1
25
57
-
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Hudson, Douglas
James Douglas Hudson
J D Hudson
Description
An account of the resource
529 items. Collection concerns Pilot Officer James Douglas Hudson, DFC (755052 Royal Air Force) who joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in June 1939 and trained as an observer. While on route to Malta in August 1940 his Blenheim crashed in Tunisia and he was subsequently interned for two and a half years by Vichy French in Tunisia and Algeria. After being freed he returned to Great Britain and after navigator retraining completed a tour of 30 operations on 100 Squadron. The collection contains letters to and from his parents and from French penfriends while interned in Tunisia and Algeria, newspaper cuttings of various events, logbooks and lists of operations, official documents and photographs. A further 23 items are in two sub-collections with details of navigator examinations and postcards of Laghouat Algeria.<br /><br />The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Elizabeth Smith and Yvonne Puncher and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.<br />
<p>This collection also contains items concerning Louis Murray and Harry Bowers. Additional information on <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/202827/">Harry Bowers</a> and <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/220410/">Louis Murray</a> is available via the IBCC Losses Database.</p>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-06-16
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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. Some items have not been published in order to protect the privacy of third parties, to comply with intellectual property regulations, or have been assessed as medium or low priority according to the IBCC Digital Archive collection policy and will therefore be published at a later stage. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collection-policy.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Hudson, JD
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
Prisoner of War Post
[postmark]
[postage stamp]
Rev. Mrs H.P. Cummins
[deleted] c/o P Pazzen Esq. [/deleted]
[deleted] British Post Office [/deleted]
43, [indecipherable word]
[deleted] Tanger [/deleted]
Alger
[deleted] Afrique du Nord. [/deleted]
[page break]
From
Mrs Hudson
191 Halifax
Nelson
Lancs
Eng
[page break]
191 Halifax Rd.
Nelson Lancs.
England.
Monday. 14/7/41
My dear Douglas.
Thank you very much for a letter dated June 15th received on Saturday. It was a very happy surprise to get news from you so quickly, as the last letter before that one is dated May 7th . We were delighted to have such [deleted] a [/deleted] good news of you from Medea, but it seems as tho circumstances for you have changed again. [deleted] for you [/deleted] . I surmise that we shall receive letters anytime now, telling us something of what has happened, & we are anxious to know that things are not too bad. We thought the news Medea was too good to be true. but at any rate we imagine that you may have had about a month under much happier conditions & these days of uncertainty we are thankful indeed for the smallest mercies. We’ve had 4 weeks of marvellous summer weather like we enjoyed so much two years ago in Somerset. but on Saturday we had a thunderstorm which brought welcome & much needed rain & now the weather remains unsettled. It is still very warm & I am sitting in the garden to write my letter to you. I am hoping all the time to hear the telegraph
[page break]
messages with a reply to my prepaid reply cable sent to you on Saturday July 12th . I have previously sent one to you on July 30th . with prepaid reply value 5/-. & if I do not get a reply to the last one I shall surmise that you are not now allowed to send cables. But we must just keep on writing letters. Your last one to us came in just four weeks & as your cable [inserted] of June 20th [/inserted] told that you had got my letter dated May 29th that meant my news reached you in about three weeks. We are so very thankful that we are able to thus keep in touch with each other. The relations who don’t send letters to you are all too much engrossed in their own often very petty business. The war which has brought so much shame & sorrow to many does not touch any of them very nearly & they just go their own selfish ways. I had a letter from Joan Lander on June 30th telling that she was to be married at Mosley Church on July 5th. On the day after I had written to you the quotation from Shakespeare Mrs Lander wrote that Joan and her husband had gone to Stratford for the weekend. = the only leave granted at the time. The new husband comes from Preston. “the only son of his mother & she was a widow.” I try to picture your lovely country. It must have looked very beautiful in the springtime as you travel from Kef to Medea. I wonder if our English countryside will look lovely and simple to you after so much grandeur.? Well love I must say goodbye to you now & go shopping. We’re rather a long way from the shops & there is not much delivery done now. Of course you know that many things are rationed but we don’t grumble. After Manchester it is a haven of rest here. Praise be! I have had home grown strawberries & have pretty sweet peas both in the house & in the garden. They bring very tender memories. All our love Mother & Dad.
755052 Sgt. Chef. Hudson
Camp Militaire
Aumale
Algierie
Afrique du Nord.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Letter to Douglas Hudson from his parents
Description
An account of the resource
Thanks him for latest letters and surprised to get it so quickly. Delighted by good news from Médéa but note that circumstances have changed again. and they are anxious to get news. Comments on recent good weather and recent thunderstorm. List cables they have sent recently but have had no replies despite pre-paying for return. Possible that he is not allowed to send cables. Complains that some relation do not write to him. Mentions other correspondence and passes on news. Concludes that they are off to shops as no deliveries round them now.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
P Hudson
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941-07-14
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two page handwritten letter and envelope
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
EHudsonP-HEHudsonJD410714
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Royal Air Force
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Algeria
Algeria--Sūr al-Ghuzlān
Great Britain
England--Lancashire
England--Nelson
North Africa
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-07-14
1941-08-18
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Karl Williams
prisoner of war
-
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Hudson, Douglas
James Douglas Hudson
J D Hudson
Description
An account of the resource
529 items. Collection concerns Pilot Officer James Douglas Hudson, DFC (755052 Royal Air Force) who joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in June 1939 and trained as an observer. While on route to Malta in August 1940 his Blenheim crashed in Tunisia and he was subsequently interned for two and a half years by Vichy French in Tunisia and Algeria. After being freed he returned to Great Britain and after navigator retraining completed a tour of 30 operations on 100 Squadron. The collection contains letters to and from his parents and from French penfriends while interned in Tunisia and Algeria, newspaper cuttings of various events, logbooks and lists of operations, official documents and photographs. A further 23 items are in two sub-collections with details of navigator examinations and postcards of Laghouat Algeria.<br /><br />The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Elizabeth Smith and Yvonne Puncher and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.<br />
<p>This collection also contains items concerning Louis Murray and Harry Bowers. Additional information on <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/202827/">Harry Bowers</a> and <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/220410/">Louis Murray</a> is available via the IBCC Losses Database.</p>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-06-16
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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. Some items have not been published in order to protect the privacy of third parties, to comply with intellectual property regulations, or have been assessed as medium or low priority according to the IBCC Digital Archive collection policy and will therefore be published at a later stage. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collection-policy.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Hudson, JD
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
Prisoner of War Post
[postmark]
[postage stamp]
755052 Sgt. Chef. J. W. Hudson
R.A.F. British Prisoner of War
Camp Militaire
Aumale
Algerie
Afrique du Nord.
[page break]
From 1
Mrs Hudson
191 Halifax
Nelson
Lancs
Eng
[page break]
191 Halifax Rd.
Nelson [underlined] Lancs [/underlined]
England.
Tuesday July 8th 1941
My dear Douglas.
Since writing to you on Sunday we have been delighted to receive 1 post-card 18/4/41 & 3 letters 18/4/41 – 7/5/41 — 4/5/41 in that order. 1 p.c. & 2 letters yesterday & 1 letter this morning. The letters (2) from Medea have come much more quickly that from Kef. & both bear stamps total value 3f. 50c. We have received letters marked “par avion” which do not bear stamps & one letter without stamps has the words “par avion” partly erased, post-marked very clearly Tunis 23.IV.41. Sousse 24.IV.41. There are several indistinct post-marks on the letters received together yesterday afternoon. Including Accrington 6.45 am. July 7th. which means, so my ex – post — master neighbour tells me, that they must have been wrongly sorted in London & sent to Accrington by mistake. But it really is very wonderful that we do receive the letters so regularly, in such troubled days & we are thankful indeed for the facility offered to keep in touch with each other. I am still awaiting the reply to my cable sent June 30th. (5/- prepaid reply) & this [indecipherable word] I must give it up as lost & try again tomorrow and hope for
[page break]
better luck. It was a great joy to us to learn that you were living under much happier conditions at Medea. & we are wondering if that fact that you have been moved to Aumale means that you have more restrictions. How thankful we shall be when the whole terrible business is over. This part of the world [indecipherable word] world has been very beautiful this spring. The weather this past 3 weeks has been marvellous with grand sunshine by day & moonshine by night. Our house is situated very high & we get full advantage of so much beauty. Our strawberries are not a great success. What are ripe so far we have passed across the fence to the lady next door. (She is very sweet & reminds me so much of Grandma) The raspberries are coming on but everything needs rain & many things are dying for need of it. Dad & I have spent a lot of time watering the plants to try to keep them alive. We simply love outside the house & during Dad’s holiday week (last week) were scarcely ever inside. The rooms are very small & I have [inserted] not [/inserted] got anything near straightened up yet. There is nowhere to put things away tho it is surprising how things do settle down in time. I had a very nice letter from Ian Latham last week. I had previously sent your latest cables for him to read. & he was very pleased. I am glad you have been able to write him a letter. He has been a real friend, any how & believe me they are more precious than gold. Dad & I found that out some months ago. I often wonder if Shakespeare had any friends. Do you remember he wrote “The friends thou hast& their adoption tried, grapple them to thy soul with hoops of [underlined] steel.” [/underlined] Now once again Goodbye & God bless you always. All our love.
Mother & Dad
755052 Hudson
Camp Militaire
Aumale
Algerie
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Letter to Douglas Hudson from his parents
Description
An account of the resource
Delighted to receive one postcard and three letters and mentions stamps value and other markings on envelopes. Mentions some post misdirection but grateful that they do get letters from him. Still awaiting reply to cable. Glad that he was living under better conditions at previous location but wonders if move to new place will result in more restrictions. Describes weather and their news house. Talks of strawberries and raspberries coming on. Catches up with family news, gossip and activities.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
P Hudson
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941-07-08
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two page handwritten letter and envelope
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
EHudsonP-HEHudsonJD410708
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Royal Air Force
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Algeria
Algeria--Sūr al-Ghuzlān
Great Britain
England--Lancashire
England--Nelson
North Africa
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-07-08
1941-07-20
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Karl Williams
prisoner of war
-
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Hudson, Douglas
James Douglas Hudson
J D Hudson
Description
An account of the resource
529 items. Collection concerns Pilot Officer James Douglas Hudson, DFC (755052 Royal Air Force) who joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in June 1939 and trained as an observer. While on route to Malta in August 1940 his Blenheim crashed in Tunisia and he was subsequently interned for two and a half years by Vichy French in Tunisia and Algeria. After being freed he returned to Great Britain and after navigator retraining completed a tour of 30 operations on 100 Squadron. The collection contains letters to and from his parents and from French penfriends while interned in Tunisia and Algeria, newspaper cuttings of various events, logbooks and lists of operations, official documents and photographs. A further 23 items are in two sub-collections with details of navigator examinations and postcards of Laghouat Algeria.<br /><br />The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Elizabeth Smith and Yvonne Puncher and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.<br />
<p>This collection also contains items concerning Louis Murray and Harry Bowers. Additional information on <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/202827/">Harry Bowers</a> and <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/220410/">Louis Murray</a> is available via the IBCC Losses Database.</p>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-06-16
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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. Some items have not been published in order to protect the privacy of third parties, to comply with intellectual property regulations, or have been assessed as medium or low priority according to the IBCC Digital Archive collection policy and will therefore be published at a later stage. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collection-policy.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Hudson, JD
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
Royal Air Force. 755052. Sgt. J. D. Hudson.
c/o Consul General des Etats Unis.
Rue Michelet.
Alger. Algérie.
Afrique du Nord.
28-5-42
My Dear Mother & Dad,
I wrote to you yesterday, but I am writing to you again to-day because this morning I received two more letters from you dated April 22nd & 29th, Nos. 37 & 38. I have received all of the first thirty-eight letters written this year except no. 11 which you must agree is excellent going. In your letter of April 22nd Mother sounded a little discouraged, but I understand so very well how one has periods of depressed feelings. I myself am by no means immune and believe me it is very difficult to shake off in a place like this once the mood gets its grip. You have your garden to go into and you can get outside and view fresh things and see fresh faces, which is impossible here. Everything is organised and one does practically the same routine day after day with no change of scene, and the summer climatic conditions are not too kindly. Just at present the weather is pleasant enough and quite reasonably cool for Laghouat at the end of May. We have [inserted] had [/inserted] some hot oppressive weather with an overhead layer of sand and a south wind blowing up from the desert causing occasional terrific sand storms. You say you are thinking of me always, in sunshine, in starshine, in daylight and through many dark hours of night your heart is with me in the oasis of Laghouat. I too am continually thinking of you at home, and at night time if I am awake I feel the separation worse. It is then that sleep is most difficult to come by. But I remain
[page break]
unshaken in my belief that once again in the near future we shall be together and that what we are undergoing now will have been but a cloud passing and that afterwards the sky will appear the more blue for its passing. I am glad to hear from your other letter that Grandad enjoyed his stay with you and appeared to benefit from the change. I hope the extra work involved did not prove to be too tiring. I am also pleased to learn that he showed his appreciation to you by leaving a small present. It is extremely kind of your good friend to let you have six tablets of Lifebuoy Toilet soap to send out to me. Will you express my gratitude to the he or she responsible? It is about one of the most useful items here. I am eagerly awaiting its arrival together with the socks, towels, State Express cigarettes and Mrs Clayton’s book. Parcels sent to Algiers from England, via the Red Cross take between two months & four to arrive, and generally come in fairly [inserted] large [/inserted] batches. Don’t worry about the possible inferior quality of the towels. You should see mine now! I am sending off to-day a short cable just to show you that your letters are arriving so satisfactorily. This is the message I am sending: - “Received thirty seven letters from you written this year latest number thirty eight all have love thoughts wishes always.” This will just remind you I am constantly thinking of you at home. There is not much I can add now, so I will bring my letter to a close. Keep your chins up, and keep smiling.
All my love to you both.
[underlined] Douglas [/underlined]
P.S. Don’t send me knitting needles. I have not the remotest idea how to “turn a heel”
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Letter from Douglas Hudson to his parents
Description
An account of the resource
Reports arrival of latest mail and comments on news from home. Writes that depression is difficult to shake off sometimes as everything in camp is organised with same routine day after day and nothing new. Writes of the weather at Laghouat. Hopes that they will all be together again soon. More comment on other news from home and thanks them about soap being donated by family/friends. Says eagerly awaiting arrival of parcels with soap, towels cigarettes and book..
