Letter from Kenneth Gill to his parents
Title
Letter from Kenneth Gill to his parents
Description
Catches up with family news, birthdays and other news. Mentions he had now moved to Carlstrom Field, Arcadia, Florida. Describes living conditions and provides sketch map of camp. Comments on food, weather, and that they had not yet flown, Writes about flying training and aircraft.
Creator
Date
1942-02-27
Temporal Coverage
Spatial Coverage
Language
Format
Four page handwritten letter and envelope
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
SGillK1438901v10019
Transcription
[Postmark and postage stamp]
Mr. & Mrs. F. Gill.
55, Kyffin Avenue,
Halton
Leeds.
Yorkshire.
England.
[page break]
1438901 L.A.C. GILL. K.
No. 31. R.A.F. PERSONNEL DEPOT.
MONCTON,
NEW BRUNSWICK,
CANADA.
FEB. 27th./42,
Dear Mum, Dad & all,
Hello all! how's things with you these days? I hear Leeds has had a fair share of snow as usual this winter.
Well dad, I hope your cable reached you in time for today; talking of birthdays will you thank Aunt René for her birthday card for last November. I received it last Saturday & it had been to Leuchars, London, Clyffe Pypard, Padgate, Peterborough, London again, Manchester, Ottowa, Moncton & finally to Albany in Georgia. I also received January's News Letter from church which hadn't had such as long a journey as my card had, but it shows there must be something in R.A.F. organisation after all.
[page break]
2/
Since I wrote last, we've been moved from Turner Field, Albany and are now at Carlstrom Field, Arcadia, Florida.
The field is about fifty miles from Palm Beach & Miami, so when I start flying again I might get a glimpse of them. The billets here are the best we've ever had or likely to have. Four of us share a large room, with polished floor, two large windows, oak-table & chairs, wardrobes & neon-lighting. Through a communicating door we have a shower, two washbowls, plenty of mirrors, towel rails, tiled floor etc. In fact it's like a bachelor flat, & suits us down to the ground. The barracks are as per diagram, so you see we don't do so
[diagram]
[page break]
3/
bad, as far as games go.
The food here is very good & service is as good, if not better than our hotels at home. So far, we havn't flown here yet owing to weather, but we're hoping to fly tomorrow, (all being well). My instructor is the Assistant Flight Commander & it is his job to check on pupils & eliminate them if they are not satisfactory, so if I can fly to his standards I should get through. The kites we have here are about twice as heavy, & have twice the horsepower as a Tiger Moth, but that isn't worrying us much (as yet). I don't think I've much else to say as regards news just now. I'm in the best of health, & turning a very nice tone of reddish brown with the sun. Don't worry about me at all. I'll be O.K.
Keep your chins up all of you & look after yourselves. Give my
[page break]
4/
love to Uncles & Aunts & Grandma & Grandad, I can't write to everybody because we have lots of writing up to do & not enough time to do it all in. That's all for now,
Good night & God Bless.
Your Loving Son.
Ken. [kisses]
David [kisses]
Mr. & Mrs. F. Gill.
55, Kyffin Avenue,
Halton
Leeds.
Yorkshire.
England.
[page break]
1438901 L.A.C. GILL. K.
No. 31. R.A.F. PERSONNEL DEPOT.
MONCTON,
NEW BRUNSWICK,
CANADA.
FEB. 27th./42,
Dear Mum, Dad & all,
Hello all! how's things with you these days? I hear Leeds has had a fair share of snow as usual this winter.
Well dad, I hope your cable reached you in time for today; talking of birthdays will you thank Aunt René for her birthday card for last November. I received it last Saturday & it had been to Leuchars, London, Clyffe Pypard, Padgate, Peterborough, London again, Manchester, Ottowa, Moncton & finally to Albany in Georgia. I also received January's News Letter from church which hadn't had such as long a journey as my card had, but it shows there must be something in R.A.F. organisation after all.
[page break]
2/
Since I wrote last, we've been moved from Turner Field, Albany and are now at Carlstrom Field, Arcadia, Florida.
The field is about fifty miles from Palm Beach & Miami, so when I start flying again I might get a glimpse of them. The billets here are the best we've ever had or likely to have. Four of us share a large room, with polished floor, two large windows, oak-table & chairs, wardrobes & neon-lighting. Through a communicating door we have a shower, two washbowls, plenty of mirrors, towel rails, tiled floor etc. In fact it's like a bachelor flat, & suits us down to the ground. The barracks are as per diagram, so you see we don't do so
[diagram]
[page break]
3/
bad, as far as games go.
The food here is very good & service is as good, if not better than our hotels at home. So far, we havn't flown here yet owing to weather, but we're hoping to fly tomorrow, (all being well). My instructor is the Assistant Flight Commander & it is his job to check on pupils & eliminate them if they are not satisfactory, so if I can fly to his standards I should get through. The kites we have here are about twice as heavy, & have twice the horsepower as a Tiger Moth, but that isn't worrying us much (as yet). I don't think I've much else to say as regards news just now. I'm in the best of health, & turning a very nice tone of reddish brown with the sun. Don't worry about me at all. I'll be O.K.
Keep your chins up all of you & look after yourselves. Give my
[page break]
4/
love to Uncles & Aunts & Grandma & Grandad, I can't write to everybody because we have lots of writing up to do & not enough time to do it all in. That's all for now,
Good night & God Bless.
Your Loving Son.
Ken. [kisses]
David [kisses]
Collection
Citation
K Gill, “Letter from Kenneth Gill to his parents,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed July 27, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/35567.
Item Relations
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