Letter from David Boldy to his mother
Title
Letter from David Boldy to his mother
Description
Letter from David Boldy to his mother giving details of his daily routine in the RAF and his social life including swimming, playing tennis and meeting girls.
Creator
Date
1940-06-30
Temporal Coverage
Coverage
Language
Format
Six page handwritten letter
Conforms To
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
EBoldyDABoldyLM400630
Transcription
923995, A.C.2. BOLDY.D.A.
D Flight, No 3 Squadron,
No 5 I.T.W.
R.A.F. Torquay
30th June 1940.
Mum darling,
No mail for a couple of days. I dare-say the mails have been delayed.
On Friday the R.A.F. really got going and woke Torquay up. We went to a place where they gave us some really potent Cider. We saw one of our corporals and yelled for him in chorus. Eventually two Bobbies turned up but by that time we had really got going and nothing worried us. We had a Terrific evening, all the people in Torquay were literally amazed.
Behind our Hotel there is a big Tennis club. A couple of us have joined. We paid 10/6 for the duration of our stay here. The normal fee is [deleted] 2b [/deleted] 21/- a [deleted] we [/deleted] month. We are now fully pledjed [sic] members. I had
[page break]
some very good Tennis yesterday. The courts are lawn. Two of us played five sets of singles. We then joined up with two girls from the Prudential & had a mixed doubles. After that we all had a half pint of cider and a coffee. These girls are very Classy as the office fellow said. One of them took a very poor view of our dirty buttons, (of course we polish them before we go out. [sic] Please send me my Tennis racket, two pairs of white shorts and two white shirts. Also those old vests of mine to Take in the sweat on parade. We are going bathing with these girls at two oclock. [sic]
I can probably get a pass next week end. I can't arrive before midnight Saturday & must leave about 4 on Sunday. The fair [sic] is roughly 27/9. If you think it is worth the expense let me know in your next letter and
[page break]
[inserted] [underlined] 2. [underlined] [/inserted]
I shall come home. I might try to catch the 4.30 train and be in by Ten, but I don't think they will allow that. Anyway I could try. Write & let me know what you think. [deleted] If I [/deleted] I have tried to phone you several times but I just can't get through, There is always a delay of an hour and a half or so. Yesterday in addition to the Tennis we had a three mile run at P.T. I could have run a whole heap more so I must be getting tough.
The weather yesterday was Terrific. It is the same to-day, blazing hot. Most of us find the Air [sic] here very relaxing and want to go to sleep at the wrong Time. We have just returned from Church parade. During the service a young girl of 15 sang the Ave Maria. Solo. When she stood up there was a lot of chatting & she
[page break]
nervous. [sic] When she really got going there was dead silence as she sang [deleted] beat [/deleted] beautifully I don't think she has had much training either.
Two of us have just returned from a place called Sandy Cove. We played a set of singles at 11 but packed in as it was too hot. We then went out with the girls I mentioned earlier on. We went to Sandy Cove a beautiful bathing spot & had a swim. We got a rowing boat for two hours & rowed out a mile or two which was very enjoyable. After that we returned to Torquay & the girls went to their place. They wanted to play Tennis at the club this evening but we are too dead beat to do it. It was a very pleasant day. It has been the hottest day we have had here for some weeks apparently.
[page break]
[inserted] [underlined] 3. [underlined] [/inserted]
[page break]
At the moment I am completing this letter in my room. All I have on are my short underpants and a pair of socks. There are no cinemas or anything like that here on Sundays. Some places certainly haven't any common sense.
To-day for the first Time after Ten or twelve days I had a glorious bath. I put on clean underwear & my civilian shirt and am feeling really clean for the first Time in ages.
I don't know how far it is true but I hear we may be leaving here soon as they apparently intend cutting out all this initial stuff and getting down to the navigation & flying training. I don't think there could be much truth in it as this last move was a Terrific affair, though I must admit we could easily do without
[page break]
the stuff we are doing at the moment, with the enception [sic] of the morse code.
I am going out now for half an hour or so and will try & phone through. I don't expect I shall get through.
From the papers to-day it looks as if Hitler's invasion of this Island Fortress is in the eve of beginning. I hope [deleted] it [/deleted] this venture fails utterly and Teaches him a lesson he won't forget in a hurry.
No more To-day. God bless you both.