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1942-05-28
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two page handwritten letter
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
EHudsonJDHudsonP-HE420528
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Royal Air Force
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Algeria
Algeria--Laghouat (Province)
Algeria--Algiers
North Africa
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942-05-28
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
James Douglas Hudson
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Karl Williams
prisoner of war
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/886/22678/EHudsonJDHudsonP-HE420521-0001.1.jpg
07af867043841a17af683e701765a0e4
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668ceb9a01130a862f2db8850d4a0961
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Hudson, Douglas
James Douglas Hudson
J D Hudson
Description
An account of the resource
529 items. Collection concerns Pilot Officer James Douglas Hudson, DFC (755052 Royal Air Force) who joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in June 1939 and trained as an observer. While on route to Malta in August 1940 his Blenheim crashed in Tunisia and he was subsequently interned for two and a half years by Vichy French in Tunisia and Algeria. After being freed he returned to Great Britain and after navigator retraining completed a tour of 30 operations on 100 Squadron. The collection contains letters to and from his parents and from French penfriends while interned in Tunisia and Algeria, newspaper cuttings of various events, logbooks and lists of operations, official documents and photographs. A further 23 items are in two sub-collections with details of navigator examinations and postcards of Laghouat Algeria.<br /><br />The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Elizabeth Smith and Yvonne Puncher and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.<br />
<p>This collection also contains items concerning Louis Murray and Harry Bowers. Additional information on <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/202827/">Harry Bowers</a> and <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/220410/">Louis Murray</a> is available via the IBCC Losses Database.</p>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-06-16
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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. Some items have not been published in order to protect the privacy of third parties, to comply with intellectual property regulations, or have been assessed as medium or low priority according to the IBCC Digital Archive collection policy and will therefore be published at a later stage. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collection-policy.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Hudson, JD
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
Sgt. J.D. Hudson. 755052.
c/o. Consul Général des Etats Unis.
Rue Michelet.
Alger. Algérie.
Afrique du Nord.
21-5-42.
My Dear Mother & Dad,
Today is my birthday, and I have been very pleased indeed to receive cables from you, Uncle Jim, Hill Côte, & Horsforth, all in time, not to mention your letter of March 6th which arrived the day before yesterday, and two letters from you dated April 17th and March 25th also one from E.W.7. dated April 9th which all arrived this morning. Your cable read as follows: - “Delighted seven letters to-day very special thoughts for Thursday hope parcels arrived happy birthday all love” To which I am replying this afternoon: - “Delighted your birthday cable yesterday also three from Calverley and three more letters to-day May twenty first well all love thoughts no parcel.” It is always very encouraging to receive your cables especially when they tell of my letters getting home. I realise what excitement it must be for you to receive seven all together after such a long lapse. You do not say what dates they are but as cables have been received here very recently acknowledging March letters, I suppose it must be an accumulation of Feb/March mail. Here are my own compiled rough statistics. Since my arrival at Laghouat I estimate having written to you about fifty five letters. According to your news you have received batches of six, eight, two, six & seven making a total of twenty–nine. The first six were from Aumale up to September 17th, that leaves twenty three from Laghouat. Assuming that the latest letter of the last batch was written about beginning of March,
[page break]
say ten weeks ago, it means that twenty three letters out of a possible thirty-five have actually reached you. (I assume having written twenty letters to you since early March). In other words two thirds of the mail is getting home, which, I suppose is not too bad. Your letters written to me this year up to No. 36 have arrived with the exception of the Nos. 11, 32 & 35. These last two I expect anytime. Did I tell you I received a few days ago a letter & Christmas card sent from Auntie Dorothy on November 9th? It had taken six months to get here. I was glad to hear that Ray Parkinson received his wireless set, I had certain doubts at the time whether it would arrive safely. I have not received the parcel of cigarettes yet or Mrs. Clayton’s book. This is not very surprising because delivery of parcels is most uncertain and times taken to arrive vary considerably. I hope Grandad benefited from his stay, but according to your letter he sounds to be getting a really old man. I hope you were not unduly tired after his visit. I can well imagine all the running up and down. Talking about the syphon of soda & bottle of Scotch. That would fetch 800 francs out here. The Scotch I mean. The soda maybe 6 francs. The weather has become ridiculously hot. We have closed all doors and windows & “blitzed” the flies. When we open the door it is like pouring water all over to see if the joint is done. Truly there is no joint, except the one we are in. I have one officer guard tonight. Whether we shall get any Muscatel, or Mausseuse is very uncertain. We are terribly rationed. But I shall think about you whatever happens. Once again thank you & all those who remembered my birthday. With as ever all my love & thoughts, good-bye until next letter.
[underlined] Douglas. [/underlined]
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Letter from Douglas Hudson to his parents
Description
An account of the resource
Notes it was his birthday and reports arrival of letters and latest cable with birthday greetings. Long discussion of mail he has sent and what had arrived with them. Notes Christmas card that had just arrived after six months in transit. Catches up and comments on home news. Mentions that weather is very hot and during discussion about scotch notes it would fetch 800 francs there.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1942-05-21
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two page handwritten letter
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
EHudsonJDHudsonP-HE420521
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Royal Air Force
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Algeria
Algeria--Laghouat (Province)
Algeria--Algiers
North Africa
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942-05-21
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
James Douglas Hudson
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Karl Williams
prisoner of war
-
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Hudson, Douglas
James Douglas Hudson
J D Hudson
Description
An account of the resource
529 items. Collection concerns Pilot Officer James Douglas Hudson, DFC (755052 Royal Air Force) who joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in June 1939 and trained as an observer. While on route to Malta in August 1940 his Blenheim crashed in Tunisia and he was subsequently interned for two and a half years by Vichy French in Tunisia and Algeria. After being freed he returned to Great Britain and after navigator retraining completed a tour of 30 operations on 100 Squadron. The collection contains letters to and from his parents and from French penfriends while interned in Tunisia and Algeria, newspaper cuttings of various events, logbooks and lists of operations, official documents and photographs. A further 23 items are in two sub-collections with details of navigator examinations and postcards of Laghouat Algeria.<br /><br />The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Elizabeth Smith and Yvonne Puncher and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.<br />
<p>This collection also contains items concerning Louis Murray and Harry Bowers. Additional information on <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/202827/">Harry Bowers</a> and <a href="https://internationalbcc.co.uk/losses/220410/">Louis Murray</a> is available via the IBCC Losses Database.</p>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-06-16
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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. Some items have not been published in order to protect the privacy of third parties, to comply with intellectual property regulations, or have been assessed as medium or low priority according to the IBCC Digital Archive collection policy and will therefore be published at a later stage. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collection-policy.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Hudson, JD
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
755052 Sgt Chef J. D. Hudson.
Camp de Sejour Surveillѐ.
Le Kef Tunisie.
Afrique du Nord.
17-4-41.
Mr dear Mother & Dad
Since I wrote my last pc. to you a week ago, I have not received any further news from you. on the 7th I received your cable of the 3rd, giving your present address, & on the 9th I received your letter dated Feb 18th written from “Cranford.” In order that letters arrive by Air Mail they must be so marked on the envelope & the blue air mail stamp affixed, otherwise, like this letter they will come by ordinary post. Air Mail generally takes about 3 weeks. For some time now I have been sending you letters fortnightly addressed via air mail & I do they will have got through quicker than the others, although I do praise the work of the Red Cross who appear to have been very splendid.
Well, I do most sincerely hope that you are both keeping safe & well, & that you have
[page break]
[underlined] 2. [/underlined]
settled down in your new environment; & as I have said in my other letters, I wish you all the luck in the world. Yesterday I received a letter from E.W.7. dated March 6th. I have only been able to send him one pc, all my other communications have been to you. Perhaps if you write to him, you will mention how much I appreciate his letters, & send my love. Tell him I’d give a lot for a Tetleys half pint, instead of the “Vin Rouge” we drink out here. It is about all that is left besides Black Coffee, & to think I tried to sell tea all the time.
here is a bit of surprising news. On Wed. next: the 23rd. we are leaving here for a place called MEDEA in Algiers. It is about 450 miles west of here & about 40 miles South of Algiers town. All I can suggest at present is that in future you write to me at CAMP DE LIBERTЀ SURVEILLЀ; MЀDЀA; ALGЀRIE; AFRIQUE DU NORD: if you cable maybe better c/o The American Consul, Algiers,
[page break]
[underlined] 3. [/underlined]
but I hope that in the meantime the Consul is Tunis may have wired you my change of address. At any rate letter will be forwarded from here. We are supposed to by going to improved conditions and to be reclassed as internees so here’s hoping. A change will be more than welcome. I wonder if I shall be able to write more often from there. April has been cold, almost parallel to the English April & decidedly cooler than many January days here. No sunbathing since I returned from my visit to the dentist in Tunis. I believe England has had a very rough winter. You ask about the appendix ‘Chef’ it does not mean cook but is a sort of super Sgt. ie, in our case a Sgt member of an air crew. Well I’d better not write much more in case the censor gets “cheesed” However, what is left unsaid all goes down to thoughts & memories & am looking forward to the day when I see you all again. So until that time may you be safe & well & of good spirit. I am always thinking about you. All my love
Douglas
PS: Am sending a PC today as well.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Letter from Douglas Hudson to his parents
Description
An account of the resource
Catches up with mail received and reminds them that to arrive by airmail it must be so marked on the envelope and have correct stamps. Mentions airmail is much quicker. states that he has sent them letters fortnightly and hopes they have arrived. Praises the work of the Red Cross. Hopes they are well and settled into new environment. Comments on other mail received and asks them to send thanks as his limited mail does not allow him to do so. Writes that they are leaving on 23rd to Médéa in Algeria. Gives new address and notes that they should get better conditions and be classified as internees. Comments on the month's weather and explains use of chef (Sergeant Chef) in his rank, not a cook. Looking forward to the day when he sees them all again.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941-04-18
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Three page handwritten letter
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
EHudsonJDHudsonP-HE410418-02
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Royal Air Force
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Tunisia
Tunisia--El Kef
Algeria
Algeria--Médéa (Province)
North Africa
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-04-18
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
James Douglas Hudson
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Karl Williams
prisoner of war
-
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Valentine, John
John Ross Mckenzie Valentine
J R M Valentine
Description
An account of the resource
674 Items. Collection concerns navigator Warrant Officer J R McKenzie Valentine (1251404 Royal Air Force). The collection contains over 600 letters between JRM Valentine and his wife Ursula. It also contains his log book, family/official documents, a book of violin music studies and other correspondence. Sub-collections contain family photographs, prisoner of war photographs and a scrapbook of newspaper cuttings of events from 1942 to 1945.
He joined 49 Squadron in April 1942 and flew 10 operations on Hampdens. The squadron converted to Manchester in May when he completed two further operations. His aircraft was shot down on the Thousand Bomber raid of 30/31 May 1942. Five crew, including him bailed out successfully and became prisoners of war. The pilot and one air gunner were killed when the aircraft rolled over and crashed.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Frances Zagni and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018-09-06
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Valentine, JRM
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
Felmersham
July 18
Darling Johnnie,
I hope to draw £5 & send it off to you by the early post tomorrow in the hope that you may get it on Friday afternoon. I also intend to send you one local timetable, in which the relevant buses are 305, 335 and 353. Of these the [underlined] 305 [/underlined] comes right into the village, & it is best for you to look to the White Hart. (5d from Gerrards Cross) which is a pub at the top of the hill on the far side of the village. Getting out there, you should go back a little way to the White Hart itself & turn down to the left, Back Lane (theres a “gentlemen’s” on the corner!!) Follow this lane till the crossroads, which is
[page break]
Bottrells Lane, turn left, and your property is the 2nd house on the left.
The [underlined] 335 [/underlined] or [underlined] 353 [/underlined] both take you only to the [underlined] Pheasant.[/underlined] From there, turn left down into the village, first right at the Crown, up the hill past the Fox and Hounds (I’m not suggesting that you call in at all these). Fork left at the top where Bottrells Lane is signposted, carry on till you come to the aforementioned crossroads, & your property is still the 2nd on the left.
I feel this walk would be rather much for you, it takes 1/4 hour at least, & if you must come by bus it would be better to try to get a 305.
Better still, if you had time in London, would be to ring up for a car to meet you, either Mr Leverett
page break]
3.
telephone Chalfont St Giles 1 (but not [underlined] this [/underlined] weekend as he is away on holiday) or else
If you are having a car, it would be nearer ([indecipherable word] cheaper) for you to come by train to Seer Green, instead of Gerrards Cross, but don’t go to Seer Green unless you are being met, as there’s only one bus an hour there (viz the 305 going the opposite way). If your train happened to connect, well and good.
Your telegram handed in 11.30 didn’t reach me till between 6-7 pm, so this gives you an idea of the length of notice required if you want to contact me.
I shouldn’t think it really likely that you’ll get home this weekend is it?
[page break]
[deleted] 4 [/deleted] [inserted] 3 [/inserted]
If there were a chance the weekend after, I could arrange to meet you in London and have taxis this end & do the thing in style.
But its certainly a gorgeous thought that you might come on leave at all. I’m afraid the journey might be rather grim, you simply [underlined] must [/underlined] have a seat, so tell people you’re a hospital case and must have one.
Can’t think of anything more now. It’s 11.30 pm so I must get to bed. I sent my letter today to Cosford. I do hope they forward it to you. did you have the kitbag finally sent off?
All my love darling
Ursula.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Letter to John Valentine from his wife Ursula
Description
An account of the resource
She writes to him in hospital about his return home. She writes explaining the different bus routes he can take and types of transport, and directions to take in the village when he gets there, or if she would like to meet him in London? She writes that she received his telegram late and asks if his kit bag has been sent off.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1945-07-18
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Karl Williams
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Four page handwritten letter
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
EValentineUMValentineJRM450719
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Royal Air Force
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Buckinghamshire
England--Chalfont St. Giles
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1945-07-18
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Ursula Valentine
-
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Valentine, John
John Ross Mckenzie Valentine
J R M Valentine
Description
An account of the resource
674 Items. Collection concerns navigator Warrant Officer J R McKenzie Valentine (1251404 Royal Air Force). The collection contains over 600 letters between JRM Valentine and his wife Ursula. It also contains his log book, family/official documents, a book of violin music studies and other correspondence. Sub-collections contain family photographs, prisoner of war photographs and a scrapbook of newspaper cuttings of events from 1942 to 1945.
He joined 49 Squadron in April 1942 and flew 10 operations on Hampdens. The squadron converted to Manchester in May when he completed two further operations. His aircraft was shot down on the Thousand Bomber raid of 30/31 May 1942. Five crew, including him bailed out successfully and became prisoners of war. The pilot and one air gunner were killed when the aircraft rolled over and crashed.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Frances Zagni and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018-09-06
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Valentine, JRM
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
Felmersham
July 9th
Darling Johnnie,
It was grand to hear your voice again last night & to know you are well and improving. It looks pretty hopeless as far as leave is concerned, and I’m afraid that if you don’t go to Loughborough till 19th you won’t get away before the end of July. I suppose it can’t be helped, but I feel very angry with the hospital authorities for misleading us so about your probable wishes.
