Letter to Jean Welland from Jack Darby

Letter to Jean Welland from Jack Darby

Their last flight was aborted due to poor weather. They stopped overnight and their engines were difficult to start the next day due to the cold. They have been issued with an emergency pack.

1943-11-12

One double sided handwritten air letter

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EDarbyCAHWellandJ431112-0001, EDarbyCAHWellandJ431112-0002

No.47. 12/11/43

Dear Jean,

Thanks so much for your letter no 36. which was forwarded on from Lethbridge, as I hope to be leaving here on Dec 10th perhaps it would be a good idea to send your next letters on to No.31. Depot, R.A.F. Moncton N.B. as I should go back there, if you mark them [uderlined] to await arrival [/underlined] they will keep them.

Since I wrote last we've been pretty busy with ground and air work, last time we went up we had travelled about 100 miles from here when we had a radio message to make for base immediately owing to bad weather conditions, however we turned, got halfway back, had the original order countermanded and were told to land at the nearest airport to the south, we landed at some miserable wind-swept place, miles from anywhere, stayed the night and took off again in the morning, it took about 1 1/2 hrs to start the engines as they had been parked outside all night, of course it was freezing hard, and what the mechanics said would have set light to a block of ice, now winter has set in we are issued with an emergency ration pack which includes food for three days, matches, first aid kit, knife, heliograph, compass and a set of hooks and line for fishing, how the devil you can do this when the ice is about a foot thick on the lakes hasn't been given yet.

Thanks so much about the Comets but Dad has just sent some, as you say there is not a lot of interest in current events but it makes a link with home.

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3/

get well and truly lost, then the pilot will ask me to map read my way home, what a hope!

Well, must close now, am just going to supper, bags of hot buttered toast and coffee, with bacon and eggs and flapjacks ready when we get down.

Bet that will make your mouth water, cheerio, be good and take care of yourself.

Yours Jack.

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AIR LETTER TO ARMED FORCES
BY AIR MAIL
IF ANYTHING IS ENCLOSED, THIS LETTER WILL BE SENT BY ORDINARY MAIL.
AFFIX 10c POSTAGE

[deleted] Number, Rank or Rating and Name [/deleted] Miss J. Welland.
[deleted] Unit (Company, Battery, Ship, Squadron, etc.) [/deleted] 7, Queens Drive
[deleted] Regiment, Branch, Establishment or Station [/deleted] Surbiton, Surrey
Service England.

[inserted] 12-11-43 [/inserted] OVERSEAS.

FROM (Sender's full name and address)

[deleted] M [/deleted] 927893 L.A.C. Darby
[symbol] 2. A.O.S. Lethbridge
Alberta

[inserted] 47 [/inserted]

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2/

Today [deleted] were [/deleted] we were on wings parade for the graduating course, if all goes well in a month Sergeant Darby will go marching up to get his bevet, my chief worry then will be when am I going to get home? am afraid there will be an undignified scramble to catch the first train east.

Am writing this just before briefing for our second night trip, we've 300 miles to go and its pretty cloudy so I hope our U/T navigators are good otherwise we shall