Letter from David Boldy to his father

Letter from David Boldy to his father

Letter from Leading Aircraftsman David Boldy to his father about becoming a qualified air gunner, his celebrations on qualifying and now he and the five others are awaiting posting, so he is spending some time with his friends and his girlfriend Baby.

1941-05-15

Six page handwritten letter

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923995 LAC D.A.BOLDY.
No 41 AIR SCHOOL.
EAST LONDON.
15th May. 1941.

My darling Dad,

Thanks ever so much for your letter. I am so pleased to hear you liked the wallet. It has not only sentimental value as a present but also value as a S. African Curio.

You should find the Lewis gun most interesting & find fun to fire.

At long last I am a fully trained man. I feel very proud with my Brevet up – the gunners half-wing with A.G. in front. You will see what it looks like from a photograph I shall send shortly. It really feels good being fully qualified. All of us passed thank goodness & our friends in East London are very pleased. Thanks for the cable congratulating me. Also for sending the cash. It was sweet of you Dad.

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Now that the course is done with we are having a rollicking time. The S. African boys have gone on to their new station but the six of us have remained here, at the moment free of all duties.

I did very well in morse code. The six R.A.F. only had to receive morse at Ten words per minute. I decided to have a shot with the S. African boys. I got 100% at Ten words per minute& 95 1/2% at eighteen words per minute. Not bad considering we only did at the most [deleted] ei [/deleted] six to eight words at home.

We had a qualifying course binge. All the officers turned up and we got cracking. By the end of the evening we were all quite tight. We had some fun, breaking into the officers mess at 4 in the morning & then being tipped out of bed at 5 by some of the fellows including the officer in charge of us. He is one of the whitest men I ever met.

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There were speeches at the party. I was asked to speak on behalf of the six R.A.F. attached to the course. My speech was short & sweet. Mentioning we did not think much of them at first but having got to know them were damn sorry to be separated from them. It went down well. They are a damn fine crowd of blokes & I was genuinely sorry to be parting from them as we made some good friends.

At the moment I am just about completing a week’s local leave. A friend in town has put me up – He (Desmond) is a grand chap. He has a small sports car which is at my disposal whenever he is not using it. As he goes out with my girls sister it amounts to almost all the time. He has really been damn decent to me. You should see me shooting around in his sports car, its great fun. I have just had the

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most terrific week. Desmond has six months leave from the Army for business reasons. All his friends (a fine crowd of fellows) are down here on leave & we have been hitting the high spots. – In a big way too. – We are only young once This is properly[sic] the last chance I will get of dashing around as we should be in action before very long so I am making the most of my time. I have a lovely little girl friend here. We have had two terrific quarrels but otherwise we have got on very well indeed. I shall send you a photo of her shortly.

Desmond & my programme at the moment is as follows. Five sets of Tennis every morning a quiet afternoon & then out with our girl friends in the evening. In the evening we usually go to a dance or for a drink somewhere. The S. Africans have really given us a square deal

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both as regards work & play. This girl friend of mine is really lovely Dad. I am sure you would like her. She is the second girl I have liked in this country. That is nearly [deleted] [indecipherable] [/deleted] 8 months. Not too bad considering we have been to four places. I am very particular these days.

The other morning I played golf for the second time. I was helped this time & got on famously. It is amazing what a difference it makes if someone tells you what to do.

Some of the photographs I have taken really are wizard. A number of them are exposures taken at night. They are incredibly good. I shall send you some as soon as possible.

I get on very well with some of Desmonds friends who are

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down here this week. They take me swimming & all over the place. Some of the parties we have had have been really grand fun.

My girl friends’ name is baby & we do awfully well together at dancing. You ought to see us.

At the moment we are awaiting posting. If you don’t hear from me for some time you will know I am on the move again. It’s funny I hate moving once I get settled in a place but one gets used to anything these days.

The weather has been ideal. Perfect for Tennis, golf & swimming. These latter keep me fit dispite the late nights.

No more to-day, Dad darling. I will write again in a couple of days & try & send some snaps.

God bless you. Lots of love
from your ever loving son

Dave.