Letter from Harold Gorton to his wife

Letter from Harold Gorton to his wife

He writes of the weather and colleagues’ postings and domestic arrangements.

1943-09-01

Five handwritten sheets

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EGortonHGortonLCM430901

OFFICERS’ MESS.
ROYAL AIR FORCE,
CARK,
NORTH LANCASHIRE.
TELEPHONE GRANGE 390.
1/9/43
Dearest,
It seems rather strange, but I was actually glad when I didn’t get a letter from you on Monday, because I thought that if I’d missed Saturday’s post, as I suspected, & you didn’t get a letter until Tuesday, we should then be all square.
I was going to write to you last night, after dinner, before flying. The weather turned duff, however, so I waited in the Mess until flying was scrubbed, and by the time I got back here, I’d a headache & went straight to bed.
This Cark weather is simply
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amazing. It cleared up on Monday afternoon, & we flew all Tuesday, but it clamped again last night, and doesn’t seem to have stopped raining since then. I’m on the programme for tonight, but it seems very doubtful whether we shall fly. Wyver has been O i/c this week, & he’s only been on duty one night!
I’m glad your journey home was better than last time, but I agree with you about travelling being exhausting.
I’m glad the bike has arrived, & you can do what you like with it. Personally, I hope I never have to ride it again, but I suppose that’s too much to expect.
By all means apply for the permit for the furniture, though I don’t suppose we’ll get the full
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30 units (annoying the way it’s been cut down, isn’t it?). I should think a sideboard, & a couple of easy chairs are what we want most. If we’ve any left, we can get kitchen stuff with it, as the table & chairs we’ve already got ought to do for the dining room.
I wish you luck with the sales, & won’t take anything out of the Bank. I shall be pleased if you overdraw our account, as it will mean that we are getting well stocked. Sorry about the saucepan!
Don’t let the dysentery get you, because you’re too precious to be ill. It sounds as though it might be faulty water supply. It
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be worth while to get the Sanitary Inspector to check it.
I’m glad you enjoyed the 48. All I can say is that it’s impossible for you to like being taken out more than I like taking you. I think you are simply marvellous, & my only regret is that I can’t be with you all the time.
Joe Sinclair left us yesterday via Grantham (Blenheim) for Mosquitos. There’s a rumour that Moodie is going to be posted, but I don’t think he’s very keen. He says that he doesn’t want to go if he can’t get flying boats.
The C.O. was shooting a horrible line yesterday, because Air Marshall Barratt (Chief of Technical Training Command) said that [deleted] it [/deleted] Cark was the best
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disciplined station he’d seen! Everyone saluted him smartly, you see, but the Air Marshall didn’t know that the C.O. had Tannoyed a warning for everyone to be on the alert!
Hope the watch is behaving itself.
All my love, darling,
Harold