Letters from Geoffrey Beckett to his parents and his mother
Title
Letters from Geoffrey Beckett to his parents and his mother
Description
Transcriptions of letters.
First letter to parents asking for enclosed to be cleaned for friend going overseas.
Second letter to parents dated 10 May 1941. Mentions recent letters and that they had been bombed and machine gunned but they worked through. Describes events. Mentions Nottingham bombing. Continues with family news and gossip. Mentions damage to camp. Commentary at end by transcriber explaining some detail and a little about Geoff's work on RDF and fighter interceptions.
First letter to parents asking for enclosed to be cleaned for friend going overseas.
Second letter to parents dated 10 May 1941. Mentions recent letters and that they had been bombed and machine gunned but they worked through. Describes events. Mentions Nottingham bombing. Continues with family news and gossip. Mentions damage to camp. Commentary at end by transcriber explaining some detail and a little about Geoff's work on RDF and fighter interceptions.
Creator
Date
1941-05-10
Temporal Coverage
Spatial Coverage
Language
Format
Two page printed (transcribed) letter
Conforms To
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
SBeckettG622136v10028
Transcription
Monday.
Dear Mom and Pop.
Wonder if you would please send the enclosed to be cleaned for me. (Not the chocolate of course) I had them given to me, by a bloke who is going overseas.
The chocolate is for you both, though don’t fight for it. It’s PLAIN so don’t gorge it.
Well, cheerio for now. Bombed and machine gunned last night!
Love to you both
Your Son
Geoff.
We got 6 out of 33 over London!!
R.A.F. Wittering
May 10th, 1941.
Excuse dirty cover of book.
It’s new though!!!
My Dear Mother.
Thank you for the letter, which came one day last week (this week rather), Earlier on this week, I had begun to wonder if I should ever see any of you again, as for the last 3 nights we have been bombed and machine gunned. However, when not on duty at nights now, I go over to a wireless hut across the fields and sleep between blankets there.
The first night (Wed) I was on duty at 1.30 am. “Whoof”, about 6 times and rat-tat-tat. I nipped out to see what was what and shoved out the only incendiary burning and helped to douse a high explosive, on the parade ground. However, he had hit one of the blocks, the one next to ours, and five blokes were killed in bed. Then the next night, I came off at 11 pm and at 12.45 am, was wakened by “whoof”, again. I automatically slid out of bed and under. Then, under the stairs. Back to bed, 2nd attack came! Under the bed, with blankets and all on too, - rat-tat-tat and our gunner’s opened up and got him. After that, with bombs falling in the distance, three of us took our blankets down to a shelter (3 am) and slept there till 6.30 am. Duty at 8 am, till 5 pm. Pictures, then 5 – 11 pm (last night) and then slept up across the fields.
[page break]
He bombed us again last night. Putrid bombing. It’s about time someone covered that moon up! In at 8 am, till 5 pm and then 8 am tomorrow. (Sunday)
We have to work like heck with all this bombing, but even so, our pilots are having a very successful time at night. We can stick it as long as he can give it!! Was Nottingham badly hit? Brols and Dace factory, I believe? Our chaps fetched 2 down near Derby, the same night. Hope they did not fall at Chaddesden.
How is Pop these days? I will come over when I can get, also must write to Jean. Letter from her and Cousin Margaret!!
I hope Barb’, Jim and Bruce were o.k. in Merseyside.
All the Beckett’s have had a taste I think now.
We just lay in bed the first night, waiting to be blown to atoms. The window and all came in, plaster, etc. This camp is beginning to look as though someone has been having a bally good time hurling bricks about!! Big bricks and all! After Sunday though, we shall be able to sleep well, - we hope. Everybody volunteers for night duties now, as we work under ten feet of concrete, underground. Before, everybody was trying to get off duty at night. The top stories of these blocks are deserted at night. Our room is on the top story and only one bloke slept in last night and he had to.
Well cheerio for now.
Many Happy Returns Mother for the 14th.
(Don’t bother replying)
Your loving son.
Geoff.
These letters were a most exciting find! Not just because I get a mention! (Bruce, my middle name) There is an immediacy about these letters, written at a time of excitement, haste and confusion, which brought the reality of the war, to a personal level for Geoff and the family. He acted in a spontaneous manner when faced with explosives and saw death, due to enemy action.
