It often takes me quite a while to post items that have been very kindly sent to me by some of our many readers. This is just one such example and I have to apologize as I have lost the details of whoever sent it to me. Suffice to say that the content on here is often the result of your hard work in finding items and sending them to me so please do keep it up and I will always acknowledge your contribution. This is unique example of being unable to do that. If you sent me the original link and are reading this please step forward! PS – the mystery contributor has been found. Thank you Rob MacGregor!
Below is an extract from Neville Phillip’s 2008 biography The Stage Struck Me! in which he mentions an amusing episode involving Paddy at the shops! Can you imagine him shopping?
You can actually read the whole book online via Google Books where we are told:
“The Stage Struck Me!” is a funny, informative and sometimes sad account of the life of a jobbing actor and writer in the 1940s and 1950s, full of anecdotes about the famous, the infamous, the charming and the downright loopy people he met along the way. After joining the South African Army and serving as a gunner in the coastal artillery, Neville Phillips was transferred to the entertainment unit where he spent four years doing shows for the Allied troops in North Africa and Italy. In 1946 he was demobbed to London and it was here that Neville Phillips met and got to know some truly remarkable people, as well as writing West End reviews, pantomime, cabaret, and a musical starring Pat Kirkwood. “The Stage Struck Me!” is a fascinating and sometimes poignant account of times, places and people that played such an important part in a young aspiring actor’s life.
Read the extract in pdf format here.
Patrick Leigh Fermor 
Hi Tom, that would be me! Thanks for sharing it. Rob
And now corrected! Thanks Rob.
It’s funny how Paddy turns up unexpectedly in obscure anecdotes , journals , books etc. I recall reading a biography of the painter Francis Bacon , written by Daniel Farson , called “The Gilded , Gutter Life of Francis Bacon” and Paddy’s name is mentioned in passing as he was using a toilet area in which the author had met him in. Farson mentions to Bacon Paddy’s books and the great painter goes on to speculate absurdly on Paddy’s sexuality. As was often the case Bacon got it wrong. Funny how far reaching Paddy was in his social circles.