Letter from Jack Darby to Jean
Title
Letter from Jack Darby to Jean
Description
He describes his return trip to his camp and films he has watched.
Creator
Date
1944-06-08
Temporal Coverage
Coverage
Language
Format
Two double sided handwritten sheets and envelope
Publisher
Rights
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Contributor
Identifier
EDarbyCAHWellandJ440608
Transcription
[postage stamp] [post mark]
[inserted] 8.6 44 [/inserted]
Miss. J. Welland
7. Queens Drive.
Surbiton
Surrey.
[page break]
P/O. J. Darby. 154676.
Officers Mess.
R.A.F. Station
Upper Heyford
Oxford.
8.6.44
Dear Jean,
Well, back again to more hard work, its surprising how a days break can be so pleasant when you are busy, I appreciate it far more than a months leave.
My train arrived in Waterloo to time and I made Paddington at 7.15pm, meeting two other chaps on the way, the train was'nt too crowded and [deleted] I [/deleted] we all got seats together, after the hours wait at
[page break]
2/
Oxford, during which time we tried to get a drink, nothing doing however, Oxford is nearly dry. All the pubs and cafe's were closed although it was only 9.30 pm. The Yanks were everwhere [sic] and had drunk themselves silly. By the time our train decided to start it was already 10 minutes late and we finally arrived in the camp after getting a lift back at 12.20 AM. Just 6 hours travelling!
We went to the station flicks last night, thought there was another film on, but it was 'My Pal Flika' a pretty ropey effort although the picture was in technicolor and the scenery quite good.
[page break]
3/
By the way. the dance at Keeble College has been scrubbed, the principal sent us a very apologetic note, rather a pity as all our course were going, expect she had heard of such expeditions before or knew I was going.
How did Tuesday morning pass off, are you still at Eastwoods or are you building bombers? I'm rather keen on hearing the gen, it was very nice of you to take a day off. I was hoping I should spend some time with you, in fact should have been disappointed otherwise.
The invasion seems to be going O.K, although his airforce will have to put in an appearance pretty
[page break]
4/
soon. The weather has closed in in this area and for the first time its [deleted] quite [/deleted] quiet, its been raining since the early afternoon and as there is nothing much doing in the mess I think I shall write a few letters, my mail is getting behind.
Well, will say cheerio for the moment, remember me to Mother & Dad.
Take care of yourself.
Yours
Jack
[inserted] 8.6 44 [/inserted]
Miss. J. Welland
7. Queens Drive.
Surbiton
Surrey.
[page break]
P/O. J. Darby. 154676.
Officers Mess.
R.A.F. Station
Upper Heyford
Oxford.
8.6.44
Dear Jean,
Well, back again to more hard work, its surprising how a days break can be so pleasant when you are busy, I appreciate it far more than a months leave.
My train arrived in Waterloo to time and I made Paddington at 7.15pm, meeting two other chaps on the way, the train was'nt too crowded and [deleted] I [/deleted] we all got seats together, after the hours wait at
[page break]
2/
Oxford, during which time we tried to get a drink, nothing doing however, Oxford is nearly dry. All the pubs and cafe's were closed although it was only 9.30 pm. The Yanks were everwhere [sic] and had drunk themselves silly. By the time our train decided to start it was already 10 minutes late and we finally arrived in the camp after getting a lift back at 12.20 AM. Just 6 hours travelling!
We went to the station flicks last night, thought there was another film on, but it was 'My Pal Flika' a pretty ropey effort although the picture was in technicolor and the scenery quite good.
[page break]
3/
By the way. the dance at Keeble College has been scrubbed, the principal sent us a very apologetic note, rather a pity as all our course were going, expect she had heard of such expeditions before or knew I was going.
How did Tuesday morning pass off, are you still at Eastwoods or are you building bombers? I'm rather keen on hearing the gen, it was very nice of you to take a day off. I was hoping I should spend some time with you, in fact should have been disappointed otherwise.
The invasion seems to be going O.K, although his airforce will have to put in an appearance pretty
[page break]
4/
soon. The weather has closed in in this area and for the first time its [deleted] quite [/deleted] quiet, its been raining since the early afternoon and as there is nothing much doing in the mess I think I shall write a few letters, my mail is getting behind.
Well, will say cheerio for the moment, remember me to Mother & Dad.
Take care of yourself.
Yours
Jack
Collection
Citation
Jack Darby, “Letter from Jack Darby to Jean,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed June 14, 2025, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/collections/document/40072.