Letter from Hedley Madgett to his parents
Title
Letter from Hedley Madgett to his parents
Description
Writes from Stratford on Avon of uniform issue, medicals and inoculations. Continues with stories of activities in the local area, marching to lectures and drill. Requests that they send underclothing and sweets/chocolate if available. Concludes with activities and talk of maths revision and lectures.
Creator
Language
Format
Six page handwritten letter
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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
EMadgettLR-AGMadgettHR41XX29
Transcription
No. 1330340. H.R.MADGETT
Flight 11/22. No. 9.R.W.
R.A.F. Grove House,
Greenhill Street,
Stratford on Avon.
[underlined] 29th. [/underlined]
Dear Mum & Dad,
Thanks very much for your letter.
That chap Mitchell is now in another Flight (10/22), we being split up when we arrived.
Our uniforms have been issued to us as I said, but the jacket & greatcoat is at the tailors for alterations. They do it free.
We are over the [deleted] inco [/deleted] inoculation now, but have to have two more on Monday of much greater strength. Also,
[page break]
[underlined] 2 [/underlined]
another medical is to be our due. Yesterday, we went through the gas chamber, and when we had to take our masks off, our eyes ran quite a bit in the tear gas.
Yesterday was a fine day for once, and in the morning a small group of us walked out of the town, and down a country lane, turned off into a field, and worked out some maths. problems. There were many planes as usual flying around, but there was quite an argument when one flew right over us that was not in the books. It was a twin engined & twin tailed
[page break]
[underlined] 3 [/underlined]
machine with long nose, and fairly thin rear fusalage. One chap said it was a Hampden, but the fusalage in front was not deep enough.
Then in the evening, we took out two canoes on the river.
This morning, we have been marching back and forwards from the lecture hall 3/4 mile away for arranged lectures. [deleted] But [/deleted] The first time the Education Officer made a mistake and missed our Flight out so went [sic] had to return. A bit of drill, and then back again for the 2nd. arranged lecture on Morale. We were
[page break]
[underlined] 4 [/underlined]
waiting in the hall for 1/2 hour, & then 2 very good pianists played to us, or rather, we sang to them & had a good "lecture"!
As there is no parade ground, we [deleted] had [inserted] have to [/inserted] [/deleted] have to drill in a nearby [deleted] quite [/deleted] quiet street, and our drills are very funny things. Even the corporal has to laugh.
We have [deleted] to [/deleted] two pairs of boots, one rubber soled and the other leather. The leather soled ones and my feet do not seem to agree with each other. The soles of my feet feel quite numb. Do you think it best to have them
[page break]
[underlined] 5 [/underlined]
rubbered?
I wrote a letter to John with your letter. About me passing Ernie on Saturday - I never saw him and neither did John, so if you see him, tell him it was unintentional.
Would you please send me my vest and pants & socks? We have 3 pairs [inserted] of socks [/inserted] issued to us!
Sweets and chocolate are things unheard of in Stratford shops, so if you feel like it or have any could you spare anything in that line.
It still [inserted] is [/inserted] a terrible effort getting up in the morning at 6.30 a.m., and breakfast is at
[page break]
[underlined] 6 [/underlined]
7.40 a.m. Our evenings after tea at 17.10 (5.10 p.m) are free, and this evening am going down to a hall to get a few maths. problems. We have not had that grading exam yet, but from the other Flights, we hear that the 3 lectures we have missed on maths were pretty simple.
Well, I'm afrad that it is all I have time for, so till next time.
[underlined] Love from Hedley. [/underlined]
Flight 11/22. No. 9.R.W.
R.A.F. Grove House,
Greenhill Street,
Stratford on Avon.
[underlined] 29th. [/underlined]
Dear Mum & Dad,
Thanks very much for your letter.
That chap Mitchell is now in another Flight (10/22), we being split up when we arrived.
Our uniforms have been issued to us as I said, but the jacket & greatcoat is at the tailors for alterations. They do it free.
We are over the [deleted] inco [/deleted] inoculation now, but have to have two more on Monday of much greater strength. Also,
[page break]
[underlined] 2 [/underlined]
another medical is to be our due. Yesterday, we went through the gas chamber, and when we had to take our masks off, our eyes ran quite a bit in the tear gas.
Yesterday was a fine day for once, and in the morning a small group of us walked out of the town, and down a country lane, turned off into a field, and worked out some maths. problems. There were many planes as usual flying around, but there was quite an argument when one flew right over us that was not in the books. It was a twin engined & twin tailed
[page break]
[underlined] 3 [/underlined]
machine with long nose, and fairly thin rear fusalage. One chap said it was a Hampden, but the fusalage in front was not deep enough.
Then in the evening, we took out two canoes on the river.
This morning, we have been marching back and forwards from the lecture hall 3/4 mile away for arranged lectures. [deleted] But [/deleted] The first time the Education Officer made a mistake and missed our Flight out so went [sic] had to return. A bit of drill, and then back again for the 2nd. arranged lecture on Morale. We were
[page break]
[underlined] 4 [/underlined]
waiting in the hall for 1/2 hour, & then 2 very good pianists played to us, or rather, we sang to them & had a good "lecture"!
As there is no parade ground, we [deleted] had [inserted] have to [/inserted] [/deleted] have to drill in a nearby [deleted] quite [/deleted] quiet street, and our drills are very funny things. Even the corporal has to laugh.
We have [deleted] to [/deleted] two pairs of boots, one rubber soled and the other leather. The leather soled ones and my feet do not seem to agree with each other. The soles of my feet feel quite numb. Do you think it best to have them
[page break]
[underlined] 5 [/underlined]
rubbered?
I wrote a letter to John with your letter. About me passing Ernie on Saturday - I never saw him and neither did John, so if you see him, tell him it was unintentional.
Would you please send me my vest and pants & socks? We have 3 pairs [inserted] of socks [/inserted] issued to us!
Sweets and chocolate are things unheard of in Stratford shops, so if you feel like it or have any could you spare anything in that line.
It still [inserted] is [/inserted] a terrible effort getting up in the morning at 6.30 a.m., and breakfast is at
[page break]
[underlined] 6 [/underlined]
7.40 a.m. Our evenings after tea at 17.10 (5.10 p.m) are free, and this evening am going down to a hall to get a few maths. problems. We have not had that grading exam yet, but from the other Flights, we hear that the 3 lectures we have missed on maths were pretty simple.
Well, I'm afrad that it is all I have time for, so till next time.
[underlined] Love from Hedley. [/underlined]
Collection
Citation
Hedley Robert Madgett, “Letter from Hedley Madgett to his parents,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed April 23, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/11091.
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