1
25
374
-
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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
17 JUL 1942
RAF/M/2444
[underlined] BRITISH RED CROSS SOCIETY AND ORDER OF ST. JOHN [/underlined]
[underlined] PERSONAL PARCELS CENTRE [/underlined]
Sent to:
Serice No. 1251404 Rank Sergeant
Name Valentine, John R.M.
Prisoner of War No. Not yet allocated
Camp Address Stalag Luft III
[underlined] CONTENTS [/underlined]
2 prs. Pyjamas
1 Pullover
1 Bathing Costume
2 Vests
2 Pants
1 Scarf
1 Pair Sandals
10 Handkerchiefs
3 Pairs Socks
1 Toothbrush
1 Tn Tooth Powder
1 Shaving Stick
2 Reels Cotton
1 Tin Shoe Polish
1 Pkt. Pins and Needles
1 Pencil
1 Card Metal Buttons
2 Balls Mending Wool
1 Small Penknife
1/2lb Chocolate
[page break]
From Mrs J.R.M. Valentine
Lido
Tenterden Grove
Hendon
London N.W.4.
[page break]
[underlined] BRITISH RED CROSS SOCIETY AND ORDER OF ST. JOHN [/underlined]
[underlined] PERSONAL PARCELS CENTRE [/underlined]
Sent to:
Serice No. 1251404 Rank Sergeant
Name Valentine, John R.M.
Prisoner of War No. 450 Red Cross Ref. No. RAF/M/2444
Camp Address Stalag Luft III, Germany
[underlined] CONTENTS [/underlined]
1 Balaclava Helmet
1 Pair Gloves
1 Polo Sweater
4 Pairs Socks
1 Vest
1 Pair Pants
2 Handkerchiefs
1 Card of Thread
1 Toothbrush
1 Pencil
1Nailbrush
1 Stick Shaving Cream
1 Pair Boot Laces
1 Packet Pipe Cleaners
1 Pipe
1 Tin Eucalyptus Tooth Powder
2 Cakes of Soap
3 Calico Bags
1 Patchwork Rug
1 Shaving Brush
1/2lb Chocolate
1 Ball of Wool
[page break]
Sender’s Name Mrs Ursula Valentine
Sender’s address
Lido
Tenterden Grove
Hendon
London N.W.4.
[page break]
[underlined] CHRISTMAS 1942 [/underlined]
To:- Sergt. J.R.M. Valentine,
Stalag Luft 3
[underlined] Contents [/underlined]
Figs 1 Packet
Marmalade 1 Jar
Sardines 2 Tins
Sweets 1 Packet
Soup Powder 2 Packets
Soup cubes 15
Toothbrush 1
Tooth Powder 1 Tin
Razor Blades 2 Packets
Shoe Laces 2 pairs
Cigarettes 1 Packet
Knitted Articles 1
From:- Direktor Hansson,
A/B. Karlstads Mekaniska Werkstad,
Karlstad.
With best wishes for Christmas and the New Year.
[page break]
[underlined] CHRISTMAS 1942 [/underlined]
To:- Sergt. J.R.M. Valentine, (N:r 450)
Stalag Luft 3
[underlined] Contents [/underlined]
Figs 1 Packet
Marmalade 1 Jar
Sardines 2 Tins
Sweets 1 Packet
Soup Powder 2 Packets
Soup cubes 15
Toothbrush 1
Tooth Powder 1 Tin
Razor Blades 2 Packets
Shoe Laces 2 pairs
Cigarettes 1 Packet
[deleted] Knitted Articles 1 [/deleted]
From:-
Mrs. Skagerlind,
Valhallavagen 120,
Stockholm.
With best wishes for Christmas and the New Year
[page break]
Sgt. J. Valentine. P.C.504633
Best wishes from the Wardens
Oct ‘43
[page break]
From
A.S. Valentine.
66, Queens St.
E.C.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
Contents lists for red cross and other parcels
Description
An account of the resource
Two contents lists for red cross parcels sent by Ursula Valentine. Two contents list sent for Christmas 1942 by Director Hansson and Mrs Skagerlind from Sweden. Two address cards.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Hansson
Skagerlind
Ursula Valentine
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1942-07-11
1942-10-06
1942-12
1943-10
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two forms handwritten filled in, two typewritten documents and two cards
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
SValentineJRM1251404v20015
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
Sweden
Sweden--Karlstad
Sweden--Stockholm
England--London
Poland
Poland--Żagań
England--London
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
David Bloomfield
prisoner of war
Red Cross
Stalag Luft 3
-
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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
Lido,
Tenterden Grove,
Hendon, N.W. 4
28th January, 1941
The Borough Treasurer,
Town Hall,
Hendon N.W. 4
Dear Sir, plot No. 142. Archfields Allotments
I am in receipt of your letter of the 27th January (Ref 19h.6.). I am you have been misinformed as regards the terminating date of my tenancy of the above plot, which was not 31st December 1940, as you state, but 25th March 1941. When my husband joined the Royal Air Force he gave due notice of our intention to vacate the plot, and I have your letter of the 24th October 1940 (Ref 19h.3.) in which you acknowledge this.
