Letter from Harold Gorton to his wife
Title
Letter from Harold Gorton to his wife
Description
He writes of looking for accommodation in Manchester, his flying duties and social activity and the weather. He discusses an electric heater he has purchased and his bank balance.
Creator
Date
1943-10-03
Temporal Coverage
Language
Format
Seven 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
EGortonHGortonLCM431003
Transcription
OFFICERS’ MESS,
ROYAL AIR FORCE,
CARK,
NORTH LANCASHIRE.
TELEPHONE GRANGE 390.
3/10/43
Dearest,
It’s only a week ago, - though it seems like an age – since we were saying we’d only another day together. I sometimes get the feeling that it’s completely impossible for us ever to have our own house, & have to be apart only when we want to. The thought of us being able to sit in front of our own fire every evening seems too good to be true.
I had a look at yesterday’s Manchester Guardian, & was not impressed. There was one furnished flat to let, - single room & kitchen, for 37/6d. No houses to let, but plenty on sale, of the 4 – 6 bedroom type. Not very hopeful is it?
I did a lot of flying yesterday – over four hours, so
[page break]
2
I think I shall have to sit back for a week to make up for it. I shouldn’t have done so much, but Bod. asked me to take a formation of three a/c over Kendal, as the C.O. was presenting a plaque to the town. We went over at 4 – 500 feet, first in vic, & then line astern.
In the evening I went to Grange in time to put £20 in the Post Office – that makes about £55 in my account, - how’s yours? We shall have to deduct this £20 from the Bank statement I hope to get tomorrow morning. I’ll not send this letter tomorrow, but will finish it tomorrow evening, so that you’ll get it on Wednesday.
I have been playing a lot of billiards & snooker lately – I & another fellow won [deleted] the [/deleted] our first round in the Mess snooker tournament today – but I’m
[page break]
3
going to cut it down as I’m not able to do any law. I’m going to send off the subscription for this term, & have a crack at an exam in December. Perhaps I could arrange to have leave then & we could spend a few days in London if you feel like it, - that’s if I can’t arrange to take the exam here.
Monday 11.30 a.m.
It’s been a shocking morning, strong wind & driving rain & low cloud. After breakfast I went to an electrical shop in Hookburgh & bought an electric fire for 22/-. It’s rather expensive, but just the thing, as it is very compact & light & I shall be
[page break]
4
able to carry it about easily. It’s just the thing for us to have in our bedroom after the war. The heating element is circular & can be turned horizontally so [deleted] as to [/deleted] that we could boil a kettle on it & have some tea! It will be useful for me now, because it will mean that I can have hot water for shaving no matter what time I get up.
After I’d fixed up the fire, I started on some law, & have been doing that since [deleted] lunch time [/deleted] then. It’s lunch time now, so I’ll go to the Mess & see if there’s a letter from you. I hope so!
[page break]
3.40 p.m.
The letter was there O.K., thank goodness, & so was the bank statement – balance now £162..16..17, although I took £20 out on Saturday that isn’t included.
It’s quite a satisfactory position, I think. I’m sending my pass book off by the same post as this letter to see what’s been happening. I suspect there must have been some payments of arrears of some kind last month since the balance increased so much. If you’d like to see it, let me know & I’ll send it on when I’ve seen it.
You say that Grace is running the restaurant for your 8 men. Does that mean that she’s acting as waitress while you do
[page break]
6
the cooking, or is she doing everything? I suppose the latter is too much to expect.
I think Basher has been posted because they feel he’s too old for a flying job. He’s certainly done very little flying while I’ve been here.
If you’re feeling cheesed with Victory Through Air Power, I should send it back & get another. If you’ve read half the book, you won’t learn any more from the second half.
I don’t know what I mean by “kept carrying on”. I didn’t see what they did when they went out, but they were always sitting side by side in the Mess, sometimes deliberately choosing a room with no one in. Whatever else they did I don’t know. Anyway, don’t try & pull that “innocent” stuff with me; I’ve been married too long for that!
I’ll ask the Assistant
[page break]
7
Adj for a railway voucher, & send it when she remembers to get it for me.
All my love, darling.
Harold.
