Letter from Harold Gorton to his wife

Letter from Harold Gorton to his wife

He writes about buying a house, night flying tests and social activities.

1943-08-08

Seven handwritten sheets

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OFFICERS’ MESS,
ROYAL AIR FORCE,
CARK,
NORTH LANCASHIRE.
TELEPHONE GRANGE 390.
8/8/43
Dearest,
Judging by the weather we’re getting at present, it’s going to be a long time before Grace finishes her hay. We did some night flying tests in a break in the rain, & the clouds were still 6-700 feet, & now its pouring down again. Still, if it’s not too wet this evening, I think I’ll go to the army camp to see “In which we serve.”
That will make the third flick in three days - too much really. On Friday, Mother asked me to take Alice out as she hadn’t been for a long time, & on Saturday, Mary begged
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to go. I don’t mind taking them, but I object to being unable to take you. I often find I have to start thinking of something else when I think on those lines, as otherwise our separation becomes unbearable.
We had nothing to do this morning, so we started working out 48s & leaves. I’ve put my name down for the 24th – 25th of August, & provisionally for the 10th – 19th of September, but I expect I can change the latter to any other dates that suit you.
I hope I haven’t put you out by this furniture question. It struck me as a bright idea, but I hadn’t realised that we should have nowhere to
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store it. We could put it in our garage, but it would get very damp there if left for any length of time.
Mary asked me to tell you that since your visit she has become the best in the class at drill!
Alice is rather perturbed at the prices we have to pay for things nowadays. She says we can have the carpet in her bedroom when we get a flat; it’s not a good one, she says, but would do as a makeshift. She also offers us a tablecloth & [deleted] tea clo [/deleted] afternoon tea cloths, & cutlery too, if we need it. It
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might pay us to have a look round the Manse to see what we can pick up!
Thanks for the book. I’ve looked at the introduction, so far, & it seems good. It will be all right for you to send your next list in, if you haven’t already done so, as I shall have finished it in a day or two.
The letter was most welcome last night, as I got it at 12.30 a.m., when I was wet through after walking from the station. I had a seat all the way from Bolton, but Lancaster station sickened me. There were hordes of people there who’d been to Morecambe, lots of them boys & girls of no more
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than 16 or 17, all tight, & necking openly in the most disgusting fashion. (Of course, I expect my disgust was heightened by the fact that I hadn’t got you with me!)
Still, it certainly was a scandalous affair, & it made me wonder what the country is coming to. My contemporaries never [deleted] whe [/deleted] went to those lengths when we were at the same age. It seems to me that something will have to be done about this moral deterioration, or else winning the war will be a waste of time. Yet when I consider a lot of the men on the camp, they are really no better, if
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usually a little more discreet. What do you think about this business?
I think you’ve perhaps got something in the idea of buying a house. I suppose we can raise the money (?) & it would probably be the best kind of investment we could make. I notice that there are usually several adverts of houses for sale in the Bolton Evening News, & Dad & Arthur Rigby, between them, know enough about houses in Bolton to be able to tell us what is worth having. (Buying & selling houses, & letting them, is one of Arthur’s sidelines).
I’m glad to hear about the cushions for the chairs. I think you must be getting through a terrific amount of
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work at Newhouse. I hope you’re not overdoing it. It’s a pity you can’t come & have a lazy time doing my job for a change. I’m fed up with having nothing to do.
I called about the bike, but there’s still no news. He’s had none in since May, so I expect we’ve a long time to wait yet. If you see one you want in Abergavenny, I should get it, because you’ll never want one more than you do now.
Railway voucher enclosed.
All my love, darling.
Harold.