Anniversary card and letter to Jessie from Harry Redgrave

Anniversary card and letter to Jessie from Harry Redgrave

A letter with card and envelope from Harry Redgrave to his wife. It is their fifth wedding anniversary and he looks forward to a time when the war is over and they can be at home again together. He thinks it is unlikely he will have leave a Christmas this year. Mentions the Dakar incident.

1940-09-28

Four handwritten sheets, a printed anniversary card and an envelope

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.

ERedgraveHCRedgraveJM400928-0001,
ERedgraveHCRedgraveJM400928-0002,
ERedgraveHCRedgraveJM400928-0003,
ERedgraveHCRedgraveJM400928-0004,
ERedgraveHCRedgraveJM400928-0005,
ERedgraveHCRedgraveJM400928-0006,
ERedgraveHCRedgraveJM400928-0007,
ERedgraveHCRedgraveJM400928-0008,
ERedgraveHCRedgraveJM400928-0009

[post mark]

[postage stamp]

Mrs H C Redgrave,
155 Fletton Avenue
Peterboro’
Northants.

[page break]

[RAF Crest]

Sgts Mess
R.A.F. Station
Finningley
Sat. 28.9.40

Dear Jessie
I’m writing this letter tonight to reach you on our wedding anniversary and I want it to convey to you my thanks for five very happy years of married life.
Five years ago saw the fulfilment of our ambition to have our own little home and we little realised than that we should have to leave it and suffer long periods of being apart but we must [inserted] look [/inserted] forward now to the day when we are back again in our bungalow with Pamela playing happily in the garden and with the perils of war far behind us. I have every faith that the end of these troubles will find us all together to commemorate many more happy

[page break]

returns of our wedding anniversary.

I seem completely lost without you darling and have no inclination to go into town just to see a film or mooch around with the fellows and I hope that soon you will be near enough for me to visit you on my off duty evenings.

Dorchester and Peterboro [sic] have completely spoiled me and I feel terribly lonely as soon as duty finishes and I am left with nothing but the memories of our happier days. From the position of the Hampden stations I think you will soon be living in Gainsboro’ or Lincoln both of which are quite nice places from what I have seen of them from the air.

I have not done any flying since I

[page break]

last wrote to you but think I am doing a six hour trip tomorrow. Tomorrow night I have four hours look out duty to do so its [sic] likely I shall be very tired when my looking out finishes at one o’clock in the morning.

Your letters get here very quickly and the letter I received this morning is post marked 1.20 PM yesterday so I shall be right up to date with your news. Poor Gladys has been unlucky again but I suppose she feels grateful for the few hours she had with him last week end but it really is scandalous about leave as none of the flying personnel have had any since Easter and I suppose at Xmas they will say “let me see you had last Xmas off

[page break]

so you cant [sic] expect this year off too”. As the R.A.F. is the only service fighting the war I suppose it is to be expected. The Dakar incident was a pretty poor show wasn’t it and I wouldn’t be surprised if the Japanese [deleted] yo [/deleted] joining the Axis wont [sic] scare America off of helping us. Still we shall win in the end but it will be the guts of the common people that win it not the blundering fools who organise it.

Your little gift will have to come next week end [sic] as I am almost broke but heres [sic] an anniversary kiss X for you and one for Pam X from

Your devoted husband
Harry xxxx

[page break]

[front of Anniversary card]

[page break]

Happy Days
from
Your husband with heaps of love and kisses
Harry xxxx

To wish you Joy and Happiness on your Wedding Anniversary.
Heartiest Congratulations
On this happy day
May the best that life can hold
For ever strew your way.
Hours of love and happiness
For ever with you be
Full of joyous memories,
And perfect unity.

[page break]

[reverse of card]