Letter from Jack Darby to Jean

Letter from Jack Darby to Jean

He thanks he for his birthday card. He describes his return trip to camp. The next day he had exams which he thinks he passed. They have had no luck getting a new wireless operator. They had a home guard training attack on the base. They had a couple of accidents after a spell with none. Weather has improved.

1944-08-05

Three double sided handwritten sheets and envelope

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.

EDarbyCAHWellandJ440805

[postage stamp] [postmark]

[inserted] 5-8-44 [/inserted]

Miss J. Welland,
7. Queens Drive
Surbiton
Surrey.

[page break]

F/O. C. Darby, 154676.
Officers Mess
R.A.F. Station
Barford
Nr Bloxham
Oxon

5/8/44

Dear Jean,

Thanks so much for birthday card, also the one your Mother & Father sent, they both came together, in fact the only two cards I received.

I made the train O.K. at Paddington, actually had an hour to wait, however I met my skipper in the Tube and we both got a couple of seats, the train was’nt very crowded and we slept

[page break]

2/

most of the way, we were in Banbury at 3 o/c and in bed by 4 o/c. of course next day they decided to have exams, we had three, Aircraft Rec, Tactics and Armament. I must have passed O.K. as I've heard nothing further, if you don't you usually are on the carpet before the C.G.I and have a strip torn off.

Am glad we have’nt had any luck in getting a W/op, we hav’nt been off the deck for 9 days and am very much afraid I've had my leave, at least it will probably be put back, the trouble

[page break]

3/

is nobody knows anything definate [sic], our skipper keeps haunting the squadron commander and he will probably do something drastic out of sheer self-defence soon, however we must wait and see.

We had [deleted letter] a defence exercise last night, the Home Guard were attacking the camp, it was due to start at 10 o/c but as the locals don't close until 10.30 nothing much happened until 10.45. All the hedges were guarded, we had a couple of kites up on recco, apparently no lights were to be shown, but as usual the exercise ended up

[page break]

4/

in complete chaos, one chap on the control tower fired off a signal rocket and when he'd located the enemy, he fired some verey cartridges at them, they fled in disorder and then some keen type started up the station searchlight, this floodlit the ground and the result looked like the Aldershot Command presenting the Battle of Hastings, also we captured a Home Guard type who was carrying the complete plans of the exercise. At 1.30 AM we all packed up and up to the moment nobody knows who won, apparently the Home

[page break]

5/

Guard are finding about our battle tactics being too unorthodox for them.

Its damed [sic] funny last month we had an accident free month, the Group Captain had just got his telegram of congratulations when they had three crashes in two days, some keen type baled out by mistake and his skipper was so worried that when he landed he retracted his undercart instead of his flaps!

The weather seems to have taken a turn for the better, hope it continues as when we do get cracking we

[page break]

6/

can finish straight away.

Well, must pack up now, hope you are doing what you told me to do at Surbiton, by the way, I did’nt get any petrol, apparently you have to be 10 miles from the nearest railway or bus route, the W.A.A.F. officer was very sympathetic but it was an order from higher up.

Cheerio for the time being, take care of yourself.

Yours

Jack