Letter from Jack Darby to Jean
Title
Letter from Jack Darby to Jean
Description
Their course has finished. Their last night flight was in very clear weather. Jean has been cooking for her parents.
Creator
Date
1944-11-30
Temporal Coverage
Spatial Coverage
Coverage
Language
Format
Two double sided handwritten sheets 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
EDarbyCAHWellandJ441130
Transcription
[postage stamp] [postmark]
Miss. J Welland,
7. Queens Drive
Surbiton
Surrey.
[inserted] 30.11.44 [/inserted]
[page break]
F/o. C. Darby 154676
Officers Mess
R.A.F. Station
Syerston
Nr Newark.
Notts
Wednesday,
My dearest Jean,
Was so pleased to receive your letter this morning, also the one written last Thursday, which arrived just as I posted my other one.
Well we have at last finished here, did our last trip yesterday was a night effort, and very cold, we were flying at 20,000 feet and the temperature was -34°C, it was a marvellous clear night and when we were down near Shaftsbury we could see all of the Isle of Wight, Southampton Water quite plainly, it seemed so quiet and peaceful that nothing seemed able to go wrong, I can quite see how people are lulled into a sense of false security. At the moment
[page break]
we are not certain where we are going but we shall be leaving here in a few days.
So you did’nt have a chance to experiment on Mother & Dad after all, I wrote and asked Dad to send a report, he said in his next letter that if I did’nt hear from them again I’d know the cooking had been a failure, or success which way you are inclined to look at it. Seriously though, its very decent of you to offer, a lot of girls would’nt, still I know you are exceptional and will make me a marvellous wife in spite of the rolling pin, roll on the end of the war we can start getting a home together. You seem to be doing extra-ordinary well in collecting things, how do you do it, just look wisful [sic] and say “thats just what we want” or “its [sic] looks as though you have’nt enough room for these things”
Am glad you enjoyed your walk with Dad, you did’nt mention if you
[page break]
spent the sixpence you found in the Swan, Dad likes a walk, don’t suppose you found him very talkative, when he & I go out together we don’t have a lot to say to each other.
Am writing this in the lounge before going out to Newark for a couple of pints, Jack is coming with me, the rest of the boys going to Nottingham for the evening, expect they’ll arrive back tomorrow morning.
Regarding the carol singing effort, I did’nt think they were so short of croonettes, can quite believe them taking a dim view of your taking the collection, believe it would be a penny for us and one for the Red Cross.
Well darling, will say cheerio, for the moment, take care of yourself, it seems ages since I left you.
All my love sweetheart.
Jack
Miss. J Welland,
7. Queens Drive
Surbiton
Surrey.
[inserted] 30.11.44 [/inserted]
[page break]
F/o. C. Darby 154676
Officers Mess
R.A.F. Station
Syerston
Nr Newark.
Notts
Wednesday,
My dearest Jean,
Was so pleased to receive your letter this morning, also the one written last Thursday, which arrived just as I posted my other one.
Well we have at last finished here, did our last trip yesterday was a night effort, and very cold, we were flying at 20,000 feet and the temperature was -34°C, it was a marvellous clear night and when we were down near Shaftsbury we could see all of the Isle of Wight, Southampton Water quite plainly, it seemed so quiet and peaceful that nothing seemed able to go wrong, I can quite see how people are lulled into a sense of false security. At the moment
[page break]
we are not certain where we are going but we shall be leaving here in a few days.
So you did’nt have a chance to experiment on Mother & Dad after all, I wrote and asked Dad to send a report, he said in his next letter that if I did’nt hear from them again I’d know the cooking had been a failure, or success which way you are inclined to look at it. Seriously though, its very decent of you to offer, a lot of girls would’nt, still I know you are exceptional and will make me a marvellous wife in spite of the rolling pin, roll on the end of the war we can start getting a home together. You seem to be doing extra-ordinary well in collecting things, how do you do it, just look wisful [sic] and say “thats just what we want” or “its [sic] looks as though you have’nt enough room for these things”
Am glad you enjoyed your walk with Dad, you did’nt mention if you
[page break]
spent the sixpence you found in the Swan, Dad likes a walk, don’t suppose you found him very talkative, when he & I go out together we don’t have a lot to say to each other.
Am writing this in the lounge before going out to Newark for a couple of pints, Jack is coming with me, the rest of the boys going to Nottingham for the evening, expect they’ll arrive back tomorrow morning.
Regarding the carol singing effort, I did’nt think they were so short of croonettes, can quite believe them taking a dim view of your taking the collection, believe it would be a penny for us and one for the Red Cross.
Well darling, will say cheerio, for the moment, take care of yourself, it seems ages since I left you.
All my love sweetheart.
Jack
Collection
Citation
Jack Darby, “Letter from Jack Darby to Jean,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed April 17, 2025, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/40095.
Item Relations
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