Letter from Harold Gorton to his wife
Title
Letter from Harold Gorton to his wife
Description
He writes of his family, feeling unwell, his night duties and social activities at RAF Cark.
Creator
Date
1943-08-04
Temporal Coverage
Coverage
Language
Format
Six handwritten sheets
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
EGortonHGortonLCM430804
Transcription
OFFICERS’ MESS,
ROYAL AIR FORCE,
CARK,
NORTH LANCASHIRE.
TELEPHONE GRANGE 390.
4/8/43
Dearest,
I’m writing this in the afternoon, just after getting up, so I don’t know whether a letter has arrived for me to reply to.
I hope I didn’t upset you with the suggestion that you should come to Farnworth this week-end. I don’t know if you will phone or not, but I’m not expecting you to decide to come. I don’t think you would be comfortable in Farnworth, because although it’s easy for me to be crowded in with the rest of them, it’s quite another thing for you. Mother wrote in her last letter that Dad’s back “went” again
[page break]
2
when he came home from Buxton, & she doesn’t think he’ll be fit to go to St. Anne’s this week. It’s a mess, isn’t it? After doing all he can to get it better, he’s suddenly reduced to the same state as before. I give it up,
11.0 p.m.
I stopped at this point, as I wasn’t feeling too good – in fact, I nearly paid a visit to the M.O. Now I’ve rested all evening in the Mess I feel much better & shall be all right after some sleep.
The trouble is that I haven’t slept well after being on all night, & so am feeling tired. In addition, last night there was a prang, & I had to walk through tall wet grass to have a look at it, & then sit in my wet things, so I think I’ve got a bit of a cold.
I was very glad to get your letter today, but am sorry
[page break]
3
that mine have been held up. You should have had one on Saturday, Monday, & today, so I haven’t been quite as remiss as would appear. (My pen has run dry.)
I’m enclosing a letter from Dora, giving their views on the possibility of getting a house in Bolton. Doesn’t seem very hopeful, does it?
You certainly had a picnic on Saturday, didn’t you! I should have loved to have seen you & Grace & the cart. I was going to add that you were clever enough to find a car, but since you had to walk back in the rain, you weren’t so well off after all.
As for getting the Austin, I don’t quite know. I’ll try & find
[page break]
4
out about using a borrowed car on Ops, but I naturally assumed that it would have to be one’s own.
I certainly don’t want to part with the chairs until we’re sure of something else. They’ll be far better than packing cases, which are what I feared we should have to sit on.
Your watch appears to be losing five minutes a day at present, so it isn’t doing too badly.
I should like to try on the pullover when you come to Farnworth next. I’ve got a shirt socks & towel to send you (there’s no need to wash anything). I’d have sent them today, but I didn’t feel up to it.
Two planes had to go to Bobbington for modification, so I went in another to fetch the two pilots back.
5
I feel there are lots of other things I want to tell you, but can’t remember.
On Monday I had a new experience – acted as time-keeper at the station boxing match. Personally, I thought the whole business rather disgusting, & have no desire ever to go to another boxing match. It seems crazy to stand there & get hurt for pleasure – don’t you think so?
Aircrew are now becoming milk drinkers. We are entitled to half a pint a day, & it looks rather funny to see a crowd of confirmed beer-drinkers standing round the bar drinking their milk.
You talk about the time
[page break]
6
passing slowly when you’re not with me, but I’m just the same. It seems at least a month since I started this O i/c racket, & years since I saw you. Actually it’s not quite a fortnight yet.
I wish I was with you darling, but it can’t be helped. If Hitler will only follow Musso’s example quickly, the war will soon be over.
All my love,
Harold
ROYAL AIR FORCE,
CARK,
NORTH LANCASHIRE.
TELEPHONE GRANGE 390.
4/8/43
Dearest,
I’m writing this in the afternoon, just after getting up, so I don’t know whether a letter has arrived for me to reply to.
I hope I didn’t upset you with the suggestion that you should come to Farnworth this week-end. I don’t know if you will phone or not, but I’m not expecting you to decide to come. I don’t think you would be comfortable in Farnworth, because although it’s easy for me to be crowded in with the rest of them, it’s quite another thing for you. Mother wrote in her last letter that Dad’s back “went” again
[page break]
2
when he came home from Buxton, & she doesn’t think he’ll be fit to go to St. Anne’s this week. It’s a mess, isn’t it? After doing all he can to get it better, he’s suddenly reduced to the same state as before. I give it up,
11.0 p.m.
I stopped at this point, as I wasn’t feeling too good – in fact, I nearly paid a visit to the M.O. Now I’ve rested all evening in the Mess I feel much better & shall be all right after some sleep.
The trouble is that I haven’t slept well after being on all night, & so am feeling tired. In addition, last night there was a prang, & I had to walk through tall wet grass to have a look at it, & then sit in my wet things, so I think I’ve got a bit of a cold.
I was very glad to get your letter today, but am sorry
[page break]
3
that mine have been held up. You should have had one on Saturday, Monday, & today, so I haven’t been quite as remiss as would appear. (My pen has run dry.)
I’m enclosing a letter from Dora, giving their views on the possibility of getting a house in Bolton. Doesn’t seem very hopeful, does it?
You certainly had a picnic on Saturday, didn’t you! I should have loved to have seen you & Grace & the cart. I was going to add that you were clever enough to find a car, but since you had to walk back in the rain, you weren’t so well off after all.
As for getting the Austin, I don’t quite know. I’ll try & find
[page break]
4
out about using a borrowed car on Ops, but I naturally assumed that it would have to be one’s own.
I certainly don’t want to part with the chairs until we’re sure of something else. They’ll be far better than packing cases, which are what I feared we should have to sit on.
Your watch appears to be losing five minutes a day at present, so it isn’t doing too badly.
I should like to try on the pullover when you come to Farnworth next. I’ve got a shirt socks & towel to send you (there’s no need to wash anything). I’d have sent them today, but I didn’t feel up to it.
Two planes had to go to Bobbington for modification, so I went in another to fetch the two pilots back.
5
I feel there are lots of other things I want to tell you, but can’t remember.
On Monday I had a new experience – acted as time-keeper at the station boxing match. Personally, I thought the whole business rather disgusting, & have no desire ever to go to another boxing match. It seems crazy to stand there & get hurt for pleasure – don’t you think so?
Aircrew are now becoming milk drinkers. We are entitled to half a pint a day, & it looks rather funny to see a crowd of confirmed beer-drinkers standing round the bar drinking their milk.
You talk about the time
[page break]
6
passing slowly when you’re not with me, but I’m just the same. It seems at least a month since I started this O i/c racket, & years since I saw you. Actually it’s not quite a fortnight yet.
I wish I was with you darling, but it can’t be helped. If Hitler will only follow Musso’s example quickly, the war will soon be over.
All my love,
Harold
Collection
Citation
Harold Gorton, “Letter from Harold Gorton to his wife,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed April 26, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/8968.
Item Relations
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