Mirror (Perth, WA : 1921 - 1956), Saturday 14 November 1942, page 14


Doctor's Wife Ran Away

With Patient

No doctor is allowed to let his feelings run away with him. Nor is he allowed (if he's married) to run away with a lady patient. Neither is a doctor's wife allowed to do a quiet flit with a man whom the doctor has restored to health and strength. '

So imagine how Dr. Thomas Brooke-Kelly felt when his patient, Dudley Rattray, vamoosed with his

wife. Without the slightest warning Mrs. Lavinia Brooke- Kelly left Later she wrote and told the doctor she was living with him. This was just one time when the doctor couldn't be patient with his patient and so sought a divorce. Mrs. Brooke-Kelly's letter to llio doctor read: 'Dear Tom, — This letter will surprise you and hurt you terribly, but you can see by the address that I am a long way away. 'Dad, I have cleared out with Dudley. It is so use me beating about the bush and trying to make excuses for myself. 'I have loved Dudley for over a year and have taken a chance with him. It is very difficult for me to explain this business, Tom. It is something that has happened to me, but please believe me when I say 1 am sorry things have turned out this way. Think Kindly 'Try not to think too badly of me. No one in Cronulla knows anything about this. Tell them I am having a long holiday, or tell them anything you like. You have been good to me and I have done my best to repay your goodness. — Lavinia/' 'Divorce will suit me,' she wrote. 'You have no need to waste your money on detectives or anything like that. I admit my guilt.' The doctor told Mr. Justice Street in the Sydney divorce court that Rattray, who formerly lived at Cronulla, had been a patient of his. He had no inkling his wife had gone away with Rattray until his wife wrote him. Mrs. Brooke- Kelly did not defend the suit. On the contrary, she voluntarily gave evidence of her association with Rattray, with whom she admitted adultery. She said that she and Rattray were living together in Melbourne as man and wife under the name of Mr. and Mrs. Dudley Allen. A decree nisi was pronounced.

LUCKY TRIO oaztng through a hole in the wing of their Coastal Command plane after it had been hit by ackack fire. They escaped unhurt.