I think it is clear that he was working on R.D.F., as he was aware first hand of the interception successes of the night fighter crews. He was also working “down the Hole”, as we used to call the underground radar operations sites.
It is my firm belief, that these R.A.F. Wittering experiences, of being bombed and machine-gunned, were instrumental in Geoff’s decision to volunteer for aircrew.
I sense his desire to hit back at the enemy.
Dear Mom and Pop.
Wonder if you would please send the enclosed to be cleaned for me. (Not the chocolate of course) I had them given to me, by a bloke who is going overseas.
The chocolate is for you both, though don’t fight for it. It’s PLAIN so don’t gorge it.
Well, cheerio for now. Bombed and machine gunned last night!
Love to you both
Your Son
Geoff.
We got 6 out of 33 over London!!
R.A.F. Wittering
May 10th, 1941.
Excuse dirty cover of book.
It’s new though!!!
My Dear Mother.
Thank you for the letter, which came one day last week (this week rather), Earlier on this week, I had begun to wonder if I should ever see any of you again, as for the last 3 nights we have been bombed and machine gunned. However, when not on duty at nights now, I go over to a wireless hut across the fields and sleep between blankets there.
The first night (Wed) I was on duty at 1.30 am. “Whoof”, about 6 times and rat-tat-tat. I nipped out to see what was what and shoved out the only incendiary burning and helped to douse a high explosive, on the parade ground. However, he had hit one of the blocks, the one next to ours, and five blokes were killed in bed. Then the next night, I came off at 11 pm and at 12.45 am, was wakened by “whoof”, again. I automatically slid out of bed and under. Then, under the stairs. Back to bed, 2nd attack came! Under the bed, with blankets and all on too, - rat-tat-tat and our gunner’s opened up and got him. After that, with bombs falling in the distance, three of us took our blankets down to a shelter (3 am) and slept there till 6.30 am. Duty at 8 am, till 5 pm. Pictures, then 5 – 11 pm (last night) and then slept up across the fields.
[page break]
He bombed us again last night. Putrid bombing. It’s about time someone covered that moon up! In at 8 am, till 5 pm and then 8 am tomorrow. (Sunday)
We have to work like heck with all this bombing, but even so, our pilots are having a very successful time at night. We can stick it as long as he can give it!! Was Nottingham badly hit? Brols and Dace factory, I believe? Our chaps fetched 2 down near Derby, the same night. Hope they did not fall at Chaddesden.
How is Pop these days? I will come over when I can get, also must write to Jean. Letter from her and Cousin Margaret!!
I hope Barb’, Jim and Bruce were o.k. in Merseyside.
All the Beckett’s have had a taste I think now.
We just lay in bed the first night, waiting to be blown to atoms. The window and all came in, plaster, etc. This camp is beginning to look as though someone has been having a bally good time hurling bricks about!! Big bricks and all! After Sunday though, we shall be able to sleep well, - we hope. Everybody volunteers for night duties now, as we work under ten feet of concrete, underground. Before, everybody was trying to get off duty at night. The top stories of these blocks are deserted at night. Our room is on the top story and only one bloke slept in last night and he had to.
Well cheerio for now.
Many Happy Returns Mother for the 14th.
(Don’t bother replying)
Your loving son.
Geoff.
These letters were a most exciting find! Not just because I get a mention! (Bruce, my middle name) There is an immediacy about these letters, written at a time of excitement, haste and confusion, which brought the reality of the war, to a personal level for Geoff and the family. He acted in a spontaneous manner when faced with explosives and saw death, due to enemy action.
I think it is clear that he was working on R.D.F., as he was aware first hand of the interception successes of the night fighter crews. He was also working “down the Hole”, as we used to call the underground radar operations sites.
It is my firm belief, that these R.A.F. Wittering experiences, of being bombed and machine-gunned, were instrumental in Geoff’s decision to volunteer for aircrew.
I sense his desire to hit back at the enemy.
Collection
Citation
G Beckett, “Letters from Geoffrey Beckett to his parents and his mother,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed June 14, 2025, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/collections/document/41083.