Letter from Terry Ford to his family
Title
Letter from Terry Ford to his family
Description
Terry Ford writes home describing his journey across Canada en-route to his training school at Neepawa. He mentions the scenery, the people and the differences in the way of life between home and Canada he encountered.
Creator
Date
1942-10-28
Temporal Coverage
Spatial Coverage
Coverage
Language
Format
Four handwritten sheets
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.
Contributor
Identifier
EFordTAFordAG-[Mrs]-Y-M421028-0001,
EFordTAFordAG-[Mrs]-Y-M421028-0002,
EFordTAFordAG-[Mrs]-Y-M421028-0003,
EFordTAFordAG-[Mrs]-Y-M421028-0004
EFordTAFordAG-[Mrs]-Y-M421028-0002,
EFordTAFordAG-[Mrs]-Y-M421028-0003,
EFordTAFordAG-[Mrs]-Y-M421028-0004
Transcription
1585520 LAC Ford. T A.
A2 Flight.
35 EFTS,
Neepawa
Manitoba.
28-10-42.
Dear Mum, Dad, Yvonne & Moira,
Well, here I am at EFTS at last & I have had only one flight so far. The weather is fairly cold, but winter has not started yet.
I had a very pleasant journey here. The train was fairly comfortable, with bunks for sleeping We spent a day at Montreal on the way. I bought a sundae for 30 cents. It was terrific, with cream, icecream [sic], & all manner of other things. I bought six pairs of stockings but I won’t send them on, as they might not all arrive, or may be damaged. I hope you get the parcel I sent. It is difficult to send very much useful stuff that won’t get stale or damaged, & it is simply amazing the way the money goes. Pete Lamb & I went to see “Tales of Manhattan” in Montreal. It is a new film & crammed with stars. All seats are
[page break]
same price with no smoking allowed in Canada.
Montreal is nearly all French, but a very nice town. At night a huge lighted cross shines from the hill overlooking it.
We left Montreal at 7p.m & passed through Ottawa at night. We were given a packet of cigarettes & chocolate by “The knights of Columbus” in Montreal.
We are travelling through woods and lakes, woods & lakes for hundreds of miles. I should think that (not including the Great lakes), 1/3 of Eastern Canada is composed of lakes. We travelled along the edge of Lake Superior for some time & it was a very impressive sight with waves breaking on the rocks, the snow & the searchlight of the train illuminating the ground ahead. The hooters on the train make a devilish row. We passed a Hudson bay trading post, in a snowstorm, & it was just like at the flicks, a few shacks, 2 men coming along to it by canoe, with Indian shacks all round. It’s amazing the way this train stopped at stations consisting of 2 houses & a chapel. Some of the people must lead very lonely lives.
On Saturday we began to get to the wheat fields of Manitoba, & eventually reached Winnipeg. The people here are wonderfully hospitable & although we only
[page break]
stopped for 10 minutes we were given cigs & chocs. By the pilots & observers of last war in Winnipeg & apples & magazines by the Airmen’s Committee of women in Winnipeg.
We should get 48hrs leave once a fortnight, & if we go to their place in Winnipeg which is 3 hours journey from Neepawa, they will give us addresses of people who will put us up for the weekend. The people consider it an honour & pleasure to do this. I left Pete Lamb at Winnipeg, as he was going to Carron, Sask.
The food on the station is terrific. I don’t want to make you jealous but our regular breakfast is:- choice of 8 cereals, with grapefruit, glass of tomato juice, 2 eggs & bacon, toast & marmalade & coffee.
We had chicken for dinner on
[page break]
Sunday.
I hope you have received my letters. I have not heard from you yet but I don’t suppose I shall for a couple of day’s.
I shall be very interested to hear how everyone is, especially Jack, John & Yvonne. Does she still like farming.
Please remember me to friends, grans, gramp, uncles & aunts.
Hope you are happy & well & that Moira is studying for her scholarship.
Much love to all.
Yours.
[underlined] Terry [/underlined]
[page break]
A2 Flight.
35 EFTS,
Neepawa
Manitoba.
28-10-42.
Dear Mum, Dad, Yvonne & Moira,
Well, here I am at EFTS at last & I have had only one flight so far. The weather is fairly cold, but winter has not started yet.
I had a very pleasant journey here. The train was fairly comfortable, with bunks for sleeping We spent a day at Montreal on the way. I bought a sundae for 30 cents. It was terrific, with cream, icecream [sic], & all manner of other things. I bought six pairs of stockings but I won’t send them on, as they might not all arrive, or may be damaged. I hope you get the parcel I sent. It is difficult to send very much useful stuff that won’t get stale or damaged, & it is simply amazing the way the money goes. Pete Lamb & I went to see “Tales of Manhattan” in Montreal. It is a new film & crammed with stars. All seats are
[page break]
same price with no smoking allowed in Canada.
Montreal is nearly all French, but a very nice town. At night a huge lighted cross shines from the hill overlooking it.
We left Montreal at 7p.m & passed through Ottawa at night. We were given a packet of cigarettes & chocolate by “The knights of Columbus” in Montreal.
We are travelling through woods and lakes, woods & lakes for hundreds of miles. I should think that (not including the Great lakes), 1/3 of Eastern Canada is composed of lakes. We travelled along the edge of Lake Superior for some time & it was a very impressive sight with waves breaking on the rocks, the snow & the searchlight of the train illuminating the ground ahead. The hooters on the train make a devilish row. We passed a Hudson bay trading post, in a snowstorm, & it was just like at the flicks, a few shacks, 2 men coming along to it by canoe, with Indian shacks all round. It’s amazing the way this train stopped at stations consisting of 2 houses & a chapel. Some of the people must lead very lonely lives.
On Saturday we began to get to the wheat fields of Manitoba, & eventually reached Winnipeg. The people here are wonderfully hospitable & although we only
[page break]
stopped for 10 minutes we were given cigs & chocs. By the pilots & observers of last war in Winnipeg & apples & magazines by the Airmen’s Committee of women in Winnipeg.
We should get 48hrs leave once a fortnight, & if we go to their place in Winnipeg which is 3 hours journey from Neepawa, they will give us addresses of people who will put us up for the weekend. The people consider it an honour & pleasure to do this. I left Pete Lamb at Winnipeg, as he was going to Carron, Sask.
The food on the station is terrific. I don’t want to make you jealous but our regular breakfast is:- choice of 8 cereals, with grapefruit, glass of tomato juice, 2 eggs & bacon, toast & marmalade & coffee.
We had chicken for dinner on
[page break]
Sunday.
I hope you have received my letters. I have not heard from you yet but I don’t suppose I shall for a couple of day’s.
I shall be very interested to hear how everyone is, especially Jack, John & Yvonne. Does she still like farming.
Please remember me to friends, grans, gramp, uncles & aunts.
Hope you are happy & well & that Moira is studying for her scholarship.
Much love to all.
Yours.
[underlined] Terry [/underlined]
[page break]
Collection
Citation
Terry Ford, “Letter from Terry Ford to his family,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed December 4, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/23901.
Item Relations
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