Letter to John Valentine from his wife Ursula

Letter to John Valentine from his wife Ursula

Writes that she was glad to get two letters from him and hopes that he is recovering from his operation. Describes journey to Salcombe and activities at her parents home. Catches up with family news and mentions putting £22 in post office account.

1945-12-21

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.

EValentineUMValentineJRM451221

Little Close, Friday 21st Dec.
My darling Johnnie, It was grand to find your first letter awaiting me here & to have another one this morning. I'm glad you were well enough to write, though I can well imagine that your face must have been feeling horribly sore. Poor darling, I do hope the swelling has gone down a bit now, & that you are able to eat a bit more. You must get organised by Christmas , anyway, for they are sure to give you a pukkah dinner (you see the Hindustani is coming out in me already!)
We had a very pleasant journey down. We adopted your tactics of staying on the platform we arrived at in Paddington, so avoiding the queue & securing nice corner seats! The only snag was we missed the bus at Salcombe, so had to have a taxi, after all. Yesterday evening we were introduced to the Winter family who seem a very nice crowd. They are all coming to a party here on Monday & we all go to them on Sunday. Drag (Peter's best man) is coming after all & bringing Ba down by car arriving this evening. Peter & Winifred tomorrow evening, also by car.
My people seem well, tho' Mother looks rather tired which is hardly to be wondered at. She suggested at once that I should go up after Xmas & fetch you down here for your sick leave, or part of it, but I told her you'd rather be at home & explained how many odd jobs you have to get on with. They are all very sorry that you are not to be here for Christmas – me most of all, needless to say. Mother has sold the double bed & got 2 singles & an interior sprung mattress for her own with the cash - & put £22 or 3 in the post office, so it was a good exchange otherwise there are not many changes here. Ba & I will be sharing the double room, & Peter & Winifred sleep at the Garrards.
Must stop now or I shall miss the post. All my love to you, my dearest, I miss you terribly, but we shall soon be together again. I do hope the pain is not too bad now. I do hate to think of you suffering. Yours always, Ursula.