BS: 1943 'Dear Old Chap...'

Subject: BS: 1943 'Dear Old Chap...'
From: Lizzie Cornish 1
Date: 09 Oct 09 - 05:22 AM

I found this the other day, when going through a box of letters of my Dad's.   It's from his twin brother, Uncle Gray, written to his twin, Harry, in 1943 whilst 'somewhere' out in the Middle East...and I thought some may enjoy reading it. Uncle Gray was in the Army and my Dad was a Navigator in the RAF.




"Dear Old Chap,

Thanks for your letter of 2 weeks which arrived several days ago. Forgive me for the delay which was caused through bullshit parades and inspections by Generals etc. We have had a pretty busy time lately and incidentally were the first tanks to get to Sfax as we were the first to reach Tripoli. We passed through Sfax and had a few days of rest, the town was out of bounds immediately afterwards and except for seeing it when passing through, I haven't had an opportunity of walking around. No doubt you have been through it yourself so I won't say anything about it except for the wonderful welcome the inhabitants gave us. We saw some real smiling faces and enthusiastic V signs. What a pleasant relief to get sincere thanks and a welcome after the sour faces in other countries.

Eggs have been literally showered on us and I am expecting an unpleasant aftermath if I continue to eat them on the same scale as I have for the past few days. Our mail has been held up somewhere but the last, received over a week ago, gave good news of all at home, even Ron wrote an Air Mail Letter Card and strafed me heavily for, as he put it, "scathing remarks" in an Airgraph. As a matter of fact, I didn't think that my remarks were out of place or at all scathing, but I have written to him and poured oil on troubled waters. Auntie Ada also sent an Airgraph stating that she had forwarded some more books, which is very sweet of her.

Jerry will soon be out of Africa, thank God, and perhaps we shall have the good fortune to spend a spot of leave together again.

Your feelings for Dad are similar to my own, old lad. I have often thought that if ever I am blessed with children that I shall be even half as good a father as he is. Even that proportion would make me a damned sight better father than most. Curiously enough I want to return to England more for his sake than Connie's and mine, that sounds a funny statement to make, but we have most of our lives to come yet, whereas his is at its 'sunset'. This blasted war has more bitterness for the older folk like Dad, people who have worked and worried damned hard, who deserve quiet, rest and happiness for the rest of their limited days; we younger people can remake our lives in the many years before us, they haven't the time, nor the strength.

Hiding our affections and scumming sentiment is a bloody silly thing to do, we have all been guilty of it, but I believe we are cured now. This war will have been worth fighting for that reason alone.

The post war years will be terribly difficult at first, for everyone, but the Government cannot afford to make the same mistakes as they did after the last war. Unemployment must be avoided at all cost, firms will have to work all out right from the first day of peace to regain our best overseas trade. The H.S.A. will also be forced to recuperate themselves and the hospitals until the Beveridge Plan takes form which may not be for several years, naturally they will require a staff including many new employees who won't require much training and who can get on with the job. Please don't worry, I feel in my bones that things will turn out alright.

Take care of yourself, old chap
All the best
Gray"



And that is part of the reason why I won't back down on things that have gone so wrong in my country...


The 'Ron' he mentions is Uncle Ron, their older, distant brother, who was sent to private school, the only one to be sent there, and who always felt himself to be 'above' his younger siblings.

Connie, is Auntie Connie, who Uncle Gray remained married to all his life. Sadly, they were never blessed with the children they so longed for, but they 'adopted' my brother and I, and were so very kind and loving to us over the years.

It was my Uncle Gray, at the worst moment in my life, when I was utterly alone, after a succession of terrible things had happened to me, who rang, 'out of the blue'...."Is everything alright, dear? I had this sudden urge to phone you, as if I *had* to". It was the weirdest moment in my life...and to this day I still believe that Dad was 'up there somewhere' making sure that Uncle Gray came to me at that time, knowing how I needed him ...and he kept me going with his love, long after my dear Dad had died.

He, just like Dad, died of Emphysema, but right into old age he attended every Army Reunion, every year after the war...Dad couldn't talk about his war, he buried it deep inside..but Uncle Gray found a camaraderie throught it, which lasted his whole life long.

And Grandpa?

Well, Uncle Gray needn't have worried about him! His 'sunset' last a very long time, for he lived to be around 92, spending his final years living with Uncle Gray and Auntie Connie. Granpa always wore a suit, a black suit..and in the pocket of his jacket he carried a beautiful watch....Always, he took that pocket watch out for me to look at, to hold, as it fascinated me as a child. He was a quiet man, a somewhat 'aloof' man, who never did get to share his feelings, as Uncle Gray had so hoped would happen...but his children knew he loved them, and that was the important part.

Subject: RE: BS: 1943 'Dear Old Chap...'
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 09 Oct 09 - 05:36 AM

Nice one Lizzie.

John

Subject: RE: BS: 1943 'Dear Old Chap...'
From: VirginiaTam
Date: 09 Oct 09 - 06:56 AM

Lovely, Lizzie. Thanks for that. I can understand your zeal for the England your forebears defended.

