Monthly Archives: November 2020

Life and adventures of ‘Paddy’ Naismith, actress, race and rally driver, pilot, air hostess… Eirane Redmond ‘Paddy’ Naismith was born in London in 1908, the daughter of a traveling car tyre salesman and a renowned clairvoyant (or “psychological expert”). In her teens, she began stage acting and later joined a touring company performing musical comedies. In July 1928 she took part in the Junior Car Club’s Bournemouth Concours D’Elegance with her own Ballot, but without notable success. Undeterred, in September she entered the Southampton International Motor Rally, and this time she won a Special Award with the D Hall [...]

Life and adventures of ‘Paddy’ Naismith, actress, race and rally driver, pilot, air hostess… In the second half of Paddy Naismith’s life story, we find out how she became a pioneering aviator and the champion of servicemen disfigured during WW2. We pick up the story of Paddy Naismith in 1933 as she pushes her car through the paddock at Brooklands during the Whitsun meeting on 5 June. She had no luck on track that day but later the same month was reported as planning a ‘daring journey’ – a solo drive from Paris to Rome, attempting to beat the [...]