Letter from Ursula Valentine to her husband John Valentine

Letter from Ursula Valentine to her husband John Valentine

Glad to hear him and hopes he will ring as often as possible as it is a good way to spend money. It means a lot to her as she need not worry for at least a night and desperately watch for the postman. Was sorry top hear of lost crews. Tells him not to fly with cold but see the MO. Mentions letters she is writing and other activities. Next day reports arrival of letter and asks that he tell her as much as possible about his trips. Comments on his description of escape kit and mentions sending parcels. Encloses snaps of daughter Frances taken on her birthday.

1942-04-12

Four page handwritten letter

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.

EValentineUMValentineJRM420412

No9 Lido; Sunday 12.4.42
My darling Johnnie, It was grand to her your voice again last night; I had only just that moment got in from a Savings Group expedition – wouldn't I have been furious if I had missed your call! I do hope you will ring up as often as possible, it's a good way of spending the money that you can't spend on entertainments while you are cooped up in camp, & it is certainly worth a vast amount to me. I know that I needn't worry for one night at least – since I presume you never go two nights running, & needn't watch out for the postman so desperately. I was awfully sorry to
[page break]
2.
hear about Woodhead & Marshall, we can only hope that they have been taken prisoner.
I was so sorry to hear about your cold. Please don't neglect it, darling. You know what you were told about flying with your head full of mucous Please let the M.O. see about it. How I wish that I were there to look after you! It is 11 pm now, & I have been writing a long letter to my mother & one to yours, to thank her for a birthday card to Frances & to report your progress to fame. So I think I'd better pack up & go to bed. Ba is on duty tonight. Mary Simmonds & her son David came to tea this afternoon. I went to Matins this morning – meant to go to Communion at 7.15 but overslept!
[page break]
3.
[underlined] Monday 13.4.42 [/underlined] Your letter of Saturday, written between telephone calls, arrived this morning. You say you vowed not to “shoot a line”, but please do tell me as much about your trips as you can, I love to hear, & it isn't really shooting a line at all. I like the sound of your escape kit – what about a couple of clean collars & a shirt as well? And what on earth is the whistle for? Talking of compasses haven't you been issued with these patent buttons yet on your battledress?
Anyway I hope you will have received your parcel by now. I am sending off your pyjamas today – don't you need the clean shirt yet
[page break]
or any of your socks? I am not sending them, according to instructions, but don't hesitate to change your collars & socks as often as you like & send the surplus to me to wash. They are no bother & I do washing nearly every day. I enclose two snaps of Frances taken on Sunday to commemorate her 1st birthday. Of course these are only rough daylight prints made on paper about 7 years old, & Ba will make some decent prints as soon as she has time. There are other views, all fairly solemn – but very like her, don't you think? I do hope you'll ring up again soon. Time seems to pass so slowly without you, it seems simply ages since you went away. The arabis is in flower now, but the seeds aren't through yet. All my love to you Ursula