I had a letter from Barbara this morning saying her holiday has been extended until the beginning of next week, & suggesting she should call on us on her way up. I’ll ask her to come for the weekend, & we might ring you up when she’s
[page break]
here and see if there any chance of her seeing you, if she feels like the extra journey.
By the way, now that we’ve been officially invited to Winifred’s wedding, I suppose we ought to do something about the present. What do you suggest?
I have put in some [indecipherable word] runner bean plants, so with any luck we may be getting some when you come home. This morning I’ve done a large wash – incidentally your kit-bag hasn’t arrived yet. I’ve made up a parcel of cherries which I’ll post this afternoon & hope they arrive in edible condition. Frances & I are eating masses of them.
Thank you for three letters received this morning, of 4th, 6th
[page break]
& 7th July. I too am sorry your first letter didn’t arrive to time, it would have been lovely to have had one waiting for me. You are a darling to have thought of it. altogether you’re a darling, & I miss you horribly now that I’d got used to having you again. If only we knew for certain that you wouldn’t be moved till 19th, we might consider our coming up again, but everything is so uncertain that it’s almost impossible to make plans. Let me know if you have any bright ideas.
Goodbye darling, Frances & I both send you big kisses – she was so pleased with the letter you wrote her. Yours always
Ursula.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Letter to John Valentine from his wife Ursula
Description
An account of the resource
Writes she is angry with hospital authorities for misleading them and he won't get away before the end of July. Catches up with family news, writes of gardening and domestic matters and that his kit-bag has not arrived yet. Thanks him for his letters and says she is missing him. Mentions it is difficult to make plans due to uncertainty.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1945-07-09
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Karl Williams
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Three page handwritten letter
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
EValentineUMValentineJRM450709
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Royal Air Force
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Buckinghamshire
England--Chalfont St. Giles
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1945-07-09
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Ursula Valentine
-
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Valentine, John
John Ross Mckenzie Valentine
J R M Valentine
Description
An account of the resource
674 Items. Collection concerns navigator Warrant Officer J R McKenzie Valentine (1251404 Royal Air Force). The collection contains over 600 letters between JRM Valentine and his wife Ursula. It also contains his log book, family/official documents, a book of violin music studies and other correspondence. Sub-collections contain family photographs, prisoner of war photographs and a scrapbook of newspaper cuttings of events from 1942 to 1945.
He joined 49 Squadron in April 1942 and flew 10 operations on Hampdens. The squadron converted to Manchester in May when he completed two further operations. His aircraft was shot down on the Thousand Bomber raid of 30/31 May 1942. Five crew, including him bailed out successfully and became prisoners of war. The pilot and one air gunner were killed when the aircraft rolled over and crashed.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Frances Zagni and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
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2018-09-06
Rights
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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.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Valentine, JRM
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
Batch 1159
EValentineUMValentineJRM440410-0001
W/O Valentine, P/W 450
Stalag Luft III, Lager A
Germany.
Little Close,
Devon Road,
Salcombe. Devon.
April 10th 1944
My darling Johnnie,
Here we are in the peace and plenty of Devonshire again. The countryside is looking very lovely now and all the flowers and trees are considerably more forward in their blooming than in Buckinghamshire. There are fields simply carpeted with primroses, and hedgerows blue with violets and now the bluebells are pushing through too & will soon be in full bloom. Yesterday morning, Easter Sunday, Frances and I went for a walk in the woods on the other side of the estuary to pick some primroses for Grannie. Frances was very absorbed in the serious business of trying to pick long stalks & not just break off the flower head, but it was diverted by the sweet picture she made, her golden curls bent down near the pale
[page break]
[margin text] They tell me there’s no more airmail to POW’s, but ordinary mail can scarcely be much slower than airmail news. [/margin text]
[page break]
yellow primroses while the spring sunlight streamed through fresh green leaves to light up her hair. She loves being down here. There is so much to interest her in the garden here. the boats in the estuary, the ferry and the sands. We have celebrated her birthday today instead of tomorrow so that Peter could join in. I did not bring our present down her (I told you in an earlier letter that I have made her a grocer’s shop), & maybe there will be others awaiting her return. Mother gave her a lovely doll, one she brought back from India – it is a little girl with long golden plaits, a blue silk dress & hat and the sweetest little face, cloth not china, but beautifully made. Her name is Molly, and Frances is just thrilled to bits with her. Daddy gave her a savings certificate, Peter gave her “When we were very young”, poems by AA Milne which you gave her for Christmas
[page break]
only that copy was lost along with all our other Xmas presents when the box I send them in by rail was stolen. Barbara gave her two other story books, & also sent a pretty little tartan dress & knickers which some friend of hers up in Hants had passed on for Frances. It fits her perfectly, & will be very useful this summer. So Frances did pretty well and maybe there’s more to come.
I’ve had one pic from you since I’ve been down here, dated 16th Jan. I think I’ve got them all up to that date. I was [underlined] so [/underlined] glad to hear that the British M.O. has found a treatment for your nose which is doing you good, & that you are getting rid of all that horrid mucous. I’ve been awfully worried thinking of all that muck simmering in your head. I do hope we can get it finally dealt with when you come home.
I have had a letter from Ann inviting herself to stay at Felmersham on the 18th. It will be nice to have one of them out to see the house, specially
[page break]
Ann. I wonder how Pat has been managing on her own in the house this week, she is having her mother-in-law to stay with her for the weekend. I am looking forward to getting home again, altho’ I enjoy staying here so much. The house - painting ought to be nearly finished, and I hope the gates will be mended too. I shall be glad to have them done at last. [underlined] how [/underlined] I long to have you home to enjoy it with me & help me to improve it lots of things want doing in the garden. We have a lovely Forsythia in the small shrubbery that stretches from front gate to garage, and a flowering currant, besides the 3 Christmas trees. I want to try to grow bluebells & those little wild cyclamen underneath. There a chance that Mr Horsewell may sell me his greenhouse for £5 if the incoming owner won’t buy it off him. I do hope I get it. It would be a great acquisition.
We have been playing a lot of family contract bridge over Easter. I do enjoy even this mild version & hope we shall be able to play sometimes when you return.
All my love dearest. I shall think of you specially on the April 15th. Yours always, Ursula.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Letter to prisoner of war John Valentine from his wife Ursula
Description
An account of the resource
Writes from Devon, describes countryside and activities. Mentions celebrating daughter's birthday and lists presents she received. Glad that British MO has found treatment for his nose. Catches up with family news and says she will be glad to get home. Concludes with garden plans and possibility of getting a greenhouse.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1944-04-10
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Karl Williams
Format
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Four page handwritten letter.
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
EValentineUMValentineJRM440410
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Devon
England--Salcombe
Poland
Poland--Żagań
Lithuania
Lithuania--Šilutė
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-04-10
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Ursula Valentine
ground personnel
medical officer
prisoner of war
Stalag Luft 3
Stalag Luft 6
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1281/20052/EValentineUMValentineJRM430802-0001.2.jpg
63458e95b0ea49cfbd35c6064c257d46
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1281/20052/EValentineUMValentineJRM430802-0002.2.jpg
3ffe0bca732ac478869053bf836a00b0
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Valentine, John
John Ross Mckenzie Valentine
J R M Valentine
Description
An account of the resource
674 Items. Collection concerns navigator Warrant Officer J R McKenzie Valentine (1251404 Royal Air Force). The collection contains over 600 letters between JRM Valentine and his wife Ursula. It also contains his log book, family/official documents, a book of violin music studies and other correspondence. Sub-collections contain family photographs, prisoner of war photographs and a scrapbook of newspaper cuttings of events from 1942 to 1945.
He joined 49 Squadron in April 1942 and flew 10 operations on Hampdens. The squadron converted to Manchester in May when he completed two further operations. His aircraft was shot down on the Thousand Bomber raid of 30/31 May 1942. Five crew, including him bailed out successfully and became prisoners of war. The pilot and one air gunner were killed when the aircraft rolled over and crashed.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Frances Zagni and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018-09-06
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Valentine, JRM
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
To Sgt. J.R.M. Valentine,
British Prisoner of War No. 450,
Stalag Luft III, Germany.
From Mrs. J.R.M. Valentine
Lido, Tenterden Grove,
Hendon, London, N.W.4.
471
Sunday August 2nd 1943
My darling Johnnie,
Practically the only thign that has happened since I wrote to you last is – packing. The whole house is a welter of boxes and suitcases and piles of things awaiting packing, and we have been up into the loft heaps of times, bringing down forgotten treasures, many of them moth-eaten but some still worth keeping. I have done a lot of ruthless throwing-out, but some of our photo albums I have kept, and some priceless photos of hockey, fives and swimming teams at school. I have been going through your papers as well, all those stacks of London Angus receipts and correspondence, and I have selected the more valuable-looking statements of account, cheque-books of receipts and that sort of thing and sent them all off in a bundle to Mr. Chalmers as I have not got the present Treasurer’s address, explaining that as we are moving I wanted [censored] the unimportant correspondence about subscriptings and so on, I have given to the Government for salvage, which was quite the most patriotic end it could have come to. I hope you don’t object, but if you do they are gone just the same and I for one am glad to be rid of them. I have sacrificed quantities of paper myself, old letters and notes and poems and heavens knows what, and they too have met an honourable end. Even so we shan’t be exactly travelling light!
I have arranged for our furniture to be collected from here next Friday and taken to Batty’s warehouse to be stored until further orders. That will cost only £3.15, which seems to me quite reasonable, since it includes packing up all our china and stuff. I am stowing away quite a lot of the household linen, most of it in fact, in the drawers of the walnut tallboy, your clothes are divided between the Chinese chest (your suits) and your green trunk; the rubber boots of various kinds are packed in the doll’s pram under Frances’s hard toys, and many of her soft toys are packed in your old tallboy it is a really gigantic job sorting and packing all our belongings, specially with Frances “helping” all the time and taking odd items off up the garden, where I find them some time later! In the middle of all this I went off to have a blood transfusion on Wednesday to the local Red Cross headquarters. They had got the whole thing very well organised up there, and after pumping 2/3 of a pint of the best out of my arm, quite painlessly, I was led gently out and made to lie down for 10 minutes and then rest in a chair for five minutes more before being allowed to attempt the 3 minutes walk home! I felt as right as rain, and did my last night’s work from 7 till midnight same as ever. I have given my notice there and collected my last pay-packet so once more I am one of the idle poor. I have also handed in the Penny-a-Week Fund, and have wound up the Savings Group as well. Nobody in the Group would volunteer to take it over from me, so tomorrow I must take the whole works up to the local office and hand it back. I have had it almost exactly two years, and in that time we have raised over £800, which seems to me to have been worth while. I shall be so idle after this I may even have time to read! Talking of that, I have just read Mary Webb’s “Gone to
[page break]
[margin text] The Neals are very sad to think that we shall have left here when you return and have put in a special request that you may come & see them again sometime. [/margin text]
[page break]
Earth”, and I enjoyed it very much indeed. she certainly does write most beautifully of the countryside.
Unfortunately our affairs as regards the house have not progresd [sic] any further, I am still waiting for the report of the Building Society’s surveyor, and the longer I wait, the more despondent I become. This evening I took the last Savings Cert. into Mrs. Neal and had a chat with Mr. Neal on house purchase and building societies in general, and in the end I felt so very uncertain about everything that I asked him if he would survey the house at Broomfield for me, and he says that if he can fit it in this week before he goes for his holiday he will do so. You see, even if the building society’s surveyor does pass it and they agree to lend us the money on it, that doesn’t prove that it is sound structurally, and I shall feel so much happier in my mind if have an independent opinion on it and I am sure Mr. Neal would give me good advice and not let me buy a pup. You see it is so suitable in every way and so very reasonable in price for these days, that one is immediately suspicious that “all is not sweet, all is not sound”, as Ben Johnson said, specially [censored] If I have to turn it down in the end, I just don’t know what Frances and I will do. To begin with we are going to stay with Bunty down at Gable End, leaving here on Monday, today week, and I daresay we could stay a couple of weeks, but in any case that is only a holiday. I expect you have heard that Bunty is expecting her third, lucky blighter. What will happen to us after that I just don’t know, at the moment. My parents will be down in Devon and I suppose we could go to them for a bit, but frankly I don’t want to stay for months and months, Frances is sometimes too much for them and it hasn’t been all jam these past two months. And besides I do so want to get a home for you to come back to, why you may be back any day now and nothing ready for you! I think I shall have to revert to my old Micawber frame of mind and trust that something will turn up. But perhaps High House will turn out to be alright for us after all.
On Thursday I went with Mary Simmonds to see one of the latest Technicolour films, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, a very attractive and well acted film, but unfortunately not much like Low’s Blimp. The film Blimp is really a jolly good fellow and perfectly reasonable and adaptable behind the well-known moustache and Turkish bath get-up, whereas Low’s Blimp is an expression of something far less pleasant and unfortunately just as real. I’m surprised that Low let them use the name.
Frances is as full of beans as ever, and is getting to know her alphabet quite fast. She can also count up to 5, and strings together quite imposing sentences now. She often brings me a bit of paper and says it is a letter “From my [underlined] own [/underlined] Father”, and when the postman comes she brings me the most unlikely looking bills and says they are from you! I still haven’t heard from the new camp, but I suppose this slowing up of mail was to be expected. Still, I don’t enjoy it. Just now I am missing you desperately. I do hope you are alright in your new camp and have got somewhere to practice your fiddle. I saw the Jansens the other day and they haven’t heard anything either.
With all my love & a big kiss from Frances. Ursula XXX
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Letter to prisoner of war John Valentine from his wife Ursula
Description
An account of the resource
Describes packing up all belongings and arranging for furniture and other belongings to go into store. Mentions donating blood at Red Cross, doing her last shift at work and wrapping up other matters. Still awaiting news about her possible house purchase and mentions possibility of going to live with her parents in Devon. Concludes with news of her and daughters activities.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1943-08-02
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Karl Williams
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two page typewritten letter with added handwritten notes
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
EValentineUMValentineJRM430802
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Devon
Poland
Poland--Żagań
England--London
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-08-02
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Ursula Valentine
entertainment
prisoner of war
Red Cross
Stalag Luft 3
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1281/20024/EValentineUMValentineJRM430419-0001.2.jpg
49c5dedaf8d978adf6e2228132987099
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1281/20024/EValentineUMValentineJRM430419-0002.2.jpg
834b00fbd252b9fe951860cf054b9c0e
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Valentine, John
John Ross Mckenzie Valentine
J R M Valentine
Description
An account of the resource
674 Items. Collection concerns navigator Warrant Officer J R McKenzie Valentine (1251404 Royal Air Force). The collection contains over 600 letters between JRM Valentine and his wife Ursula. It also contains his log book, family/official documents, a book of violin music studies and other correspondence. Sub-collections contain family photographs, prisoner of war photographs and a scrapbook of newspaper cuttings of events from 1942 to 1945.
