Letter from Mervyn Adder to his brother Alex

Letter from Mervyn Adder to his brother Alex

Letter and explanatory note. Congratulates him on exams and promotion. Comments on his posting to Brough East Yorkshire and was enjoying flying. Mentions journey and short visit home. Describes discipline, daily routine as well as his flying so far.

1942-08-13

Four page handwritten letter and explanatory note

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.

SAdderM175073v10040, SAdderM175073v10039

1459790 L.AC Adder M
R.AF Station.
Brough.
E. Yorks

Thursday

Dear Alex,

Congratulations on doing so well in the Exams and getting your stripes, and I hope that you will have a good time at your first Station.

I suppose Mother will already have told you that I had been lucky enough to be posted to Brough, and I am certainly having a good time here and enjoying the flying very much.

I reached here a week last Tuesday and on our way down had to wait a couple of hours in Hull, so I called to see Edith at her office and then went

[page break]

home to see Mother, and to get some much needed refreshment.

We have a very easy time here as regards discipline, and ‘bullshit’ is entirely absent, we are also allowed out until quarter to eleven now, [deleted] and [/deleted] do not have to get up until half past six, which is a very good improvement on Scarborough ideas.

I started flying the day after I came and being lucky [inserted] in [/inserted] getting a very good instructor I seem to be getting along alright, although the weather has been fairly bad recently and have only managed to put in 3 hrs 25 mins. up to press. [deleted] ( [/deleted] I am writing this letter in the dispersal hut so that it might change at any time – I hope. We have to put in 12 hrs at this place, and go solo if possible,

[page break]

then we get three weeks leave, at least that is what those who are finishing now are getting, and I am looking forward to it very much.

I have just been up again and had a great time doing three circuits and did the landing, take off etc as well, I think landing gives you the greatest kick as like you said, there isn’t as great a kick in flying as you would expect.

I am afraid I am mixing things up a little but to get back again, I managed to put 2 hrs 55 mins in up to last Friday so you can see we haven’t done much flying since, in fact I hadn’t done anymore until this afternoon. We either fly all [deleted] the [/deleted] day on a Saturday and have the Sunday off, or

[page break]

vice versa, and [deleted] the [/deleted] last weekend I was supposed to fly on Saturday but as the weather was bad we finished at dinner time and I therefore went home. I was at home all day on Sunday, it being my day off, and again on Monday and Tuesday afternoon being given the afternoon off as the weather was still bad and I immediately, upon hearing the news, dashed to the Station and caught the first train to Hull.

I don’t think there is anything else I can tell you at the moment, besides I have a feeling that this letter will take a little sorting out so will sign off now wishing you the best of luck etc.

Mervyn

P.S How is Joan? Give her my kind regards when you write next.

[page break]

13 August 1942

Mervyn considers himself lucky to have a short posting to RAF Brough for flight training. He is obviously enjoying the whole experience of flying and is eager to progress.