Letter from John Mansell to his parents and Joy
![EMansellEJMansell[Fam]450508.jpg](https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/files/original/2778/49365/EMansellEJMansell[Fam]450508.jpg "EMansellEJMansell[Fam]450508.jpg")
Title
Letter from John Mansell to his parents and Joy
Description
John writes from Stalag 3A on VE day. He is not sure when he will get home. He is very excited and has lots of plans.
Creator
Date
1945-05-08
Temporal Coverage
Language
Format
One handwritten sheet
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
EMansellEJMansell[Fam]450508
Transcription
STALAG IIIA (OFFLAG).
GERMANY.
Victory in Europe Day. May 8th 1945.
My dear Mum, Dad and Joy.
I am writing this to you on V.E. day, but it will not be posted until I arrive in England. I don’t know when we will be repatriated, everything is in a most unholy muddle at the moment, and we have had four false alarms already, however the “Brass Hats” of America & Russia have been in conference for some time now, and there is a possibility that we may start to-morrow, or even to-day. All we can do is be patient & wait and see.
I have made so many plans for the future, that you must not be surprised if I seem a little nervy & unsettled for the first day or two after I am back it will soon wear off & I’ll be back to my usual - “near normal” quite soon. I will have many things to talk about, but let them come out in my own time as much as possible please.
Jimmy Partridge won’t be coming straight home with me, but after a couple of weeks or so I would like to have [undecipherable] down for a few days he is chummy company and I am sure you will like him.
Here in Germany it seems impossible to realize that today is Victory Day, and that there is now a chance of a better?
Everyone for the future, this was must not have been in vain.
This note may seem very scrappy & [deleted] (non nonsensical/ [/deleted] [inserted] nonsensical [/inserted], but it is random thoughts that have entered my head just now, the main purpose of this letter is to let you know that I am in England and will be home soon.
All my love to you all,
Yours, John.
GERMANY.
Victory in Europe Day. May 8th 1945.
My dear Mum, Dad and Joy.
I am writing this to you on V.E. day, but it will not be posted until I arrive in England. I don’t know when we will be repatriated, everything is in a most unholy muddle at the moment, and we have had four false alarms already, however the “Brass Hats” of America & Russia have been in conference for some time now, and there is a possibility that we may start to-morrow, or even to-day. All we can do is be patient & wait and see.
I have made so many plans for the future, that you must not be surprised if I seem a little nervy & unsettled for the first day or two after I am back it will soon wear off & I’ll be back to my usual - “near normal” quite soon. I will have many things to talk about, but let them come out in my own time as much as possible please.
Jimmy Partridge won’t be coming straight home with me, but after a couple of weeks or so I would like to have [undecipherable] down for a few days he is chummy company and I am sure you will like him.
Here in Germany it seems impossible to realize that today is Victory Day, and that there is now a chance of a better?
Everyone for the future, this was must not have been in vain.
This note may seem very scrappy & [deleted] (non nonsensical/ [/deleted] [inserted] nonsensical [/inserted], but it is random thoughts that have entered my head just now, the main purpose of this letter is to let you know that I am in England and will be home soon.
All my love to you all,
Yours, John.
Collection
Citation
John Mansell, “Letter from John Mansell to his parents and Joy,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed June 13, 2025, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/collections/document/49365.