Letter from Harold Gorton to his wife
Title
Letter from Harold Gorton to his wife
Description
He writes of night flying duties, returning to operations, social activities and domestic arrangements.
Creator
Date
1943-10-24
Temporal Coverage
Coverage
Language
Format
Four 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
EGortonHGortonLCM431024
Transcription
Cark 24/10/43
Midnight.
Dearest,
I had to see the M.O. on Friday to make sure I was fit for Ops. He mentioned one or two things that amused me. He thought I was too thin! – I’m the same weight, 140 lbs, as I was when I joined up three years ago & he thought I really ought to be heavier. It’s the first time I’ve ever been accused of being thin.
He told me that my night adaptation was above average – very useful for a night fighter, of course, & also that I’d got a scar on my ear-drum. He was a bit anxious about this as he thought it might make my ear less
[page break]
adaptable to pressure changes. However, after I’d held my mouth & nose closed & swallowed a few times, he said my ear-drums flapped beautifully!
I’m writing this letter in the Mess. I’ve done two details this evening, & when I landed at 11.0 p.m. I told the O i/c to scrub, as the weather wasn’t fit – fog. Now, however, we can’t cancel for the night before 2.0 a.m., so I’ve had supper & am now sitting in the Mess waiting till I can go to bed.
The new C.F.I. is certainly making his presence felt. He has now instituted a night flight. I promptly voted myself on it, as we start tonight & do
[page break]
a fortnight, & then have a 48.
My idea is that during that 48 I can go to Newhouse to bring you back here or you can come up to Farnworth or something, Anyway, when I get this 48 [underlined] I want to see you [/underlined], whatever the way we manage it.
I had planned to go to the concert in Bolton on Wednesday, but I’d miss fifty concerts for the chance of seeing you.
The Adj (Flying Wing) saw the manageress of the Kent’s Bank yesterday, & thinks it will be O.K. if I go & fix things up. I’m going tomorrow afternoon. There is a possible snag in that she is going away for a fortnight’s holiday, & may not be back for the 8th,
[page break]
4
but from what I’ve heard, this place is so comfortable & the food so good, that it will pay us to go there when she’ll have us.
I hope you’re feeling better now. Take plenty of rest, darling.
Love,
Harold.
Midnight.
Dearest,
I had to see the M.O. on Friday to make sure I was fit for Ops. He mentioned one or two things that amused me. He thought I was too thin! – I’m the same weight, 140 lbs, as I was when I joined up three years ago & he thought I really ought to be heavier. It’s the first time I’ve ever been accused of being thin.
He told me that my night adaptation was above average – very useful for a night fighter, of course, & also that I’d got a scar on my ear-drum. He was a bit anxious about this as he thought it might make my ear less
[page break]
adaptable to pressure changes. However, after I’d held my mouth & nose closed & swallowed a few times, he said my ear-drums flapped beautifully!
I’m writing this letter in the Mess. I’ve done two details this evening, & when I landed at 11.0 p.m. I told the O i/c to scrub, as the weather wasn’t fit – fog. Now, however, we can’t cancel for the night before 2.0 a.m., so I’ve had supper & am now sitting in the Mess waiting till I can go to bed.
The new C.F.I. is certainly making his presence felt. He has now instituted a night flight. I promptly voted myself on it, as we start tonight & do
[page break]
a fortnight, & then have a 48.
My idea is that during that 48 I can go to Newhouse to bring you back here or you can come up to Farnworth or something, Anyway, when I get this 48 [underlined] I want to see you [/underlined], whatever the way we manage it.
I had planned to go to the concert in Bolton on Wednesday, but I’d miss fifty concerts for the chance of seeing you.
The Adj (Flying Wing) saw the manageress of the Kent’s Bank yesterday, & thinks it will be O.K. if I go & fix things up. I’m going tomorrow afternoon. There is a possible snag in that she is going away for a fortnight’s holiday, & may not be back for the 8th,
[page break]
4
but from what I’ve heard, this place is so comfortable & the food so good, that it will pay us to go there when she’ll have us.
I hope you’re feeling better now. Take plenty of rest, darling.
Love,
Harold.
Collection
Citation
Harold Gorton, “Letter from Harold Gorton to his wife ,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed July 25, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/9145.
Item Relations
This item has no relations.