Letter to Leonard Cheshire from J R Campbell
Title
Letter to Leonard Cheshire from J R Campbell
Description
On headed note paper J Craven and Co Ltd, Adelaide, South Australia. Writes that he was glad that Cheshire had been able to find a pewter mug in memory of son. Notes they have had other bad news in that daughter's fiance Bruce Davies an air gunner on Lancaster had also lost his life. Daughter has been called up despite being in protected job as journalist.
Creator
Date
1943-12-29
Temporal Coverage
Spatial Coverage
Language
Format
One typewritten letter
Is Part Of
Publisher
Rights
This content is property of the Leonard Cheshire Archive which has kindly granted the International Bomber Command Centre Digital Archive a royalty-free permission to publish it. Please note that it was digitised by a third-party which used technical specifications that may differ from those used by International Bomber Command Centre Digital Archive. It has been published here ‘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.
Contributor
Identifier
SCheshireGL72021v10054
Transcription
J. Craven & Co. Ltd. file
RUNDLE STREET
ADELAIDE
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
29th December, 1943.
Group Captain L. Cheshire,
R.A.A.F. Base Station,
[underlined] MARTON MOOR. YORK. ENGLAND. [/underlined]
Dear G/C.,
Your letter of the 10th October arrived just on Christmas Eve, and it was to us a happy omen that you could find time to write to us.
I was glad to hear that you had been able to find a suitable Pewter Mug in memory of “son” and actually the idea came from two very great friends of mine in the Air Force, G/C Brown and Wing Commander Broadbent.
They are two chaps that a fellow who writes the letters that you do should some day meet and know.
Since last writing you we have has another kick in the pants in that my daughter's Fiance [sic], a lad named Bruce Davies who was an air gunner on a Lancaster in England has lost his life.
We received the cable informing us of this on the day that my daughter was called up in the Air Force in what we call here the Waafs.
At the tender age of eighteen she
[page break]
-2-
decided to fill son's uniform although at that time she was a Journalist on the afternoon paper here which is a protected industry (God knows why). The C.O. of her station graciously offered her a week's leave to recover from the shock, but being a Campbell, who already stabbed the MacDonalds in the back at Glencoe, she said ”No thank you, Sir” and carried on as if nothing had happened.
This letter will probably take some months to get to you, but, even if it is late, we wish you and yours all the best for 1944 and the hope that we might even meet you in that year.
With all the best wishes from the Campbell Family,
Yours very sincerely,
[underlined] J. R. Campbell [/underlined]
RUNDLE STREET
ADELAIDE
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
29th December, 1943.
Group Captain L. Cheshire,
R.A.A.F. Base Station,
[underlined] MARTON MOOR. YORK. ENGLAND. [/underlined]
Dear G/C.,
Your letter of the 10th October arrived just on Christmas Eve, and it was to us a happy omen that you could find time to write to us.
I was glad to hear that you had been able to find a suitable Pewter Mug in memory of “son” and actually the idea came from two very great friends of mine in the Air Force, G/C Brown and Wing Commander Broadbent.
They are two chaps that a fellow who writes the letters that you do should some day meet and know.
Since last writing you we have has another kick in the pants in that my daughter's Fiance [sic], a lad named Bruce Davies who was an air gunner on a Lancaster in England has lost his life.
We received the cable informing us of this on the day that my daughter was called up in the Air Force in what we call here the Waafs.
At the tender age of eighteen she
[page break]
-2-
decided to fill son's uniform although at that time she was a Journalist on the afternoon paper here which is a protected industry (God knows why). The C.O. of her station graciously offered her a week's leave to recover from the shock, but being a Campbell, who already stabbed the MacDonalds in the back at Glencoe, she said ”No thank you, Sir” and carried on as if nothing had happened.
This letter will probably take some months to get to you, but, even if it is late, we wish you and yours all the best for 1944 and the hope that we might even meet you in that year.
With all the best wishes from the Campbell Family,
Yours very sincerely,
[underlined] J. R. Campbell [/underlined]
Collection
Citation
J R Campbell, “Letter to Leonard Cheshire from J R Campbell,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed April 26, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/16892.
Item Relations
This item has no relations.