He joined 49 Squadron in April 1942 and flew 10 operations on Hampdens. The squadron converted to Manchester in May when he completed two further operations. His aircraft was shot down on the Thousand Bomber raid of 30/31 May 1942. Five crew, including him bailed out successfully and became prisoners of war. The pilot and one air gunner were killed when the aircraft rolled over and crashed.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Frances Zagni and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018-09-06
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Valentine, JRM
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
To Sgt. J.R.M. Valentine,
British Prisoner of War No. 457,
Stalag Luft III, Germany
From Mrs. J.R.M. Valentine,
Lido, Tenterden Grove,
London, N.W.4.
Monday, 19th April 1943.
My darling Johnnie,
Two lovely letters and a postcard from you this morning, written in the middle of February. In one letter you describe your truly remarkable escape when baling out – that ought to teach you not to pull the rip-cord too soon another time! Thank God there need never be another time. it seems almost too good to be true to think that when this war is over – and the Far East war! – we shall be able to live happily together without the constant fear and expectation of being torn apart at any moment – a sensation we have never yet enjoyed, for the cloud hung very definitely even over our first six months. I don’t think we shall run much risk of taking our happiness for granted. You ask for my guess as to the date of your return – I must admit that I haven’t much hope for this year, yet. If things start to happen, they may move fast, but I don’t see how if could possibly end this year. I just don’t date to look so far ahead, and yet how much worse it is for you. at least I have Frances and live in comfort. Yet there can’t be any real joy in life for me, even here in England in spring-time, without you. these last few days of glorious sunshine have reminded so often of your last leave; the lilac, the blossom and even the laburnum are all in bloom nearly a month earlier than last year, and the Grove is looking now very much as it did when you came home last May. What a lovely time we had then – may it come again soon.
I’m glad you have been receiving a few more parcels – is it a pity that the sender’s name isn’t on the tobacco parcels so that I could thank the donors. I think the Players and Gold Flake were from Ba and me respectively, though I think there ought to have been tobacco in them as well. The parcel of books from Sweden came from Nilson, Grunfeld’s friend so I will write to the latter, also about the Swiss friends.
It is a shame that your violin “teacher” is so uninspired. It is a devilish hard instrument to play and you do so need guidance at the beginning. Isn’t there anyone else who would help you? if there is a symphony orchestra, there must be a number of violinists. Anyway, I am glad that you are keeping on – I only wish I knew [indecipherable words] that I could help. I have been practicing a bit recently but can’t often make the time. But it would be lovely if we could play together some day and after all you can have proper lessons when you come home.
The house-painters have at long last got to work, and this of course was the signal for a break in the weather! Still we badly needed the rain for the seedlings and I hope there will be more fine days in the coming fortnight so that they can get through according to schedule. The foreman said the painting was being done only just in time, otherwise the woodwork would have suffered. Now there is every prospect of the house looking spick and span for my parents. Today a lovely birthday parcel for Frances arrived from them, containing two little smocked dresses and knickers, a cotton sleeping suit, a hand-knitted coat and leggings and a pair of white shoes which are fortunately just her size and should do all the summer. She really has got the most stupendous wardrobe, to which I have contributed only the duller necessities!
[page break]
Last Saturday I was invited to Catharine Mair’s wedding, which was to take place at 2 p.m. in Hampstead somewhere. This was an impossible early hour for me, for Frances is generally only waking up after her midday rest at that time, so I politely excused myself and said I would just go to the reception – other people’s weddings aren’t much fun anyway, although I wouldn’t mind being married to you again! It was Barbara’s day on duty, but fortunately I invited Eileen Johnson to lunch and she said she would love to look after Frances in the garden for me, so it all fitted in well. The reception was held in the Mair’s flat, and was rather a poor affair. I had so looked forward to getting a bit tipsy, but there was nothing but tea, and when the health of the bride and bridegroom was proposed, we had nothing to drink it in and it all fell rather flat, I thought. I met one or two old friends there and quite enjoyed myself, but it wasn’t a patch off [underlined] our [/underlined] wedding. The honeymoon is to be in the Lake District, and I must say I envy them that!
On Thursday I was summoned as a representative of our women’s organisation (to wit, Women Citizens, which I have told you of before) to a meeting at the Technical Institute on the subject of saving and repairing textiles. It was quite interesting, but a bit of a busman’s holiday, and anyway our group isn’t concerned with purely domestic things, indeed it is an attempt, for me at any rate, to get out of the narrow daily domestic circle into wider interests and political and public affairs. I suppose I shall have to report back at our next meeting on Wednesday, which is to be on Education, with the local Director of Education to address us.
Ba is going away for a week’s holiday in the middle of next week and I have today written to Vera Bowack to see if she would come and stay here with me for that time. I could look after Michael for her while she goes shopping, if she wants, and it would also mean that I could continue at the factory on my usual evenings. I doubt very much whether she will undertake the trip, for Michael is only 8 months old, but I hope she does. I can’t go away myself because the painters may not have finished till the weekend. It will be grand when my parents are home and I don’t have any more of these nights alone. It is ridiculous when you consider how overcrowded you are and how empty this place is, that some adjustment can’t be made!
Mary Simmonds and I played squash again on Friday while the children frolicked in the garden under the supervision of Lally. We shall have to exchange squash for tennis soon, but our trouble there is lack of balls, I’m afraid ours will be quite useless this year, they certainly weren’t much good last year, were they? I’m longing to inaugurate my new racquet, i.e. the one your bequeathed me, and I’m expecting a great improvement in my game from it.
I have been doing a good bit of gardening lately. The first lot of peas are through now, also onions, carrots and calabrese, but things have been awfully slow owing to the lack of rain. They should do better after today. I have sown vegetable marrows in a bed over a filled up compost heap, under the tree, and have planted our artichokes and sown the first lot of beans. The garden is looking pretty just now with wallflowers, primroses, bluebells under the tree, forgetmenots, arabis and those purple primroses and aubrietia. Frances is rather apt to pick the heads off flowers but is learning just to smell them now.
With all my love for always, Ursula.
[margin text] Frances always says goodnight Mummy goodnight Daddy” now before going to sleep – I haven’t got her as far as saying mother and father yet. [/margin text]
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Letter to prisoner of war John Valentine from his wife Ursula
Description
An account of the resource
Reports arrival of his letters and a postcard. Comments on his description of bailing out of his aircraft and looks forward to the end of the war but says not much hope this year. Glad he is receiving a few more parcels mentions some of the senders. Laments on his violin teacher but says she is still practicing. Writes about house painting and the weather as well as of her recent activities. Catches up with news of family and friends and talks of gardening.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1943-04-19
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Karl Williams
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two page typewritten letter
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
EValentineUMValentineJRM430419
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
Poland
Poland--Żagań
England--London
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-04-19
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Ursula Valentine
fear
prisoner of war
Stalag Luft 3
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1281/20003/EValentineUMValentineJRM430107-0001.1.jpg
5431602b9be7e2ea9fa6c06e9514bce7
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1281/20003/EValentineUMValentineJRM430107-0002.1.jpg
2f8ae128516954aa858cf489726541ae
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Valentine, John
John Ross Mckenzie Valentine
J R M Valentine
Description
An account of the resource
674 Items. Collection concerns navigator Warrant Officer J R McKenzie Valentine (1251404 Royal Air Force). The collection contains over 600 letters between JRM Valentine and his wife Ursula. It also contains his log book, family/official documents, a book of violin music studies and other correspondence. Sub-collections contain family photographs, prisoner of war photographs and a scrapbook of newspaper cuttings of events from 1942 to 1945.
He joined 49 Squadron in April 1942 and flew 10 operations on Hampdens. The squadron converted to Manchester in May when he completed two further operations. His aircraft was shot down on the Thousand Bomber raid of 30/31 May 1942. Five crew, including him bailed out successfully and became prisoners of war. The pilot and one air gunner were killed when the aircraft rolled over and crashed.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Frances Zagni and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018-09-06
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Valentine, JRM
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
To Sergeant John R.M. Valentine,
British Prisoner of War No. 450,
Stalag Luft III, Germany.
From Mrs. Valentine,
Lido, Tenterden Grove,
Hendon, N.W. 4.
No. 43
7th January, 1943
My darling Johnnie,
I seem to have been spending some money since I wrote to you on 1st January. First of all I decided Frances must have a warm cloth coat and leggings and went out prepared to buy some ready made, as I haven’t much time for dressmaking nowadays. However the ones we saw were made of miserable cloth and cost 2 ½ guineas at that, so I decided I had better make them myself of decent cloth, and accordingly got some nice warm blue stuff from Lees. They will cost under £2 and be much warmer – provided I don’t boob the making up! I haven’t started on them yet, I shall have to leave it till the weekend.
Then last Saturday Frances and I went down to the allotments and had a chat with old Thompson. He always enquires kindly after you and is very friendly. I bought some shallots, which I haven’t had time to plant yet, and also 56 lbs of that favourite fertiliser of his, N.O.M.; we staggered home under this considerable load, Frances had to walk as the pram was too heavy, and then I proceeded to spread the stuff over the vegetable garden. It was too late to dig much of it in, and I was afraid we might get a frost which would make the ground unworkable. However on Tuesday Barbara took Frances out for a walk and I went at it and got it all forked in. So I hope we get a better vegetable crop next year. The extra forking will do the ground good, even if the fertiliser doesn’t! Thompson has now started a pigclub, and built the styes himself, next to the greenhouse. It is a flourishing concern and the pigs all look very happy.
On Monday I had a date with Bish – a pre-wedding-anniversary celebration, though he didn’t know it. We met at Leicester Square, and had a very good lunch at Quality Inn, then went to a National Gallery concert, at which a very young-looking boy pianist played exquisitely, and which we very much enjoyed in spite of the chilliness of the place; then we had some hot coffee to warm us up, mooched along Piccadilly looking at the shops – Roy enjoys just looking as much as any girl I know, he is real fun to shop with. He bought himself an expensive torch from Dunhill’s, we tried in vain to get China tea (found I had already spent my ration) and a gramophone record he wanted for his sister’s birthday, then called in at Heal’s to collect the tray I bought for our Christmas present, yours and mine – it had been damaged a bit in the post but they have repaired it perfectly, and I am very pleased with it indeed. I have now put it away in the Chinese chest, because I don’t want Florence to go and bust it before you see it. While we were there I saw to my amazement that the antique walnut cabinet which I fell in love with when I was there before Christmas, was still apparently unsold. We looked it over again and Roy admired it as much as I did, and encouraged me in a most irresponsible way to buy it there and then. He is really largely to blame for the fact that I [underlined] have [/underlined] bought it – I only needed someone to agree with me how very nice it was. Anyway I left it then, and all that evening while I was working at the factory I kept thinking about it (incidentally Roy came back here, played with Frances, had supper with us, stayed on with Ba’ after I had gone to work playing a few gramophone records and went home soon after 8 pm.) I was quite convinced that it was good value for money, a beautiful and useful thing in itself and a sound acquisition, but was worried lest £45 was too large
[page break]
a proportion of the money we have for furnishing to spend on one item. However in the end I decided it was worth risking, since if need be we can always sell it again, though I should be very sorry if we had to; and I am pretty sure you will love it as I do. So on Tuesday, I went up to Heal’s again and asked one of the extremely refined salesmen about it. he was very surprised to see that it was there at all, apparently is had been totally overlooked, and I can well believe that if it had been brought upstairs to the main showroom, instead of standing in a rather dark and obscure passage downstairs, it would have gone long ago. He remarked what a fine thing it is, and anyway I bought it (cheque on Grindlays, to be repaid out of saving certs, leaving one cert. for £75 in that book). Afterwards I asked him about what date it would be and he said 1730, in any case not later that 1750. I can’t remember whether I told you before what it is like; anyway it is walnut with attractive metal hinges and locks, 3 ft wide and somewhat similar to your cupboard in our bedroom only larger and differently fitted. It has 3 deep drawers and one shallow drawer below, and above two doors which open to reveal about ten small drawers round a still smaller pair of drawers which in turn open to reveal about ten small drawers round a still smaller pair of doors, which in turn open to reveal three wee secret drawers right at the back. I am already planning which drawers I shall stake out a claim on, though I suppose when the time comes I shall meekly give way and let you have them. I would love to have some for sewing and knitting things, some for games and packs of cards, some for photograph albums – oh, I expect we shall find plenty to put in them once we get going. At the moment there is some small restorations to be done here and there, the cost of which is included in the purchase price. I was going to have them keep it there and store it for us, but on second thoughts I wanted to have it home as soon as possible and shall put it in the drawing room opposite the music cabinet for the time being. So I have written today to ask them to get on with the restoration and deliver it as quickly as they can. I think I had better get out Private Chattels insurance extended to cover it, the premium won’t be vast on £45 and I think it is worth it. I’m so thrilled about it all, I sometimes think I can begin to visualise what our house will be like, won’t it be exciting when it all begins to come true! How I wish you were here to choose and decide with me, bus as you can’t be, I think I have been wise to buy these few things; now we have the nucleus of a home (though perhaps this cabinet wasn’t strictly a necessity!). I shall continue to get odd things for the kitchen etc when I come across them and can finance them out of income, but I don’t think I had better get any more big things, unless I find something very exceptional. Do write and tell me exactly what you feel about my spending our money on my own like this – I can tell you that I hate the responsibility of it, but feel I should be shirking it if I didn’t make some attempt to get things while there are any left. I only wish I had more time to look round the shops – but perhaps it is as well for our finances that I haven’t!
On Tuesday I went to see “In which we serve”, an excellent film about the Navy, produced, directed and starring Noel Coward. I very much enjoyed it. Yesterday Frances and I went to another party, this time at Mrs. Boyds. There were seven children, who played on their own in the playroom while we mothers chatted round the drawing room fire, and a good time was had by all. I do so enjoy going there. Today Frances and I have been to tea with Jean Chapman and her son Richard – he is a spoilt boy and needs several good spankings! However Frances managed to enjoy herself as usual. Work at the factory goes on as usual. If I keep it up long enough I shall have paid for the cabinet out of my earnings! I have had a letter from Joy Witton-Davis with photo of her son now a year old. She tells me Bridget has a daughter, must write to her. I thought of you such a lot on Jan. 6th – may the next be spent together! Always yours, Ursula.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Letter to prisoner of war John Valentine from his wife Ursula
Description
An account of the resource
She writes about making some clothing for their daughter, and that they had both been to the allotments and described the work she did there. She writes that her and a friend spent some time in Central London having lunch, visiting the National Gallery and shopping. She writes that she bought an item of furniture for their home and goes on to describe it to him. Ursula and their daughter Frances went to a party with seven other children. She is still working at the factory and looks forward to a time that they can spend together.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1943-01-07
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Karl Williams
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two page typewritten letter
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
EValentineUMValentineJRM430107
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
Poland
Poland--Żagań
England--London
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-01-07
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Ursula Valentine
entertainment
prisoner of war
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1281/19981/EValentineUMValentineJRM421006-0001.1.jpg
a85942bf2dd8a287601f9fbe6cfe8523
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1281/19981/EValentineUMValentineJRM421006-0002.1.jpg
278bb16441dfcab574b063a422783456
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Valentine, John
John Ross Mckenzie Valentine
J R M Valentine
Description
An account of the resource
674 Items. Collection concerns navigator Warrant Officer J R McKenzie Valentine (1251404 Royal Air Force). The collection contains over 600 letters between JRM Valentine and his wife Ursula. It also contains his log book, family/official documents, a book of violin music studies and other correspondence. Sub-collections contain family photographs, prisoner of war photographs and a scrapbook of newspaper cuttings of events from 1942 to 1945.
