Letter from Terry Ford to his parents

Letter from Terry Ford to his parents

A letter from Terry Ford to his famliy where he writes about his pleasant crossing back to England and that he is hoping to be on leave the following Tuesday or Wednesday. He is amazed by the greeting they received upon arrival back in Harrogate and the changes which have occurred.

1943-07-30

Four handwritten sheets

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EFordTAFord[Fam]430730-0002,
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P/O FORD. T.A.
RAF.
QUEEN HOTEL,
HARROGATE,
YORKS.
30 – 7 – 43
Dear Folks,
Here I am back in England [deleted] this wa [/deleted] after a very pleasant crossing, & I must say things area a lot better than I expected.
I hope you got my cable O.K., & I shall probably be coming on leave next Tuesday or Wednesday. It should have been this week–end but as it is a Bank Holiday I don’t suppose they will let us travel. At any rate we should have quite a good time as they have organised a Stay at Home
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holiday here.
Pete Lamb is still on the other side, continuing training, but John Cox is with me
I have met chaps I knew all the way through training at various times, & its interesting to see how they have all ended up.
I’m certainly glad I went on that G.R. course for many reasons, one of which is that, the Canadian pay being twice as much as home here, I was able to completely kit myself out, including 2 uniforms & still have a little cash to spare.
The other reasons are that I saw one of the really nice parts of Canada for a change & the third & most important is that I have quite a fair chance to get on something for which I have
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always nursed a somewhat optimistic desire.
I don’t know if Harrogate is a particularly lucky town, but I was amazed to see loads of clothes & silk – like stockings in the shops, & smartly dressed men walking about. I was under the impression that people were wearing any old thing.
Another thing that amazed us was the reception people gave us in the places we passed through to get here. Waving, putting flags in the windows & cheering. I’d thought they would be fed up with the sight of uniform by now.
The news is certainly pretty good now, isn’t it. It doesn’t look as though the Italians will
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stay in much longer
I will send a wire when I know when I’m definitely coming on leave
Love
[underlined] Terry [/underlined]
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