Letter from John Valentine to his wife Ursula

Letter from John Valentine to his wife Ursula

Number 81-138. Complains about lack of mail and that he does not seem to get replies to his. Discusses house purchase and finances. Mentions letter he has letter belonging to Polish prisoner and to wish all his Polish friends well for 1944. Comments on poor weather and loss of sense of taste. Asks her for detailed description of house if purchase goes through.

1943-11-30

Two page handwritten letter

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EValentineJRMValentineUM431130

Start of transcription
30th Nov. 1943
STALAG LUFT III
LAGER “A”
Darling Ursula. I now have your letters, complete I think to 6th Oct. I do hope you’re getting mine at long last. I’ve been writing to you steadily for 6 months & had no reply to anything. It almost seems a waste of time. Delighted to hear that the Blg Society will advance money on the house & hope the purchase will go through. I’m very excited at the prospect but just a little anxious for the financial side. We’re assuming a bigger liability than I ever dared contemplate & I can only hope that we’ll pull through somehow. Re Inc. Tax relief, you get it only on the interest included in the monthly repayments – get Touches on to this. I should be most interested to know the rate which the Society is charging us. As to the increase in Touches dole I can only conclude that it results from some taxation adjustments. Ask them & let me know Incidentally you are unjust to them in your suspicions as to the reason for the pension scheme. Professional firms are not liable to E.P.T. Would you please write to Miss N. SAVAGE, IVY FARM, PILSLEY, CHESTERFIELD, DERBYSHIRE & ask her when next writing to Sgt. JOZEF KRAWIEC (POW.) to tell him I have his letter; am sorry I can’t answer it; have enquired after his two photos which are not yet forthcoming; will do what he asks if I get them. Please ask her to give him & my other Polish friends my best wishes for 1944. Conditions here continue unpleasantly. We have had a month of incessant wet – rain, sleet or snow and the [inserted] muddy [/inserted] state of the camp is indescribable. Fortunately our coal ration is just about adequate & we manage to keep warm & dry indoors. Will be glad when it freezes permanently so that we can walk about with dry feet. As I mentioned, my senses have gone again & will probably absent themselves until the summer (if then). I won’t bore you with future repetition but will let you know of any improvement. If the house purchase goes through I hope you’ll give me a detailed description of it. Is it detached, how far from station, how big garden etc. I hope you manage to get our furniture from David Hays & the piano from the other bloke. I wish we hadn’t left that other suite of furniture in that warehouse by the river in 1940! I’m afraid you’ll have a lot of hard work settling down & also you’ll be sadly short of cash for ordinary removal & “starting up” expenses. As a helpmeet I’m pretty useless I’m afraid, especially when I’m most needed. Best of luck for everything, my beloved – you’ll need it, I know. I’m throughly [sic] browned off here but not mad yet. Incidentally, my temper is foul – usually with myself though. I love you John.
[page break]
138 81
[stamp]
[underlined] Kriegsgefangenenpost [/underlined]
An MRS U. M. VALENTINE
[deleted] c/o LITTLE CLOSE [/deleted]
[inserted] FELMERSHAM [/inserted]
Empfangsort: [deleted] DEVON ROAD [/deleted]
[inserted] BOTTRELLS LANE [/inserted]
Strasse: [deleted] SALCOMBE [/deleted]
[inserted] CHALFONT ST GILES [/inserted]
Kreis: [deleted] DEVON [/deleted]
Land: [deleted] ENGLAND [/deleted]
[inserted] BUCKS. [/inserted]
[stamp]
[postmark]
Absender:
Vor- und Zuname: Sgt. J.R.M. VALENTINE
Gefangenennummer: 450
Lager-Bezeichnung: [deleted] Kriegsgefangenenlager Nr. 6 der Luftwaffe [/deleted]
[inserted] STALAG LUFT III LAGER “A” [/inserted]
Deutschland (Allemagne)