Letter from Colin McDermott to his Wife
Title
Letter from Colin McDermott to his Wife
Description
Colin expresses happiness at the end of the war. He was one of the first to liberate Copenhagen. He concludes by expressing his love for his wife.
There is a title sheet stating 'Original letter from Copenhagen VE Day'
There is a title sheet stating 'Original letter from Copenhagen VE Day'
Creator
Date
1945-05-08
Temporal Coverage
Coverage
Language
Format
Six 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
EMcDermottCMcDermott[Wi]450508-0001, EMcDermottCMcDermott[Wi]450508-0002, EMcDermottCMcDermott[Wi]450508-0003, EMcDermottCMcDermott[Wi]450508-0004, EMcDermottCMcDermott[Wi]450508-0005, EMcDermottCMcDermott[Wi]450508-0006
Transcription
[crest]
Grand Hotel
Kobenhavn
DIRECTION: E. WEINOLD
KOBENHAVN, den
VESTERBROGADE 9
v. HOVEDBANEGAARDEN
V day [underlined] 1945 [/underlined]
Hello my Darling Wife
I just don’t know how to start this letter. I only know that it the one letter I have been wanting to write for years. I can’t express just how I feel but I do know for certain that the war with Germany is over. I heard the King Broadcast at 9 o-clock to-night & as I sat & listened I knew that you at home would be crowded around the Radio & same as I you would be thanking God for the end. You know honey its almost to [sic] good to be true. but it
[page break]
[underlined] 2 [/underlined]
is true.
When I eventually get home on leave I will have such a lot to tell you.
This paper that I am writing on is from the Hotel where we stayed last night & in case you can’t make it out I’d better tell you it was in Copenhagen Denmark.
I think Im [sic] well within my rights by saying we made History by being the first people in Copenhagen. When we arrived the people simply went mad. They drove us into town to a huge Hotel & gave us food & drink After that we were taken for a tour of the city in an open horse drawn cab.
[page break]
[underlined] 3 [/underlined]
There were thousands of people all along the roads. (Just like Whitsuntide at home) The Huns were still in the city & were marching out alongside us. The crowd went mad. Flowers were thrown into our cab & we couldn’t get passed for signing our names on all kinds of things. Autograph book. Identity cards newspapers & anything they could find.
We stayed the night at the Grand Hotel & what a place & what drinks they made us have.
When we first arrived at the airfield there were Jerry aircraft all over the place & Huns walking about but they didn’t interfere with us at all.
The press were there in full
[page break]
[underlined] 4 [/underlined]
strength & took photographs of us which should appear in the Daily Papers, so if you see me in the papers you’ll know what it’s all about
Now that we are back in Germany it just seems like a dream but its not.
If we had had enough petrol we would have gone on to Norway but we just couldn’t make it
Well honey I think I’ll have to leave you now as the boys are shouting for me to have a drink. I’ll write again tomorrow my sweetheart & now all I want is to come home to the only girl in the world for me & no matter where I am I’m always
[page break]
[underlined] 5 [/underlined]
wishing you were with me so sweetheart hold on & I’ll soon be with you. Kiss John & Babs for me & do look after yourself. I’ll be waiting for your letters every day so darling don’t fail me.
Bye Bye for now.
All my Love now & for every [sic] to the one I love most of all.
Good night & God Bless you all.
Your Loving Hubby & sweetheart.
Colin
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
For J & B xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
For G xx
P.S. let me know what our John got for his Birthday. Love Colin
[page break]
Original Letter
From Copenhagen
V.E. Day
Grand Hotel
Kobenhavn
DIRECTION: E. WEINOLD
KOBENHAVN, den
VESTERBROGADE 9
v. HOVEDBANEGAARDEN
V day [underlined] 1945 [/underlined]
Hello my Darling Wife
I just don’t know how to start this letter. I only know that it the one letter I have been wanting to write for years. I can’t express just how I feel but I do know for certain that the war with Germany is over. I heard the King Broadcast at 9 o-clock to-night & as I sat & listened I knew that you at home would be crowded around the Radio & same as I you would be thanking God for the end. You know honey its almost to [sic] good to be true. but it
[page break]
[underlined] 2 [/underlined]
is true.
When I eventually get home on leave I will have such a lot to tell you.
This paper that I am writing on is from the Hotel where we stayed last night & in case you can’t make it out I’d better tell you it was in Copenhagen Denmark.
I think Im [sic] well within my rights by saying we made History by being the first people in Copenhagen. When we arrived the people simply went mad. They drove us into town to a huge Hotel & gave us food & drink After that we were taken for a tour of the city in an open horse drawn cab.
[page break]
[underlined] 3 [/underlined]
There were thousands of people all along the roads. (Just like Whitsuntide at home) The Huns were still in the city & were marching out alongside us. The crowd went mad. Flowers were thrown into our cab & we couldn’t get passed for signing our names on all kinds of things. Autograph book. Identity cards newspapers & anything they could find.
We stayed the night at the Grand Hotel & what a place & what drinks they made us have.
When we first arrived at the airfield there were Jerry aircraft all over the place & Huns walking about but they didn’t interfere with us at all.
The press were there in full
[page break]
[underlined] 4 [/underlined]
strength & took photographs of us which should appear in the Daily Papers, so if you see me in the papers you’ll know what it’s all about
Now that we are back in Germany it just seems like a dream but its not.
If we had had enough petrol we would have gone on to Norway but we just couldn’t make it
Well honey I think I’ll have to leave you now as the boys are shouting for me to have a drink. I’ll write again tomorrow my sweetheart & now all I want is to come home to the only girl in the world for me & no matter where I am I’m always
[page break]
[underlined] 5 [/underlined]
wishing you were with me so sweetheart hold on & I’ll soon be with you. Kiss John & Babs for me & do look after yourself. I’ll be waiting for your letters every day so darling don’t fail me.
Bye Bye for now.
All my Love now & for every [sic] to the one I love most of all.
Good night & God Bless you all.
Your Loving Hubby & sweetheart.
Colin
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
For J & B xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
For G xx
P.S. let me know what our John got for his Birthday. Love Colin
[page break]
Original Letter
From Copenhagen
V.E. Day
Collection
Citation
Colin McDermott, “Letter from Colin McDermott to his Wife,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed November 5, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/27320.
Item Relations
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