He joined 49 Squadron in April 1942 and flew 10 operations on Hampdens. The squadron converted to Manchester in May when he completed two further operations. His aircraft was shot down on the Thousand Bomber raid of 30/31 May 1942. Five crew, including him bailed out successfully and became prisoners of war. The pilot and one air gunner were killed when the aircraft rolled over and crashed.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Frances Zagni and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018-09-06
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Valentine, JRM
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
6 October 1942
My dearest Johnnie,
I have been up to town today to get you the violin music you asked for. Marjorie Gunn had specially recommended “First Violin Lessons” by Dill, and I eventually managed to track down a copy & get it sent off to you from Chappell’s. I also got another tutor, before finding the first, but as I know nothing much about this one, I would advise following the Dill if there is any divergence, as it is specially recommended. The parcel from Murdoch’s should contain this second “Maidstone” tutor, 2 manuscript note books, a book of easy pieces & also a theory book on bowing, which I hope may be useful, though I know less than nothing about the subject. What sort of violin do you use? One provided by the Red Cross I suppose. And [underlined] where [/underlined] do you practice and what do your fellow prisoners say about it? Or are they all learning some instrument? Anyway, good luck to you & lots of pleasure.
Mrs Hazard is spending the night
[page break]
here tonight & we have all been virtuously sewing and knitting. Frances has had a bit of a cold but seems to be getting over it now – she is as full of beans as ever. All my love to you, darling, hope you are keeping fit and as warm as possible.
Yours for always, Ursula.
[page break]
[postage stamp]
[underlined] PRISONER OF WAR POST [/underlined]
KRIEGSGEFANGENENPOST
SERVICE DES PRISONNIERS DE GUERRE
RANK & NAME: Sergeant J.R.M. VALENTINE
PRISONER OF WAR No: 450.
CAMP NAME & No: STALAG LUFT III
COUNTRY: GERMANY
FROM
Mrs J.R.M. Valentine,
Lido,
Tenterden Grove,
London N.W.4
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Letter to prisoner of war John Valentine from his wife Ursula
Description
An account of the resource
Writes of getting violin music and tutors for him as well as enquiring about his violin and where he practices. Catches up with family news.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1942-10-06
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Karl Williams
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two sided handwritten letter card
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
EValentineUMValentineJRM421006
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
Poland
Poland--Żagań
England--London
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942-10-06
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Ursula Valentine
prisoner of war
Stalag Luft 3
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1281/19979/EValentineUMValentineJRM420927-0001.2.jpg
646fc1af02ce1c2787bf49792d636b2d
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1281/19979/EValentineUMValentineJRM420927-0002.2.jpg
2d7382f19683e39549f6bf1c0ba74dee
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Valentine, John
John Ross Mckenzie Valentine
J R M Valentine
Description
An account of the resource
674 Items. Collection concerns navigator Warrant Officer J R McKenzie Valentine (1251404 Royal Air Force). The collection contains over 600 letters between JRM Valentine and his wife Ursula. It also contains his log book, family/official documents, a book of violin music studies and other correspondence. Sub-collections contain family photographs, prisoner of war photographs and a scrapbook of newspaper cuttings of events from 1942 to 1945.
He joined 49 Squadron in April 1942 and flew 10 operations on Hampdens. The squadron converted to Manchester in May when he completed two further operations. His aircraft was shot down on the Thousand Bomber raid of 30/31 May 1942. Five crew, including him bailed out successfully and became prisoners of war. The pilot and one air gunner were killed when the aircraft rolled over and crashed.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Frances Zagni and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018-09-06
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Valentine, JRM
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
To Sgt. J.R.M. Valentine,
British P.o.W No. 450,
Stalag Luft III, Germany
From Mrs. J.R.M. Valentine,
Lido, Tenterden Grove,
Hendon, London, N.W. 4.
25
Sunday September 27th 1942
Johnnie my darling,
Yesterday your parents and Ann came to tea. The afternoon passed away very amicably and uneventfully, politics were avoided and you and Frances naturally formed the main subjects of conversation. I showed your people the things I have collected for your next parcel, your father inspected the garden and gave me some tips on pruning roses – he seemed to think our tomatoes are quite good. They also brought some tomatoes and peaches from their garden, and also a thumb spoon and shover for Frances which you had in your youth and furthermore another wee gold bracelet for her to replace the one we lost on the fatal weekend when you were missing. Your Mother will doubtless have told you the news that Irene’s engagement is off, much to their relief I gathered, the man didn’t seem to be at all the right type. Considering that they were to be married the time they got a week’s leave at the same time, sometime before Christmas, it all seems rather sudden. The reason seems to be that the Australian whom Rene met earlier on in the battle and who is now back in his own country proposed to her by cable and so she is engaged to him instead. So it looks as though we shan’t have to worry about wedding presents until after the war!
Frances behaved very well, made a bee line for Grandpa as usual and was really very charming. During tea Grandpa insisted on having her on his knee and feeding her with tomatoe [sic] sandwiches, which as you know is entirely against the rules. I managed to get her away after a while and gave her some bricks to play with instead, and much to my relief and their astonishment, she went quite quietly and played by herself. Ann bathed her for me, and soon afterwards they went home. Ann is coming to spend the weekend with me soon when your people go down to the country, and I hope she will come whenever they go away. I enjoy having her and apparently she likes coming, for Grandpa said there are other places she could go but she said she would rather come to me. So that is very nice.
I have at last got a copy of “Agriculture” for you. It is new, a revised edition only just published, so it should be up to date. Foyle’s sent it to me off their own bat – I had enquired with them for a second-hand copy some time ago, and they seem to have filed my request and sent me one as soon as the new edition arrived. I’ll have to take it back to them to have them send it. I do hope it arrives safely, for it certainly is a solid and informative volume and should keep you busy for a long time. incidentally, this is a grand opportunity for intensive study of the subject. I hope that the correspondence course will have arrived by then too.
Last Wednesday Frances and I went to tea with Mrs. Boyd again. This time we were the only guests, and so it was a quite informal tea-party, I helped Mrs. Boyd to peel apples for preserving and when I went away she gave me a great basket full of cooking apples from her garden, which I haven’t finished coping with yet, there are so many of them. During the winter the vicar intends to get up a discussion group once a fortnight to discuss Temple’s penguin on “Christianity and Social Order” and similar subjects, and I should rather like to go if it can be arranged. I am still trying to get someone to live here, and in fact a woman is due to arrive any second to inspect – and be inspected! I answered an advert. in NS&S, so heaven knows what she will be like! I am not going to have anyone I
[page break]
do no care for personally, because that would be too much strain. Next week Barbara is having a few days off, and anyway there haven’t been any more burglaries recently!
I have been tidying up the garden recently, mostly in honour of your people. I’ve taken up the onions, which were not a good crop, being small and not all of them properly dried off. We had rather a lot of rain at the wrong time which made some of them sprout. However, they will be better than nothing and we shall need them this winter. I haven’t moved the carrots yet, I’m using them straight from the ground and we shall probably have finished them by the time the real frosts come, so that will have saved me another job.
I went to see another good film this week, “The Young Mr. Pitt”, with Robert Donat – it was very interesting though my history is too hazy to know whether it is very accurate.
I think Frances is getting more and more like you. The shape of her head and forehead is definitely yours, not mine, and so are her eyes. She inherits your precision in shutting doors too, at least I’m sure you will agree that she doesn’t get it from me so it must come from your side. But on the other hand she loves sucking her flannel in the bath, and that is not one of your vices! Perhaps that is common to all unformed mentalities! Yesterday when your people were here she pointed out your photo very sweetly and when it was given to her she kissed it most lovingly. I wonder just how much she remembers of you?
We have had good news from the influential friend of Saz in America. She enquired about sending you a parcel through the ordinary channels and was told it was possible; so she wrote to the president who is a personal friend of hers and has got some sort of special permit for sending what she wants, so I am fairly hopeful of receiving something from that source. People really are wonderfully kind.
[underlined] After Lunch [/underlined]
The aforementioned advertiser has been and gone, and I don’t think she would be much good for me. She is a young refugee, but not really the right person for me. So I must keep looking.
I don’t seem to have done anything very exciting this week We are going to tea with Catherine Mair this afternoon and afterwards I suppose I shall get on with my sewing which seems to accumulate faster than I can wade through it. I wonder how you are getting on with your darning and mending. You will probably be so expert when you come home that I shall never have to do your mending again! I do hope that you are still as good a boy as when you last reported, that would be grand. I am doing exercises in the morning these days and it is Frances’s delight to “assist” me by getting in the way wherever possible or trying to get past me when I am bending or turning without getting knocked over. In the end the whole thing generally degenerates into a scrimmage and tickling party and a good time is had by all.
I thought Ann was looking very pretty yesterday. Her hair is quite bleached by the sun and more wavy, and she is developing a nice little figure. She was as cheerful and sweet-tempered as ever, and as willing to help. I am looking forward to having her to stay here.
God bless you, my darling, and bring you back safely to me. How I long for the happy day. Frances sends you a big kiss, and so do I.
Yours for always, my dearest, with all my love, Ursula.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Letter to prisoner of war John Valentine from his wife Ursula
Description
An account of the resource
She writes that she had visitors for tea including his parents who brought some tomatoes and peaches, also a gift for their daughter. She mentions that she will be sending him a book she had ordered called Agriculture, which she hopes will arrive safely. She has been to tea with Mrs Boyd and has been busy tidying up the garden, and managing her vegetables. She writes that she is enjoying spending time with her daughter and is looking forward to the day her husband is brought safely back to her.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1942-09-27
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Karl Williams
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two page typewritten letter with handwritten addendum
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
EValentineUMValentineJRM420927
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
Poland
Poland--Żagań
England--London
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942-09-27
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Ursula Valentine
entertainment
prisoner of war
Stalag Luft 3
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1281/19971/EValentineUMValentineJRM420823-0001.2.jpg
88d087d35d58e9d0c22e4b3b5bafb772
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1281/19971/EValentineUMValentineJRM420823-0002.2.jpg
13faaa1bb686dc8dee95135a75b0ef62
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Valentine, John
John Ross Mckenzie Valentine
J R M Valentine
Description
An account of the resource
674 Items. Collection concerns navigator Warrant Officer J R McKenzie Valentine (1251404 Royal Air Force). The collection contains over 600 letters between JRM Valentine and his wife Ursula. It also contains his log book, family/official documents, a book of violin music studies and other correspondence. Sub-collections contain family photographs, prisoner of war photographs and a scrapbook of newspaper cuttings of events from 1942 to 1945.
He joined 49 Squadron in April 1942 and flew 10 operations on Hampdens. The squadron converted to Manchester in May when he completed two further operations. His aircraft was shot down on the Thousand Bomber raid of 30/31 May 1942. Five crew, including him bailed out successfully and became prisoners of war. The pilot and one air gunner were killed when the aircraft rolled over and crashed.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Frances Zagni and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018-09-06
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Valentine, JRM
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
To Sergeant J.R.M. Valentine,
British Prisoner of War No. 450
Stalag Luft III, Germany
From Mrs. J.R.M. Valentine,
Lido, Tenterden Grove,
Hendon, N.W. 4. London.
No. 17.
August 23rd 1942
Darling Johnnie,
It is now 10.30 p.m. and as I am on fire-watching duty until 2 a.m. it seems an ideal time to settle down to write to you. Mrs. Hazard has come to spend the night, as her husband is watching up in town, and she and Barbara have gone off to bed, so all is peace and quiet.
This afternoon Frances went out to tea, all on her own, to the Greenish’s. I took her round at 3 p.m. and fetched her away at 5 p.m., and they tell me she behaved well in the intervening two hours. Of course they were astonished, as everyone is, at her friendliness and compete lack of shyness among comparative strangers, she just takes life as it comes and seems to find it enjoyable. The other day I had the sweep in to do the dining-room fire, and welcomed him, as other visitors, with a beaming smile; the poor man was extremely gratified and said rather wistfully, “Not many kiddies smile at me like that, they mostly cry and run away!”
She has finished her treatment for diphtheria immunisation now and passed the test, so that is a comfort – not that there have been any cases that I know of, but it is nice to know that she is prepared against any epidemic. I am wondering about getting her immunised against whooping cough too, it can be done nowadays though I believe it is not always 100% effective. I think I shall enquire from Dr. Bethune.
On Friday we all three went to Perivale to tea with Bish. He has rooms in a rather ordinary, dingy but clean little house, and his landlady is friendly but too talkative, as is the custom with the tribe. Anyway he has a piano in his room, and seems very happy there. His vicar popped in while we were there, he is a hearty young man, hardly older than Bish, and I should think they make a pretty good pair in that parish. We had tea with Bish and then went to see his church, a modern affair with the main body of the church divided off from the choir and altar with double folding doors, so that it can be used as a hall for other activities. At the time it was being prepared for use with the local flower and vegetable show. Bish looks good in his cassock, much better than he does in an ordinary suit because one doesn’t notice how terribly thin he is.
Today we have been doing more photography. A friend of Barbara’s from the ambulance station came to have her portrait taken for her husband, who is in the Navy, and Ba took one of me, one of Frances and one of us together, at the same opportunity. A few days ago another girl came to be photographed who said, when she saw your picture in the dining room, that she thought she knew you. Her name is Norah Whitehead, and her husband Noel Whitehead, used to play rugger a lot in Herts, Eastern Countis [sic] and round about Barnet generally – I thought it might in that connection that your face was familiar. He used to work with Shell Mex, so I hardly thought you would have known him from that. They live at Radlett, but he is abroad with the army now. Do let me know if the name is familiar to you. The girl has a round face, blue eyes and dark curly hair, quite good looking and smart.
This evening I have been pruning the raspberries. I have
[page break]
[margin text] Received your P.C. No 11 This morning. Am doing all I can for food parcels.
2nd chess. P-K4.
Peter has failed Latin again and is giving it up this time and is going to take some diploma instead. [/margin text]
[page break]
always wanted to try to do it but lacked to courage to start. However this year it is obviously up to me, so I pitched into it and of course found it fairly simple once I got going. The canes that fruited this year are black, and next year’s are still green, so you can easily sort them out and cut away the old ones. It all looks much more orderly now, and tomorrow I must have a bonfire of the prunings.
