Letter from John Valentine to his wife Ursula

Letter from John Valentine to his wife Ursula

Number 54 (111). Writes that new camp is not as good as last due to lack of facilities which will take a long time to develop. Mentions new barracks housing 26. Asks her to see if anyone would would send his new hut leader some cigarettes. Worried by lack of news and mail as well as poor climate in new camp. Disturbed by move from previous camp where he was busy but now has much time on his hands. His violin is backbone of his activities.

1943-07-05

Two page handwritten letter

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EValentineJRMValentineUM430705

54 (111)
5th July, 1943
My Dearest Ursula: We have been here long enough now to realise that it is far from being as good a camp as the last. It will be a long time before we have enough room for a sports field & [inserted] the site of [/inserted] a theatre is still under discussion & when that is settled we shall have to build it. A library is promised soon & also a few rooms for education purposes. The big obstacle to all our plans is lack of space. However, given time, we hope to be able to build up something worth while. My fiddle practice is still a dead loss since [censored]
Hans Lensing & Louis Dew Boer in a small wooden barrack housing only 26 Frank Pepper is the room leader & it was at his invitation that we moved in. By the way, if anyone would like to send him a few fags. I’m sure he would appreciate them. I gave him 200 myself a week or two ago & have also given him odd lots tobacco occasionally. I like him a lot more than I did at first. I have also got rid of all my surplus clothes to various new P.O.Ws but have retained enough of everything. One big thing that we lack here is news. We used to hear quite a lot at the last camp but since we moved we have almost completely lost touch with the outer world – absence of mail also aggravates that feeling. The climate here is wretched – dull cold & windy in marked contrast with that at Luft III. I have been curiously disturbed by the move. At Luft III I had got into a “lovely” rut. I was fully occupied & worked quite hard – but here I have much more time on my hands but cannot settle down to a regular routine. Once my fiddle gets going (if ever) I shall be alright for it is more or less the back bone of my activities & I’ll build other things around it. I long for you all the time & often try to picture Frances from the photos you send. My fondest love to you both Always yours John.
[page break]
[underlined] Kriegsgefangenenpost [/underlined]
[postmark] GEPRUFT 74 [/postmark]
An MRS U M VALENTINE
[inserted] Little Close [/inserted] [deleted] LIDO [/deleted]
[inserted] Devon Rd [/inserted] Empfangsort: [deleted] TENTERDEN GROVE [/deleted]
[inserted] Salcombe [/inserted] StraBe: [deleted] HENDON [/deleted]
[inserted] Devon [/inserted] Kreis: [deleted] LONDON NW4 [/deleted]
Land: ENGLAND
Landesteil (Provinz usw.)
[postmark] PASSED P.W.391 [/postmark]
[underlined] Gebuhrenfrei! [underlined]
Absender:
Vor- und Zuname: Sgt JRm Valentine
Gefangenennummer: 454
Lager-Bezeichnung: Kriegsgefangenenlager Nr.6 der Luftwaffe
[inserted] VIA STALAG LUFT III [/inserted]
[underlined] Deutschland (Allemagne) [/underlined]
[page break]