubble and noted in great clarity the state of the buildings.}

^{Photographs from the time taken from internet sources are included to enhance much of Paul’s details. A map of the area showing key place referred to, is also included. This Communiqué No. 20. continues to give fine detail of the devastation of Saturday 11th January when a bomb went though the road into the ticket office of the Bank Underground Station and Liverpool St. Station was hit twice. Paul was left in charge at his 1st aid post, without access to all his resources and had to apply himself to “battlefield surgery” knowing that the hospitals would be overloaded.}

^{This Communiqué No. 20 stands out as it shows, in one article, the comparison between the enthusiastic youngster enjoying the excitement of the fires and bombing, almost to a callous degree and the skilled doctor in waiting, taking immense responsibility and showing compassion and respect for his injured patients. One gets the impression that this repeated itself amongst many of Paul’s student colleagues.}

^{To help put these Communiqués in context it is worth remembering that Paul’s father, Colin Rowntree, worked near the Western front for the duration of the First World War. For two years he was with the Friends Ambulance dealing with injury, illness and the transportation of refugees from the Ypres area and then for the second two years he was a 2nd Lieutenant in Royal Engineers working exclusively on war grave work, managing the digging up and burying of the dead every day. He must have felt very proud and supportive of his son’s work.}

^{The last communiqué was posted on 31st March 1941. The first Blitz is considered to have ended by mid May and by this time Paul was working a Redhill Hospital doing maternity work, He delivered his first baby on 7th May 1941.
From photographs taken during that month it can be deduced that Paul and Gwen had developed quite a relationship.}

The second blitz in London that created havoc with the flying bombs that started on 13 June 1944 and the V2 rockets that started on 8 September 1944, the first landing in Staveley Road in Chiswick.

^{While reading these Communiqués, it is worth considering the lives of the recipients. Paul’s parents, Colin and Mary, had got married on 30th Oct 1914, the very day that Colin left for France to work with the Friend’s Ambulance Unit on the front line of WW1.}

^{After two years he left and join the Royal Engineers and worked for the rest of the war on war graves work as a Second Lieutenant.}

^{At this time Mary was setting up house in Chiswick with the help of her father in law, Fred Rowntree, and architect, whose contribution to the world effort at that time included caring for and employing Belgian Refugees and designing prefabricated houses to be build in Holland, for assembly in Belgian after the war.}

^{Paul’s Communiqués written to his parents, living in Stonegate, York, with details of death and destruction in London would be of interest to Colin but one would expect did nothing but worry Mary.}

^{Their elder son, Michael, was working in South Africa initially as an engineer on bakery machinery but later in munitions for the British Government.}