I believe I forgot to mention that Grunfeld gave Frances his toy dog, a very good model of a spaniel, whom we have of course names Jane. Frances simply loves her soft toys now, her teddy, Jane and another scottie dog which Eileen and Peggy gave her, and she generally carries one or two of them round the house with her. Today I had got her all dressed up to out to tea, in that blue woolly frock that I was knitting for her at Rain Bozend (seems centuries ago!) when we started this photography and I had to make her look where I wanted by means of a piece of chocolate, which she simply loves now. Of course the wretched child had to dribble it all down the front of her frock, and had to be changed once more before she could go out! She generally gets a piece of chocolate after lunch each day, and thoroughly enjoys it, sucking it, dribbling it, taking it out of her mouth several times to see how it is getting on, before finally swallowing it. I only wish I could make chocolate last so long – that is one of your accomplishments, and one which will come in very handy just now! The sweet ration is being doubled next month, making a pound each a month, which is an enormous amount compared with the nothing-at-all that we got before. I only wish I could send some to you. I am busy just now bottling and preserving fruit as fast as I can, chiefly plums, greengages, and Blackberry and apple. I like to imagine that you will share some of it with us.
I had a letter from Vera a few days ago. She is up and about again now but stayed in the nursing home a bit longer in order to get the baby on to 4 hourly feeds before taking him away. He is still only small, 6 lb 10 oz, when she last wrote, but apparently looking more human. I have sent her Frances’s christening gown as there is no point in her buying a thing like that specially. The son is to be called Michael, as she and Norman had previously been decided.
The Neals came back from their holiday last weekend, and when I went in to hand over their keys etc, Mrs. Neal gave me an envelope with a present for Frances, saying they would have liked to have brought her something back, but there was nothing they could bring. The envelope contained 15/-, with which I promptly brought Frances a savings certificate. Wasn’t it sweet of Mrs. Neal? I was really touched. How I would love to take Frances to the sea! We must really make an effort next year, all being well, she would so love to spend hours digging and paddling on the beach. If Mother and Daddy are safely home by then, things will be much easier, because I shall be able to leave the house. I’m beginning to long to have them back. It is no good letting myself long for you, so I try to keep the thought out of my mind, but there is a reasonable prospect of their being back in April or May, and I feel that if I can last out this winter somehow, things will be easier then. It is striking midnight already, time passes quickly even in the night. I intend to spend the rest of my watch sewing Frances’s winter frock, if I can keep my wits about me for long enough. You know how hopelessly sleepy I get in the evenings! I think I’m getting better at that gradually.
[margin text] I wish I could send Frances to you in your next parcel! You have more time on your hands than I for running around after her & tidying up the messes she makes and she’d keep you all cheerful.
I bought Frances a new pair of blue shoes last week – size 6 They look enormous but 5’s are definitely too small for her. I’m afraid her feet are going to take after both yours and mine! [/margin text]
With all my love to you my dearest one. How I long for the day when you will come back. We must both keep cheerful and busy till then. Yours always, Ursula.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Letter to prisoner of war John Valentine from his wife Ursula
Description
An account of the resource
She writes whilst she is on fire watching duty. She says that their daughter Frances went to tea on her own and that she has finished her diptheria immunisation. She writes that she and some friends went to tea and that she has been practising photography. She mentions she has been bottling and preserving fruit and talks of daughter's activities as well as those of other friends. She ends her letter by hoping her husband will return, and they both must keep busy and cheerful till then.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1942-08-23
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Karl Williams
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two page typewritten letter with handwritten annotations
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
EValentineUMValentineJRM420823
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
Poland
Poland--Żagań
England--London
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942-08-23
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Ursula Valentine
civil defence
firefighting
prisoner of war
Stalag Luft 3
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1281/19904/EValentineUMValentineJRM420529-0001.2.jpg
990edfa75cd7dc9e3f64d7951fc7e1f7
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Valentine, John
John Ross Mckenzie Valentine
J R M Valentine
Description
An account of the resource
674 Items. Collection concerns navigator Warrant Officer J R McKenzie Valentine (1251404 Royal Air Force). The collection contains over 600 letters between JRM Valentine and his wife Ursula. It also contains his log book, family/official documents, a book of violin music studies and other correspondence. Sub-collections contain family photographs, prisoner of war photographs and a scrapbook of newspaper cuttings of events from 1942 to 1945.
He joined 49 Squadron in April 1942 and flew 10 operations on Hampdens. The squadron converted to Manchester in May when he completed two further operations. His aircraft was shot down on the Thousand Bomber raid of 30/31 May 1942. Five crew, including him bailed out successfully and became prisoners of war. The pilot and one air gunner were killed when the aircraft rolled over and crashed.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Frances Zagni and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018-09-06
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Valentine, JRM
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
No 8
Lido
Friday
May 29 –
Dearest Johnny,
It was sweet of you to ring up last night – just a week almost to the hour since you left. And it seems ten times as long.
We are in the throes of final packing & sandwich making. It seems more like preparations for an expeditionary force than for a weekend in the country!
Thanks for your letter of 27th and for arranging for an extra allotment for me. I ought to be able to save more than my present 6/6 on that amount specially when we have our own vegetables to eat.
I should love to know just what you said in your
[page break]
letter to your father!
Bish rang up last night and seems pleased with his photo. So he hasn’t taken umbrage, but on the contrary in sending both of us a couple of treats. I hope you get on satisfactorily with your padre & his Monday evening classes.
Must go & get our lunch now. I do hope the establishment isn’t burgled while we’re away.
I have a feeling that you were on ops last night, and hope & pray that all went well.
Yours for always
[underlined] Ursula [/underlined]
Will you reply to Sid
Evans or shall I?
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Letter from Ursula Valentine to her husband John Valentine
Description
An account of the resource
Thanks him for phone call and describes preparations for weekend in the country. Thanks him for letter and extra allotment. Catches up with family/friends news. Felt he was on opeartions and prays all went well.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1942-05-29
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Karl Williams
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two page handwritten letter
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
EValentineUMValentineJRM420529
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--London
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942-05-29
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Ursula Valentine
bombing
-
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2cedd9cdb628addcf87df480d0e0bff5
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1281/19903/EValentineUMValentineJRM420528-0002.1.jpg
341b428095baf2dee70e8f4e4410dea8
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aa95f9ab3eacab6ce699a25d127bc216
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Valentine, John
John Ross Mckenzie Valentine
J R M Valentine
Description
An account of the resource
674 Items. Collection concerns navigator Warrant Officer J R McKenzie Valentine (1251404 Royal Air Force). The collection contains over 600 letters between JRM Valentine and his wife Ursula. It also contains his log book, family/official documents, a book of violin music studies and other correspondence. Sub-collections contain family photographs, prisoner of war photographs and a scrapbook of newspaper cuttings of events from 1942 to 1945.
He joined 49 Squadron in April 1942 and flew 10 operations on Hampdens. The squadron converted to Manchester in May when he completed two further operations. His aircraft was shot down on the Thousand Bomber raid of 30/31 May 1942. Five crew, including him bailed out successfully and became prisoners of war. The pilot and one air gunner were killed when the aircraft rolled over and crashed.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Frances Zagni and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018-09-06
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Valentine, JRM
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[underlined] No 7 [/underlined]
Lido
May 28th
My dearest Johnny,
Thanks for your letter No 5 returning the photos. I’m sorry you’re not keen on them. We don’t pretend to care much for the serious one or the sideways laughing one (no 3) but personally I like no 1. very much and intend to have it framed & in a conspicuous place. It is good of you too, tho of course it is only one of your many charming expressions. I hope that in time we shall get others.
How did your new bathing shorts feel when you went swimming the other day? I hope they are big enough, this time.
You’ve no idea of the work that is entailed in a weekend visit to the country! Naturally we have take all our rations with us, & I’ve bought & boiled a piece of bacon & am taking a tin of butter, & our meat ration for Vera to cook down there.
[page break]
It’s going to be a problem to get all the stuff, food, nappies etc for Frances & our own clothes into a manageable space (we don’t want to have to have a taxi) = rucksacks seem the only solution.
The Greenish’s house was burgled on Whit Sunday while they were out playing golf, so I am rather nervous on that score. I have asked the neighbours to keep an eye on the house, & have notified the police too. The worst of it is that it seems to be chiefly food & clothes that they are after (there have been several burglaries around here recently) & even suppose an insurance co. paid up for losses, you wouldn’t get coupons to buy new clothes with or to make up for your stored provisions. So we must lock up well & hope nothing happens.
When I went to the police station to notify them I saw the sergeant with whom I had a bet ages ago about
[page break]
(3.)
the spelling of Aberystwyth. He recognised me, and gave me a long discourse on the subject. It seems that althou’ the spelling as above, with two ‘y’s in common, it is incorrect. He asked a professor of Cardiff University about it, who tells him that it should be spelt Aberystwith, but is spelt generally with two ‘ys’ as a sop] to the commercial English – tho’ why, I can’t imagine. However we agreed to call the bet off, & I shall continue to spell it with two ‘y’s.
I’m sorry the leave situation is so poor. I have heard various stories recently of all RAF leave being cancelled & chaps being recalled, so I think we were pretty lucky that you got yours when you did.
I have been thinking a lot recently about Algy (the bulge,)
[new page]
Don’t you know) and I feel more & more that we ought to inaugurate him in your next leave. It seems of primary importance to me that Frances shouldn’t be an only child, even if it means a harder struggle financially. If all goes well with you, it would be grand to double our family soon, if you are taken prisoner, then all the more reason for getting Algy on the stocks pretty soon, and if the very worst happened, then as I said it seems to me more important that Frances should have a companion than that we should be better off financially by that small margin. Let me know what you feel about it. and then apply for leave!!
Peter will be down for later at the end of June, but I thought that would be OK as you’d hardly be likely to get leave by then. If you [underlined] should [/underlined] I’d ask him to go to the Hillman’s.
With all my love to you my own darling
Ursula.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Letter from Ursula Valentine to her husband John Valentine
Description
An account of the resource
She thanks him for returning five photograps to her. Writes about difficulties with weekend visit to the country. She mentions that she is worried that a neighbour’s house was burgled and that she had notified the police sergeant that her and her daughter were going to be away from the house. She writes that she is sorry the leave situation is so poor and that she would like to add to the family.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1942-05-28
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Karl Williams
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Four page handwritten letter
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
EValentineUMValentineJRM420528
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--London
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942-05-28
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Ursula Valentine
home front
love and romance
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1281/19399/EValentineJRMValentineUM440402-0001.2.jpg
2f1f18bf6e7adb534d623767ca559132
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1281/19399/EValentineJRMValentineUM440402-0002.2.jpg
22f04fa4234a0c1993a531766222d7e9
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Valentine, John
John Ross Mckenzie Valentine
J R M Valentine
Description
An account of the resource
674 Items. Collection concerns navigator Warrant Officer J R McKenzie Valentine (1251404 Royal Air Force). The collection contains over 600 letters between JRM Valentine and his wife Ursula. It also contains his log book, family/official documents, a book of violin music studies and other correspondence. Sub-collections contain family photographs, prisoner of war photographs and a scrapbook of newspaper cuttings of events from 1942 to 1945.
He joined 49 Squadron in April 1942 and flew 10 operations on Hampdens. The squadron converted to Manchester in May when he completed two further operations. His aircraft was shot down on the Thousand Bomber raid of 30/31 May 1942. Five crew, including him bailed out successfully and became prisoners of war. The pilot and one air gunner were killed when the aircraft rolled over and crashed.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Frances Zagni and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018-09-06
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Valentine, JRM
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
STALAG LUFT III
[Censored word]
Kriegsgefangenenlager
Datum 2-4-44
Still no mail to answer. It’s a month now since the last. Weather here improving slightly – still a bit of snow lying about & heavy frosts every night. Being at my wits end for room in which to fiddle. I braved the scorn of the camp today & used a brick built dustbin cum incinerator (it wasn’t burning). It was pretty cold but otherwise satisfactory if smelly. Quest for space is a never ending struggle made [censored sentences] are still getting regular supplies of Red X Food despite increased mouths to feed but have suffered 3 cuts in spuds during the winter. However we aren’t on our knees yet. Frank P. has at last heard from Vera. We all wait anxiously but patiently for something to happen soon. Love to both, John
[page break]
Postkarte
Mrs U.M VALENTINE
FELMERSHAM
EMPFANGSORT: BOTTRELLS LANE
CHALFONT ST GILES
Strasse: BUCKS
Land: ENGLAND
Landesteil (Provinz USW.)
Gebuhrenfrei!
Absender:
Vor- und Zuname:
J.R.M. VALENTINE
Gefangenennummer: 450
Lager-Bezeichnung:
STALAG LUFT III
Deutschland (Allemagne)
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Postcard from John Valentine to his wife Ursula
Description
An account of the resource
Number 156-13. Writes it has been month since her last letter arrived. Mentions weather and violin. Still getting Red Cross food and despite cut in potatoes and increased number in camp, they are still alright.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1944-04-02
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Karl Williams
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two sided handwritten postcard
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
EValentineJRMValentineUM440402
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Lithuania
Lithuania--Šilutė
Great Britain
England--Buckinghamshire
England--Chalfont St. Giles
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-04-02
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
John Ross Mckenzie Valentine
prisoner of war
Red Cross
Stalag Luft 6
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1281/19398/EValentineJRMValentineUM440326-0001.1.jpg
db36441c6ff39d5f2535008a9e34a0ec
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Valentine, John
John Ross Mckenzie Valentine
J R M Valentine
Description
An account of the resource
674 Items. Collection concerns navigator Warrant Officer J R McKenzie Valentine (1251404 Royal Air Force). The collection contains over 600 letters between JRM Valentine and his wife Ursula. It also contains his log book, family/official documents, a book of violin music studies and other correspondence. Sub-collections contain family photographs, prisoner of war photographs and a scrapbook of newspaper cuttings of events from 1942 to 1945.
