Letter from Bill Akrill to his mother

EAkrillWEAkrill[Mo]420701-0001.jpg
EAkrillWEAkrill[Mo]420701-0002.jpg
EAkrillWEAkrill[Mo]420701-0003.jpg
EAkrillWEAkrill[Mo]420701-0004.jpg

Title

Letter from Bill Akrill to his mother

Description

Bill opens with finance matters (it is pay day) and that he is doing the same old routine flying over north-western Scotland, Northern Ireland, northern England and Wales. Would like to fly nearer Lincoln (home) occasionally. Now on bombing course and busy on the trainer. Bill describes the use of the 'bombing teacher' which projects film of Germany on a floor and enables training in bomb aiming (includes sketch).

He has no definite news on leave but longs to come home where he can eat well and have uninterrupted sleep.

The boys from his former offer have sent him a large bundle of magazines which have been greatly appreciated by the men.

Creator

Date

1942-07-01

Temporal Coverage

Language

Format

Four page handwritten letter including sketch.

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]420701

Transcription

No 1436220 L.A.C. Akrill.
Hut. 20. R.A.F. STN:.
W. Freugh.
Wigtownshire.
Wed: 1.7.42.
Dear Mum,
Pay day today so I thought I may as well send it off home as I got it There’s £5. Think I can save a good £2 a week here which is a bit more than I could at S.W. & Co’s.
Nothing at all interesting to tell you. Same old [deleted] daily [/deleted] [inserted] weekly [/inserted] routine. Flights over the same old country. N. W. Scotland, N. Yorkshire, the Lake District, N. Wales & N. Ireland are just like a daily walk round the garden. Wish we could come to the Midlands or N. Scotland for a change. If I do come to Lincoln & have a decent pilot I’ll get him to run down to Potter Hill & shoot you up & also let me take some photos. I can always [deleted] sa [/deleted] enter on my report “Testing Camera” & try to get the
[page break]
Photo Section to let me have them. Our cameras take good photos.
On the Bombing Course we’re now busy in the Bombing Teacher. Have a sort of cinematograph film projected on the smooth floor. It’s [deleted] afrom [/deleted] from p [sic] an aerial photo of a part of Germany & when set in motion moves as if we were flying over it. We sprawl over it with our Bomb Sight. The film can be varied for different heights, speeds & winds. They certainly have some wonderful ideas for training us.
[drawing]
Still no definite gen on leave but we’re all hoping that it will start a fortnight on Friday. Gosh I’m certainly ready for it. The constant strain’s beginning to tell. A week’s rest when I can be sure of a night’s rest & a good meal & be able to do just as I like will work wonders. Last night just as I’d got to sleep at getting on for midnight & feeling dead tired
[page break]
I was wakened up to be informed I had to collect all my materials & instruments ready for getting up to fly at 6 next morning. I was flying the night before & during the day so I’m ready for a good long night tonight! Dearest mum, I’m longing to see you waiting with a great big kiss & a hefty piece of rabbit pie. Ask Ros if she’s finished off that bottle of brambles! You’d think by these letters that all I thought about was eating & all I wanted leave for was to get a good feed but I’ve been used to the two best cooks in the world & miss them.
Heard from David again. He’s been in Sick Quarters with laryngitis, but seems O.K. Sent me a very amusing account of his uniform (which seems [deleted] ver [/deleted] rather complicated) complete with diagrams. His mum & dad are going over to see him on Saturday.
The people from the office sent me a big bundle of magazines last week. You should have seen how the boys pounced on them! Its impossible
[page break]
to get anything like that here.
Well, pop along for a cup of tea & bun & then come back for a wash & bed.
Love to all of you
[underlined] Bill [/underlined]
xxx

Collection

Citation

William Akrill, “Letter from Bill Akrill to his mother,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed March 28, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/18049.

Item Relations

This item has no relations.