Letter from Terry Ford to his family

Letter from Terry Ford to his family

Terry Ford writes to his family that he has started night flying and the course finishes at Christmas. He also mentioned the Christmas decorations in the town.

1942-11-26

Two handwritten sheets

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EFordTAFordAG-[Mrs]-Y-M421126-0001,
EFordTAFordAG-[Mrs]-Y-M421126-0002

CANADIAN LEGION WAR SERVICES

1585520 LAC Ford T.A.,
A2 Flight, 67 Course,
35 E.F.T.S.
Neepawa,
Manitoba
Canada

26-11-1942
Dear Mum, Dad, Yvonne & Moira

I’m writing this letter in the canteen just before going to the station flicks.

[deleted] We [/deleted] I went into Winnipeg last week-end & stayed at the house of the people Don stays with. They are very nice people, Mr. Turnbull is a retired R.S.M (regular) & Mrs Turnbull is Scotch. They also have their married daughter Mabel with them. Unfortunately I was too tired to do much. I intended to go to a club, where they have dancing & a show & where a lot of the lads go. Anyway, I went to sleep, & when I woke up, it was too late to go.

The trouble with Manitoba is that the only places that sell beer are the beer parlours, which are few & far between, & very bare & unhomely. (Incidently[sic] “homely” in Canada means “ugly” so we’ve got to be careful what we say). You can’t drink even in the night clubs except on the Q.T. so I reckon you wouldn’t like it Mum. (better not show this to Gran.)

Incidentally, you talk about U.S.A. being more glamorous. Listen here folks in a recent census of North America it was decided that Winnipeg girls were second only to Hollywood for beauty. So sometime when I’m not tired I shall probably do something about it.

You’d love the shops here, Fishy. In the window of the Hudson’s Bay Stores there’s a big Father Christmas, who slaps his hands & laughs all day, you can hear him right across the street. He’s not real of course.
[Sentence missing due to inadequate scanning]

[page break]

Christmas trees outside their houses & they take people up in planes to see all the lights. All the stores vie with one another for Christmas [deleted] presents [/deleted] decorations.

We’ve now started night flying, & its quite good fun, but I prefer the day. I’m getting pretty good at aerobatics & not so hot on [deleted letter] instrument flying, so I’m hoping to go on single engine planes, though I’m not fussy.

This course ends at Christmas, so we are expecting a leave then & we should have a very good time, as people here really do celebrate, so I’m told.

I’ve been asked to call in & see the local butcher in Neepawa, as he comes from Bristol, & would like to see me. It seems that if you don’t rake[?] someone up for me to see, [indecipherable word] someone else does.

By the way, I nearly forgot, I [deleted indecipherable word] showed Mr & Mrs Turnbull [inserted]& Mabel [/inserted] the photograph of the group & they said you looked very young, mum, they couldn’t believe you were my mother. They also said Dad was a very handsome man. Ha, Ha I thought the photograph was a good likeness, but it couldn’t have been.

We can’t get any beer on the camp, so I’ve had practically nothing alcoholic since I came to Canada.

Well that’s all for now.

Much love
Terry