Letter from Terry Ford to his family

Letter from Terry Ford to his family

Terry Ford writes to his parents about receiving their airmail dated 7th Feb. He has been very busy with learning to fly and lectures. The instructor thinks that Terry is a good bomber type. They are getting in plenty of flying experience even in the rough weather.

1943-02-28

Three handwritten sheets

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.

EFordTAFordAG-[Mrs]-M430228-0001,
EFordTAFordAG-[Mrs]-M430228-0002,
EFordTAFordAG-[Mrs]-M430228-0003

28–2–43
Dear Mum, Dad & Moira,
I received your airmail letter dated 7th Feb on 26th which is very good, isn’t it.
I was very sorry to hear old John had gone down on his commission, he must be feeling pretty rotten about it.
I’m sorry I haven’t written for a few days, but I’m very tired, as we are going pretty well all out. We start flying at 6–45 & with lectures in the afternoon, finishing at 5.00, we are pretty well on the go. My flying is going very well & I am thoroughly enjoying it but Don says my instructor thinks I’m a good bomber type Personally I’m easy although I shall try & stay on single engined planes if possible.
[deleted] I’m [/deleted] I decided to see how high I
[page break]
(2) could go without oxygen, so ii went up to 16,000’, by which time life was none too comfortable. You can tell how dead flat the prairie is, by the fact that I reckon I could see 120 miles each way. In order to get the hours in we are getting good experience in rough weather, but these are wizard machines & don’t worry us.
You’re writing is certainly very good, fishy. I thought it was Yvonne writing at first. Glad to hear you are working hard & that Mrs Coram is helping. You must be getting a good swimmer too I hope you get the stuff I sent. It wasn’t much I’m afraid
So, Jack’s on Ops at last, is he, he must have some experiences to talk about.
I showed your letter to Don, & he thinks a country pub is an excellent idea. He is very interested in the fact that they are cutting down on beer here & a certain group of “Aunt Agatha’s” want Prohibition
[page break]
(3)
He cuts out all the breweries statements in the press, & gets quite heated talking about the parsons trying to run the country.
As I said mum, I’ve sent some powder & cream, I hope it’ll be O.K.
We had a talk two days ago, by F/O Beurling. D.S.O. DFC & bar, D.F.M. Whose just come back from Malta, & has shot down 29 planes. He seems a very decent chap & left a good impression. It was very interesting
We don’t get much spare time but now that spring is [deleted] here [/deleted] [inserted] on the way [/inserted] I shall probably pop down in W. Dakota, U.S.A. on a forty–eight hour leave, one week–end to have a look round.
Well I’m afraid that’s all for now. I play quite a bit of billiards & snooker with John Stockbridge & I’m getting quite good. I shall have to play at the Club, when I get back, Dad.
Please give my regards to Grans, Gramp, Uncles Aunts & friends
Much love.
Terry
[page break]