Letter from Bill Akrill to his mother

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Title

Letter from Bill Akrill to his mother

Description

Writes of insect bite and catches up with family news.

Excited that cadets now have own mess and, although not popular with the ground crew, aircrew need a special diet. Food is now much better and describes meals. Writes of flight up to near Aberdeen and about their weekly service in the 'Scotch Hut' which was to be broadcast on the BBC.

Creator

Date

1942-08-03

Temporal Coverage

Language

Format

Four page handwritten letter

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.

Contributor

Identifier

EAkrillWEAkrill{Mo}4208XX

Transcription

No 1436220 L.A.C. AKRILL
Hut 20. A.T.W.,
R.A.F. Station,
[deleted] Tue [/deleted] West Freugh,
AUGUST BANK HOLIDAY STRANRAER
MONDAY 1942 Scotland.

Dear Mum,

No end pleased to get your letter on Sat. Thought you seemed so worried over my bit of a sting I’d better let you know that it’s quite O.K. Forgot to mention it when I wrote last. All that’s left is a scar where the blister formed. I thought the other hand was going to follow suit when a thundering great bot-fly bit it & it swelled for a day. I think my blood must be turning sour to let such little things affect me!

Hope your [sic] not having too terrible a time with Mrs. H. going frantic & with the Terrible Infant. I suppose you wouldn’t mind having him alone.

Expect Mary will be camping this week. Is Nip with her as well? Hope the weather’s more settled though

[page break]

[underlined] 2 [/underlined]
I have my doubts. Hope you can get the 16 acre alright anyway.

Some very good news about [underlined] food [underlined]. As from yesterday morning the cadets get a mess of their own - a part of the Corporal’s Mess in fact. Afraid it may do something towards creating ill-feeling among the Ground Staff, but Air Crew does [sic] need a special diet. Yesterday for the first time here I had 3 [underlined] good [/underlined] meals. Breakfast - cornflakes, scrambled eggs (real) & beautifully cooked bacon, bread & butter, plenty of marmalade & buiscuits. [sic]. [deleted] The [/deleted] Dinner - Roast beef. New potatoes done beautifully in mint & some delicious green peas. Sultana roll & sauce. Those potatoes & peas were a treat. Tea - salad, - with tomatoe [sic] radishes & onions, cake b & b & jam. Well I ask for nothing better than that. Today breakfast was more on the old standards but dinner & tea were fine. Whats more the place is

[page break]

[underlined] 3 [/underlined]
kept quite clean, with white oilcloth table cloths, sweet bread, & little pots of jam. The Waafs are clean too. I still can’t believe it’s true & [underlined] can’t [/underlined] believe it will last. I’ve even sat down to eat with an appetite & got up feeling full & satisfied. Up to yesterday I’d eaten about enough to keep a mouse alive since getting back.

We had an interesting trip the other day up to a lovely wee town among the pine forests of the Highlands not far from Aberdeen. We passed close by Glasgow, Edinboro’ & Dundee & had a magnificent view of the Tay & Forth Bridges. We are night flying tonight - worse luck.

Must tell you this. Listen in a fortnight next Sunday night 24 [underlined] th [/underlined] August. Our weekly service in the Scotch Hut is being broadcast. I don’t know quite what time it will

[page break]

[underlined] 4 [/underlined]
be. We normally hold it at 8 o’clock but I suppose it will have to fall in with B.B.C. programmes. I think the Padre will be very good. The [inserted] Camp [/inserted] Male Voice Choir & some Waafs will sit in the front to do the singing but I hope to be there as usual unless flying or lectures keep me back. So look out for announcement for a “Service from an Air Force Camp somewhere in Scotland” Possibly it’s the usual “ Sunday Half Hour” on the force’s at 7.30. every Sunday when they have community Hymn Singing. I was late for the Service last night & didn’t quite get all the gen.

Well there’s not much to tell you. Be seeing you 6 weeks on Saturday. Not long really for there’s tons of work to be done & it will soon pass - for me anyway. Think David was home last week end. Hope Ros’s teeth are not bothering her. Love [underlined] Bill [/underlined]

Collection

Citation

William Akrill, “Letter from Bill Akrill to his mother,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed March 29, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/17996.

Item Relations

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