Letter from Arthur Bailey to Doris
Title
Letter from Arthur Bailey to Doris
Description
He hopes they are coping with the air raids and he is looking forward to his next leave.
Creator
Date
1940-10-04
Temporal Coverage
Language
Format
Three 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
EBaileyAWSellickD401004-0001, EBaileyAWSellickD401004-0002, EBaileyAWSellickD401004-0003
Transcription
“A” Flight,
72. Squadron,
Biggin Hill,
Westerham,
Kent.
4th October 1940.
Dear Doris & Art.
Very many thanks for your card, it was very nice of you, & I do hope you are both feeling as well as I feel these days. How are you managing with the night raids, guess they don’t worry you much when sleeping down in the dining room, for that is the safest room in the house.
Have you heard any more about your joining the R.A.F. in person, Art, guess you aren’t too keen on leaving civilian life, well, I don’t blame you, for its quite difficult at first to get use [sic] to this way of living, but if you are fortunate enough to be posted near home & can
[page break]
2/
have plenty of passes, then its O.K.
I am quite excited & am impatient for next Tuesday to arrive, when I hope to start my leave, unfortunately there isn’t many places of enjoyment left in London, but I intend to have a good time nevertheless.
“Business” here is very quiet as Jerry seems to have given up his attempt of mass raids by day, don’t blame him really for he had to pay dearly for any damage he caused, yes our official score since leaving Acklington is well & truly over the century.
Well, as news is somewhat scarce & as my old age is creeping in, ha! ha! I will say cheerio & all the very best. Keep smiling
[page break]
3/
& hope to see you soon.
Love Arthur
72. Squadron,
Biggin Hill,
Westerham,
Kent.
4th October 1940.
Dear Doris & Art.
Very many thanks for your card, it was very nice of you, & I do hope you are both feeling as well as I feel these days. How are you managing with the night raids, guess they don’t worry you much when sleeping down in the dining room, for that is the safest room in the house.
Have you heard any more about your joining the R.A.F. in person, Art, guess you aren’t too keen on leaving civilian life, well, I don’t blame you, for its quite difficult at first to get use [sic] to this way of living, but if you are fortunate enough to be posted near home & can
[page break]
2/
have plenty of passes, then its O.K.
I am quite excited & am impatient for next Tuesday to arrive, when I hope to start my leave, unfortunately there isn’t many places of enjoyment left in London, but I intend to have a good time nevertheless.
“Business” here is very quiet as Jerry seems to have given up his attempt of mass raids by day, don’t blame him really for he had to pay dearly for any damage he caused, yes our official score since leaving Acklington is well & truly over the century.
Well, as news is somewhat scarce & as my old age is creeping in, ha! ha! I will say cheerio & all the very best. Keep smiling
[page break]
3/
& hope to see you soon.
Love Arthur
Collection
Citation
Arthur Bailey, “Letter from Arthur Bailey to Doris,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed October 10, 2026, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/collections/document/45072.