Letter from Pat Hogan to his father
Title
Letter from Pat Hogan to his father
Description
Catches up with family news and mail as well as mentioning a little about his course and the chance of getting leave. Continues with general gossip.
Creator
Date
1943-09-23
Temporal Coverage
Spatial Coverage
Language
Format
Four 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.
Identifier
EHoganPJHoganDH430923
Transcription
436464
LAC Hogan PJ
Course 40 8,
RAAF,
Mt. Gambier S.A.
23/9/43
Dear Dad,
It must be about time for my letter home. I received Marie’s when I returned home from Pirie on Sunday. Glad to know everything at home is ok. What with the relaxation from concentrated swat, the flying was a relief although we got so much of it and it did make us very tired- I’m feeling better now.
Still we now have our hours up and have only a few night flips & a few photo exercises to complete our course. However we are well behind with exams & will find it pretty stiff over the next 2 weeks, by which time they should be almost over.
I still don’t know what chance I have of getting leave but I should get a few days unless I go to Pirie instead of Sale. Not a very happy thought. I still have a heavy cough in the mornings but now feel alright & hope the next 2 weeks don’t muck things up unduly.
I wrote to Dan earlier in the week and received one from Eileen yesterday. By the way I suppose you did receive last week’s rather week effort from Pirie. Has Dan been in to Adelaide yet?
Glad to know the lad enjoyed his week in Colbinabbin. From Eileen’s description he must have improved considerably to have been dubbed a “city slicker”. Blame her not me ! Just as a matter of interest how did he do it? Wiped it off on the back of his hand I presume.
Managed to get round to Mass this morning. I think Fr. Fahey is a bit disappointed with the attendance on Thursday mornings for there is usually ny about 10 or 12. Still chaps are frequently flying –it is hard enough at any time to clean up and make parade by 7.30 on any morning. The extra ½ hr is hard to make up.
Amongst the new arrivals lately were ‘Brian Hamilton’(Kensington) & Alex Brown from work. Whilst I was at Clontarf, one of the girls from the department told me I was very serious of late & that I should let my head go a bit as in my army days. Consequently I write back a glossary of horrible drivel & lies about exploits etc & impressions in the West. Blow me down if the idiot doesn’t submit it to the Editors of Dalgety’s Warriors & it came out in the last issue..
It reads horribly & luckily there are no brick buildings here for I’ve been tearing about ever since looking for a brick wall to bang my head against for being stupid as to write such trash. And she prides herself on gaining her majority just prior to this.
Haven’t heard any news of Jim of late. I should write to him but I guess you realise I haven’t much time & in any case there is little news this end & I suppose you keep him up to the tee with it.
The Dons look a good bet next Saturday. By the way how are the horses treating you. What are your cup long shots?
Well Dad, I’ve come to the end of my tether. We are still getting the bleak wet weather so typical of Mt. Gambier. I’m closing now & do hope to get home within 3 weeks if only for a brief moment.
By the way- here I go again- much & all as I hate the inland I was pleased to have such a good look at the S.A. inland & an extensive view up & down Spencer’s Gulf last week. I don’t know how people can live out there in the lake country. The lakes by the way are all just mile after mile of dry salt pans & I was glad I saw them from low level in an aircraft rather than a little lower on foot. Believe me we did get over quite a bit of it.
You won’t hear from me next week for I won’t know whether I’m coming or going. Until next I write
Love to all at home
Pat
LAC Hogan PJ
Course 40 8,
RAAF,
Mt. Gambier S.A.
23/9/43
Dear Dad,
It must be about time for my letter home. I received Marie’s when I returned home from Pirie on Sunday. Glad to know everything at home is ok. What with the relaxation from concentrated swat, the flying was a relief although we got so much of it and it did make us very tired- I’m feeling better now.
Still we now have our hours up and have only a few night flips & a few photo exercises to complete our course. However we are well behind with exams & will find it pretty stiff over the next 2 weeks, by which time they should be almost over.
I still don’t know what chance I have of getting leave but I should get a few days unless I go to Pirie instead of Sale. Not a very happy thought. I still have a heavy cough in the mornings but now feel alright & hope the next 2 weeks don’t muck things up unduly.
I wrote to Dan earlier in the week and received one from Eileen yesterday. By the way I suppose you did receive last week’s rather week effort from Pirie. Has Dan been in to Adelaide yet?
Glad to know the lad enjoyed his week in Colbinabbin. From Eileen’s description he must have improved considerably to have been dubbed a “city slicker”. Blame her not me ! Just as a matter of interest how did he do it? Wiped it off on the back of his hand I presume.
Managed to get round to Mass this morning. I think Fr. Fahey is a bit disappointed with the attendance on Thursday mornings for there is usually ny about 10 or 12. Still chaps are frequently flying –it is hard enough at any time to clean up and make parade by 7.30 on any morning. The extra ½ hr is hard to make up.
Amongst the new arrivals lately were ‘Brian Hamilton’(Kensington) & Alex Brown from work. Whilst I was at Clontarf, one of the girls from the department told me I was very serious of late & that I should let my head go a bit as in my army days. Consequently I write back a glossary of horrible drivel & lies about exploits etc & impressions in the West. Blow me down if the idiot doesn’t submit it to the Editors of Dalgety’s Warriors & it came out in the last issue..
It reads horribly & luckily there are no brick buildings here for I’ve been tearing about ever since looking for a brick wall to bang my head against for being stupid as to write such trash. And she prides herself on gaining her majority just prior to this.
Haven’t heard any news of Jim of late. I should write to him but I guess you realise I haven’t much time & in any case there is little news this end & I suppose you keep him up to the tee with it.
The Dons look a good bet next Saturday. By the way how are the horses treating you. What are your cup long shots?
Well Dad, I’ve come to the end of my tether. We are still getting the bleak wet weather so typical of Mt. Gambier. I’m closing now & do hope to get home within 3 weeks if only for a brief moment.
By the way- here I go again- much & all as I hate the inland I was pleased to have such a good look at the S.A. inland & an extensive view up & down Spencer’s Gulf last week. I don’t know how people can live out there in the lake country. The lakes by the way are all just mile after mile of dry salt pans & I was glad I saw them from low level in an aircraft rather than a little lower on foot. Believe me we did get over quite a bit of it.
You won’t hear from me next week for I won’t know whether I’m coming or going. Until next I write
Love to all at home
Pat
Collection
Citation
P J Hogan, “Letter from Pat Hogan to his father ,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed April 18, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/32000.
Item Relations
This item has no relations.