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Joan was born into an Army family. Her father served in the 2"d Battalion of the Queen's Regiment (the mutton chop lancers as they were called because their badge was a lamb holding a lance).

Wherever the Army was stationed Joan moved with them. She lived in Malta, China and India. The longest time spent abroad was when she lived in China. The Army was lodged in a walled area or court with an internal and outer wall. The walls had an east and west gate guarded by Chinese boys called the No.1 boys who took their work very seriously.
Joan was one for flouting the rules and as appointed gang leader of the other Army children it was her job to get them past the guards. Of course leaving Mimosa Court and going into the Chinese concessions was way out of bounds for the children. Once in the town she and the others would dive into the river for'small pieces' thrown in by American tourists and then guide the tourists to the shops. The shopkeepers gave the children 'cum shore' 10% of what hey took from the tourists. Quite an entrepreneur in the making!

During their time in China the Army moved once a year to camp near the Great Wall of China. This was during the hottest part of the year and the Army was in tents for their entire stay. The children had their own tents and ran their own army. Being one of the older children Joan took a large part in being in charge of the younger children. School was also held in tents and lessons were taken by the Officer's wives.

This part of Joan's history was during the time that the Japanese were poised to invade China. One day the British Army was given an order by the Japanese to leave China within 24hrs. The women and children were put on a train and taken to the Yangtze River. They then traveled in boats along the Yangtze River to the seaport where the waiting troop ship was to take them back to England. Joan's beloved sewing machine was one of the only material things to come home. Joan was a daughter of the regiment.

On her return to England Joan had an equally interesting life doing various jobs. One working as a comptometer operator, the comptometer being the forerunner of today's calculator.

She joined the WRENS and served for 3 years with the Royal Navy Patrol Service at Lowestoft. The Patrol Service undertook the mine sweeping defence of not only the British coast but in many parts of the world. She was awarded the War Service medal. Joan returned to `civvy' life and took up her former job with British Airways.

Her outside of work activities were many especially her church work, which included running a Youth club and later 'Mothers and Babies'. She organized the weekly cleaning of St. Mary the Virgin, Bedfont. In conjunction with the Local Council she was responsible for the St. Mary's visiting team for the elderly residents. Joan was also a member of the PCC.

Joan's main hobby was patchwork and quilt making employing the original idea of using materials garnered from all sources. All the quilts were made using the Singer sewing machine that had traveled all the way from China. Her first quilt was a star design, which was raffled to raise money for vaccinations for children in Romania. From small beginnings she took to producing Log Cabin quilts, hopsack panels and finally Victorian crazy patchwork. Crazy patchwork employed the sewing machine but was also embellished by hand with motifs and some quirky but decorative hand embroidery.

Joan married George Peter Bishop on the 4th September 1948 and they had 54 glorious years together. I am sure Joan will be given permission to use the heavenly stars for her patchwork.

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