[underlined] Love Dave. [/underlined]
[underlined] P.S. [/underlined] This would be a grand life if we had less work to do. It is a grand life anyway. I feel as fit as a fiddle.
Love [underlined] Dave. [/underlined]
D Flight, No 3 Squadron,
No 5 I.T.W.
R.A.F. Torquay
30th June 1940.
Mum darling,
No mail for a couple of days. I dare-say the mails have been delayed.
On Friday the R.A.F. really got going and woke Torquay up. We went to a place where they gave us some really potent Cider. We saw one of our corporals and yelled for him in chorus. Eventually two Bobbies turned up but by that time we had really got going and nothing worried us. We had a Terrific evening, all the people in Torquay were literally amazed.
Behind our Hotel there is a big Tennis club. A couple of us have joined. We paid 10/6 for the duration of our stay here. The normal fee is [deleted] 2b [/deleted] 21/- a [deleted] we [/deleted] month. We are now fully pledjed [sic] members. I had
[page break]
some very good Tennis yesterday. The courts are lawn. Two of us played five sets of singles. We then joined up with two girls from the Prudential & had a mixed doubles. After that we all had a half pint of cider and a coffee. These girls are very Classy as the office fellow said. One of them took a very poor view of our dirty buttons, (of course we polish them before we go out. [sic] Please send me my Tennis racket, two pairs of white shorts and two white shirts. Also those old vests of mine to Take in the sweat on parade. We are going bathing with these girls at two oclock. [sic]
I can probably get a pass next week end. I can't arrive before midnight Saturday & must leave about 4 on Sunday. The fair [sic] is roughly 27/9. If you think it is worth the expense let me know in your next letter and
[page break]
[inserted] [underlined] 2. [underlined] [/inserted]
I shall come home. I might try to catch the 4.30 train and be in by Ten, but I don't think they will allow that. Anyway I could try. Write & let me know what you think. [deleted] If I [/deleted] I have tried to phone you several times but I just can't get through, There is always a delay of an hour and a half or so. Yesterday in addition to the Tennis we had a three mile run at P.T. I could have run a whole heap more so I must be getting tough.
The weather yesterday was Terrific. It is the same to-day, blazing hot. Most of us find the Air [sic] here very relaxing and want to go to sleep at the wrong Time. We have just returned from Church parade. During the service a young girl of 15 sang the Ave Maria. Solo. When she stood up there was a lot of chatting & she
[page break]
nervous. [sic] When she really got going there was dead silence as she sang [deleted] beat [/deleted] beautifully I don't think she has had much training either.
Two of us have just returned from a place called Sandy Cove. We played a set of singles at 11 but packed in as it was too hot. We then went out with the girls I mentioned earlier on. We went to Sandy Cove a beautiful bathing spot & had a swim. We got a rowing boat for two hours & rowed out a mile or two which was very enjoyable. After that we returned to Torquay & the girls went to their place. They wanted to play Tennis at the club this evening but we are too dead beat to do it. It was a very pleasant day. It has been the hottest day we have had here for some weeks apparently.
[page break]
[inserted] [underlined] 3. [underlined] [/inserted]
[page break]
At the moment I am completing this letter in my room. All I have on are my short underpants and a pair of socks. There are no cinemas or anything like that here on Sundays. Some places certainly haven't any common sense.
To-day for the first Time after Ten or twelve days I had a glorious bath. I put on clean underwear & my civilian shirt and am feeling really clean for the first Time in ages.
I don't know how far it is true but I hear we may be leaving here soon as they apparently intend cutting out all this initial stuff and getting down to the navigation & flying training. I don't think there could be much truth in it as this last move was a Terrific affair, though I must admit we could easily do without
[page break]
the stuff we are doing at the moment, with the enception [sic] of the morse code.
I am going out now for half an hour or so and will try & phone through. I don't expect I shall get through.
From the papers to-day it looks as if Hitler's invasion of this Island Fortress is in the eve of beginning. I hope [deleted] it [/deleted] this venture fails utterly and Teaches him a lesson he won't forget in a hurry.
No more To-day. God bless you both.
[underlined] Love Dave. [/underlined]
[underlined] P.S. [/underlined] This would be a grand life if we had less work to do. It is a grand life anyway. I feel as fit as a fiddle.
Love [underlined] Dave. [/underlined]
Collection
Citation
David Boldy, “Letter from David Boldy to his mother,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed April 26, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/681.
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