Letter to Mrs Layne from G W Brocklesby
Title
Letter to Mrs Layne from G W Brocklesby
Description
Letter from friend of a friend writes of school friends and school days and RAF careers.
Creator
Date
1943-10-28
Temporal Coverage
Coverage
Language
Format
Three page handwritten letter
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
EBrockelsbyGWLayneAJ431028
Transcription
77
“Willesby House”,
Pingley Lane,
Brigg. Lincs.
[Underlined] 28-10-43 [/Underlined]
My Dear Joan,
I am taking this course of being very familiar because the way I am thinking just now, I’m certain I could not put these words together if I started with anything so starchy as Dear Mrs Layne.
You having never seen me not I you but a friend of ‘Puggies’ is a friend of mine & as you are his wife well that makes it firmer still.
I have just read the “The Times’es [sic]” account of “BRIGG HERO OF THE COLLEMDER“ & although the news was stimulating but sad I felt it my duty to write you.
I am an old, & it seems very old friend of “Puggies” this was his school nickname & the one his school chums always used so I don’t see why I should change it to Walter, no-one here ever called him Walter so I’m not going to
[Page Break]
78
start now.
He was “Puggie” to all the boys maybe he’s mentioned such names as Len Dolby, Jack Waters, Fred Waters, Billy Mitchelson, time often parts good friends but boyhood memories never leave one.
Such exploits as going in one side of the Church,. (which was compulsory by father’s orders) and walking straight through & out the other, riding sheep on Sunday afternoons & being a member of a school gang who feared no-one, are memories that cannot be taken away ever, no-matter where one goes, who one marries or how distant the meetings are. I remember “Puggie” as one of the lucky ones so believe me if it required a lot of luck to perfect a safe landing “Puggie” will have had his share & I sincerely hope that you will soon hear from him.
The part of the officers letter where he says he was a member of one of
[Page break]
79
our outstanding crews would certainly be correct, he would not [deleted] have [/deleted] been a member of any sort of a crew, just as I remember if the bird’s nest that we were after was hard to reach “Puggie” would have a shot at it & would be quite [indecipherable word] to let someone else have their first pick of the spoils.
Anyhow his R.A.F career to date has proved that he was “a man, a hero” & with this thought in mind I wish him a speedy return to the one he picked & hope that when next you visit [deleted] br [/deleted] Brigg you will do, my wife & family & me, the honour of a visit.
Goodbye for now & keep your chin up.
Kindest Regards
Geo. W. Brocklesby.
Mrs Joan Layne,
Barrowby High-Road,
Grantham.
“Willesby House”,
Pingley Lane,
Brigg. Lincs.
[Underlined] 28-10-43 [/Underlined]
My Dear Joan,
I am taking this course of being very familiar because the way I am thinking just now, I’m certain I could not put these words together if I started with anything so starchy as Dear Mrs Layne.
You having never seen me not I you but a friend of ‘Puggies’ is a friend of mine & as you are his wife well that makes it firmer still.
I have just read the “The Times’es [sic]” account of “BRIGG HERO OF THE COLLEMDER“ & although the news was stimulating but sad I felt it my duty to write you.
I am an old, & it seems very old friend of “Puggies” this was his school nickname & the one his school chums always used so I don’t see why I should change it to Walter, no-one here ever called him Walter so I’m not going to
[Page Break]
78
start now.
He was “Puggie” to all the boys maybe he’s mentioned such names as Len Dolby, Jack Waters, Fred Waters, Billy Mitchelson, time often parts good friends but boyhood memories never leave one.
Such exploits as going in one side of the Church,. (which was compulsory by father’s orders) and walking straight through & out the other, riding sheep on Sunday afternoons & being a member of a school gang who feared no-one, are memories that cannot be taken away ever, no-matter where one goes, who one marries or how distant the meetings are. I remember “Puggie” as one of the lucky ones so believe me if it required a lot of luck to perfect a safe landing “Puggie” will have had his share & I sincerely hope that you will soon hear from him.
The part of the officers letter where he says he was a member of one of
[Page break]
79
our outstanding crews would certainly be correct, he would not [deleted] have [/deleted] been a member of any sort of a crew, just as I remember if the bird’s nest that we were after was hard to reach “Puggie” would have a shot at it & would be quite [indecipherable word] to let someone else have their first pick of the spoils.
Anyhow his R.A.F career to date has proved that he was “a man, a hero” & with this thought in mind I wish him a speedy return to the one he picked & hope that when next you visit [deleted] br [/deleted] Brigg you will do, my wife & family & me, the honour of a visit.
Goodbye for now & keep your chin up.
Kindest Regards
Geo. W. Brocklesby.
Mrs Joan Layne,
Barrowby High-Road,
Grantham.
Collection
Citation
G W Brocklesby, “Letter to Mrs Layne from G W Brocklesby,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed April 19, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/30745.
Item Relations
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