He joined 49 Squadron in April 1942 and flew 10 operations on Hampdens. The squadron converted to Manchester in May when he completed two further operations. His aircraft was shot down on the Thousand Bomber raid of 30/31 May 1942. Five crew, including him bailed out successfully and became prisoners of war. The pilot and one air gunner were killed when the aircraft rolled over and crashed.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Frances Zagni and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018-09-06
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Valentine, JRM
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
STALAG LUFT III
[one word censored]
26-3-44
Darling Ursula: No mail to answer, unfortunately. Your letters are taking longer & longer to reach me as time goes on. 3 months is the average nowadays. However, I have 3 packages to acknowledge with gratitude eg 6 Violin “A” strings (will keep me going for some time now) book of 5 Violin pieces (I imagine you to be the anonymous donor. they are just right for my present state of proficiency); 4 bottles of Argotone. You have been really thoughtful and considerate in sending these things another proof of your constant endeavours to help me. I can’t thank you enough. I wish a clothing parcel would turn up. I haven’t had one since early last July. 9 mos ago. we are still in the grip of winter & experiencing more snow than ever before with drifts literally of several feet in height. At the beginning of the month it thawed & the camp eventually dried & drained itself to [inserted] a [/inserted] intolerable condition. Subsequently it became bitterly cold & 2 days ago started snowing in real earnest & is still doing so. In some ways the camp is better than when we arrived. Sanitary conditions are vastly improved & if somewhat crude are at least satisfactory. We also have a small theatre – each show has to be done 13 times to allow all to see it. Internally, we are well organised & every inch of available space used for something or other. The site & climate will never be improved of course, but the worst feature of the present [censored] . I am very fit, still grinding away at the fiddle conditions for the practice on which grow steadily more difficult as overcrowding increases, I think of you & Frances constantly & often lay to picture our reunion. I hope you are well & succeeding in all your labours with house. How I wish I could help. Hope no bombs fall near you. If so, you’d better retire to Devon and keep yourselves intact for me! Frank P still not heard from wife
Love, John
[page break]
[underlined] Kriegsgefangenenpost [/underlined]
An Mrs U.M. VALENTINE
“FELMERSHAM”
Empfangsort: BOTTRELLS LANE
Strasse: CHALFONT ST GILES
Kreis: BUCKS
Land: ENGLAND
Landesteil (Provinz usw.)
Gebuhrenfreil
[page break]
Absender:
Vor – und Zuname: J.R.M. VALENTINE
Gefangenennummer: 450
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Letter from John Valentine to his wife Ursula
Description
An account of the resource
Number 153-12. Mentions that her letters are taking longer to arrive but that he has had three packages. Wishes that clothing parcel would turn up as he has not had one for nine months. Writes that after thaw it has snowed again but that conditions in camp are better than when they arrived. Mentions he is fit and still practicing his violin.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1944-03-26
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Karl Williams
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two page handwritten letter
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
EValentineJRMValentineUM440326
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Lithuania
England--Chalfont St. Giles
Great Britain
England--Buckinghamshire
Lithuania--Šilutė
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1944-03-26
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
John Ross Mckenzie Valentine
prisoner of war
Stalag Luft 6
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1281/19322/EValentineJRMValentineUM430518-0001.2.jpg
7b389f8ec1bd6cbb5604f221db51cc4a
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1281/19322/EValentineJRMValentineUM430518-0002.2.jpg
613d485091755ff88fc55ec0abf0ea8c
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Valentine, John
John Ross Mckenzie Valentine
J R M Valentine
Description
An account of the resource
674 Items. Collection concerns navigator Warrant Officer J R McKenzie Valentine (1251404 Royal Air Force). The collection contains over 600 letters between JRM Valentine and his wife Ursula. It also contains his log book, family/official documents, a book of violin music studies and other correspondence. Sub-collections contain family photographs, prisoner of war photographs and a scrapbook of newspaper cuttings of events from 1942 to 1945.
He joined 49 Squadron in April 1942 and flew 10 operations on Hampdens. The squadron converted to Manchester in May when he completed two further operations. His aircraft was shot down on the Thousand Bomber raid of 30/31 May 1942. Five crew, including him bailed out successfully and became prisoners of war. The pilot and one air gunner were killed when the aircraft rolled over and crashed.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Frances Zagni and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018-09-06
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Valentine, JRM
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
Kriegsgefangenenlager
Datum: 18th May 1943
Two bottles of Argotone arrived today for which I am deeply grateful. Still being tasteless & having been so for a long time now I’m thoroughly sick of the wretched condition & if the Argotone can work the trick I shall be overjoyed. It was typically kind of you my dearest to have the stuff sent & I just hope that if works. I have little other news, no mail from you but odd old ones from Barnet came trickling in. There must be a flood from Lido somewhere enroute. I hope you and Frances are well - Don’t forget that holiday this year. Fondest Love
John.
[page break]
Kriegsfangenenpost
Postkarte
Little Close
Devon Road
Salcombe
Devon
Mrs U M Valentine
LIDO
Empfangsort: Tenterden Grove
Strasse: Hendon
London
Land: England
Landesteil (Provinzusw.)
[underlined] Card [/underlined]
Gebuhrenfrei!
Absender:
V or – und Zuname: Sgt John Valentine
Gefangenennummer: 438
Lager – Bezeichnung:
M. – S Tammlage: Luft 3
Deutschland
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Postcard from John Valentine to his wife Ursula
Description
An account of the resource
Reports arrival of medicine which he hope will resolve sense of taste issue. Little recent mail but believes many enroute.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
J R M Valkentine
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1943-05-18
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Karl Williams
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two sided handwritten postcard
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
EValentineJRMValentineUM430518
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Poland
Poland--Żagań
Great Britain
England--Devon
England--Salcombe
England--London
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-05-18
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
prisoner of war
Stalag Luft 3
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1281/19321/EValentineJRMValentineUM430516-0001.2.jpg
71284842178b4bf80c89c144fe59761c
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1281/19321/EValentineJRMValentineUM430516-0002.2.jpg
a3e52322ed1a233260d92227f5179f73
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Valentine, John
John Ross Mckenzie Valentine
J R M Valentine
Description
An account of the resource
674 Items. Collection concerns navigator Warrant Officer J R McKenzie Valentine (1251404 Royal Air Force). The collection contains over 600 letters between JRM Valentine and his wife Ursula. It also contains his log book, family/official documents, a book of violin music studies and other correspondence. Sub-collections contain family photographs, prisoner of war photographs and a scrapbook of newspaper cuttings of events from 1942 to 1945.
He joined 49 Squadron in April 1942 and flew 10 operations on Hampdens. The squadron converted to Manchester in May when he completed two further operations. His aircraft was shot down on the Thousand Bomber raid of 30/31 May 1942. Five crew, including him bailed out successfully and became prisoners of war. The pilot and one air gunner were killed when the aircraft rolled over and crashed.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Frances Zagni and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018-09-06
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Valentine, JRM
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
Number 37
16th May 1943
My Dearest Ursula: A year ago from now we were enjoying my last leave together – Frances was a mere babe unable to walk or talk & pushed about in a pram. Since then it has been an eventful year for her for she has acquired so many new accomplishments but it has hardly been eventful for me apart from a hectic hour or so 50 weeks ago. Since then it has been unmitigated monotony. I have no further letters from you since I wrote last. Please tell me if my letter of 12th May arrived without any censorial blemishes if you know what I mean. In your next parcel to me, could you include a lump of rosin for my fiddle bow. I would prefer not to have [underlined] any [/underlined] more clothing apart from occasional socks. I have more than enough at the moment, storage is very difficult here on account of limited space & in the event of a move luggage is a damned nuisance. We duly saw Somerset Maugham’s “Home & Beauty”- it was well produced & acted and quite funny without being killingly so. I am putting in a lot of time at the fiddle nowadays & Harry Friend is quite pleased with me. It may sound insignificant to you but I am starting on the 2nd position next week. I hardly think I am good enough on the 1st position yet but Friend seems to think so & I consider it a definite step forward for me. Fiddling is a bit awkward at the moment for I cut the index finger of my right hand very badly with a knife two days ago. it was a very deep cut. I think it should have a stitch or two - & I find it rather difficult to hold the bow comfortably. We did our “spring cleaning” a day or two ago Admittedly we have only 1 room but it wasn’t an easy job all the same. The chief difficulty is that there is nowhere to put all our furniture clothes food etc while the work is in progress. It took us two days to do everything but we did make quite a good job of it & are appreciating the air of cleanliness that pervades the room now. With the coming of warmer days we shall have to scrutinise Red X food more carefully. All tins are punctured by the Germans before they are given to us (to prevent the amassing of stores for escaping purposes) & for lack of anything else the food has to stay in the opened tin until it is eaten, which may be as much as a week later. Ann’s birthday will be along soon, she’ll be 16. I cant get used to the idea of her growing up. I gather that your folk have left India & hope you have good news of them. It will have been a wrench for your Father, leaving for the last time after these years.
My fondest love to you & Frances – Ever Yours, John
[page break]
[underlined] Kriegsgefangenenpost [/underlined]
An Mrs U.M. VALENTINE
LIDO
Empfangsort: TENTERDEN GROVE
Strasse: HENDON
Kreis: LONDON NW4
Land: ENGLAND
[page break]
Absender:
Vor – und Zuname: Sgt John Valentine
Gefangenennummer: 450
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Letter from John Valentine to his wife Ursula
Description
An account of the resource
Number 37. He writes reminiscing about his last leave with his wife and how camp life is monotonous. He asks for rosin for violin bow and no more clothing other than socks. He mentions recent show and that he is still playing the fiddle but had recently cut his hand badly and was finding it difficult to play. States that they will have to examine Red Cross food due to warmer weather and the fact that Germans puncture tins so they cannot be stockpiled for escape purposes.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1943-05-16
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Karl Williams
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two page handwritten letter
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
EValentineJRMValentineUM430516
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Poland
Poland--Żagań
Great Britain
England--London
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-05-16
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
John Ross Mckenzie Valentine
prisoner of war
Red Cross
Stalag Luft 3
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1281/19252/EValentineJRMValentineUM430204-0001.2.jpg
50bd5aed8ed9f552206a453bd7fc5918
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1281/19252/EValentineJRMValentineUM430204-0002.2.jpg
f3f4d514c6c62a72f6c6fc6b0924b9d3
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Valentine, John
John Ross Mckenzie Valentine
J R M Valentine
Description
An account of the resource
674 Items. Collection concerns navigator Warrant Officer J R McKenzie Valentine (1251404 Royal Air Force). The collection contains over 600 letters between JRM Valentine and his wife Ursula. It also contains his log book, family/official documents, a book of violin music studies and other correspondence. Sub-collections contain family photographs, prisoner of war photographs and a scrapbook of newspaper cuttings of events from 1942 to 1945.
He joined 49 Squadron in April 1942 and flew 10 operations on Hampdens. The squadron converted to Manchester in May when he completed two further operations. His aircraft was shot down on the Thousand Bomber raid of 30/31 May 1942. Five crew, including him bailed out successfully and became prisoners of war. The pilot and one air gunner were killed when the aircraft rolled over and crashed.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Frances Zagni and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018-09-06
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Valentine, JRM
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
NUMBER 50
4/2/43.
Darling Ursula: Another good day for me – three of your letters having arrived - Nos 36, 43 & 44. So glad to know that you were “thrilled” to get that wretched snap of me; considering the camera was home made it wasn’t a bad effort. Sorry to hear of the temporary estrangement with Barnet as a result of your refusal to go down [deleted] [inserted] to P.M. [/inserted] Good for you though – don’t let them bully you into anything you don’t want. Am a little apprehensive at the thought of your working at machines. For heavens sake be careful. Who is David Oppenheimer? Delighted to hear of your investments in our future home, although £4 for a cabinet does seem a bit steep considering that neither our bedroom nor our dining room suite cost that complete. However, I would urge you to go ahead & get all you can now that I am apparently going to live (which I very much doubted a year ago.) I have implicit trust in your discretion as to the disposal of our fortune & if you think anything necessary & the cost reasonable (in present day circumstances) by all means get it. Getting a house would be the best idea of all & I am very much in favour of renting one for the time being. Neither of us has the slightest idea of post war conditions & I would rather not commit myself to the purchase of a house. However if you see your dream house & it is only for sale buy it. I should suggest a £1000 limit. Many thanks for your photos of the Xmas celebrations. You certainly seem to have put up a good show for Frances at a time when it wasn’t easy to buy things [deleted word] I definitely shan’t throw away the one with the Xmas tree since you & Frances were on it but I must admit I wasn’t overjoyed to see the others with you. The [indecipherable word] child reminds me strangely of Jean. You seem to be an absolute wizard at manufacturing things for Frances & she is lucky to have you as a Mother. I gather that your parents will definitely be home this year & I hope you will take every precaution to avoid Frances being the object of too much admiration, fondling etc. Your Mother always writes so enthusiastically about her & she will be one small mite in a very grown up household. I dare say you have a job as it is in preventing Bar from making to much of her. So don’t let them lavish presents, or attentions on her & I personally would suggest a very modest use of effusive terms of endearment. I have had 6 letters from you in 3 days now – lovely ones all of them. Unfortunately 1 photo of you was badly damaged. I don’t know which letter it was since several came [inserted] loose [/inserted] in a big envelope. It is one in your black frock – a side view but full face. The German censor sent a polite note saying he hadn’t done the damage. Hope you are well darling, John.
[page break]
[underlined] Kriegsgefangenenpost [/underlined]
An Mrs U.M. VALENTINE
LIDO
Empfangsort: TENTERDEN GROVE
Strasse: HENDON
Kreis: LONDON, NW4
Land: ENGLAND
[page break]
Absender:
Vor – und Zuname: Sgt John Valentine
Gefangenennummer: 450
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Letter from John Valentine to his wife Ursula
Description
An account of the resource
Number 50, Reports that three more letters have arrived. Writes about issues raised, especially over her job and investments in future home. He is in favour of getting a house renting if necessary for the time being due to uncertainty over post war conditions. Would not commit to buying at present but suggests price limit if she sees one she wants. Talks of family and thanks her for photographs of Christmas celebrations. Catches up with family/friends news.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1943-02-04
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Karl Williams
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two page handwritten letter
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
EValentineJRMValentineUM430204
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Poland
Poland--Żagań
Great Britain
England--London
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-02-04
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
John Ross Mckenzie Valentine
prisoner of war
Stalag Luft 3
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1281/19251/EValentineJRMValentineUM430203-0001.1.jpg
0b22cec57df42af126b03b3ad5796b76
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1281/19251/EValentineJRMValentineUM430203-0002.1.jpg
369bb8374ccbe3a5ff61d4f4c9fc36fb
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Valentine, John
John Ross Mckenzie Valentine
J R M Valentine
Description
An account of the resource
674 Items. Collection concerns navigator Warrant Officer J R McKenzie Valentine (1251404 Royal Air Force). The collection contains over 600 letters between JRM Valentine and his wife Ursula. It also contains his log book, family/official documents, a book of violin music studies and other correspondence. Sub-collections contain family photographs, prisoner of war photographs and a scrapbook of newspaper cuttings of events from 1942 to 1945.
He joined 49 Squadron in April 1942 and flew 10 operations on Hampdens. The squadron converted to Manchester in May when he completed two further operations. His aircraft was shot down on the Thousand Bomber raid of 30/31 May 1942. Five crew, including him bailed out successfully and became prisoners of war. The pilot and one air gunner were killed when the aircraft rolled over and crashed.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Frances Zagni and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018-09-06
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Valentine, JRM
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
Is Irene married yet??