The misunderstanding may have arisen from the fact that when we notified Mr Thompson, the secretary of the Archfields Allotments, we told him that if he found another tenant for plot 142 before our tenancy expired, this new tenant had our permission to start digging on the empty portions of the plot as soon as he liked provide he left our crops untouched. Unfortunately the new tenant does not seem to be clear that this was a concession on our part in order to help forward next season’s crops, and not a right on his part.
I myself am going away in a few days, and have arranged that the crops remaining on the plot shall be removed as fast as it is humanly possible to eat them by a young widow left with five small children, and I have notified Mr Thompson of this arrangement. However well over half the allotment is already empty, and, since the weather at present is so unsuitable for digging, I am sure the new tenant will find, with a little goodwill, there is plenty of work he can get on with until such time as the remaining crops are cleared, or he enters into possession. Needless to say it would be highly unpatriotic at the present time to dig up crops which are bearing the food which this country so urgently needs merely in order to have the plot looking neat and tidy, quite apart from the fact that the new tenant has no right to touch any of the crops until the 25th March although we have given him permission to dig the empty part of the plot.
Yours faithfully,
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 Hendon Borough Treasurer
Description
An account of the resource
Writes to correct dates of termination of tenancy of their allotment. Explains arrangement she made with new tenant were misunderstood by him and what she intended to do now with her crops.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941-01-28
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One 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
EValentineUMTreasHendon410128
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.
Great Britain
England--London
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-01-28
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Ursula Valentine
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.
home front
-
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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
Lido
Tuesday 23rd Dec
Darling one,
Frances is cutting her 4th tooth & is rather fretful so I must hurry up & take her out for a little walk.
Thanks for your letters of 18 & 20th your telegram giving Mrs Donaldson’s address (I had seen it in the Times cutting as a matter of fact) and above all for your phone call. I had given up hope last night, had gone to bed & was just saying my prayers, praying you were safe & well, when the phone went. It was marvellous! So I’m coming on Jan 1st!
[page break]
I will let you know about the trains, no time to phone now.
I hope you won’t do anything risky at Christmas. You could go up to Bicester to be with your captivating Vera instead! It would be too awful if there were any hitch with the living out pass.
So a lovely Christmas to you my dearest, & I ‘ll wish you a happy New Year in person.
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 from Ursula Valentine to her husband John Valentine
Description
An account of the resource
Writes of daughter Frances teething and thanks him for phone call. Mentions she will be coming on 1st January and she will let him know train times. Asks that he does not do anything risky and wishes him merry Christmas and happy new year.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941-12-23
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
EValentineUMValentineJRM411223
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--London
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-12-23
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
-
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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
Xmas Time
Darling Johnny
Your letter of Sunday & Monday arrived today – thanks very much for writing so regularly.
Another arrival was my birthday parcel from India, 12/7 duty but certainly worth it (I haven’t opened it yet). I’m so relieved that it has come.
The gardener has turned up again this afternoon & is getting on with the veg patch. I have got to go out & visit Dorothy Smith WAAF No 1.
[page break]
who is in Sick Bay with a cold & a temperature of 100°. So she won’t be coming to tea tomorrow & we shall be alone after all. Pity when there must be so many girls who would like a lovely Christmas.
Have bought the paint & enamel for doing the tall boy – the last tin of undercoat in stock so was lucky.
All my love to you dearest
Ursula.
Have got your Argotone & will bring it down with me.
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
Reports arrival of mail and birthday parcel from India. Mentions gardener and provides news of her daily activities and that she will now be alone on Christmas day.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941-12-24
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
EValentineUMValentineJRM411224
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
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--London
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-12-24
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
Lido 27.12.41
Darling Johnnie Thank goodness that scare last night turned out to be a false alarm! It would have been too awful if all our plans had fallen through after all at the last moment. I am still dreading to hear that you have been posted to Finningley & that it was advance information that I got. I don't see how on earth you could be at this stage in your course, but wonderful things happen in military life. However, I'm proceeding on the assumption that everything is OK.
[page break]
thanks for your telegram which arrived at 11 am.today. It certainly was a memorable Christmas, since you got clean away with it. I loved every moment of it. I have ordered the car to take me to Paddington, it will cost 10/- but is quite necessary. I have put our various monies in the P.O.& Stella tells me that she is leaving on Monday, so that's alright. I haven't yet contacted the gardener. I've got most of my thank you letters written.
Did you hear Churchill last night? It was a grand speech. With lots of love to you dearest – I'm just longing for Jan 1st! 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 from Ursula Valentine to her husband John Valentine
Description
An account of the resource
Discusses plans for future to join him. Thanks him for telegram. Says she has booked taxi to station and mentions failure to contact gardener. Comments of recent Churchill speech.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941-12-27
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
EValentineUMValentineJRM411227
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--London
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-12-27
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
Churchill, Winston (1874-1965)
RAF Finningley
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1281/19716/EValentineUMValentineJRM411230-0001.2.jpg
c609afd90acb1fef5de30406e13a5957
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1281/19716/EValentineUMValentineJRM411230-0002.2.jpg
e68ac4cec8640f64dfad3ed9ae344143
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] Last letter! [/underlined]
Lido
30.12.41.
Darling Johnny,
I am just going to the PO to send off a parcel of stuff to you & to Mrs Donaldson & have also written to her.
