Letter from John Valentine to his wife Ursula
Title
Letter from John Valentine to his wife Ursula
Description
No 67-124. Reports her letters and photographs that have arrived. Regrets that house purchase has fallen through. Discusses possible ways forward. Writes he is still having problems with learning violin. Catches up with family/friends. Sends thanks for tobacco donations.
Creator
Date
1943-09-15
Temporal Coverage
Spatial Coverage
Language
Format
Two page handwritten letter
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.
Contributor
Identifier
EValentineJRMValentineUM430915
Transcription
Start of transcription
15th Sept 1943.
Dearest Ursula. Your letters 71 & 72 came today, with two lovely photos of my darling wife for whom I yearn passionately I was bitterly disappointed to learn that the negotiations for High House had fallen through. Since first hearing of it 3 weeks ago I had deluded myself that it was already ours & built a lot of castles in the air based on that assumption. I’m terribly sorry that you should have all the worry & trouble while I do not also serve but merely stand & wait. Bless you for everything you do. I hate to think of you & Frances being homeless & fervently hope that you can find somewhere to settle down, if only until I come back. My very best wishes for success, dearest. I’m sorry that Lido has gone out of the family. Some of my most sublimely happy memories are associated with it (and Ashley Lane!) Would it be a proposition to offer £1000 (say) for High House & spend the saving on improvements. A Sgt K. McArthur in this camp has a brother-in-law who is an estate agent – D.L. Thomas Bucklesbury, Hitchin & also knows a firm of Simmons Estate Agents Letchworth. If you write to these & mention his name he is sure they will help all they can. I am having an uphill struggle with the fiddle here. Every concievable [sic] obstacle seems to arise to thwart my efforts. I badly need a proper instructor(though Harry Friend does his best for me) I’m flat out of strings – haven’t had an “A” for months, have exhausted all my music & now to crown it have been evicted from the one & only possible practice room [censored words] The authorities [censored words] & can’t imagine that I retire to that [censored words] merely to practice a fiddle. They think I’m [censored words] I’m trying to get the order countermanded. Practice was difficult enough at Luft III but here its ten times worse. I hope some strings are on the way. I need them badly. I’m sorry to hear that my mail is not arriving – I write regularly & as often as I can. I hope you have enjoyed your stay at Gable End. When is Bunty expected to add to her family? By the time you get this 4 years will have elapsed since our engagement. I think of you all the time & will do so particularly on 29th Oct. I assure you that I’m still of the same mind as I was then – only very much more so. It was a happy day for me & has been followed by more joy than I dreamt possible - & there is much more to come – of that I’m certain – I only wish I knew that it would start soon. Thanks to unknown friends & relatives I have a fair stock of smokes now (which I can taste) & will be able to withstand any interruptions in supplies for a while. Fondest love to both of you & very heartest wishes for success in your struggles. John
[page break]
67 – 124
[underlined] Kriegsgefangenenpost [/underlined]
[stamp]
An MRS U. M. VALENTINE
[deleted] LIDO [/deleted] [inserted] Little Close
Devon Rd [/inserted]
Empfangsort: [deleted] TENTERDEN GROVE [/deleted]
Strasse: [deleted] HENDON [/deleted] [inserted] Salcombe [/inserted]
Kreis: [deleted] LONDON N.W.4 [/deleted] [inserted] Devon [/inserted]
Land: ENGLAND
[stamp]
Absender:
Vor- und Zuname: Sgt John Valentine
Gefangenennummer: 450
Lager-Bezeichnung: [deleted] Kriegsgefangenenlager Nr. 6 der Luftwaffe [/deleted]
[inserted] Stalag Luft III [/inserted]
Deutschland (Allemagne)
15th Sept 1943.
Dearest Ursula. Your letters 71 & 72 came today, with two lovely photos of my darling wife for whom I yearn passionately I was bitterly disappointed to learn that the negotiations for High House had fallen through. Since first hearing of it 3 weeks ago I had deluded myself that it was already ours & built a lot of castles in the air based on that assumption. I’m terribly sorry that you should have all the worry & trouble while I do not also serve but merely stand & wait. Bless you for everything you do. I hate to think of you & Frances being homeless & fervently hope that you can find somewhere to settle down, if only until I come back. My very best wishes for success, dearest. I’m sorry that Lido has gone out of the family. Some of my most sublimely happy memories are associated with it (and Ashley Lane!) Would it be a proposition to offer £1000 (say) for High House & spend the saving on improvements. A Sgt K. McArthur in this camp has a brother-in-law who is an estate agent – D.L. Thomas Bucklesbury, Hitchin & also knows a firm of Simmons Estate Agents Letchworth. If you write to these & mention his name he is sure they will help all they can. I am having an uphill struggle with the fiddle here. Every concievable [sic] obstacle seems to arise to thwart my efforts. I badly need a proper instructor(though Harry Friend does his best for me) I’m flat out of strings – haven’t had an “A” for months, have exhausted all my music & now to crown it have been evicted from the one & only possible practice room [censored words] The authorities [censored words] & can’t imagine that I retire to that [censored words] merely to practice a fiddle. They think I’m [censored words] I’m trying to get the order countermanded. Practice was difficult enough at Luft III but here its ten times worse. I hope some strings are on the way. I need them badly. I’m sorry to hear that my mail is not arriving – I write regularly & as often as I can. I hope you have enjoyed your stay at Gable End. When is Bunty expected to add to her family? By the time you get this 4 years will have elapsed since our engagement. I think of you all the time & will do so particularly on 29th Oct. I assure you that I’m still of the same mind as I was then – only very much more so. It was a happy day for me & has been followed by more joy than I dreamt possible - & there is much more to come – of that I’m certain – I only wish I knew that it would start soon. Thanks to unknown friends & relatives I have a fair stock of smokes now (which I can taste) & will be able to withstand any interruptions in supplies for a while. Fondest love to both of you & very heartest wishes for success in your struggles. John
[page break]
67 – 124
[underlined] Kriegsgefangenenpost [/underlined]
[stamp]
An MRS U. M. VALENTINE
[deleted] LIDO [/deleted] [inserted] Little Close
Devon Rd [/inserted]
Empfangsort: [deleted] TENTERDEN GROVE [/deleted]
Strasse: [deleted] HENDON [/deleted] [inserted] Salcombe [/inserted]
Kreis: [deleted] LONDON N.W.4 [/deleted] [inserted] Devon [/inserted]
Land: ENGLAND
[stamp]
Absender:
Vor- und Zuname: Sgt John Valentine
Gefangenennummer: 450
Lager-Bezeichnung: [deleted] Kriegsgefangenenlager Nr. 6 der Luftwaffe [/deleted]
[inserted] Stalag Luft III [/inserted]
Deutschland (Allemagne)
Collection
Citation
John Ross Mckenzie Valentine, “Letter from John Valentine to his wife Ursula,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed July 22, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/19356.
Item Relations
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