NUMBER 49.
3/2/43
My Darling Ursula: Truly a delightful week for me, your letter 41 arrived today It’s date was +26/12/42 yet only two days age I got one dated 10th Nov. Your only missing letters up to No 41 are 36, 38 & 40. I am stating the solemn truth when I tell you that, without a single exception, your letters give me more pleasure than anything else in this camp. I read them time & again, thoroughly enjoying them each time. I honestly don’t care a button (or a fig, if you prefer it) if no one else writes – but don’t tell anyone for fear of hurting their feelings – but they might just as well burn their letters as send them here – except Bar. I like her letters because they sound really sincere. A second American food parcel for me is on the camp, but I don’t know the donor yet as I haven’t received it. The two packets of music have also arrived for which many sincere thanks. I now have something to get my teeth into and lack only the skill. It is an incredible difficult process, violin playing & I require fully 10 years to reach any sort of reasonable standard. However I’ll peg away because (1) I enjoy it (2) If I can ever be good enough to play with you it will be worth any amount of effort. Thanks for tips re sock washing I cannot comply with them all. Hot water isn’t easy to come by & I could never get enough to rinse them in warm water. However my technique is greatly improved & I wont have to give away any more pairs to fellows with smaller feet. By the way I have two funny stories for you but as they border on the naughty I’ll keep them till we meet in 1944. Fancy Heath F/Lt – sure it isn’t F/Sgt? Delighted to hear of all your festivities over Xmas. Frances certainly seemed to have a grand time. In the lovely snaps of you in your black dress, you seem to have some flowering shrubbery over your head, or has someone poured the brandy over you instead of Xmas pudding & set it alight. The snap of you holding Frances is superb. Chess moves – sorry over my steps on 1st game (I [indecipherable word] a board & every playing mentally) Game 1. PxP. Game 2. P – Q4. Game 3. – you be white & move 1st. Many thanks for sending strings if you send another lot, don’t bother about the E string- I have plenty. Certainly start looking for a house in the country. Of course we didn’t go in for turkey at Xmas, in fact we didn’t get an extra atom of rations from the Reich. However, we had a Red X Xmas parcel which helped. I’ve spoken to my violin teacher about his neglect of me & he promises to have a session soon. He isn’t really interested & I can’t very well bully him into sparing me some time. All my love you darling. Yrs John.
[page break]
[underlined] Kriegsgefangenenpost [/underlined]
An Mrs U.M. VALENTINE
LIDO
Empfangsort: TENTERDEN GROVE
Strasse: HENDON
Kreis: LONDON NW4
Land: ENGLAND
[page break]
Absender:
Vor – und Zuname: Sgt John Valentine
Gefangenennummer: 450
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Letter from John Valentine to his wife Ursula
Description
An account of the resource
Number 49. Catalogues letters that have arrived and those missing. Writes that letters give him more pleasure than anything else. Mentions arrival of American food parcel and packets of music. Writes about how difficult violin is. Discusses sock laundry problems and techniques. catches up with family news. Send latest chess move. Thanks for sending strings and encourages her to start looking for house in the country.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1943-02-03
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Karl Williams
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two page handwritten letter
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
EValentineJRMValentineUM430203
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Poland
Poland--Żagań
Great Britain
England--London
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-02-03
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
John Ross Mckenzie Valentine
prisoner of war
Stalag Luft 3
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1281/19210/EValentineJRMValentineUM420703-0001.1.jpg
a6e2c0f038ac023bb063e3f9e6b078bd
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1281/19210/EValentineJRMValentineUM420703-0002.1.jpg
8503d20861181cf5245ddf20658264b2
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Valentine, John
John Ross Mckenzie Valentine
J R M Valentine
Description
An account of the resource
674 Items. Collection concerns navigator Warrant Officer J R McKenzie Valentine (1251404 Royal Air Force). The collection contains over 600 letters between JRM Valentine and his wife Ursula. It also contains his log book, family/official documents, a book of violin music studies and other correspondence. Sub-collections contain family photographs, prisoner of war photographs and a scrapbook of newspaper cuttings of events from 1942 to 1945.
He joined 49 Squadron in April 1942 and flew 10 operations on Hampdens. The squadron converted to Manchester in May when he completed two further operations. His aircraft was shot down on the Thousand Bomber raid of 30/31 May 1942. Five crew, including him bailed out successfully and became prisoners of war. The pilot and one air gunner were killed when the aircraft rolled over and crashed.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Frances Zagni and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018-09-06
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Valentine, JRM
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[underlined] NUMBER. 8 [/underlined]
[underlined] 3-7-42 [/underlined]
My Dearest Ursula: Am glad to say that I am at last feeling much more like myself since my constitution is slowly adjusting itself to the new conditions. [one sentence censored] This can only be done from places outside the Empire since all Empire food parcels are pooled and communally distributed. would you ask (1) Les Zwanenberg if any of his friends in Holland, America etc (2) Grinfeld if his connections in Sweden, Turkey etc (3) My parents if friends in Argentine or America could help us - & anyone else you know. We want regular parcels. not merely one. Please also arrange for a regular flow of tobacco & cigarettes which, duty free, are not costly. Get all the support you can for the Red Cross for their magnificent work. [one sentence censored] Sorry always to be asking for things – here another request – for a pair of walking shoes at the first available opportunity I’m deeply ashamed of my personal appearance. Having no razor or shaving brush. I now possess a five weeks beard. When our plane was hit I was drenched TO THE SKIN in oil & had to wash every article of clothing. My uniform shrank several sizes & was still very discoloured & being my only costume I look like a scarecrow. Everyone is the same, the camp population closely resembling a crowd of beggars clothed in every conceivable type of tattered garment. What an age it seems since I last saw phoned or had a letter from you. You are always in my thoughts, my darling.
Ever Yours
John.
[page break]
[underlined] Kriegsgefangenenpost [/underlined]
MRS U.M VALENTINE
“LIDO” TENTERDEN GROVE,
Emfangsort: HENDON
Strasse: London. N.W.4
Land: ENGLAND
[page break]
Absender:
Vor - und Zuname: Sgt. JOHN R.M. VALENTINE
Gefangenennummer: NOT YET KNOWN.
Lager – Bezeichnung: M. - Slammlager Luft 3
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Letter from John Valentine to his wife Ursula
Description
An account of the resource
Number 8. Writes he is feeling much better. He is trying to arrange that any friends or acquaintances who live outside the empire send him food parcels because any that are sent from inside are pooled. He describes his appearance after being shot down and how upsetting it is to not possess the items he needs to look after his appearance.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1942-07-03
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two page handwritten letter
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
EValentineJRMValentineUM420703
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Poland
Poland--Żagań
Great Britain
England--London
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942-07-03
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Karl Williams
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
John Ross Mckenzie Valentine
prisoner of war
Stalag Luft 3
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1246/16338/ENealeETH[Recipient][Date]-030001.jpg
e3e9910431344d51cfb54165c4f50d1b
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1246/16338/ENealeETH[Recipient][Date]-030002.jpg
eb38e18c29eb6a694b83ddf0b8ea351d
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1246/16338/ENealeETH[Recipient][Date]-030003.jpg
643ae12e03b7ca368724ad91a53e6bdb
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1246/16338/ENealeETH[Recipient][Date]-030004.jpg
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https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1246/16338/ENealeETH[Recipient][Date]-030005.jpg
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Neale, Ted
E T H Neale
Description
An account of the resource
123 items. The collection concerns Edward Thomas Henry Neale (b. 1922, 1395951 Royal Air Force) who served as a navigator with 37 Squadron in North Africa, the Middle East and Italy. The collection contains his training notebooks from South Africa as well as propaganda leaflets dropped by the allies in the Mediterranean theatre.
The collection also contains a photograph album, navigation logs and target photographs.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Alison Neale and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-07-31
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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. Some items have not been published in order to protect the privacy of third parties, to comply with intellectual property regulations, or have been assessed as medium or low priority according to the IBCC Digital Archive collection policy and will therefore be published at a later stage. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collection-policy.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Neale, ETH
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
Dear Sir or Madam
Maybe you have left it rather late, or it may be you’ve got it just right. On returning to civvy street we felt isolated and diminished. After a tour of operations I returned to my civilian job to continue & finish a tool making apprenticeship, at [deleted] almost [/deleted] twenty four with a wife & child. As I returned [deleted] the [/deleted] those that had stayed in their reserved occupations were leaving [deleted] going [/deleted] [inserted] leaving [/inserted] to do their national service, you were no hero’es, [sic] I had been a warrant officer, (promotion came from still being alive) alongside me was an ex Flight Liuetenant [sic] [deleted] D.F [/deleted] Distinguished Flying cross, he was a labourer sweeping the floor of a machine shop!!!! So much for “brylcreem boys.” I felt isolated
[page break]
[indecipherable] the greatest bunch of [indecipherable] (or boys) ever assembled anywhere but our baptism came before this; I finished a tour and went on to flying V.I.P.s around, it was known as a Comm Flight, this role eventually diminished and I was posted from ALGIERS to CAIRO (it appears to have been an error, the locust insecticide spraying didn’t materialise) so I was posted in error to ATHENS, I was offered another Comm flight job, but having watched an aircraft dive into the sea and suffered the poor aircraft serviceability, since the demob roster had started, and the older service and greater experience fitters were being released I declined. It was then that the penguins took over (non-flying birds) and I was told to cover my badges of rank and be treated as an A.C.2 GD,
[page break]
[indecipherable] being the lowest rank, G.D. being general duties, this being labouring and the like, we were no heroe’s, [sic] and we took this attitude to civvy street. If post traumatic stress syndrome had been thought of, then I’m sure we would have qualified. Evetually [sic] returning to England we were interviewed with a view for signing on for further service, you may imagine the response that got, so all in all I was proud to have been in the company of other aircrew and not at all happy with an organisation that didn’t properly ever feed me, that left us so short of supplies that in 4 ½ years of service I couldn’t ever get a new pair of socks.
You have selected the Lancaster to be the vehicle [deleted] for your [/deleted] to carry your programme and good luck to you but perhaps you may alienate so many of us who served in the Hampdens.
[page break]
[indecipherable] Halifaxes, Stirlings, [indecipherable] Manchesters, Fortresses & Liberators, and Mosquitos who were part of Bomber Command. We have heard of the DAMS EPISODE but what about mining the DANUBE to stop the transport of HITLERS only supply of natural oil, (sometime [inserted] wrongly [/inserted] reported as by Lancasters) by Wellingtons, Liberators & Halifaxes of 205 GROUP consisting of 10 squadrons, ex desert squadrons operating from Italy, and reported in some accounts to be [inserted] among [/inserted] the most effective raids of the war, or the bombing of PLOESTIE [sic] oilfields in Roumania second most defended target after BERLIN. once again by 205 GROUP, maximum effort about 150 aircraft.
If I may be allowed to continue, we had a tour of forty operations not thirty, and the only one I know who got a medal (D.F C.) was one
[page break]
[indecipherable] (I was a navigator) and that [indecipherable] probably because he became a Flight Commander. Whilst those operating from England were given Aircrew Europe medals, it was denied us although I bombed France, Italy, Germany. Austria, CZECHOSlovakia, Hungary, Roumania, Yugoslavia, and ferried Infantrymen to GREECE when the airfield was overlooked & fired on by ELAS Greek rebels.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Letter from Ted Neale
Description
An account of the resource
He refers to feeling 'isolated and diminished' when returning to civilian work. He rejoined the Royal Air Force, but the jobs became more menial and supplies and maintenance were poor. He describes the contrast with some of the operations he took part in during the war.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Ted Neale
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Five handwritten sheets
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
ENealeETH[Recipient][Date]-030001,
ENealeETH[Recipient][Date]-030002,
ENealeETH[Recipient][Date]-030003,
ENealeETH[Recipient][Date]-030004,
ENealeETH[Recipient][Date]-030005
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Civilian
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Greece--Athens
Romania--Ploiești
Greece
Romania
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Karl Williams
David Bloomfield
aircrew
B-17
B-24
bombing
demobilisation
Distinguished Flying Cross
Halifax
Hampden
Lancaster
Manchester
mine laying
Mosquito
navigator
Stirling
Wellington
Whitley
-
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35246e9163722e298e7dbb2bfb0c7578
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1246/16336/E[Author]NealeETH-MXX1201-0002.jpg
7e1ca9ef7bc5c34e11883e66859daf00
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Neale, Ted
E T H Neale
Description
An account of the resource
123 items. The collection concerns Edward Thomas Henry Neale (b. 1922, 1395951 Royal Air Force) who served as a navigator with 37 Squadron in North Africa, the Middle East and Italy. The collection contains his training notebooks from South Africa as well as propaganda leaflets dropped by the allies in the Mediterranean theatre.
The collection also contains a photograph album, navigation logs and target photographs.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Alison Neale and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-07-31
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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. Some items have not been published in order to protect the privacy of third parties, to comply with intellectual property regulations, or have been assessed as medium or low priority according to the IBCC Digital Archive collection policy and will therefore be published at a later stage. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collection-policy.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Neale, ETH
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
1 Dec.
2 2nd Avenue
Bellville
Cape Province
South Africa
Dear ‘Joseph’ & Mary,
After you have been revived with a glass of water – or something stronger – you may have been able to get this far into the letter for the big’ Hallo!” and Seasons Greetings from an old ‘comrade’ - & the years have slipped by so fast & since we ‘diced ‘ together ‘Joseph’ that the word “old’’ is beginning to take an almost unpleasant note.
No doubt you have given me up as a bad job, for in front of me is a letter of yours dated “15 December”. However, tho’ I write rarely, it’s sometimes with a certain amount of misgiving that I take stock of myself in this Sunny Clime, and think of the evenings, or perhaps week-ends, I may have spent in the good company of those friends I left behind.
One musn’t [sic] become too depressed tho’, so I shake off
[page break]
old man gloom & get down to things – for I have a lot of work on hand and ahead of me.
Your letter of so long ago opens up with a reference to my change of address a frequent occurrence. This address will be permanent tho’ for some time as I am buying this place. It is not a new house, but I got it at a very reasonable price & on excellent terms & it has great possibilities – I am very busy planning for the coming year – last year being spent in decorating & getting the garden straight.
Next year I hope to complete a garage & turning a stoep into a kitchen – the kitchen will become the dining room.. I intend to build both garage & stoep up myself so I have quite a lot of my spare time booked. What is news of the ’crew’. Is Mae still with the ‘mob’ – his kiddies
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
To 'Jasp' and Mary
Description
An account of the resource
Part of a letter to Ted Neale and Mary from a friend in South Africa. The writer apologises for taking so long to reply and writes of his new house.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two handwritten sheets
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Correspondence
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
E[Author]NealeETH-MXX1201-0001,
E[Author]NealeETH-MXX1201-0002
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
South Africa
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Karl Williams
David Bloomfield