I have got the trunks down & am beginning to sort the clothes. Frances has got a bit of a sniffle again. There’s an awful lot of colds going about here, so I am keeping her indoors & giving
[page break]
her Vapex in the hope that he cold will clear off. It would be awful if she were ill & prevented me from leaving!
Thanks for your letter, I hope you enjoyed the Sgt & officers dance. How I would have liked to have been there!
Will order Argotone for you again.
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 from Ursula Valentine to her husband John Valentine
Description
An account of the resource
Mentions sending him a parcel and writes of activities and daughter's health. Thanks him for letter and hoped he enjoyed sergeants and officers dance.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941-12-30
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
EValentineUMValentineJRM411230
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--London
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-12-30
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
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1281/19529/EValentineUMValentineJRM410101-0001.1.jpg
9f3ed93dc2ad26f58ebee22acb124c2c
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1281/19529/EValentineUMValentineJRM410101-0002.1.jpg
f4d11991471c52bf875ac847ed5bab7b
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1281/19529/EValentineUMValentineJRM410101-0003.1.jpg
3d382fe54a6ced3dd7a0848fa545d10b
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1281/19529/EValentineUMValentineJRM410101-0004.1.jpg
f114d530cb9e5cf0524d81b493e95c01
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
(Parcel of washing sent off this morning) Lido Wed January 1st
My darling Johnnie, A happy new Year to you, & may you soon come back to me victorious. I had a lovely sort of dream this morning in which I saw a charming house on a hillside in the country & I was there with a little boy about 5 years old with dark brown curly hair & a smaller girl of about 3, I couldn't see her face but she had on a little dress which I had obviously smocked for her, & you were just getting into our car to drive off to the station to fetch somebody who was coming to visit us. It [underlined] was [/underlined] such a lovely vision!
I heard from the Luton Maternity Hospital today to the effect that they can't take me unless I go & stay with someone in the county of Beds. & get taken into their Emergency Unit as an evacuee mother. The Matron suggested I might write to the Luton & Dunstable
[page break]
2.
Hospital which has private wards but thought they might be a bit expensive. However, there is no harm in enquiring. I went up to see Dr Bethune this morning & told him I had changed my plans. He couldn't suggest anywhere in the country but said he thought I might very likely be able to find something near you even if I did leave it until the end of February to make the arrangements. I explained how matters stood with regard to your course, & he strongly advised your going to see your Adjutant who he says is generally an older man & often a father himself, explain how it is & ask if he could possibly give you an idea of where you are likely to be sent after Aber. I know of course that it depends on whether you get through the exams & all that, & tho' he
[page break]
3.
may have no idea of your chances, [underlined] we [/underlined] know you'll get thro' as easy as anything. If he [underlined] could [/underlined] tell you where you are likely to be in April, then we could consider whether it's a suitable place for me, & start booking accommodation at once. It would be nice to have it settled if possible, but if not I don't mind leaving it to chance. I'm bound to be able to get in somewhere, even if it has to be a local hospital here after all. Bethune was insistent that I should be fussy about the doctor. He says many of them are so callous, & whereas they could make the whole business so much easier with judicious administration of sedative & anaesthetics they are so often too lazy or callous – because it means a lot of extra work for the doctor to help the mother
[page break]
4.
as she can be helped. He says often in hospitals they are very inclined to leave you to your own devices & not give any assistance. In that case he says I should make a fuss & demand anaesthetics & whatnot, & if I make enough fuss they will probably look after me! Not very cheerful in fact. He also suggested I should write to Fulmer Chase (where June went for her baby) & say you will have a commission soon & wouldn't they take me on the strength of your being LAC. I'll try this, but am not very hopeful, tho' it would be a lovely place to go to if I couldn't be near you. I haven't had a reply from the Nurse there yet, but will let you know when I get one.
The Nat. Gallery concert today was simply wonderful, a Beethoven sonata played by Myra Hess, & then the Archduke Trio, also Beethoven. I did enjoy it so. Mother has written to say she wants to give us the pram if no one else offers – they're not likely to. Must I refuse this too? I [underlined] do [/underlined] hope you kept the lucky 3d out of the pudding. Sorry about your tooth & cold. Thanks for letter enclosed in Ba's. All my love darling – write again soon - 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
Wishes him a happy new year and relates a dream she had about the future. Writes of the difficulties of finding a maternity home and other possible plans of moving closer to him if he passes his course and can find out where he will be posted when he finishes. Continues with challenges of giving birth in wartime and relates some advice she has been given. Concludes with comment on music she has heard and of family news.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941-01-01
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
EValentineUMValentineJRM410101
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
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-01-01
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
Wales--Dyfed
Wales--Aberystwyth
England--London
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
military service conditions
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1281/19531/EValentineUMValentineJRM410102-0001.2.jpg
810bf90cd0daa959ea050ade31f56904
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1281/19531/EValentineUMValentineJRM410102-0002.2.jpg
8f1c92f28092aaf974d52c2d9e447a4b
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
Jan 2nd
Darling Johnnie, Herewith the fish-balls – please for my sake do take them regularly, they are small, unobtrusive & quite palatable & cannot fail to do you good, strengthen you to withstand whatever is coming to us. Three a day is the dose I believe. I hope you will have luck with the Adjutant – Bethune was saying that in the last war he was due to go over to France when his wife was expecting her 2nd baby & she was very keen that he should be there for the event, so he put it to his Adjutant without much hope but the dear old chap said “Why, of course my boy”! & put him back a month or so. You don't even have to ask for anything like that but merely for information!
