Letter from Harold Gorton to his wife

EGortonHGortonLCM440130.pdf

Title

Letter from Harold Gorton to his wife

Description

He writes of his social activities, domestic details and of his colleagues.

Creator

Date

1944-01-30

Temporal Coverage

Language

Format

Eight handwritten sheets

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

EGortonHGortonLCM440130

Transcription

[Royal Air Force crest]
J.C.S.
RAF Dallachy,
Nr. Elgin,
Morayshire,
Sunday.
Dearest,
To say that your letter, which arrived yesterday, was welcome, is a shocking understatement. It cheered me up no end, and made me feel a new man.
As far as my acting F/Lt. is concerned, the C.F.I. told me that as soon as Boddy goes, which is supposed to be early in February, they will submit my name, & it’s quite possible it will be through before the end of February. Of course, that doesn’t stop them posting me before then, but I somehow don’t think it will come through as early as that.
As for promoting you, the only thing I can say is that where I’m concerned, you’re already top of the tree, and since I love you more and think
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more of you than anyone else, I can’t do anything more about it! Anyway, even if you don’t like the line you’re in, please don’t change it, in one respect at least (being married), because I can’t bear the thought of losing you, even in joke.
I didn’t ask for P.R.U. but only for night & day Mosquitos, so that may be the reason I didn’t get posted.
The course here is 2 weeks. We leave here on Monday morning, so I shall be back in time for the E.C.7.S. visit. I shan’t have flown for a fortnight, but I don’t think it will make any difference. It never seems to do so when I come back from leave. As for the A2., I don’t think there’ll be much doubt about it, not because I think I’m very good, but because I made a good impression on the C.F.I. when I flew with him at night, and I rather fancy he’ll give me a
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strong recommend. It would look bad if his new F/Cmdr didn’t get it, wouldn’t it?
I’m delighted that you are pleased with your present. It was rather a shot in the dark, because you’ve always pooh poohed the idea of a handbag when I’ve suggested it before. Still, I didn’t like the idea of your being reduced to one handbag, so I thought I’d risk it.
Affleck told me of the shop in Ulverston where they sell them. They had a number of others that were quite good, but yours was definitely the best, & the woman in the shop said they couldn’t get any more of that kind of leather.
Don’t be silly with your
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talk of spoiling you! I couldn’t do it if I tried, and I certainly do little enough for you as it is. Just [deleted] by [/deleted] being you and being kind enough to have married me is all the thanks I ever want, and if you start talking about “doing something for me” in return I shall have to spank you! You ought really to be indignant because I do so little for all the happiness you’ve given me!
I’m very glad you got a Dr’s certificate, and you [underlined] must [/underlined] go to Newport to see this osteopath or whoever he is. I don’t care how much it costs. No amount is too much if it promises a bit more comfort or well being for you. Is that clear? If I don’t hear soon that you’ve been to see him I shall be very angry. You don’t need to worry about the P.T. job, because even if he can cure your foot, you’ll
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be able to get [deleted] anoth [/deleted] a job before the cure is complete.
As for the babies, I’m glad to see that you realised there was no immediate hurry for them. I wasn’t suggesting artificial insemination or third party assistance! I meant, of course, waiting at the earliest until my next leave. I was only thinking that time is flying (2 1/2 years married now!), and that the longer we wait, the worse it will be for you.
I’m sorry you are still having bad luck in finding a house. It’s a devil of a business, isn’t it? Of course I approve of your getting a job if you can, though I was thinking that it’s not so easy as we thought, and that you might
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prefer not to have some of the jobs they may compel you to take.
The socks are mere packing. They are supposed to be clean, so I hope they didn’t affect the parcel. As I never use them I don’t want you to consider sending them back.
I’m surprised to hear you are getting on so well with your new frock. Shall I be able to help with the fitting when I’m on leave, or will it be finished by then?
We had a half day off yesterday, & a lorry took us to Elgin after lunch. I [deleted] went [/deleted] [inserted] walked [/inserted] round the town with the fourth man in my hut – he’s on a Typhoon squadron, but is a very quiet chap, quite unlike the ordinary fighter boy. Incidentally, do you remember how an American aircraft carrier took some Spitfires to the Mediterranean, & the R.A.F. pilots
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took off from the deck & flew to Malta, at the height of the attack on the island, 18 months ago? He was one of that crowd.
We had a sight-seeing tour on our own, as we took the first lane we saw that led out of town, and came upon an old water mill on the banks of the Spey. The miller showed us all round it & explained everything. The amazing thing to me was that the one wheel supplied all the power for the whole mill, & no electricity or steam was used. The miller said that the mill was started in the 12th century!
Anyway, we’d quite a pleasant time, although I couldn’t get a new battery for my torch!
We had an egg for breakfast
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this morning – a great treat – the first I’ve had since I left Newhouse.
I got a letter from Susan on Friday. She thanked me for my letter, and asked to be remembered to you.
Look after yourself, darling.
All my love,
Harold.

Collection

Citation

Harold Gorton, “Letter from Harold Gorton to his wife,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed March 28, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/9193.

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