Letter from Ursula Valentine to her husband John Valentine
Title
Letter from Ursula Valentine to her husband John Valentine
Description
Writes about her letter writing schedule, weather, baby matters, news of brother and other family. Complains about radio news of Russia. Continues with domestic issues and news of internee she is helping. Addendum thanks for letter and urges him to get medical issues seen to.
Creator
Date
1941-08-03
Temporal Coverage
Language
Format
Two page typewritten letter with handwritten addendum
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.
Identifier
EValentineUMValentineJRM410803
Transcription
Lido, Sunday August 3rd
Darling Johnnie, It is now a quarter to ten, so I must hurry up with the beginning of this letter. I generally write my own news in the evening & then leave it open to see if there is a letter from you to reply to,& try to get the whole thing posted by noon. I wonder how long it takes to reach you. Of course I haven't any letter of yours to reply to today – how I wish there were Sunday posts! Peter hasn't turned up after all, I expect he decided that the weather was mending & he might as well have his last couple of days climbing. It certainly has been glorious today, a bit too hot for Frances I think. She was in her pram with the canopy up this afternoon but was awfully restive & grisly, & at about 4.30 I brought her in, in despair, & she dropped off to sleep in no time in her cot upstairs. It is a pity that branch dropped off the Maytree, it provided shade which we very much miss now – the Neales get it all! Barbara is on duty again tonight, so I am on my own. I wonder if we shall have a reprisal raid for the RAF's attack on Berlin. Several letters have come from India in the last few days, one dated May 10th by seamail arriving before June 8th airmail. I hope my letters with the photos of Frances have been getting through. I enclose one for you from Mother herewith.
I wonder if you listened to the 9 pm news tonight. I didn't like the way they presented the news from Russia, it left a nasty taste in one's mouth, it had such a patronising tone. They describe one RAF raid at great length & then add “The Russians aren't doing too badly either”, when millions of men are probably deciding our fate for us there. I've got an unpleasant feeling that they are preparing us for bad news. You will be sorry to hear that your wireless set blew up today. There was a blinding flash & a loud pop, & then silence & an awful smell. I suppose it was the valve that blew, & that costs about 7/6 to renew doesn't it? I propose to leave it & listen on the radiogram, unless you definitely want me to get it seen to. I went up to town last thing on Saturday evening specially to collect my bike which Thaine said would be ready, but of course it wasn't, & his shop isn't opening till Thursday now, so I shall just have to do without it.
The bathroom blackout seems to be a success. I must see to the nursery now, it needs a pelmet as the light shows over the top of the curtain. We are getting more cupboards & drawers turned out each day, one of these days it will all be finished. Mrs Somerville is supposed to be coming tomorrow, I hope she turns up. I had another answer to the advertisement yesterday, another nice looking woman from Hillview Gardens, just near here. I've passed her on to Mrs Greenish. If Mrs Stenzel comes, 3 days a week from Mrs Somerville will be plenty. You ask in your letter that I shall write to Mrs Stenzel to ask her to send you a pass. I suppose that was before you heard that she is being released & probably coming here. I doubt if there would be time now, letters are so long delayed in delivery there. It would have been quicker
[page break]
if you had written direct! However I think I'll write to her again & send her some money to pay her fare back to London, it has occurred to me that she may not have any & it will waste more time if she has to write & ask for it. If I send a cheque she need not cash it if she has enough cash, & anyway she can pay it back to me gradually.
I think I'll trot up to bed now, or it will be so late when I've finished Frances. I've read that book “Child of Misfortune” & enjoyed it although I don't think I understood it all. Parts of it were excellent, notably the description of a Fascist & one or two other things. Shall I send it to you, or are you too busy swotting? I hope you received the parcel I sent on Saturday, containing cake & cigarettes. Goodnight now, my sweetest one. I'm beginning to feel it's about time you came home on leave again, it seems such ages since you left, & life is only half worth living without you (viz for Frances). Monday
Thanks very much for your letter of 31st, a shorter one this time as you were going to bed early. I do so hope your sense of taste comes back soon, apparently its not all due to my evil influence. I should like to get that nose & throat of yours seen to properly once & for all, even if it meant an operation or something. At present its just a breeding ground for worse afflictions.