This morning 2 parcels of nappies arrived from Barnet without any note or comment (the ones your Mother has hemmed for me) & I have just written thanking her warmly for doing them. It takes two to make a quarrel & I am not going to be one of them. Last evening I popped round to the Mosses – both boys were home on 7 days leave! Some people have all the luck! They haven't finished their course for their commissions yet. Now I must dash down to town. The lavatory tank has frozen & I am going to see if Adams can do anything permanent about the pipe that runs out under the eaves & freezes regularly each winter.
All my love to you 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
Writes of including fish balls which he should take to improve strength to cope with future. Mentions acquaintance who in the First World War was delayed from deploying so he could witness birth and suggests he should approach the adjutant to see if he could do the same. Writes that she has received parcels of nappies and of family matters as well as catching up with news of friends.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941-01-02
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
EValentineUMValentineJRM410102
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
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-01-02
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--London
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
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1281/19534/EValentineUMValentineJRM410104-0001.2.jpg
6852dc15105863873d585141d46ac8e3
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1281/19534/EValentineUMValentineJRM410104-0002.2.jpg
6754d174c93aae92cc9a9e3d37057a02
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
Lido; 4th Jan
My darling Johnnie, I do hope this little parcel will reach you on January 6th – I haven't forgotten [underlined] that [/underlined] date! May we have many happy returns of it together. I am sending you our newly established photo album just in case you might have forgotten all the lovely times we have had together in our first blissful year of married life. I dare say you won't want to keep it there for long, send it back when you have finished looking through it. I know you haven't much room for storage. I also enclose 50 of your cigarettes, & the first pair of Mother's socks which I have lengthened by an inch or so. Let me know
[page break]
if these fit you OK & I will proceed with the two other pairs. I now have £4.9.0 in Income Tax (£2.4.6 twice). I have bought Jane's [a Labrador] licence, so she is legal at last. 5/- is enclosed in the cigarettes. I'm also sending you some of our wedding cake. It is fast diminishing, & altho' I note that you don't want supplementary feeding in the ordinary way, a piece of wedding cake is different, I feel.
Now I must pop down to town & post this parcel – I do hope it arrives sometime on Monday or else you will think I have forgotten our wedding anniversary too! All my love to you my dearest – it is such fun (& considerable more than that) being married to you. I hope that we can fix for me to come to you soon, do find out anything definite you can, explain about the baby & try to make your C.O. give you some idea of if you are likely to be there. 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 from Ursula Valentine to her husband John Valentine
Description
An account of the resource
Writes wishing him happy birthday an hopes that parcel she has sent arrives in the day. Mentions she is sending photograph album to remind him of events over year they have been married as well as other items (cigarettes, socks and cake). Writes that she will not forget wedding anniversary and it has been fun to be married to him. Concludes with hope that he will find out more about his future and possibility of her moving to be with him for birth of baby.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941-01-04
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
EValentineUMValentineJRM410104
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
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-01-04
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--London
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
love and romance
military service conditions
training
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1281/19536/EValentineUMValentineJRM410106-010001.1.jpg
521e2ac56403739c9940e2a9367819dc
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1281/19536/EValentineUMValentineJRM410106-010002.1.jpg
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https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1281/19536/EValentineUMValentineJRM410106-010003.1.jpg
587b19c7db4dbee55d49333a03a92c87
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1281/19536/EValentineUMValentineJRM410106-010004.1.jpg
f2ca15e18578ec640bd51a63e77c39ee
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
Whoopee about Bardia! Lido January 6th
My darling Johnnie, It was so lovely to hear your voice last night - I had been wondering hopefully if you would try to ring up, but rather expect it would be tonight. I shudder to think what our telephone bill will be, but it certainly is worth it. Today your parcel arrived as well. I couldn't find the Boots gift token in it anywhere tho' I searched diligently. Perhaps you forgot to pop it in at the last moment. I didn't realise
[page break]
2.
the report & accounts from Phillips was valuable or I wouldn't have scribbled on it. However, you didn't answer my question; may I paint your tall-boy for the baby's chest-of-drawers, or do you want to keep it as a tall-boy for yourself? It will have to be repainted sometime before it can appear in public, but shall it be baby pink (or cream) or mock old oak? Let me know your verdict (of course the baby might have it first & it could then revert to you when you need it). Re the Christmas present from Jean Leuchars, I suggest you write a thank-you letter & send it to your parents for forwarding. I would rather not ring up for her address.
