Letter from Harold Gorton to his wife

Letter from Harold Gorton to his wife

He writes about his law studies, a novel he is reading, flying duties, playing bridge, films he has watched, shopping for woollen pants, and his remaining ration coupons.

1943

Six handwritten sheets

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Cork.

Sunday.

Dearest,

It is 8.0 p.m., and after I’ve finished this letter I’m going to settle down & do some law. I’ve done a fair amount of it this week, & if all goes well shall be O.K. for the exam. The only snag is that I’m expecting to run short of coal, & that will put a stop to my activities unless it is warm enough for me to use my electric fire.

I didn’t write to you on Friday because I thought I’d wait for a letter from you, & when one didn’t arrive at [deleted] indecipherable word [/deleted] lunch time I must admit I felt disappointed. However,

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when I got back to the Mess in the evening your letter & the book had both arrived by the afternoon’s post, so all was well.

Thanks for both of them darling. I’m well into Dorothy Thompson now & except for a slight [deleted] indecipherable word [/deleted] impression of ballyhoo that it gives me ( I can’t believe that she’s as important as the book makes out ), & a certain slipshod quality about the writing, I’m enjoying it very much.

Still, I’d sooner you kept yourself supplied with books than passed them on to me. I hope you’re going to send off your next requisition soon, because

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I shall have posted this book by Wednesday at the latest.

I’ve done very little flying since you left, 2 ¾ hours, I think, to be exact. Friday was a good day for flying, but I never left the ground, as I started organising trips, & for once, got a bit of the Ossington touch into Cork’s casual atmosphere.

Yesterday morning was a clamp, & Gill & I played Wyver & a Canadian staff pilot at bridge. I felt very strange at first, after playing so much two handed bridge, but we made a good combination, as I had exceptionally good

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cards & Gill played very well indeed. We finished the morning 4000 points up. One thing that surprised me was that if only one of a suit was called, we didn’t bother to play the hand, but let the caller have his 20 or 30 points.

In the afternoon I went to Grange to shop & have tea, & later met Bod, & we went to the flicks – Robert Taylor in “Bataan”, a grim film, but better than the usual American war film.

I bought some woollen pants, just the sort I’ve been looking for, although a little

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lighter in weight than I should have wished. They’re Jaeger & expensive (9/10) but I think they’re worth it. The funny thing was that I found I’d come out without enough money for 3 pairs, & had to be content with two. I’ll get another pair as soon as I can. They’ve made a hole in my coupons, however, but I don’t think I shall need much more stuff before the next issue. After having had more coupons than I’ve needed it seems funny to be running short.

Don’t feel you need give me any. After I’ve bought

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the third pair, I shall still have 11 coupons, & I don’t expect to have to buy anything else for months, as I am well equipped with everything.

Your letter doesn’t say anything about whether you are well or ill, so I trust that you are feeling as fit as I am. I hope you have good luck with the furniture.

All my love,

Harold.