Letter from John Valentine to his wife Ursula

Letter from John Valentine to his wife Ursula

Number 148-35. Remind her of anniversary of event 5 years ago and that some more letters from her have arrived. Mentions playing violin and is delighted with photographs of daughter. Assures her that her letters are not trivial. Congratulates her on recent furniture purchase and says that life in camp is grim and each move is worse. Cannot catalogue disadvantages as would not pass censor.

1944-10-29

Two page handwritten letter

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EValentineJRMValentineUM441029

29th Oct 1944

My dearest Ursula: Do you remember what happened 5 years ago tonight? I have been thinking of it a lot & wishing that we were able to celebrate the anniversary together I hope you regret your acceptance of my offer as little as I regret making it. My only regret is that I didn’t do so years earlier. Your letters of 4th & 11th June are here & also 19th Aug. Series completed to 17th June. You mention my learning Dutch – please forget it. I am no longer with the Dutchmen & even when I was they gave me no help. I still seize every opportuning of fiddling [censored] you suggest I’m badly in need of good tuition for I get little or no help from fellow POWs. I’m delighted with the Polyfoto’s of Frances & have perused them often. Could you possibly gratify me with a similar collection of likenesses of my beloved wife? She is the one for whom I care most in this world & I can’t tell you how deeply I’d appreciate gazing at some new & decent photos of her. Please dearest – please – do this for me. You suggest that your letters might be “awfully trivial” to me but I assure you positively that they are not. I enjoy every single word of the two typewritten sides & congratulate myself on having a wife willing to write so regularly at such length. Other fellow [sic] get those awful brief letter forms, which, like this, barely contain room for a greeting. Congratulations on your purchase of furniture etc. in Devon. You certainly never relax your efforts for our home. As to life here – it is grim in the extreme. Every move I’ve made has been for the worse. The only advantages of this camp are its large size & pleasant (fairly) surroundings. I wont catalogue its disadvantages because the censor wouldn’t pass them [censored]

[page break]

178 35

[underlined] Kriegsgefangenenpost [/underlined]

[stamp containing crown PASSED P.W. 3001]

M[underlined] RS [/underlined] U M VALENTINE
‘FELMERSHAM”
Empfangsort: BOTTRELLS LANE
Strasse: CHALFONT ST GILES
Kreis: BUCKS
Land: ENGLAND
Landesteil (Provinz usw.)

[stamp GEPRUFT 49]

Absender:

Vor- und Zuname: W/o JRM VALENTINE
Gefangenennummer: 450
Lager-Bezeichnung: S.-Stammlager [deleted] 357 [/deleted} LUFT III
[underlined] Deutschland (Allemagne} [/underlined]

[underlined] Gebuhrenfreil [/underlined]