To Jessie from Harry Redgrave
Title
To Jessie from Harry Redgrave
Description
Three-page handwritten letter from Harry Redgrave to his wife Jessie. He writes about having more kit issued, a walk into Hastings and back and having large amounts of drill.
Creator
Date
1939-11-20
Temporal Coverage
Language
Format
Three handwritten sheets and envelope
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
ERedgraveHCRedgraveJM391120-0001,
ERedgraveHCRedgraveJM391120-0002,
ERedgraveHCRedgraveJM391120-0003,
ERedgraveHCRedgraveJM391120-0004
ERedgraveHCRedgraveJM391120-0002,
ERedgraveHCRedgraveJM391120-0003,
ERedgraveHCRedgraveJM391120-0004
Transcription
[envelope]
BEXHILL-ON-SEA
SUSSEX
10 AM
21 NOV
1939
[postage stamp]
Mrs. H. C. Redgrave
"Redwood"
Oaken Grange Dr.[Drive]
Prittlewell
Essex
[Page Break]
Bexhill on Sea
Mon Even
20.11.39
Dear Jessie
Did you think I had forgotten you. Well I roughed out part of this letter Saturday morning and then went out in the evening and got in too late to write it and went to Hastings for the day yesterday but will tell you more of that later.
This part I started Saturday morning. Thanks for Pams curl I bet she looks cute now and no thanks to the Abbey Road. But dont [sic] let that worry you I'll write to them from here In any case they cant [sic] have any more than £2 per month and they wont [sic] do anything about it. Had more kit issued this morning five brushes two pairs of pants extra trousers and I changed my boots for a new pair. I've put in my application for next week-end and will let you know as soon as it is confirmed.
It was lovely in Hastings yesterday. The sun shone all day and we left Bexhill immediately after church parade, Dick Mount and myself. We walked right out over the cliffs to Marina
[page break]
and from there along the prom into Hastings. There were crowds of people about and you would have thought it was midsummer. By then we had earned a drink so had a half pint and then went to Lyons for dinner. After that we climbed up to the castle and down again and along to the other cliffs, you know, where [inserted] we [/inserted] walked along to Ecclesbourne Glen. Came down from there and walked around the Old Town and back to Lyons for tea. By then it was dark and we went back on to the prom and watched the great waves pounding on the sea wall. [deleted] Dont [/deleted] Can you think of memories I had of our time there and it all seemed so much like doing the same thing, watching the waves, climbing the cliffs, sitting in the shelteres[sic] and having our meals out. The place [smudged] is full of R.A.F. chaps and they all had girls to walk out with but still we are respectable married men. For all that it would have been nice to just talk to a woman. Its an awful wrench to suddenly have nothing but male company all day every day. Still its [sic] got to be got used to. We walked almost all the way home again by the same road as you and I walked and got back about ten oclock. Not bad going in new boots did about twelve miles or more.
[page break]
This morning my feet were quite sore and to make it worse we had a very fatiguing time. Immediately after parade there was drill and something must have put our sergeants back up, because he was a devil. He made us double up and down the front time and again and my feet were smarting and sore. We had only ten minutes [sic] break and then a Maths test getting back to the Sackville about ten to twelve. I thought we [sic] going in to dinner but no another [underlined] forty [/underlined] five minutes [sic] drill with more running. He marched us back and something else annoyed him and he made us double up and down outside here with our greatcoats and respirators on. This afternoon we went to a lecture on the Maginot Line and finished the day about half past four I feel dead beat.
Well I think thats [sic] all for today so cheerio and
All my love to you all
Your always loving husband
Harry xxxxxx
P.S. Please excuse the writing but its most difficult perched up on this bed. H.C.R.
BEXHILL-ON-SEA
SUSSEX
10 AM
21 NOV
1939
[postage stamp]
Mrs. H. C. Redgrave
"Redwood"
Oaken Grange Dr.[Drive]
Prittlewell
Essex
[Page Break]
Bexhill on Sea
Mon Even
20.11.39
Dear Jessie
Did you think I had forgotten you. Well I roughed out part of this letter Saturday morning and then went out in the evening and got in too late to write it and went to Hastings for the day yesterday but will tell you more of that later.
This part I started Saturday morning. Thanks for Pams curl I bet she looks cute now and no thanks to the Abbey Road. But dont [sic] let that worry you I'll write to them from here In any case they cant [sic] have any more than £2 per month and they wont [sic] do anything about it. Had more kit issued this morning five brushes two pairs of pants extra trousers and I changed my boots for a new pair. I've put in my application for next week-end and will let you know as soon as it is confirmed.
It was lovely in Hastings yesterday. The sun shone all day and we left Bexhill immediately after church parade, Dick Mount and myself. We walked right out over the cliffs to Marina
[page break]
and from there along the prom into Hastings. There were crowds of people about and you would have thought it was midsummer. By then we had earned a drink so had a half pint and then went to Lyons for dinner. After that we climbed up to the castle and down again and along to the other cliffs, you know, where [inserted] we [/inserted] walked along to Ecclesbourne Glen. Came down from there and walked around the Old Town and back to Lyons for tea. By then it was dark and we went back on to the prom and watched the great waves pounding on the sea wall. [deleted] Dont [/deleted] Can you think of memories I had of our time there and it all seemed so much like doing the same thing, watching the waves, climbing the cliffs, sitting in the shelteres[sic] and having our meals out. The place [smudged] is full of R.A.F. chaps and they all had girls to walk out with but still we are respectable married men. For all that it would have been nice to just talk to a woman. Its an awful wrench to suddenly have nothing but male company all day every day. Still its [sic] got to be got used to. We walked almost all the way home again by the same road as you and I walked and got back about ten oclock. Not bad going in new boots did about twelve miles or more.
[page break]
This morning my feet were quite sore and to make it worse we had a very fatiguing time. Immediately after parade there was drill and something must have put our sergeants back up, because he was a devil. He made us double up and down the front time and again and my feet were smarting and sore. We had only ten minutes [sic] break and then a Maths test getting back to the Sackville about ten to twelve. I thought we [sic] going in to dinner but no another [underlined] forty [/underlined] five minutes [sic] drill with more running. He marched us back and something else annoyed him and he made us double up and down outside here with our greatcoats and respirators on. This afternoon we went to a lecture on the Maginot Line and finished the day about half past four I feel dead beat.
Well I think thats [sic] all for today so cheerio and
All my love to you all
Your always loving husband
Harry xxxxxx
P.S. Please excuse the writing but its most difficult perched up on this bed. H.C.R.
Collection
Citation
Harry Redgrave, “To Jessie from Harry Redgrave,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed April 26, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/15784.
Item Relations
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