Letter to Lewis Ellis from Gus Knox
Title
Letter to Lewis Ellis from Gus Knox
Description
Writes as his leave is coming to an end. Mentions shopping for furniture and cost of things. Writes of receiving letter from deceased friends mother with photographs. Speaks of rumours that Lewis was now married. Catches up with other news of friends. Mentions that he had given up trying for a pilot's course now but might get into airlines after the war. Comments on war news from Europe. Enclosed address of Miss M G M Bennett in Canada.
Creator
Date
1944-07-18
Temporal Coverage
Spatial Coverage
Language
Format
Four page handwritten letter 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
EKnoxATEllisEL440718
Transcription
[indecipherable letters]
[postage stamp] [postmark]
F/SGT. E.L. ELLIS
GB 1238597
54 WULFRIC R.D.
SHEFFIELD 2
YORKSHIRE
ENGLAND
[inserted] BY AIR
[underlined] TO U.K. VIA U.S.A. [/underlined] [inserted]
[page break]
[P.C. – 90.
OPENED BY EXAMINER
[indecipherable letters]
[page break]
I.
18.7.44
11 Hasbury Ave.,
Epsom S.E.3.
Auckland – N.Z.
Dear Lew,
A few more lines before I start and pack my bags, my leave is getting along towards its’ end, only eight days to go now. The time has flown, and I don’t seem to have done half the things I intended to, but that is just the way it always is.
I had a shopping tour three weeks ago, and bought a lot of furniture, bedroom suite etc., and wow was it ever expensive too. Things are a terrific price these days. I even got a bed for “young” Lewis. Did I tell you we are calling him Lewis Leslie, they pretty well together.
I had another letter from Les Greenes’ mother the other day, and enclosed were some photos of him on his last leave home, also one of his grave in their local churchyard. Their [sic] was a
[page break]
II
good one of his sister too, and she is not bad looking either. Oh!, by the way, I heard a little bit of news from a very reliable source. They tell me that you were married in Canada, and your wife is now over in England.
I don’t know where this person got that idea from, but they were quite emphatic about it, so lets know will you. Fancy holding out on me that way.
Also had a couple of letters from Mickey. She is in a sanatorium at Quebec now, and says her x-rays are getting a little better, and expects to be out by the end of this summer. She is out of the Air Force now of course, and is Miss, not L.A.W. I will put her address at the end of this letter and if you feel like it you might drop her a line, I know she would like it. Lying in hospital is lousy at any time.
You remember Roy (“two dinners”) who was in the Sgts. mess at
[page break]
III
Paulson, well she was engaged to Nickie you know[deleted]s[/deleted] Nicholls the R.A.F. boy, well Mick was saying he is missing too. He apparently bought it about the same time as George. The old gang has sure had a clean-out hasn’t it.
I have given up my former idea of a pilot’s course, I may have a chance of getting on Tasman Empire Airways later as a radio officer. They use the standard Short Empire boats, four motored, and I think it would be a fairly decent job, especially after the war I may get a trip to England yet. Who knows. I sure have plenty of folks to look up if I do get over there, and I won’t be altogether satisfied until I do get to England.
The war news is quite good for Europe today, but is tough going, and not without considerable loss.
The Americans are real pushers, and
[page break]
IV
have loads of first rate equipment.
The former defects in their aircraft have been ironed out and are now pretty hot. Guess you know more about that than I do. Their air-crews are a hard lot, and seem to have plenty of what it takes.
I hope all your folks are O.K. and that you are keeping on top yourself. The wife sends her regards, and Lewis has a “gurgle” for you.
Cheerio for now Lew, and all the best
Yours as Always
Gus [underlined] “Keep Em Flyin” [/underlined]
MISS. M.G.M. BENNETT
SANITORIUM ST. FRANCIS
SHERBROOKE
QUEBEC
CANADA.
[postage stamp] [postmark]
F/SGT. E.L. ELLIS
GB 1238597
54 WULFRIC R.D.
SHEFFIELD 2
YORKSHIRE
ENGLAND
[inserted] BY AIR
[underlined] TO U.K. VIA U.S.A. [/underlined] [inserted]
[page break]
[P.C. – 90.
OPENED BY EXAMINER
[indecipherable letters]
[page break]
I.
18.7.44
11 Hasbury Ave.,
Epsom S.E.3.
Auckland – N.Z.
Dear Lew,
A few more lines before I start and pack my bags, my leave is getting along towards its’ end, only eight days to go now. The time has flown, and I don’t seem to have done half the things I intended to, but that is just the way it always is.
I had a shopping tour three weeks ago, and bought a lot of furniture, bedroom suite etc., and wow was it ever expensive too. Things are a terrific price these days. I even got a bed for “young” Lewis. Did I tell you we are calling him Lewis Leslie, they pretty well together.
I had another letter from Les Greenes’ mother the other day, and enclosed were some photos of him on his last leave home, also one of his grave in their local churchyard. Their [sic] was a
[page break]
II
good one of his sister too, and she is not bad looking either. Oh!, by the way, I heard a little bit of news from a very reliable source. They tell me that you were married in Canada, and your wife is now over in England.
I don’t know where this person got that idea from, but they were quite emphatic about it, so lets know will you. Fancy holding out on me that way.
Also had a couple of letters from Mickey. She is in a sanatorium at Quebec now, and says her x-rays are getting a little better, and expects to be out by the end of this summer. She is out of the Air Force now of course, and is Miss, not L.A.W. I will put her address at the end of this letter and if you feel like it you might drop her a line, I know she would like it. Lying in hospital is lousy at any time.
You remember Roy (“two dinners”) who was in the Sgts. mess at
[page break]
III
Paulson, well she was engaged to Nickie you know[deleted]s[/deleted] Nicholls the R.A.F. boy, well Mick was saying he is missing too. He apparently bought it about the same time as George. The old gang has sure had a clean-out hasn’t it.
I have given up my former idea of a pilot’s course, I may have a chance of getting on Tasman Empire Airways later as a radio officer. They use the standard Short Empire boats, four motored, and I think it would be a fairly decent job, especially after the war I may get a trip to England yet. Who knows. I sure have plenty of folks to look up if I do get over there, and I won’t be altogether satisfied until I do get to England.
The war news is quite good for Europe today, but is tough going, and not without considerable loss.
The Americans are real pushers, and
[page break]
IV
have loads of first rate equipment.
The former defects in their aircraft have been ironed out and are now pretty hot. Guess you know more about that than I do. Their air-crews are a hard lot, and seem to have plenty of what it takes.
I hope all your folks are O.K. and that you are keeping on top yourself. The wife sends her regards, and Lewis has a “gurgle” for you.
Cheerio for now Lew, and all the best
Yours as Always
Gus [underlined] “Keep Em Flyin” [/underlined]
MISS. M.G.M. BENNETT
SANITORIUM ST. FRANCIS
SHERBROOKE
QUEBEC
CANADA.
Collection
Citation
G Knox, “Letter to Lewis Ellis from Gus Knox,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed April 22, 2026, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/collections/document/43250.