Letter from Mrs Payne, mother of Flight Sergeant Malcolm Payne, to Doris Weeks
Title
Letter from Mrs Payne, mother of Flight Sergeant Malcolm Payne, to Doris Weeks
Description
Discusses letters backward and forward. Comments on bad winter in England. Writes about showing photographs of Doris and Lincoln to people. Enquires whether Doris has heard from the Air Ministry about Malcolm's bike which they have bequeathed to her. Mentions correspondence with International Red Cross, Geneva. Concludes with general chat.
Creator
Date
1945-02-02
Temporal Coverage
Spatial Coverage
Language
Format
Two-page handwritten air letter
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.
Identifier
EPayneMLWeeksD450202
Transcription
[underlined] Box 29 [/underlined]
Watervale
[underlined] 2.2.45 [/underlined]
My Dear Doris
I was ever so pleased to see an air letter yesterday, dated 18.1.45, & completed the following day. The one you wrote the previous day (17th) has not arrived yet but I hope it is there tomorrow. Do you know, I think some of your letters have failed to reach me – I had three all written Dec. 11th, telling me about your birthday – remember. Then I had no more for over 3 weeks & the next one was dated Jan 1st. You are certainly having a dreadful winter – we are told its the coldest for over 50 years, so therefore it’s the worst you remember! I guess your mum was wild when the wind blew the pane out of the window at that unearthly hour especially. Had I been present I could have helped quite considerably – with the curses. Glad the cake arrived safely & only hope it [underlined] did [/underlined] keep moist [indecipherable word]? No use you trying to be modest my dear, I’ve shown your snaps to hosts of people & one & all say “Isn’t she lovely!” So what! I showed Miss Warren the pictures of Lincoln & she was so thrilled. She has been in the Cathedral very often & says its very lovely. Did you ever hear from the Air Ministry re. Malcolm’s bike, Doris? I hope you didn’t mind us having it sent to you, I know it is what Malcolm would have wished. I had 17 more letters returned last week – I haven’t told his dad – Have I written you since we had a letter from Air Board to the effect that the International R. Cross, Geneva
[page break]
had been making special inquiries but deeply regretted without success - ? I forget whether it had come to hand before I wrote your last air letter. Don’t know whether I’m sickening for any childish complaint or whether I overdone it in the garden this morning, but have come all out in a prickly rash & feel rotten – headachy & eyes watering –
Should the other air letter arrive safely I’ll answer it immediately.
Please don’t thank me for the parcel – we owe you lot’s more than a paltry cake – You once asked me if [deleted] our [/deleted] the name of our home had a special meaning – it’s the name of a little town in Victoria – where Mr Payne was born. Beleive [sic] it has a native meaning but have never been able to find out. Keep well – lots of love. Yrs lovingly.
M.L. Payne xxxx
Sender’s name and address:-
Mrs F. Payne
Watervale
Sth. Aust.
Miss D. WEEKS
37 Hawthorne Rd.
Bunkers Hill
Lincoln
ENGLAND
Watervale
[underlined] 2.2.45 [/underlined]
My Dear Doris
I was ever so pleased to see an air letter yesterday, dated 18.1.45, & completed the following day. The one you wrote the previous day (17th) has not arrived yet but I hope it is there tomorrow. Do you know, I think some of your letters have failed to reach me – I had three all written Dec. 11th, telling me about your birthday – remember. Then I had no more for over 3 weeks & the next one was dated Jan 1st. You are certainly having a dreadful winter – we are told its the coldest for over 50 years, so therefore it’s the worst you remember! I guess your mum was wild when the wind blew the pane out of the window at that unearthly hour especially. Had I been present I could have helped quite considerably – with the curses. Glad the cake arrived safely & only hope it [underlined] did [/underlined] keep moist [indecipherable word]? No use you trying to be modest my dear, I’ve shown your snaps to hosts of people & one & all say “Isn’t she lovely!” So what! I showed Miss Warren the pictures of Lincoln & she was so thrilled. She has been in the Cathedral very often & says its very lovely. Did you ever hear from the Air Ministry re. Malcolm’s bike, Doris? I hope you didn’t mind us having it sent to you, I know it is what Malcolm would have wished. I had 17 more letters returned last week – I haven’t told his dad – Have I written you since we had a letter from Air Board to the effect that the International R. Cross, Geneva
[page break]
had been making special inquiries but deeply regretted without success - ? I forget whether it had come to hand before I wrote your last air letter. Don’t know whether I’m sickening for any childish complaint or whether I overdone it in the garden this morning, but have come all out in a prickly rash & feel rotten – headachy & eyes watering –
Should the other air letter arrive safely I’ll answer it immediately.
Please don’t thank me for the parcel – we owe you lot’s more than a paltry cake – You once asked me if [deleted] our [/deleted] the name of our home had a special meaning – it’s the name of a little town in Victoria – where Mr Payne was born. Beleive [sic] it has a native meaning but have never been able to find out. Keep well – lots of love. Yrs lovingly.
M.L. Payne xxxx
Sender’s name and address:-
Mrs F. Payne
Watervale
Sth. Aust.
Miss D. WEEKS
37 Hawthorne Rd.
Bunkers Hill
Lincoln
ENGLAND
Collection
Citation
M L Payne, “Letter from Mrs Payne, mother of Flight Sergeant Malcolm Payne, to Doris Weeks,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed December 8, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/10617.
Item Relations
Item: Letter to Doris Weeks from Royal Australian Air Force | dcterms:relation | This Item |
Item: Letter from Mrs Payne, mother of Flight Sergeant Malcolm Payne, to Doris Weeks | dcterms:relation | This Item |