TSO's Dad, lost a wife to German bombing in England, lost 2 of his 3 brothers and lost his leg in the same war and was held in Japanese POW camp.

He doesn't know it but his son in law has written a very compelling song about the experiences, even though the facts have only been collected surreptitiously as the gentleman does not speak of those horrific experiences.

He is 90+, sharp as a tack and still sings like a lark.

Subject: RE: BS: 1943 'Dear Old Chap...'
From: Ron Davies
Date: 09 Oct 09 - 08:57 PM

What a fascinating window on another world.    Gray seems to have been a prophet, on top of everything else. How did he know the postwar years would be terribly difficult at first, or was he just basing this on what happened after World War I?

Subject: RE: BS: 1943 'Dear Old Chap...'
From: Alice
Date: 09 Oct 09 - 09:23 PM

Thanks for sharing that.

I have a stack of old yellowed letters about 6 inches high, tied with a pink ribbon, that I found at my mom's bedside after my parents died. I did not know about them until then. They are all the letters my mom saved that my dad wrote to her (and a few she wrote to him) from 1939 to 1942. Treasures.

Alice

Subject: RE: BS: 1943 'Dear Old Chap...'
From: John on the Sunset Coast
Date: 09 Oct 09 - 09:26 PM

What a lovely letter and reminiscence. Thank you for sharing it with us, Lizzie. How sad that in this age of email such personal letters will likely not be available to share sixty years on.

Subject: RE: BS: 1943 'Dear Old Chap...'
From: Charley Noble
Date: 09 Oct 09 - 10:06 PM

Thanks for posting this family letter from another time.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: 1943 'Dear Old Chap...'
From: gnu
Date: 10 Oct 09 - 05:11 AM

Thanks indeed.

Subject: RE: BS: 1943 'Dear Old Chap...'
From: Tug the Cox
Date: 10 Oct 09 - 09:20 AM

History really is the accumulated records of ordinary folk. Lovely reading.I was born into the new age they looked forward to, sadly it hasn't lasted a single generation. Shame on Thatcher ans Blair, they've done as much harm as Hitler and Mussolini.

Subject: RE: BS: 1943 'Dear Old Chap...'
From: Emma B
Date: 10 Oct 09 - 09:43 AM

'Shame on Thatcher and Blair'
and any responsibility at all on the people who voted for both 3 times as well?

Subject: RE: BS: 1943 'Dear Old Chap...'
From: Tug the Cox
Date: 11 Oct 09 - 07:57 PM

Can escape that charge. Chartists etc would turn inntheir graves if they knew that the hard won vote was being useed on anyone in the major parties.

Subject: RE: BS: 1943 'Dear Old Chap...'
From: DougR
Date: 12 Oct 09 - 05:57 PM

Lizzie: What a wonderful thread you started! Perhaps others will share also. I would if I had similar letters to share. The thing that strikes me most about your Uncle Gray's letter is the note of optimism he voices in the letter, though in 1943, as I recall, there were lots of black days ahead. I was only 13 at the time, but we all stayed abreast of news of the war.

Thank you so much for sharing.

DougR

Subject: RE: BS: 1943 'Dear Old Chap...'
From: Lizzie Cornish 1
Date: 13 Oct 09 - 04:12 AM

Thank you, Doug. :0)   And to everyone else who has said such kind things.

I'd love to read similar 'letters from another time' if anyone has them, so please, if you do, feel free to post them here.

Subject: RE: BS: 1943 'Dear Old Chap...'
From: Gervase
Date: 13 Oct 09 - 04:35 AM

Yes, hearing a voice from another age is rather humbling. We're apt to think of our brief presence on the stage as the main act, the top of the bill as it were, but we're all just walk-on players who can learn much from those who have gone before us.
Thanks for that Liz - I just wish I had anything similar from my relatives, but sadly I don't. Maybe I should leave something myself, though.

Subject: RE: BS: 1943 'Dear Old Chap...'
From: Will Fly
Date: 13 Oct 09 - 08:24 AM

Lizzie - my father was also a RAF navigator. Joined up in 1941 after doing 2 years as a sort of Private Pike in the local Home Guard. Do you know which in section of the RAF he served and where he was stationed/operated? My own father trained for nearly a year in Canada and was posted to Transport Command, ferrying new planes out to theatres of war such as the Middle East. Reading through his log book, there seemed to be a huge percentage of training, testing and waiting around before actually doing something. As for predicting post-war difficulties, anyone who's experienced the aftermath of the 1st World War - like my father's generation - would have guessed that, win or lose, conditions would be difficult.

If you're interested in letters from a different age, check out:

The Broughton letters

These are transcriptions (and "translations") of letters written by various members of his family to Edward Broughton, an agricultural labourer who emigrated - like 40,000 other East Anglian workers because of the Poor Laws - to Canada in the 1830s. Fascinating reading...