The meeting of the Tenterden Grove Fire Squad
[page break]
3.
last night was as parliamentarian as ever, Mr Greenish in the chair. This time however it was enlivened by Mr Pope (Gabriel's father-in-law) who has now taken up residence next door with his wife & 2 daughters. He is very deaf, & there was a good deal of comic byplay & bellowed repetitions which made the meeting quite jolly! The upshot of all the discussion was that the available inhabitants numbering 15 (not counting the Neal children, Barbara & old Mrs Pope) will take 2 hour shifts all night every night, warning or no, & this works out at 2 hours every 4th night. I am starting off tonight with the worst shift, 4-6 am. The Popes do
[page break]
the first 3 shifts between the three of them & then knock me up. We are not expected to go out, but only to keep a constant look-out, back & front, through windows or doors, & if there is any sign of incendiaries, ring the fire-bell like mad & get the whole squad out. It is really a good idea & means you can sleep peacefully on your nights off. I'm afraid I always have slept peacefully, but Mr & Mrs Neal & the Greenishes too apparently sleep with one eye open on rowdy nights. Of course I told them I might be going soon, but they are hoping to bring in the other houses up as far as Tenterden Gardens, so that will relieve it anyway – it is very nice to think that when I'm away they will be looking after Lido for us. Thank you so much for the chocolate, you are a darling to have thought of it for me. I haven't seen any for ages. I do hope my parcel arrived today to wish you many happies of Jan 6th – blessed day. I remember what a turmoil I was in this time last year!
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 from Ursula Valentine to her husband John Valentine
Description
An account of the resource
Writes how pleased she was to hear his voice on telephone and that it would be worth the cost of call. Mentions a parcel from him and talks of baby matters. Catches up with family issues. Tells of meeting of local fire watchers and resulting shift patterns. Catches up with local news.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941-01-06
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
EValentineUMValentineJRM410106-01
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.
Great Britain
England--London
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-01-06
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
civil defence
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1281/19537/EValentineUMValentineJRM410106-020001.1.jpg
48e5bde43a09e870339067b74e075f82
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1281/19537/EValentineUMValentineJRM410106-020002.1.jpg
1bd6571b7f225de05cd91ff7eb1a10d0
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
Monday. 6th{in pencil]
Darling,
Thank you so much for your letter with the ridiculous story about feeding the seagulls. I don’t know if I’m particularly light-hearted this morning but I laughed till I cried over it & could hardly read it out to Ba!
I’m sorry you are not feeling so good, I hope the fish balls will help you to get thro’ the flu epidemic (which seems to be all over the place) without succumbing. But Johnnie, I must [underlined] insist[/underlined] on this, if by any unhappy chance you are sick when I am due to arrive, for
[page break]
heavens sake don’t go attempting to crawl down to the station to meet me. I shall get a taxi & be quite able to manage alone, or perhaps Teddy Cook or someone could meet me & let me know where you are. I would far rather forego the joy of seeing you at the station than that you should come & so prolong your illness perhaps & waste days & days when we might have been together.
I think I’d better stick to Friday as Der Tag, otherwise there seems no reason for not making it Wed, or even tomorrow, & I should go mad. My woman hasn’t turned up today, [underlined] of course [/underlined so I’ll have plenty to do.
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 from Ursula Valentine to her husband John Valentine
Description
An account of the resource
Writes thanking him for letter and sorry he has flu and not to meet her at station if he is ill. Talks of travel plans.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941-01-06
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
EValentineUMValentineJRM410106-02
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
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--London
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-01-06
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
military service conditions
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1281/19538/EValentineUMValentineJRM410108-0001.1.jpg
6283442e505ba7ed732311397df2f57b
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1281/19538/EValentineUMValentineJRM410108-0002.1.jpg
3b96cb1fd5a7186456ba02edc9e7eb3f
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
We received a large box of chocs from Uncle Tom in South Africa, the other day, (sent from Frys here in England)' Wed. Jan 8th
Darling Johnny, I'm in a furious hurry as usual. Mrs Goodrich still hasn't turned up & I asked Mrs Mack to come this am. but she hasn't either, & as it's early closing I've had a fearful rush to get Ba fed & bathed & put to bed & the necessary housework done before the shops close.
I'm sending the new pair of Mother's socks to which I added new toes last night, by knitting by forced marches; also 4 pairs of civilian socks as stop gaps. The other two pairs you sent I will return when mended or re-toed. It was announced on radio last night that wives of men in forces can travel on railway at cheap fares, about half price I gathered. The husband has to get a voucher from his unit & wife presents it at booking office. You might enquire about this & get me one well in time for the journey to Aber. the fare will be considerable so it is worth saving. Thanks so much for your letters of 5 & 6. I'm sorry about your lapse but will let you off just this once. However I now consider myself free to have a thoroughly good cry when I want! It does sound lovely at Aber. & I am looking forward very much to going there. Do find out
[page break]
about the nursing home & hospital – the digs you mention sound ideal. Could you see if they have room for me & would take Jane? If not I would have to send her down to Glos. at once but that would be expensive. We must also enquire for boarding kennels somewhere near Aber. for the 3 weeks or so I am in cold storage. It would be cheaper & easier than having to send her from Aber. to Glos. which would be a horrid journey for her alone. But I can do that when I arrive, I know you haven't much time.
