Letter from Peter Lamprey to W Gunton

Letter from Peter Lamprey to W Gunton

Peter Lamprey writes that he is extremely ‘browned off’ with the lack of information on the heavy conversion course he is supposed to do. He concludes with some comments to friends.

Envelope and four page handwritten letter

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ELampreyPGuntonW43XXXX

[postage stamp]

Mr. W. Gunton.
Machine Room.
Waterlow and Sons. Ltd.
Twyford Abbey Road.
Park Royal. N.W.!0.
London.

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[Reverse of envelope blank]

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Sgt. Lamprey.
Sgt’s Mess.
R.A.F. Station.
Church Broughton.
Nr. Derby.

Dear UNK and others.

Once before I wrote to you my friends and said I was cheesed, brassed and generally browned off. Believe you me, that was in all truth a gross understatement of facts. Now, I am definitely at the lowest ebb of mans’ mortal feelings. Of all the daft jobs they have in the blasted outfit I have just about got the gilded topper. Talk about doing a twenty-four hour every week. We do one every bloody twelve hours and no time off. Someone must have been fiddling around with the blasted rota.

They do not seem to know just what they really want in this blessed home of rest. We are supposed to be waiting for a conversion course to four-engined [sic] stuff. The period we have to wait

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seems to be another of those mysteries that never get any nearer solving. For half a pint I’d go back on the ground where at least they don’t sod you around for weeks on end. In any case there is no future in this flying the way they do it here. Four smack-ups a week seems to be their usual quota. If they keep it up Jerry can break his night fighters up – he’ll never need them.

There is as usual a dearth of any real inside information except that I have already written. We have only had one night off since arriving here so I cannot give you the pukka gen on the local hostelries. Most of the fair sex on the camp seem dumb – or just plain careful. At any rate, all attempts at organisation have met with a signal [sic] lack of success. I suppose when I do go by they will decide it was time we were shifted elsewhere.

I am pleased to note that the old mob are still pulling their weight and refusing to do anything to help the war effort by making munitions. By the

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time Archie gets his final papers he will just about be entitled to the Home Guard Long Service Medal and should make out as a major-general at least. I suppose he gets all his inside information on tactics etc. from Bro-in-Law G,. I hope there has not been any squandering of chapel funds on those ribald evenings out that were at one time a feature of the social life of Park Royal. Even though Mr. Hunt should propose a chapel dinner and twenty pounds out of chapel funds I think he should be stopped from his usual habit of broadcasting his hard earned money. Still I think he has enough to do these days organising the sale of his garden produce, which, I take it, will be his sideline [sic] now that the Hunt Traction and Passenger Company has folded up owing to lack of petrol. What he will do when Archie goes and there is nobody to dig his allotment for him must be another source of worry.

This letter has hung around for about a week so I had better wrap it up and post

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what there is of it.

Remember me to all the boys and I hope everything stays put. Look after yourself, for a change.

All the best.

[underlined] Pete. [/underlined].