Letter to Jack Marsden
Title
Letter to Jack Marsden
Description
A letter and envelope written to Jack whilst he was in hospital. The letter is from Billie and Doris at the office where he used to work. They wish him well and describe office life at the office.
Creator
Date
1944-10-09
Temporal Coverage
Spatial Coverage
Coverage
Language
Format
Envelope and five 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
SMarsdenJ1591984v10015-0001, SMarsdenJ1591984v10015-0002, SMarsdenJ1591984v10015-0003, SMarsdenJ1591984v10015-0004, SMarsdenJ1591984v10015-0005, SMarsdenJ1591984v10015-0006
Transcription
[inserted] [/underlined] Leave 25-10-44 [/underlined] [inserted]
[postmark 9 Oct 1944]
[postage stamp]
Jack Marsden
[inserted] RAF. 1591984 [/inserted]
[deleted] Baguley [indecipherable word] Hospital
Altringham
Cheshire [/deleted]
[inserted] Winwick Emergency Hos.
Warrington.
M.2 [/inserted]
[page break]
[circled 1]
The Goods office
Ardsley Station
9/10/44
Dear Old Boy
Bill Eccles arrived home & visited us here in the Goods office & from him we learned you were in hospital & of course secured your address.
So just to cheer you up a little & relieve the monotony, heres [sic] a few lines giving you all the news.
Doris & I have often thought about our boy of days which do not seem so long ago, but to you it appears things have happened both exciting & painful
However, it is the sincere wish of your two old mates at Ardsley Goods office that with proper care & attention you will not be long
[page break]
[circled 2]
before you are restored to good health again & that then this struggle will be over & you can return to old friends once again.
Several changes have taken place since you tried to take me down at [indecipherable word] & was it Ronnie you liked most to win.
You knew of course Dennis who succeeded you, he now has gone into the Army, we had a letter from him & by all accounts, things were not going too great.
After he went we had another young man come, but quite different from either Jack or Dennis His father was a director of 3 mills & a friend of the District Supt. & of course this made the lad have a lot of edge.
He would only do just as he liked & the biggest stranger to the truth
[page break]
[circled 3]
as ever walked. He was in the A.T.C. & would come to work in RAF uniform complete with 3 stripes. Lies & Lies he told to people all came back to us, one from one Monday morning was he’d being fetching paratroops accross [sic] from Ireland all the week end & for his services he got the D.F.M. Several times he’d being on operations over Germany & he had been seen at a Dance in Leeds with both the DFC & DFM up.
Truly he was a gross lad & both Doris & I were heartily glad when the time came for him to join up.
Things quietened down & Doris & I were left on our own until recently when they transferred a young lady from Sheringham in Norfolk to assist, so now I have 2 ladies to keep me in order.
[page break]
[circled 4]
Now if you was here, you could stick up for me, & would you side with the young lady, she’s only 24 you know. Ive [sic] a feeling that’s what you’d do??
The Home Guard here is dying a natural death, they are handing their stuff in & is being returned to the Battalion, there are no Guards now & only one parade on Sunday mornings for a little shooting practice.
I bet you was surprised when you saw Bill Eccles. Bill didn’t say when it was he saw you.
He is waiting to go into hospital again for another operation & is trying to get into Pinderfields & then he says after that he’s going to try and get his ticket.
George Rhodes has left Ardsley we now have a young woman as
[page break]
[circled 5]
Goods Porter on the Dock. She is only 20, so you see what you missed with always nagging to get into the Airforce, you wouldn’t take any notice of me.
Well I think Ive [sic] told you all this time.
Doris & I wish to extend to you our heartfelt good wishes, always remembering the happy days we 3 had together.
So old boy keep a stout heart & your pecker up high & we sincerely hope that all in good time you will be restored to health & strength again.
All our love dear boy
& Cheerio
Your Ever Sincere Friends
Billie & Doris
[postmark 9 Oct 1944]
[postage stamp]
Jack Marsden
[inserted] RAF. 1591984 [/inserted]
[deleted] Baguley [indecipherable word] Hospital
Altringham
Cheshire [/deleted]
[inserted] Winwick Emergency Hos.
Warrington.
M.2 [/inserted]
[page break]
[circled 1]
The Goods office
Ardsley Station
9/10/44
Dear Old Boy
Bill Eccles arrived home & visited us here in the Goods office & from him we learned you were in hospital & of course secured your address.
So just to cheer you up a little & relieve the monotony, heres [sic] a few lines giving you all the news.
Doris & I have often thought about our boy of days which do not seem so long ago, but to you it appears things have happened both exciting & painful
However, it is the sincere wish of your two old mates at Ardsley Goods office that with proper care & attention you will not be long
[page break]
[circled 2]
before you are restored to good health again & that then this struggle will be over & you can return to old friends once again.
Several changes have taken place since you tried to take me down at [indecipherable word] & was it Ronnie you liked most to win.
You knew of course Dennis who succeeded you, he now has gone into the Army, we had a letter from him & by all accounts, things were not going too great.
After he went we had another young man come, but quite different from either Jack or Dennis His father was a director of 3 mills & a friend of the District Supt. & of course this made the lad have a lot of edge.
He would only do just as he liked & the biggest stranger to the truth
[page break]
[circled 3]
as ever walked. He was in the A.T.C. & would come to work in RAF uniform complete with 3 stripes. Lies & Lies he told to people all came back to us, one from one Monday morning was he’d being fetching paratroops accross [sic] from Ireland all the week end & for his services he got the D.F.M. Several times he’d being on operations over Germany & he had been seen at a Dance in Leeds with both the DFC & DFM up.
Truly he was a gross lad & both Doris & I were heartily glad when the time came for him to join up.
Things quietened down & Doris & I were left on our own until recently when they transferred a young lady from Sheringham in Norfolk to assist, so now I have 2 ladies to keep me in order.
[page break]
[circled 4]
Now if you was here, you could stick up for me, & would you side with the young lady, she’s only 24 you know. Ive [sic] a feeling that’s what you’d do??
The Home Guard here is dying a natural death, they are handing their stuff in & is being returned to the Battalion, there are no Guards now & only one parade on Sunday mornings for a little shooting practice.
I bet you was surprised when you saw Bill Eccles. Bill didn’t say when it was he saw you.
He is waiting to go into hospital again for another operation & is trying to get into Pinderfields & then he says after that he’s going to try and get his ticket.
George Rhodes has left Ardsley we now have a young woman as
[page break]
[circled 5]
Goods Porter on the Dock. She is only 20, so you see what you missed with always nagging to get into the Airforce, you wouldn’t take any notice of me.
Well I think Ive [sic] told you all this time.
Doris & I wish to extend to you our heartfelt good wishes, always remembering the happy days we 3 had together.
So old boy keep a stout heart & your pecker up high & we sincerely hope that all in good time you will be restored to health & strength again.
All our love dear boy
& Cheerio
Your Ever Sincere Friends
Billie & Doris
Collection
Citation
Billie and Doris, “Letter to Jack Marsden,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed April 18, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/28054.
Item Relations
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