Letter from John Valentine to his wife Ursula

EValentineJRMValentineUM431005-020001.jpg
EValentineJRMValentineUM431005-020002.jpg

Title

Letter from John Valentine to his wife Ursula

Description

Number 71-128. Discusses house purchase and that he will endorse any decisions she makes. Mentions financial issues, arrival of books and continuing study of violin.

Date

1943-10-05

Temporal Coverage

Language

Format

Two page handwritten letter

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

EValentineJRMValentineUM431005-02

Transcription

From Sgt JRM Valentine
POW No 450

to Mrs U M Valentine,
[deleted] Little close,
Devon Road, Salcombe, Devon [/deleted]

[inserted] Felmersham, Bottrell's Lane, Chalfont St Giles, Bucks [/inserted]

No 128 (71) 5th October 1943
Darling Ursula: My last missive was a card on 25th Sept. I now have yours of 22nd Aug, 2nd Sept but not xx I wonder if you have bought the house at C St Giles. From your description I share your opinion entirely. It's not what we wanted but if you see no other alternative you have my absolute approval should you buy it. The thought of you & Frances homeless worries me a lot. Life isn’t very easy for you, my darling & I can do just nothing to help. You can be sure though that I shall endorse every action of yours & you have my very fondest wishes for success. Having the example of High House before me I’m not banking on your having a home already but eagerly await news. I can’t say how delighted I am to hear that you have had something approaching a holiday but I don’t suppose it was very restful or beneficial. I endorse your wish that I could have one too but alas! I imagine from the figures you give that Inc. Tax is not being charged to my RAF a/c. 2 months ago I ordered all my credit to be paid to you & the weekly allowance to be increased to the maximum. Let me know if & when you get anything. Have had book parcel from ASV (2 by Shaw) & one from Sweden, Rolf AJORKLUND WITTSTOCKSGATAN, 4 Stockholm wish I could send a card to thank him - would you write for me. 2 of the books in his parcel are translations of Swedish books – I much appreciate his kindness. My struggles with fiddle are no better as ever – particularly over the questions of space. I manage to average 3 ½ hrs daily – here & there but I would do much more if I could find a regular haven. I am really going at it with all my might but everything seems to be against me. Kayers studies are a boon & I get a lot of pleasure & instruction from a book you sent months ago. It has an awful title “Old Master for Young Players” (arranged Moffatt, published Schott & son). You sent Book I, could you send Books II & III please. Also would you acquire, before I return, a good bow. My present one will do here but its an awful one.. Also if you could keep an eye open for a good instrument do so, but for God’s sake don’t spend a mint of money on me. My present one of course is poor. With luck one can sometimes pick up a reasonable fiddle for a mere song & that’s what I want you to do – if the occasion arises. Don’t worry if you can’t get one. You may think I’m making too much of a fuss over this fiddle, when you have so many more pressing worries but apart from letters from you & thoughts of you – it almost fills my whole life here. I earnestly hope you mange to settle down somewhere. I shall be anxious until I hear. My fondest love, dearest & a kiss for F John

Collection

Citation

John Ross Mckenzie Valentine, “Letter from John Valentine to his wife Ursula,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed March 29, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/19362.

Item Relations

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