Letter from Peter Lamprey to W Gunton
Title
Letter from Peter Lamprey to W Gunton
Description
Peter Lamprey writes that he is continuing with operations over Germany. He complains that the station is a long way from the glamour of big cities although there are some closer hostelries. He concludes with banter and chatter about acquaintances.
Creator
Language
Format
Envelope and five page handwritten letter
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.
Identifier
ELampreyPGuntonW430710
Transcription
[postmark]
[postage stamp]
Mr. W. Gunton.
Machine Room.
Waterlow & Sons. Ltd.
Twyford Abbey Road.
Park Royal. N.W.10.
London.
[page break]
Mr Cullam.
2 Victoria Avenue.
Hillingdon
(Bowden)
[page break]
Sgts. Mess.
R.A.F. Ludford Magna
Market Rasen
[underlined] Lincolnshire. [/underlined]
Dear Unk and All at Home
While you, in your peaceful pursuits, laze and loaf, I am continuing my tour of the much publicized beauty spots of Germany. Not that there has been a real organised outing since the one to Cologne that so much upset our old friend Adolf. I can quite understand the man getting peeved with the boys for knocking a piece off the cathedral. Quite a number of the lads are peeved as well and consider it was just sheer bad bomb-aiming. Anyone that had been really trying could have lifted it out of the city altogether
[page break]
2.
in any case they might just as well pull it down themselves as leave it to us to move. At least they will know where all the pieces are and it is a well-known fact that quite a number of air-crew are really careless with his stuff. The usual welcome was extended to us in the form of a really fine firework display, but I don’t think the bonfire was included in the programme.
Life is settling down to its more or less even tenor. We scrounge out of everything possible and barring accidents, like running into a flight-commander on the way back, usually spend a glorious time doing sweet F.A. in the mess, and just as it should be. The big drawback is, as always, the distance from the glamour of the big cities. The nearest
[page break]
3.
place to here boasts quite a number of places but the stuff they auction is long-range poison. However in another hamlet that is just a mite further away they sell the right stuff and naturally our little feet can be hear pattering happily in that direction.
I have just received your letter and therefore extend the usual thanks for same. I note the scribe who compiles the M.M. section of The Royal warns me that L.A.C. Ransom is after my job. Well he can have it tomorrow as far as I am concerned and I’ll retire. I started off looking for excitement and now, can’t get away from it. If there are any real genuine offers for said job, just let me know. I hate to disagree with anything I have seen in print but the papers advertising The Rhine as a healthy
[page break]
4
spot are definitely wrong, whatever side you are on.
I am glad to see that Fred Baulch is still doing a bit of nightwork, he might not be fit for the army but I don’t think there is a lot wrong with his ideas. It strikes me that he has the right night-work idea and I the wrong. If I kept to that sort of target I shouldn’t go fair [sic] wrong. So our old pal Arch is coming back to take his position up again round the folder. Wish him all the best for me and hope he keeps fit.
If Bro. G. thinks I am going to start any bother with him he had better look around for someone else. I have just about as much fighting on my hands these nights as I can comfortably manage without going
[page break]
round stirring Boer War Veterans up.
Hope J. Denny is doing OK in his effort for the new job. Remember me to anyone I missed on my last visit and look after yourself.
Remember me to the OAP’s, Maint. [sic] [maintenance] Etc.
All the best.
[underlined] Pete. [/underlined]
[postage stamp]
Mr. W. Gunton.
Machine Room.
Waterlow & Sons. Ltd.
Twyford Abbey Road.
Park Royal. N.W.10.
London.
[page break]
Mr Cullam.
2 Victoria Avenue.
Hillingdon
(Bowden)
[page break]
Sgts. Mess.
R.A.F. Ludford Magna
Market Rasen
[underlined] Lincolnshire. [/underlined]
Dear Unk and All at Home
While you, in your peaceful pursuits, laze and loaf, I am continuing my tour of the much publicized beauty spots of Germany. Not that there has been a real organised outing since the one to Cologne that so much upset our old friend Adolf. I can quite understand the man getting peeved with the boys for knocking a piece off the cathedral. Quite a number of the lads are peeved as well and consider it was just sheer bad bomb-aiming. Anyone that had been really trying could have lifted it out of the city altogether
[page break]
2.
in any case they might just as well pull it down themselves as leave it to us to move. At least they will know where all the pieces are and it is a well-known fact that quite a number of air-crew are really careless with his stuff. The usual welcome was extended to us in the form of a really fine firework display, but I don’t think the bonfire was included in the programme.
Life is settling down to its more or less even tenor. We scrounge out of everything possible and barring accidents, like running into a flight-commander on the way back, usually spend a glorious time doing sweet F.A. in the mess, and just as it should be. The big drawback is, as always, the distance from the glamour of the big cities. The nearest
[page break]
3.
place to here boasts quite a number of places but the stuff they auction is long-range poison. However in another hamlet that is just a mite further away they sell the right stuff and naturally our little feet can be hear pattering happily in that direction.
I have just received your letter and therefore extend the usual thanks for same. I note the scribe who compiles the M.M. section of The Royal warns me that L.A.C. Ransom is after my job. Well he can have it tomorrow as far as I am concerned and I’ll retire. I started off looking for excitement and now, can’t get away from it. If there are any real genuine offers for said job, just let me know. I hate to disagree with anything I have seen in print but the papers advertising The Rhine as a healthy
[page break]
4
spot are definitely wrong, whatever side you are on.
I am glad to see that Fred Baulch is still doing a bit of nightwork, he might not be fit for the army but I don’t think there is a lot wrong with his ideas. It strikes me that he has the right night-work idea and I the wrong. If I kept to that sort of target I shouldn’t go fair [sic] wrong. So our old pal Arch is coming back to take his position up again round the folder. Wish him all the best for me and hope he keeps fit.
If Bro. G. thinks I am going to start any bother with him he had better look around for someone else. I have just about as much fighting on my hands these nights as I can comfortably manage without going
[page break]
round stirring Boer War Veterans up.
Hope J. Denny is doing OK in his effort for the new job. Remember me to anyone I missed on my last visit and look after yourself.
Remember me to the OAP’s, Maint. [sic] [maintenance] Etc.
All the best.
[underlined] Pete. [/underlined]
Collection
Citation
Peter Lamprey, “Letter from Peter Lamprey to W Gunton,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed April 25, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/6615.
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