P.S. I’d like to play bridge with you tonight.
P.S.2. You’ve not said anything about your neck. Is it O.K. now?
ROYAL AIR FORCE,
CARK,
NORTH LANCASHIRE.
TELEPHONE GRANGE 390.
3/10/43
Dearest,
It’s only a week ago, - though it seems like an age – since we were saying we’d only another day together. I sometimes get the feeling that it’s completely impossible for us ever to have our own house, & have to be apart only when we want to. The thought of us being able to sit in front of our own fire every evening seems too good to be true.
I had a look at yesterday’s Manchester Guardian, & was not impressed. There was one furnished flat to let, - single room & kitchen, for 37/6d. No houses to let, but plenty on sale, of the 4 – 6 bedroom type. Not very hopeful is it?
I did a lot of flying yesterday – over four hours, so
[page break]
2
I think I shall have to sit back for a week to make up for it. I shouldn’t have done so much, but Bod. asked me to take a formation of three a/c over Kendal, as the C.O. was presenting a plaque to the town. We went over at 4 – 500 feet, first in vic, & then line astern.
In the evening I went to Grange in time to put £20 in the Post Office – that makes about £55 in my account, - how’s yours? We shall have to deduct this £20 from the Bank statement I hope to get tomorrow morning. I’ll not send this letter tomorrow, but will finish it tomorrow evening, so that you’ll get it on Wednesday.
I have been playing a lot of billiards & snooker lately – I & another fellow won [deleted] the [/deleted] our first round in the Mess snooker tournament today – but I’m
[page break]
3
going to cut it down as I’m not able to do any law. I’m going to send off the subscription for this term, & have a crack at an exam in December. Perhaps I could arrange to have leave then & we could spend a few days in London if you feel like it, - that’s if I can’t arrange to take the exam here.
Monday 11.30 a.m.
It’s been a shocking morning, strong wind & driving rain & low cloud. After breakfast I went to an electrical shop in Hookburgh & bought an electric fire for 22/-. It’s rather expensive, but just the thing, as it is very compact & light & I shall be
[page break]
4
able to carry it about easily. It’s just the thing for us to have in our bedroom after the war. The heating element is circular & can be turned horizontally so [deleted] as to [/deleted] that we could boil a kettle on it & have some tea! It will be useful for me now, because it will mean that I can have hot water for shaving no matter what time I get up.
After I’d fixed up the fire, I started on some law, & have been doing that since [deleted] lunch time [/deleted] then. It’s lunch time now, so I’ll go to the Mess & see if there’s a letter from you. I hope so!
[page break]
3.40 p.m.
The letter was there O.K., thank goodness, & so was the bank statement – balance now £162..16..17, although I took £20 out on Saturday that isn’t included.
It’s quite a satisfactory position, I think. I’m sending my pass book off by the same post as this letter to see what’s been happening. I suspect there must have been some payments of arrears of some kind last month since the balance increased so much. If you’d like to see it, let me know & I’ll send it on when I’ve seen it.
You say that Grace is running the restaurant for your 8 men. Does that mean that she’s acting as waitress while you do
[page break]
6
the cooking, or is she doing everything? I suppose the latter is too much to expect.
I think Basher has been posted because they feel he’s too old for a flying job. He’s certainly done very little flying while I’ve been here.
If you’re feeling cheesed with Victory Through Air Power, I should send it back & get another. If you’ve read half the book, you won’t learn any more from the second half.
I don’t know what I mean by “kept carrying on”. I didn’t see what they did when they went out, but they were always sitting side by side in the Mess, sometimes deliberately choosing a room with no one in. Whatever else they did I don’t know. Anyway, don’t try & pull that “innocent” stuff with me; I’ve been married too long for that!
I’ll ask the Assistant
[page break]
7
Adj for a railway voucher, & send it when she remembers to get it for me.
All my love, darling.
Harold.
P.S. I’d like to play bridge with you tonight.
P.S.2. You’ve not said anything about your neck. Is it O.K. now?
Collection
Citation
Harold Gorton, “Letter from Harold Gorton to his wife,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed April 25, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/9135.
Item Relations
This item has no relations.