Page 1  (Further pages are being prepared off-site and will be added shortly)

1. The first letter. Dover, July 1940
2. Bombs, and a good meal at the Salvation Army
3. Gamesmanship
4. Tobacco, cinema and sweets
5. Fruit cakes and Barrage balloons
6. Lettuces, food and 'mind my bike'
7. Barracks, ships and planes
8. Grandstand view of air combat
9. Dates of Leave announced                            Go To:   .::PAGE 2    .::PAGE 3 

    (The links above are being updated and some may not work.  Please scroll down the page to the next letter)

This first letter was written when the soldier, whom I shall call 'R' had been in the Army for about a week.

-------------

We are opposite the castle, which stands on the other hill overlooking the harbour and can be bombed quite as well as us from the air or the sea. Our casements or bungalows as they call them are practically buried in the earth and when the guns go off from inside the cliffs and on top they make quite a noise but I am getting used to it now.

I had leave yesterday from 3 o’clock till 10.30 and had a walk into Dover and along the front as far as the Naval Dockyard and just got back into town when about 10 Jerries came over and dropped about 30 pills (bombs) all of which fell in the water with no damage except a small tug which sank. When the raid was on we tried a new gun which fires a shell up into the air and it releases a parachute with a delayed action time bomb and when it bursts among a group of planes it brings some down.

I stayed in a shop until the ‘all clear’ went but some of our chaps coming down the hill had a marvellous view of our planes coming in over the channel and practically caught Jerry napping who were dive bombing our destroyers in the harbour. It’s like a Cockney would say, we don’t get much money but we don’t arf see life.

When I was in Dover I went into the Salvation Army hostel, it’s quite a good place, clean and the food is quite good. I had two eggs, rasher of bacon, slice of bread and butter, toast and a cup of tea, all for 11d*. Don‘t send any money along this week I have got 30/- so that will last me.

[*Note: Eleven pence then would be 4.5 pence in Decimal coinage]. 

Gamesmanship

[1.3] 25 July 1940

------ 

In our NAAFI there is a library and a writing room and a games room with a billiard table and table tennis table. I have had a game on them and have played several games of draughts. They have got chess. I must try that.

We went for our second route march yesterday and ended up with the usual digging on an outpost but I stayed inside the post supervising where to put the sandbags, pretty good eh? I went to church on Sunday only about 100 out of 1000 of us, not many eh?

Yes it’s been a longish three weeks but on the other hand it’s passed quickly.

top     (or scroll down to read the next letter)

[1.6] 5 August 1940 

Lettuces, bicycles and food (recurring themes)

------

I am glad to hear that all the stuff I planted has come up well, no you do not cut the lettuces you pull them up individually and by the way I hope that you are pulling the radishes up pretty frequently otherwise they get very tough. I am pleased to hear that we have got a better show than next door.

So you had a good time in Richmond Park. Did you see any changes there such as new guns?

So you eventually took my tip and went for a walk up Augustus Road out on to the Common. I have always liked it up there if you remember I did that run on my bike the week before I came here. By the way how is the bike and I hope the tyres are being kept pumped up once a week otherwise the weather and atmosphere tend to deteriorate the rubber. Have you used it, if not go out for a ride while we have the nice weather, not only that but it keeps it in running order.

Will you send those razor blades with your next parcel or letter, no hurry.

Do you remember a usher who worked at the Tooting Granada,. A rather tall chap with wavy hair and pointed features who was always up for a lark well as a matter of interest he is here in our company but he is not larking about, in fact he is rather a quiet chap now.

Thanks for the parcel which has just arrived and I must say that they all came in very acceptable. When I have been down in Dover I have bought myself two or three pounds of biscuits so in one way or another I don’t exactly go hungry. This is quite nice notepaper that you got me, how much did it cost you?

Well here’s you all the best with love and xxxx from your loving brother.

R.

8 August 1940

------

Yes old man B gave me a good reference and I have received a nice little letter from F and he mentions that he will ask his commanding officer to get me transferred to his unit but he has not got the same chance of getting me transferred as if he was an officer. He mentions his unit require men like myself who have been in a surveyor’s office so I am just going to show the letter to my commanding officer and hope for the best.

I had an interview with our company commander and he wanted to know what we all were in private life and I told him I was a surveyor and had my own business but had to close owing to the war and he said he was quite sorry and all the rest of it and would try to get me transferred to the Royal Engineers if he can.

Fancy uncle V coming down here does he work on this line? Did he mention how he knows all about these barracks including half a dozen casements what have always been known as the ‘Bears Den’. They always have the light on day and night because its so dark in there and to get there they have to go down underground passages and staircases up and down. I’m glad I’m not in that part at least ours is bright and airy. And to finish with this bears den it opens out into a cul de sac into high banks all round capped with iron railings and there you have the perfect setting for its nick-name.

We had quite a show here last Monday they were trying to bomb a convoy that was passing through the straits in fact they sunk three of our cargo boats, another was beached and another was set on fire but the authorities reckon we brought 30 down abut as they weren’t sure they gave a conservative estimate of 25 in the paper*.

P.S. I enclose two slips I cut out of the ‘Mirror’ about the rifle and if Dad has got his from the L.D.V.** you will see how it works. We have had an air raid for the best part of the day here and we have lost 16 of our planes between here and Margate and Germany has lost officially 53 planes and possibly a few more. Good eh?

[*Note: It is now accepted that most claims were grossly over-estimated, both for morale purposes and the fact that when several fighter pilots scored a hit on the same ’plane, each would believe that it was his ’kill’. As Hiram Johnson told the US Senate at the outbreak of the first world war, "The first casualty … is the truth."

** LDV = Local Defence Volunteers - later called Home Guard 


top     (or scroll down to read the next letter)

[1.8] This and the next letter were addressed to his mother and sister at a Dover address, not their London home.

15 August 1940

------

I shall not be able to see you this evening as I have been put down for Inline Picket in case of a general alarm we have to pile into a lorry and go to whatever part of the town is bombed and keep the general public away from it.

What a day this has been I had quite a grandstand view of one plane being shot down in flames just behind Folkestone and the other one just came twisting down and crashed. They believe it was one of ours but the pilot had baled out before it went into its spin just behind Dover.

I have been out on the ranges today firing a bren machine gun and my personal opinion of it is that it is much easier to handle than say an ordinary rifle. Well so long for the present and I hope to see you tomorrow evening (Friday) about 6.30 pm.

[1.9] This one is addressed to Mother, Father (rarely mentioned) and Sister at the temporary Dover address.

22 August 1940

 ------

Sorry I could not get down and see you this evening but I have had to start from to-night going out on outpost duty.  I shall not be able to get out until next Thursday and that of course will be too late to see you all but if you can arrange to be outside the Irish Guards place on Saturday evening you know where I usually leave you of an evening then I can have a little chat with you all before you go back.

I heard some jolly good news today half our company are going on leave from the 3 rd to the 6 th of September and the other half from 7 th to 9 th September. it’s the best news since I’ve been here apart from you all coming down and the other good news is that after our leave we will be moved to Redhill. Well it will be good to get home for three clear days.

top      

           Comments or submissions for publication are invited.  Please visit Wordsweb Forum