Letter from John Valentine to his wife Ursula

Letter from John Valentine to his wife Ursula

Number 17. Reports no letters arrived and catches up with friends/family matters. He recalls the time around France’s birth and how tough the time has been for Ursula since then. Writes of health issues. Mentions a play 'The Merchant of Venice' is being presented the next day but will be the last one in costumes as Germans have banned them. Reports on ingenuity of inmates making models and other items. Reminisces over first operation and how much he enjoyed ops. Catches up with friend/family.

1943-04-03

Two page handwritten letter

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EValentineJRMValentineUM430403

NUMBER 17. 3 – 4 – 43.
My Dearest Ursula: No mail form you to acknowledge but I had two from AST with quite a lot of news. I gather that Irene is leaving the WAAF’S Is the reason the obvious one. If so – give her my very best wishes. The approach of Frances’ birthday brings back very vivid memories of the months before & after her birth 2 years ago. What a tough time of it you had, When everything is viewed in retrospect? You came through it all nobly – very few other girls could have put up with all those trials alone & unaided. What a pig I was, to force you to go through a time like that is such circumstances with nothing planned & miserable accommodation before & immediately after the happy event. Yet you won through with flying colours & I am terribly proud of you. As a matter of fact I am proud of everything you do & have done since we were married. I certainly have a lot of delightful memories of you to conjure up when things here tend to be more depressing than usual. [deleted[ However [/deleted] Apart from odd bouts of tastelessness I am very fit just now & find the rations quite ample. I have had a lot of trouble for some weeks with spots all over my body, I thought at first they were fleas for our barracks had a dose of them. But the spots persisted, particularly around my middle but then seem to be on the wane now. I had no other symptoms of anything wrong & put them down to minor blood disorder. The Merchant of Venice is being presented tomorrow night – it will be the last show for which we shall be allowed to have costumes – the Germans having banned such procedure for future productions However I’ve no doubt that the fellows will contrive to make excellent costumes out of almost nothing. The incredible ingenuity of the fellows here thrills me. They have made several excellent timekeeping alooks [sic], one out of scraps of wood & the other form old tins. Model steam engines & a steam driven model boat (which actually goes) have been made from empty tin cans – and a host of others really wonderful models or bits of machinery have been made. It must be nearly a year now since I did my first Op. I don’t suppose you would like to have those days back again, but I wouldn’t mind. No boasting – I really enjoyed each op. especially immediately after landing. I was very glad to hear that Heath was still alive & kicking. May he continue so. My love to you both, dearest & to Ba. Keep fit & cheerful John.
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76
[sticker] EXAMINER 3310 [/sticker]
[underlined] Kriegsgefangenenpost [/underlined]
[postmark] GEPRUFT 64 [/postmark]
An MRS U. M. VALENTINE
LIDO
Empfangsort: TENTERDEN GROVE
StraBe: HENDON
Kreis: LONDON, N.W.4
Land: ENGLAND
Landesteil (Provinz usw.)
[underlined] Gebunrenfrei! [/underlined]
[sticker] P.C.90 OPENED BY [/sticker]
Absender:
Vor- und Zuname: Sgt JRm Valentine
Gefangenennummer: 450
Lager-Bezeichnung: M.-Stammlager Luft 3
[underlined] Deutschland (Germany) [/underlined]
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