Letter from Arthur Bailey to Doris
Title
Letter from Arthur Bailey to Doris
Description
He has been too tired to write. He enjoyed the party when he was on leave. Georgie and Arthur are planning to have a baby next year.
Creator
Date
1941-10-14
Temporal Coverage
Language
Format
Two handwritten sheets and an 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
EBaileyAWSellickD411014-0001, EBaileyAWSellickD411014-0002, EBaileyAWSellickD411014-0003
Transcription
[postmark] [postage stamp]
Mrs D. Sellick.
54. Devonshire Hill Lane.
Tottenham N.17.
LONDON.
[page break]
Acklington
14th October 1941.
My Dear Doris.
Hello Doris, am so pleased to hear you are keeping fit, as is the case with me nowadays. I must apologise for not answering before, but somehow I am always feeling too tired when it comes to writing letters, & really I am becoming awful at answering [deleted] letters [/deleted] although I do so much love to hear from you all.
Yes Doris, I am quite settled down once again, but these last few days have been very hectic & trying because they commenced another of their purges on overseas drafts last weekend, by posting 3 of our “gangleaders” i.e. experienced chaps who have been here more than 2 months. – that leaves 6 of us. Then some more postings came through including myself & 4 other gangleaders, so our Flt/Sgt went to the Station Engineering Officer & told him that if he wanted the planes in the air he must stop anymore experienced chaps from being sent overseas; the officer agreed & newly arrived chaps were sent in our places. – So once again I have escaped overseas by the skin of my teeth. – lucky eh? Doris.
I do hope you enjoyed the party as well I did & for the whole weeks leave was a huge success & it came as a blow when it ended. It was strange about that couple you took home for no one seemed to know them & we don’t know who really did invite them, although it doesn’t matter now. I did very well for presents, Doris & must say Georgie
[page break]
2/
& I were very delighted with the cutlery, so please thank Arthur for me & I will once again thank you, sister. I also received plenty of cash presents, which was very useful, & about a couple of dozen telegrams & cards.
Here Doris comes a temporary secret of great good news, & I will be writing mum & dad soon to tell them also, so till then don’t let them know please. Well, Georgie & I are hoping to have a little baby some time next year, & gosh how proud & happy we are, as you can guess. Georgie is visiting a doctor shortly & will be booking up for the finest Nursing Home in St. Albans, as it is frightfully difficult to secure a place otherwise. Will let you all know the marvellous news just as soon as I hear anything definate [sic], for you are an [sic] married woman yourself. ha! ha!
As further news is scarce I will say cheerio & all the very best Doris. Love to all & please remember me to Arthur.
Cheerio & keep smiling Sister.
Love
Arthur
Mrs D. Sellick.
54. Devonshire Hill Lane.
Tottenham N.17.
LONDON.
[page break]
Acklington
14th October 1941.
My Dear Doris.
Hello Doris, am so pleased to hear you are keeping fit, as is the case with me nowadays. I must apologise for not answering before, but somehow I am always feeling too tired when it comes to writing letters, & really I am becoming awful at answering [deleted] letters [/deleted] although I do so much love to hear from you all.
Yes Doris, I am quite settled down once again, but these last few days have been very hectic & trying because they commenced another of their purges on overseas drafts last weekend, by posting 3 of our “gangleaders” i.e. experienced chaps who have been here more than 2 months. – that leaves 6 of us. Then some more postings came through including myself & 4 other gangleaders, so our Flt/Sgt went to the Station Engineering Officer & told him that if he wanted the planes in the air he must stop anymore experienced chaps from being sent overseas; the officer agreed & newly arrived chaps were sent in our places. – So once again I have escaped overseas by the skin of my teeth. – lucky eh? Doris.
I do hope you enjoyed the party as well I did & for the whole weeks leave was a huge success & it came as a blow when it ended. It was strange about that couple you took home for no one seemed to know them & we don’t know who really did invite them, although it doesn’t matter now. I did very well for presents, Doris & must say Georgie
[page break]
2/
& I were very delighted with the cutlery, so please thank Arthur for me & I will once again thank you, sister. I also received plenty of cash presents, which was very useful, & about a couple of dozen telegrams & cards.
Here Doris comes a temporary secret of great good news, & I will be writing mum & dad soon to tell them also, so till then don’t let them know please. Well, Georgie & I are hoping to have a little baby some time next year, & gosh how proud & happy we are, as you can guess. Georgie is visiting a doctor shortly & will be booking up for the finest Nursing Home in St. Albans, as it is frightfully difficult to secure a place otherwise. Will let you all know the marvellous news just as soon as I hear anything definate [sic], for you are an [sic] married woman yourself. ha! ha!
As further news is scarce I will say cheerio & all the very best Doris. Love to all & please remember me to Arthur.
Cheerio & keep smiling Sister.
Love
Arthur
Collection
Citation
Arthur Bailey, “Letter from Arthur Bailey to Doris,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed October 6, 2026, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/collections/document/45108.