To Jessie from Harry Redgrave
Title
To Jessie from Harry Redgrave
Description
A letter and envelope from Harry to his wife Jessie. He writes about training, including a flight in a Fokker. Weather has improved.
Creator
Date
1940-02-08
Temporal Coverage
Language
Format
Four 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.
Identifier
ERedgraveHCRedgraveJM400208-0001,
ERedgraveHCRedgraveJM400208-0002,
ERedgraveHCRedgraveJM400208-0003,
ERedgraveHCRedgraveJM400208-0004,
ERedgraveHCRedgraveJM400208-0005
ERedgraveHCRedgraveJM400208-0002,
ERedgraveHCRedgraveJM400208-0003,
ERedgraveHCRedgraveJM400208-0004,
ERedgraveHCRedgraveJM400208-0005
Transcription
[Envelope]
[postage stamp]
Mrs. H. C. Redgrave
"Redwood" [inserted] 43 [/inserted]
Oaken Grange Dr.
Prittlewell
Essex
[page break]
"Redbrae"
Monkton
Ayrshire
Thursday 8.2.40
Dearest Jessie
A great surprise awaited me when coming home tonight. Two letters from you They mean a lot to me and the fact that I did not expect one at all made them all the sweeter. The postal service is
improving no end for one of the letters was only posted yesterday.
Im [sic] glad you liked your skirt and dont [sic] forget to let me know what sort of jumper you want. Thanks for getting your portrait done and when you see the proofs choose the best and send me the large one and I will buy a frame. Im [sic] ever so thrilled about it so if its [sic] not quite up to the mark have another sitting.
[page break]
Just had a break in my writing to discuss a graph weve [sic] been doing. Its [sic] very hard to write a decent letter with provocative discussions going on, now they have started on a bomb sight but I am determined to keep writing.
Actually got some flying in today. 2 hours 40 minutes of map reading but it seemed very tame after the Anson flying at Rochford. We all filed into the Fokker about 48 of us and flew around Girvan Ayr Kilmarnock and district. The nearby hills looked very beutiful [sic] with touches of snow on the heather covered slopes and clumps of firs alternately lightened and shaded by the clouded sun. The sea was calm and of pure blue and we passed a destroyer on patrol [deleted] lookl [/deleted] looking grimly grey in the morning sun. The sailors must be grateful for the warm spell that is setting in for
[page break]
they must have had a hard time in all the cold weather we have had. I suppose you can see the lawn again now with all your bulbs coming along and this nice weather makes spring feel very near. I hope it does not encourage any Nazi visitors to your part of the country. Its [sic] time other people learnt what their air raid warnings are for. We never hear one here in fact if we did I think the work would still go on. My head is getting fuller and fuller of terms Mathmatical [sic] and [deleted] prof [/deleted] problems quadratical [sic]. Would you believe it after swatting up all this Trig and logs we are told that the school has heard officially that there will not be any of either in the exam. This is a blow because I could have faced any question in calm and now I suppose we shall have a paper of tricky algebra and equations & some
[page break]
beastly graphs.
Did I tell you we have gargle parades now. We all line up for permanganate of potash water and do our daily gargle. Its [sic] the funniest sight, all the men with their heads back gargling away. The ideas good but rather late as all our throats are better. One of the boys at my billet came out in a rash Monday and on Tuesday went sick and has been taken to the hospital in Ayr with measles. Its [sic] hard luck for the lad as it will put him behind with his work and he will probably have to go into another course when he comes out.
Eleven o'clock has just struck so I must think about going to bed Goodnight my love give my love to all and kiss Pam for me and remember I will alway [sic] love my darling Jessie
Harry xxxx
[postage stamp]
Mrs. H. C. Redgrave
"Redwood" [inserted] 43 [/inserted]
Oaken Grange Dr.
Prittlewell
Essex
[page break]
"Redbrae"
Monkton
Ayrshire
Thursday 8.2.40
Dearest Jessie
A great surprise awaited me when coming home tonight. Two letters from you They mean a lot to me and the fact that I did not expect one at all made them all the sweeter. The postal service is
improving no end for one of the letters was only posted yesterday.
Im [sic] glad you liked your skirt and dont [sic] forget to let me know what sort of jumper you want. Thanks for getting your portrait done and when you see the proofs choose the best and send me the large one and I will buy a frame. Im [sic] ever so thrilled about it so if its [sic] not quite up to the mark have another sitting.
[page break]
Just had a break in my writing to discuss a graph weve [sic] been doing. Its [sic] very hard to write a decent letter with provocative discussions going on, now they have started on a bomb sight but I am determined to keep writing.
Actually got some flying in today. 2 hours 40 minutes of map reading but it seemed very tame after the Anson flying at Rochford. We all filed into the Fokker about 48 of us and flew around Girvan Ayr Kilmarnock and district. The nearby hills looked very beutiful [sic] with touches of snow on the heather covered slopes and clumps of firs alternately lightened and shaded by the clouded sun. The sea was calm and of pure blue and we passed a destroyer on patrol [deleted] lookl [/deleted] looking grimly grey in the morning sun. The sailors must be grateful for the warm spell that is setting in for
[page break]
they must have had a hard time in all the cold weather we have had. I suppose you can see the lawn again now with all your bulbs coming along and this nice weather makes spring feel very near. I hope it does not encourage any Nazi visitors to your part of the country. Its [sic] time other people learnt what their air raid warnings are for. We never hear one here in fact if we did I think the work would still go on. My head is getting fuller and fuller of terms Mathmatical [sic] and [deleted] prof [/deleted] problems quadratical [sic]. Would you believe it after swatting up all this Trig and logs we are told that the school has heard officially that there will not be any of either in the exam. This is a blow because I could have faced any question in calm and now I suppose we shall have a paper of tricky algebra and equations & some
[page break]
beastly graphs.
Did I tell you we have gargle parades now. We all line up for permanganate of potash water and do our daily gargle. Its [sic] the funniest sight, all the men with their heads back gargling away. The ideas good but rather late as all our throats are better. One of the boys at my billet came out in a rash Monday and on Tuesday went sick and has been taken to the hospital in Ayr with measles. Its [sic] hard luck for the lad as it will put him behind with his work and he will probably have to go into another course when he comes out.
Eleven o'clock has just struck so I must think about going to bed Goodnight my love give my love to all and kiss Pam for me and remember I will alway [sic] love my darling Jessie
Harry xxxx
Collection
Citation
Harry Redgrave, “To Jessie from Harry Redgrave,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed April 19, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/15867.
Item Relations
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