Letter from John Valentine to his wife Ursuala

Letter from John Valentine to his wife Ursuala

He writes about commencing training at Aberystwyth and that it is intense but he is enjoying it much more than previous training. Mentions London has had some nasty nights which worries him.

1940-12-30

Four page handwritten letter

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.

EValentineJRMValentineUM401230

Start of transcription
[inserted] [underlined] Thursday Dinner time [/underlined] No letter yet darling & am sending this off instead of waiting any longer all my love John [/inserted]
1251404 AC2 Valentine
1 Squadron D Flight
R.A.F
Queens Hotel
Aberystwyth
Wales – 30/12/40
My Dearest Ursula,
We have at last started work in real earnest for today has been one long hurricane of activity from 6.30 am until I closed down two minutes ago at 9 pm. Without any exaggeration I have not had a moments idleness the whole time, even during the meal times. This station is incredibly different from any that I have been at yet – it’s [deleted] is [/deleted] organisation [deleted] perso [/deleted] is quite beyond reproach. We have been given a programme which occupies every single hour of duty for the whole eight weeks of the course and they adhere to it very faithfully. It is very strict indeed especially on such points as promptitude, smartness, behaviour and implicit obedience. Nevertheless there is a complete absence
[page break]
of the bullying attitude that was so objectionable at Bridgnorth. If every day is like today I shall be very happy here (except that I miss you terribly) for I love getting on with the job instead of stagnating as I have been doing for so many weeks. All the fellows in my Flight are exceedingly keen (at the moment) but I don’t think that many will slack off later on. I have done a few hours swatting this evening Fortunately we have at last a fairly suitable room for studies – not ideal but better than any we have met hitherto. It is in our own pet naafe in the basement of the hotel & amongst its blessings are the absence of piano & radio. It is warm enough and as the only game allowed is darts there are no inducements to rowdyism. There are quite a number of small tables in it and I have been able to enjoy the undisputed possession of one for the whole evening & have not been disturbed by the low rumble of voices of the others present in the room
[page break]
That is the scheme on which all our days’ work are to be based so I shan’t have a lot of time to go astray but I feel that I will enjoy it.
And now about you. I hope that your cold is better – quite better & I hope that you are quite well otherwise London has had some nasty nights recently according to the press. Would to God that you weren’t there – it worries me a lot. It is possible that I shall stay on here for three weeks or more after completion of my course for postings to later training centres are invariably slower in winter time owing to interference with flying caused by bad weather & short days. If I can get any assurance on this point would you consider coming here if we can get suitable [deleted] house [/deleted] digs & a good nursing home is at hand. I shouldn’t see you much during the day but I could swot with you in the evenings & we get every Sunday free & I now beleive [sic] Saturday afternoon as well. Times up darling – will continue tomorrow – Lots of love John.