Postcard from John Valentine to his wife Ursula
Title
Postcard from John Valentine to his wife Ursula
Description
Number 9. Asks for more food parcels and whether firm has any connections that could send regular consignments. Discusses possibility of her moving out to countryside for the duration or acquiring a rural residence near London making a start with their own home.
Creator
Date
1942-07-09
Temporal Coverage
Language
Format
Two side handwritten postcard
Publisher
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.
Identifier
EValentineJRMValentineUM401109
Transcription
Mrs U.M. Valentine
Lido
Tenterden Grove
Hendon, London N W 4
England
From
John R.M. Valentine
M-Stammlager Luft 3
Deutchland
Censor stamps P.W. 3313 Gerpruft 32
No. 8 3-7-42
My dearest Ursula: Am glad to say that I am at last feeling much more like myself since my constitution is slowly adjusting itself to the new conditions (one and a half lines blacked out by the censor) This can only be done from outside the Empire since all Empire food parcels are pooled and communally distributed. Would you ask (1) Jes Zwanenberg if any of his friends in Holland, America etc (2) Grunfeld if his connections in Sweden, Turkey etc (3) My parents if friends in Argentina or America could help us – and anyone else you know. We want regular parcels – not merely one Please also arrange for a regular flow of tobacco and cigarettes, which, duty free, are not costly. Get all the support you can for the Red Cross for their magnificent work (1 ½ lines censored) Sorry always to be asking for things – here another request for a pair of walking shoes at the first available opportunity I’m deeply ashamed of my personal appearance. Having no razor or shaving brush I now possess a five weeks beard. When our plane was hit I was drenched TO THE SKIN in oil and I had to wash every article of clothing. My uniform shrank several sizes and was still very discoloured and being my only costume I look like a scarecrow. Everyone is the same, the camp population closely resembling a crowd of beggars clothed in every conceivable type of tattered garment. What an age it seems since I last saw phoned or had a letter from you. You are always in my thoughts, my darling. Ever yours
John
Lido
Tenterden Grove
Hendon, London N W 4
England
From
John R.M. Valentine
M-Stammlager Luft 3
Deutchland
Censor stamps P.W. 3313 Gerpruft 32
No. 8 3-7-42
My dearest Ursula: Am glad to say that I am at last feeling much more like myself since my constitution is slowly adjusting itself to the new conditions (one and a half lines blacked out by the censor) This can only be done from outside the Empire since all Empire food parcels are pooled and communally distributed. Would you ask (1) Jes Zwanenberg if any of his friends in Holland, America etc (2) Grunfeld if his connections in Sweden, Turkey etc (3) My parents if friends in Argentina or America could help us – and anyone else you know. We want regular parcels – not merely one Please also arrange for a regular flow of tobacco and cigarettes, which, duty free, are not costly. Get all the support you can for the Red Cross for their magnificent work (1 ½ lines censored) Sorry always to be asking for things – here another request for a pair of walking shoes at the first available opportunity I’m deeply ashamed of my personal appearance. Having no razor or shaving brush I now possess a five weeks beard. When our plane was hit I was drenched TO THE SKIN in oil and I had to wash every article of clothing. My uniform shrank several sizes and was still very discoloured and being my only costume I look like a scarecrow. Everyone is the same, the camp population closely resembling a crowd of beggars clothed in every conceivable type of tattered garment. What an age it seems since I last saw phoned or had a letter from you. You are always in my thoughts, my darling. Ever yours
John
Collection
Citation
John Ross Mckenzie Valentine, “Postcard from John Valentine to his wife Ursula,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed April 25, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/19211.
Item Relations
This item has no relations.