We have thawed out without any mishaps & I am now keeping kitchen fire in continuously. It is warmer now that snow has fallen & is lying. I note what you say regarding piano & will see that it gets a good home if I can get rid of it at all (which I doubt). Did my first night duty on Monday-Tuesday night (4 – 6 am.) it wasn't at all bad. There was no warning on, so I was able to finish off my green shantung smock which I am now wearing. I am on from 2 – 4 am. On Friday night & will get on with your socks then. 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 from Ursula Valentine to her husband John Valentine
Description
An account of the resource
Writes of current frustration and housework issues and of socks she is sending him. Mentions she heard on radio that wives of servicemen can travel cheap on railways, but he needed to get a voucher from his unit. Comments on nursing home and accommodation he has found for her. Mentions snow and that they have now thawed out. Comments on her recent night duty.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941-01-08
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
EValentineUMValentineJRM410108
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.
Great Britain
England--London
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-01-08
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
military service conditions
-
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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
Lido Friday 10th
Darling Johnnie, thanks very much for your long & detailed letter started on 7th. I will try to tabulate this one as extensively!
WHEREAS I love you very much & should awfully like to be with you and WHEREAS the parties hereunto agreeing consider London too hot a spot for Walpole(ina) NOW THEREFORE I agree to come up to Aberystwyth as soon as poss (say a fortnight or 3 weeks) there to live & abide until the appearance of our firstborn. PROVIDED THAT you can book the necessary accommodation as set out in the schedules appended hereunto.
1) Digs at 30/- or less if poss. & near to you. Jane must be accepted there as well.
2) Nursing home I should think the general ward would be OK. How much is a private ward? It hardly seems worth paying a lot extra on account of visiting hours alone since I think it
[page break]
pretty unlikely that you will be there so long. I shall consider myself very lucky if you are there up till the birth, & am quite content to accept these arrangements even if you do have to leave a week or more earlier. I don't think we can do better, & at least I shall have had 2 months or so near you. It's after all not an ordinary illness or operation. I shall have the baby (I hope) to occupy my thoughts & attention. So I should think it would be best if you put me down for the general ward. When I get there & we see the doctor we may yet be able to change it if necessary.
As regards Jane I should of course like to have her with me until I go into the home, since I shall be largely on my own, & she will force me to go for healthy walks. Could you enquire from the publicity office about boarding kennels locally? It seems to me that would be the easiest & cheapest arrangements for her to be boarded out from April 4th (or so) till I am ready to return to London. If necessary
[page break]
as a last resort she could be sent down to Gloucestershire straight from here for the 3 months or so but I should hate it, so would she, & it wouldn't be cheap.
As regards your 3 points against, 1) I am prepared to risk that you are sent away before baby comes. 2) the visiting hours are regrettable, but maybe some exceptions are allowed? Anyway you quite likely won't be there at all. 3) the return to London: Barbara says that altho' she couldn't get several weeks off short of leaving the service altogether she could & would take a few days, with or without permission, to come & fetch me back either by car or by train, so that you need not worry about that.
Re your suggestion of my taking a furnished flat or bungalow & settling down in Aber. For a longer time, I am not in favour of this. I think 1) it won't be easy to get a furnished abode, unless Aber is [underlined] very [/underlined] exceptional.
[page break]
2) My main problem is not so much accommodation as [underlined] service.[/underlined] I shall be OK almost anywhere as long as someone else runs the place for me, & servants are doubtless just as difficult to find in Wales as anywhere else. An easier solution for me, if we could manage it, would be for me to return to the digs for a week or two - perhaps they would consent to take me with the new-born baby under the special circumstances if it was definitely only for a short time, & in a week or so I feel convinced I could travel back to London. Of course, if the blitz is very bad then it might alter things, but I think we could decide this better when I arrive & we see if there is any chance of getting accommodation for a longer time up there. But the point is that, since I shall almost certainly be without you then, if I do stay on for any length of time I should be better off boarding with someone who does the work & cooking than in a place of my own.
[page break]
As regards your suggestion that you should waste a couple of days of your precious leave coming down to Hendon to collect luggage, I consider this A BAD THING. I think with a little planning I can easily take everything necessary with me. You see, I shall in any case bring the Karrikot which folds up flat & is very light & which is to be baby's bed for a few months anyway. Blankets & bedding I shall also bring, & the infant's few clothes (mostly nappies if you ask me!) I must have these to bring the baby back in, whether I come at once or weeks later. The other thing the baby must have is a bath, this I might possibly borrow or at the worst it would be cheaper to buy one (about 5/- for a small one). Even down here I am not going to prepare a very elaborate nursery. I have just bought
[page break]
a) a small towel horse to warm its clothes by the fire (5/6) in white wood which I am going to enamel, b) another taller ditto (8/6) which I am going to enamel & cover to make a screen, c) a white enamel bath (for only 6/3, because chipped & so half price – I am also going to enamel over the chipped part of this) this is a nice deep one, but you can get smaller shallow ones which would do at the beginning for 3/- - 5/-, if I had to get one up there. Then I need a low chair for bathing & nursing, which I hope to get second-hand, shorter legs & also enamel to match. Of course up at Aber. any chair could be made to save temporarily. Then I must get a white enamel pail (or even two) with lid to put soiled nappies in till they are washed, but that also I can borrow or do without up there. Otherwise there are only
[page break]
baby's towels & toilet accessories, which are no trouble to take with me (or send luggage in advance since there's no hurry for them). So I really don't think it would be necessary for you to come down here anyway.
