Letter from Gus Knox to Lewis Ellis's father

Letter from Gus Knox to Lewis Ellis's father

Writes that he had kept up a regular correspondence with Lewis for the previous eighteen months. However, while Lewis had replied regularly, he had not heard anything for four months. He writes that hey were close friends in Canada and he was worried about the lack of mail. He greatly valued his friendship and he writes about in in detail. He asked if Mr Ellis could write and tell him if anything had happened to explain the break in mail.

1945-10-03

Four page handwritten letter and envelope

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EKnoxATEllis[Fa]451003

[inserted] [underlined] TO DAD! [/underlined] [/inserted]

[RNZAF crest]

[postage stamp] [postmark]

D.D.A./219

MR. ELLIS
54 WULFRIC
SHEFFIELD II
YORKSHIRE
ENGLAND
U. K.

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OPENED BY EXAMINER

From
F/O A. T. KNOX
415535 R.N.Z.A.F.
11 HASBURY AVE.
EPSOM S.E.3
AUCKLAND
N. Z.

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3 – 10 – [deleted] 44 [/deleted] 45
F/O A. T. Knox
11 Hasbury Ave.,
Epsom S.E.3.
Auckland
N. Z.

Dear Sir,

You will find it unusual perhaps, finding a letter from N. Z. and addressed to you, but I have always sent your son Lewis’s mail through his home address.

During the past eighteen months I have kept up a regular correspondence with Lew, and until four months ago his answers have been very constant. The last letter I had from him was written six

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months ago, and even allowing for irregularities in the mails I reckoned that, provided he was all right I should have heard from him before now.

As we were such very close friends in Canada this lack of mail has had me more than a little worried, for these are hard and uncertain times.

So many of the splendid friendships made in Canada during the training and staff period, have been broken, in the past year, that any lapse in

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mail, which is our only means of contact just now, takes on an ominous appearance. I sincerely do trust, that nothing has happened to Lew for I have valued his friendship above all others and would feel his loss very keenly.

Several thousand miles of ocean do not mean a great deal in separations such as ours, for there was always an invisible, intangible link somehow between us. I believe I got to know Lew better than anyone else I have ever met, we had a pretty good

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mutual understanding.

I hope you will please excuse my writing to you in this rather unusual manner, but these are very unusual times.

I would appreciate very much, if you could write me, if anything has happened to Lew to cause the big break in the mails.

Thanking you again,

I remain

Yours sincerely

Gus Knox