Letter from John Valentine to his wife Ursula

EValentineJRMValentineUM440903-0001.jpg
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Title

Letter from John Valentine to his wife Ursula

Description

Number 172-29. Delighted to get two letters from her and thrilled to hear of birthday gift although he states he is not a virtuoso on the violin. Red cross violin has not arrived but German one has been repaired. Catches up with family friends news and comments on his religious opinions.

Date

1944-09-03

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

EValentineJRMValentineUM440903

Transcription

Start of transcription

3rd Sept 1944.

My Darling Ursula. I was absolutely delighted to have 2 letters from you this week written 23rd & 30th April. I was really thrilled to hear of your birthday gift for me. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the thought although when I consider my present state of inefficiency I can’t help thinking that your kindness be wasted. I hope you’re not nurturing false hopes that you’ve become the wife of a virtuoso. I’m awful, bloody awful to be more exact. I’m afraid that nature made me a plodder & that even if I stick at it I’ll never be anything else at the fiddle. Anyway, I know that I’ll treasure your instrument more that any other I may own. The Red X fiddle hasn’t arrived yet but my own (a German one) has been repaired quite well & I’ll try to bring it home together with the bow so kindly sent for Sweden.

[several censored sentences]

I’m so glad to hear of Anns visit. I hope my parents come some time. Am eagerly looking forward to the photos of you, F & the house. I wish with all my heart that I could oblige you as the matter of “caring for” you & helping you in all your worries & anxieties. I wonder if the parcel will ever arrive - you definitely haven’t “boobed” in your choice of contents. With the current news, I often get quite optimistic but such spells don’t last long & I relapse into my usual passive resignation. I can see that we have a difference of opinion regarding one major aspect of life - the religious one. I’m convinced that Christianity is one one vast edifice of superstition - with possibly one fundamental truth but you seem to be a true believer which I never was & never will be nor do I now wish to be having seen the light. However I love you more than ever, which is almost impossible. Keep well & beautiful. Love to Frances. Ever your John.




[page break]

172 29

EXAMINER 5,858

[underlined] Kriegsgefangenenpost [/underlined]

An MRS U M. VALENTINE

FELMERSHAM

Empfangsort: BOTTRELLS LANE

Straße: CHALFONT ST. GILES

Kreis: BUCKS

Land: ENGLAND

Landesteil (Provinz usw.)

Absender:

Vor- und Zuname: Sgt. J. R. M. Valentine

Gefangenennummer: 450

Lager-Bezeichnung: M. - Stammlager [deleted] 357 [/deleted] LUFT III

Deutschland (Allemagne)

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/19464.

Item Relations

This item has no relations.