If we decide against taking a flat up there, that rules out the need for Ba or Irene Galitzenstein to come up for a few weeks Ba couldn't anyway, & I seriously doubt whether Irene would be able to leave her father & her work for so long. I have been toying with the idea of Mrs Stenzel coming to live with me when I get back, if she is free. That would solve all my problems. I would pay her 15/- a week (that is compulsory) - & have a char twice a week for rough work, & I should be left pretty well free with the baby. But of course this is all very vague & depends chiefly on whether Mrs S is free by then.
[page break]
Please send me the name & address of the doctor you mention (Dr Bethune likes to look him up in some register to see his qualifications) also address of digs when fixed, so I can arrange for letters & money from Grindlay to be sent direct.
The only debatable point is [underlined] when [/underlined] I shall come. If only Mrs Goodrich would come back I could get on with my painting & preparing jobs, but at present it is all I can do to put the house respectable & do the shopping & then I'm worn out even before I start all these extra jobs. I get tired more quickly now, & I have only been able to get Bridget for one ½ day's work this week & have had all the rest to do myself. Ba is on morning duty & can't help either (she's in bed with a bad cough today). Could you make some tentative arrangement with the digs for about 2 or 3 weeks hence? Towards Feb 1st the NS&N has arrived, thanks for letter. Find out about travel voucher for me, won't you. 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 from Ursula Valentine to her husband John Valentine
Description
An account of the resource
Long letter where she deals with issues of her moving to be with him in Aberystwyth providing he has sorted accommodation and nursing home. Notes they will have two weeks together as he is due posting. Writes of her issues concerning their dog who she would like to bring as well. She gives her view on issues that mitigate against her coming to Aberystwyth and concluded she will manage but would not stay when he was posted away. Writes of issues she will have with new born baby and might return to London if blitz is not too bad. Says it is not worth him giving up leave to come to Hendon and that she will be able to manage to take all her and baby's needs with her when she travels to him. Writes of getting all baby requirements. Asks him for other information she needs and concludes with discussion of when she will travel which will depend on other preparation she needs to make.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941-01-08
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Eight 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
EValentineUMValentineJRM410110
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
Wales--Dyfed
Wales--Aberystwyth
England--London
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-01-08
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
military service conditions
-
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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
Lido, Monday 13th
Darling Johnnie, thanks so much for your letter of Thursday & Friday. You bet I should love to help you with your swotting wherever I can. I am looking forward tremendously to going to Aber. & am working hard to get things ready this end. On Saturday afternoon I painted the clothes horse which I am making into the screen & started covering it yesterday – I should have finished it if old Greenish had not popped in with the fire-watching rota which I had offered to type for him, & had he not stayed for nearly an hour chatting. It was chiefly about one more than usually exciting meeting on Friday, when young Evans came storming in & said the whole business was a silly waste of time & neither he nor
[page break]
Nancy were going to take part – which of course makes it all the worse for those remaining. I asked him whether Nancy would be prepared to take over my share when I go, so that two houses would not be thrown on to the others, & I should not feel quite such a cad etc. - I hope my warning was clear to him. I must go round & see if she will really do it, as he agreed she would. They are all very sweet to me, & old Pope next door said afterwards that if I was too tired anytime he would do my shift for me, which I thought very decent of him. Actually the all-clear has gone before midnight on several occasions recently & we have now decided only to watch if a raid is on. Mr Pope has undertaken to wake me up if a siren goes during my spell of duty, which is also good of him, as I should
[page break]
2.
never hear it on my own – he probably doesn't realise what a job he has undertaken! Since the defection of the Evans & the amalgamating of Helen Greenish with their maid (since Helen is considered too young & the maid too dumb to do a watch on their own) the shifts come round every 3rd instead of 4th night, but while the raids continue short & sharp at the beginning of the evening it is OK. by us.
I have saved the last piece of wedding cake to bring with me – hope I don't forget it! I don't need your Mother's honey – you keep it, a perhaps if you still have it we shall eat it together as light refreshments during the swotting sessions! As regards “What I said & she said”, the conversation with your Mother was as follows:- First general chat, I gave her your new address & so on, & when that dried up I said “Oh-er-ah-ahem,
[page break]
as regards my going down to P.M. it seems to us that perhaps it would be better for all concerned if I didn't go after all, we seem to have had a spot of bother each time I've been, & I think it's very important that I should keep calm & serene for the baby's sake”... or words to that effect. Your Mother said it was of course just as I liked, I must decide for myself, but remarked I must let Huwe Kerr know. So I said I had already written a letter but not yet posted it as I wanted to speak to her about it first. I asked her if she didn't agree that perhaps it was wise so, but she didn't commit herself that far but just said I must do as I thought best. Then I said we hadn't yet fixed up anything else but I would let her know when we had, we wanted something in the way of a maternity hospital out of London. That was about all – she said she would ring up again sometime
[page break]
3.
but of course she hasn't & I'm afraid she won't. A couple of days later the nappies arrived without any enclosed letter.