With all my love, darling one, Ursula.
PS Frances' hair is growing, her head looks golden all over now, instead of just on top.
Darling Johnnie, It is now a quarter to ten, so I must hurry up with the beginning of this letter. I generally write my own news in the evening & then leave it open to see if there is a letter from you to reply to,& try to get the whole thing posted by noon. I wonder how long it takes to reach you. Of course I haven't any letter of yours to reply to today – how I wish there were Sunday posts! Peter hasn't turned up after all, I expect he decided that the weather was mending & he might as well have his last couple of days climbing. It certainly has been glorious today, a bit too hot for Frances I think. She was in her pram with the canopy up this afternoon but was awfully restive & grisly, & at about 4.30 I brought her in, in despair, & she dropped off to sleep in no time in her cot upstairs. It is a pity that branch dropped off the Maytree, it provided shade which we very much miss now – the Neales get it all! Barbara is on duty again tonight, so I am on my own. I wonder if we shall have a reprisal raid for the RAF's attack on Berlin. Several letters have come from India in the last few days, one dated May 10th by seamail arriving before June 8th airmail. I hope my letters with the photos of Frances have been getting through. I enclose one for you from Mother herewith.
I wonder if you listened to the 9 pm news tonight. I didn't like the way they presented the news from Russia, it left a nasty taste in one's mouth, it had such a patronising tone. They describe one RAF raid at great length & then add “The Russians aren't doing too badly either”, when millions of men are probably deciding our fate for us there. I've got an unpleasant feeling that they are preparing us for bad news. You will be sorry to hear that your wireless set blew up today. There was a blinding flash & a loud pop, & then silence & an awful smell. I suppose it was the valve that blew, & that costs about 7/6 to renew doesn't it? I propose to leave it & listen on the radiogram, unless you definitely want me to get it seen to. I went up to town last thing on Saturday evening specially to collect my bike which Thaine said would be ready, but of course it wasn't, & his shop isn't opening till Thursday now, so I shall just have to do without it.
The bathroom blackout seems to be a success. I must see to the nursery now, it needs a pelmet as the light shows over the top of the curtain. We are getting more cupboards & drawers turned out each day, one of these days it will all be finished. Mrs Somerville is supposed to be coming tomorrow, I hope she turns up. I had another answer to the advertisement yesterday, another nice looking woman from Hillview Gardens, just near here. I've passed her on to Mrs Greenish. If Mrs Stenzel comes, 3 days a week from Mrs Somerville will be plenty. You ask in your letter that I shall write to Mrs Stenzel to ask her to send you a pass. I suppose that was before you heard that she is being released & probably coming here. I doubt if there would be time now, letters are so long delayed in delivery there. It would have been quicker
[page break]
if you had written direct! However I think I'll write to her again & send her some money to pay her fare back to London, it has occurred to me that she may not have any & it will waste more time if she has to write & ask for it. If I send a cheque she need not cash it if she has enough cash, & anyway she can pay it back to me gradually.
I think I'll trot up to bed now, or it will be so late when I've finished Frances. I've read that book “Child of Misfortune” & enjoyed it although I don't think I understood it all. Parts of it were excellent, notably the description of a Fascist & one or two other things. Shall I send it to you, or are you too busy swotting? I hope you received the parcel I sent on Saturday, containing cake & cigarettes. Goodnight now, my sweetest one. I'm beginning to feel it's about time you came home on leave again, it seems such ages since you left, & life is only half worth living without you (viz for Frances). Monday
Thanks very much for your letter of 31st, a shorter one this time as you were going to bed early. I do so hope your sense of taste comes back soon, apparently its not all due to my evil influence. I should like to get that nose & throat of yours seen to properly once & for all, even if it meant an operation or something. At present its just a breeding ground for worse afflictions.
With all my love, darling one, Ursula.
PS Frances' hair is growing, her head looks golden all over now, instead of just on top.
Collection
Citation
Ursula Valentine, “Letter from Ursula Valentine to her husband John Valentine ,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed April 26, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/19588.
Item Relations
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