Letter from Jack Darby to Jean
Title
Letter from Jack Darby to Jean
Description
His next leave is sorted, when they intend to get married. He is trying to book accommodation at Lynton and hotels enroute.
Creator
Date
1945-06-20
Temporal Coverage
Spatial Coverage
Coverage
Language
Format
Three double sided handwritten sheets
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
EDarbyCAHWellandJ450620
Transcription
F/o. C. Darby, 154676
R.A.F. Station
Stradishall
Newmarket,
Suffolk.
Monday.
My dearest Jean
Thanks so much for your last letter written on Saturday, at the moment things are beginning to straighten out satisfactory.
I've seen the flight commander and my leave is O.K. for the period 24th/31st. At first we tried to get the whole crew changed but some of them have made arrangements for the leave which should have commenced on the 11th, so that idea was’nt any good, however the bombing leader has arranged for a spare bod to fly with them when I'm
[page break]
2/
away. As regards Jack as best man, well we think we can wangle him a 48 hour pass. I should then drop back into the crew's leave about 16th August.
Regarding the Lynton effort, it seems 95% certain but the accommodation is booked at one of the three places I mentioned, I saw the flight sergeant in charge of the orderly room and he was quite definate, he said any applications that are not fixed up are returned within ten days, however I've got him to write to Group about it to fix which place it is.
[page break]
3/
I've been studying the map and I think we'll book [deleted letter] at Amesbury, we can turn off if we go to S. Devon, the odds are 2 to 1 on N Devon. If you will look up the address of [underlined] all [/underlined] the hotels in Amesbury, the distance etc in the A.A. book I'll write to them, on second thoughts what about Shaftesbury? how much further is it as I've noticed Amesbury is surrounded by aerodromes and that usually means full hotels as this is the only town nearby. Also if you will give me the distances of Bovey Tracey, Bideford and Lynton from London I'll work out what petrol I want, I've got about eight gallons in the car at the moment and more to come, we should be able to run
[page break]
4/
about a bit as well.
Regarding the crews addresses, I'll send them later if theres any chance of their coming, however here’s Jack's, he [deleted letters] should be O.K.
F/o J H HART.
53 WHATLEY AV.
MERTON PARK.
Expect Win will come as well.
Thanks so much for the flints they'll come in useful as matches are a bit scarce.
I had a letter a day or so ago from home, not much progress seems to have been made with the room, I've been thinking about the tap on the sink, how about having an extension on it
[page break]
5/
from the corner of the sink that you can push back out of the way when not in use? They are usually chromium plated and are like this.
[diagram]
anyhow don't expect there will be much done until I get home again.
You had'nt told me about the Tom Dell – or about the pillow cases so believe you must be slipping, by the way I believe you owe me some money if you dont remember how much I'll try for £10.
Another [deleted] Any [/deleted] little bit of news, I've received a form from the Rubber Control and believe I can get two tyres, new ones, the only thing I have to do is
[page break]
6/
have them inspected and I don't anticipate much trouble there, they should take about 14/21 days so will be just about through by the time I come on leave.
Well darling am afraid the letter is rather involved, Jack is away for 7 days sick leave so we are not having much to do.
Cheerio for the time being, give my regards to Mother and Dad.
Take care of yourself darling,
All my love
Jack.
R.A.F. Station
Stradishall
Newmarket,
Suffolk.
Monday.
My dearest Jean
Thanks so much for your last letter written on Saturday, at the moment things are beginning to straighten out satisfactory.
I've seen the flight commander and my leave is O.K. for the period 24th/31st. At first we tried to get the whole crew changed but some of them have made arrangements for the leave which should have commenced on the 11th, so that idea was’nt any good, however the bombing leader has arranged for a spare bod to fly with them when I'm
[page break]
2/
away. As regards Jack as best man, well we think we can wangle him a 48 hour pass. I should then drop back into the crew's leave about 16th August.
Regarding the Lynton effort, it seems 95% certain but the accommodation is booked at one of the three places I mentioned, I saw the flight sergeant in charge of the orderly room and he was quite definate, he said any applications that are not fixed up are returned within ten days, however I've got him to write to Group about it to fix which place it is.
[page break]
3/
I've been studying the map and I think we'll book [deleted letter] at Amesbury, we can turn off if we go to S. Devon, the odds are 2 to 1 on N Devon. If you will look up the address of [underlined] all [/underlined] the hotels in Amesbury, the distance etc in the A.A. book I'll write to them, on second thoughts what about Shaftesbury? how much further is it as I've noticed Amesbury is surrounded by aerodromes and that usually means full hotels as this is the only town nearby. Also if you will give me the distances of Bovey Tracey, Bideford and Lynton from London I'll work out what petrol I want, I've got about eight gallons in the car at the moment and more to come, we should be able to run
[page break]
4/
about a bit as well.
Regarding the crews addresses, I'll send them later if theres any chance of their coming, however here’s Jack's, he [deleted letters] should be O.K.
F/o J H HART.
53 WHATLEY AV.
MERTON PARK.
Expect Win will come as well.
Thanks so much for the flints they'll come in useful as matches are a bit scarce.
I had a letter a day or so ago from home, not much progress seems to have been made with the room, I've been thinking about the tap on the sink, how about having an extension on it
[page break]
5/
from the corner of the sink that you can push back out of the way when not in use? They are usually chromium plated and are like this.
[diagram]
anyhow don't expect there will be much done until I get home again.
You had'nt told me about the Tom Dell – or about the pillow cases so believe you must be slipping, by the way I believe you owe me some money if you dont remember how much I'll try for £10.
Another [deleted] Any [/deleted] little bit of news, I've received a form from the Rubber Control and believe I can get two tyres, new ones, the only thing I have to do is
[page break]
6/
have them inspected and I don't anticipate much trouble there, they should take about 14/21 days so will be just about through by the time I come on leave.
Well darling am afraid the letter is rather involved, Jack is away for 7 days sick leave so we are not having much to do.
Cheerio for the time being, give my regards to Mother and Dad.
Take care of yourself darling,
All my love
Jack.
Collection
Citation
Jack Darby, “Letter from Jack Darby to Jean,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed June 15, 2025, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/collections/document/40149.