Maybe you would have thought up something more tactful, but whether that in the long run would have been better I don't know. I told her the truth, & whatever reason you might have given I think they would have realised the real reason behind it - & surely they would rather be treated as adults & spoke to truthfully & openly than have unpleasant matters buttered up? After all your Mother has said may times that we were free to do as we liked, & when she hears that we have arranged for me to be near you, surely she'll understand that that is the best possible arrangement from my point of view. As soon as it is all fixed up I think I shall ring her up & tell her what we've fixed – perhaps I should
[page break]
even go over to Barnet one afternoon before I leave (without Jane of course!!) anyway, do write to your father as usual. By the way, did you get my letter enclosing one from Ann, Leslie, your father, aunt Mary & Grannie? I had a p.c. from Grandma (Arbroath) the other day acknowledging the sock wool & saying she would be delighted to make three & wishing me all the best – good thing I got in first with that! What an odd handwriting she has!
The state of affairs as regards the shelter is just where it was. The gardener hasn't been for several weeks, not since Christmas & the odd thing is I owe him 6/- for the last time he came when I wasn't here to pay him. It's a nuisance, specially since I don't know his name & address. I wanted him to go to the
[page break]
4.
allotment, dig up some of the remaining stuff & arrange to remove the rest before a new tenant comes in, also bring our tools home, they are a bit heavy for me; & then I want to arrange for him to come at least during April once or twice to do the spring sowing of vegetables up at the top of the garden. It will be so late when I get back, even at the beginning of May. But I don't know how to get hold of the blighter – do you know anywhere else he works?
I liked your story of the commercial traveller, but haven't one to cap it just now. I will certainly try to get you a book on aircraft recognition when you let me know about the two you have up there. [underlined] Now [/underlined] young man, as regards this chess move. You say your move was Bish takes Pawn C8 – G4. According
[page break]
to underlined] my [/underlined] version of the affair, your pawn D7 is still in its original position so that Bishop C8 can't get out. According to my calculation I have made 4 moves (being white) & you are making your 4th, the first 2 being pawns E, G & H7 each slipping forward. But pawn D7 is still at home. This is how my board stands at present [small drawing of chess board] Let me know whether you repent or not. I can't make up my mind whether this is a deliberate cheat like several you tried to put across me at Stratford, or merely a lapse of memory due to over-work! I return some washing (including a hanky of Pratt's!) & the 3rd pair of Mother's socks. I am now lengthening a pair she sent you earlier on. I bought a lovely low chair for nursing & bathing for 2/6 here, & am now going to enamel that cream too. The screen really looks rather sweet. All my love Ursula
[page break]
1.
P.S. Your letter enclosed in NS&N has just arrived – poor boy, it's a shame for you to have so much running about to do when you have so little spare time. Funny that the Dr. should be called Brunell, that is the name of the medico who attended Mother when I was born!
As regards the digs, you obviously can't tell from a short inspection what a place is like to live in, but if you can find somewhere reasonable to take me at first, I can scout round when I get there if it turns out unsatisfactory. Incidentally, the idea of 'apartments' where I could do my own cooking is quite attractive, if that is what 'apartments' means. Perhaps you could find out. Maybe you shouldn't mention
[page break]
2.
my going back after baby is born, that is probably easier for me to do when I have got to know the people & they me, whereas if it is made any sort of condition of my going there, it is very likely to frighten people off. I should feel like that myself whereas if I like my lodger I might be willing to take her plus baby just for a week say, “to oblige”
I realise that the date is a difficulty & will let you have a definite one as soon as poss. Probably Sat. Feb.1st. If it is really not possible to get digs where I can have Jane, we shall just have to send her back to Miss Clift for the whole 3 months, I shall be very sorry, but perhaps it will save complications, & we shall be sure that she is well looked after – maybe she will remember it too. I will write [inserted] have written [/inserted] to Miss Clift straight away to enquire if she could take her if necessary &
[page break]
3.
what she would charge. It would certainly mean least upset for Jane, & I could just have her back when I am settled in again down here. It is probably the best thing on the whole, but as I said, I shall miss her terribly!
As for your crack about my 'veterinary illness', I should not on the whole have classed you among the beasts of the field, but perhaps you are right. Does this mean that I am a bugger??? I liked your Thomas Beecham story too. Don't you think perhaps you ought to book the Nursing Home without too much delay? We really should be in a spot if I couldn't go there after all, the digs admit of various solutions & compromises & the question of 'afterwards' can also be solved later.
[page break]
4.
I still hope it will not be necessary for you to come back to Hendon, Ba has said that she would send on anything I need, she knows all my belongings & the things for the baby. I think I shall only have one largish suitcase full of baby's effects & a smaller one of my own, & of course baby's can come as goods if necessary. There is no hurry for it. I think you might book the most suitable digs you can find for Feb 1st. [underlined] definitely [/underlined] & if I can get away earlier, maybe they could take me or if not I could surely get something for a week, or else wait till Feb 1st. But it's difficult to promise the week earlier, & anyway the new month seems a good beginning. We [underlined] must [/underlined] find some solution for afterwards, I am so looking forward to being with you for these last 2 months. Have bought a Hotwater bottle with Irene's token – may get you a tobacco pouch for birthday if you are good. 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 from Ursula Valentine to her husband John Valentine
Description
An account of the resource
Writes how she is looking forward to joining him in Aberystwyth and that she is working hard to get things ready. Mentions her activities and catches up with local news. Says all clear has gone a couple of times before midnight and discusses night time duties. Continues with other gossip and issues concerning family disagreement, impending birth and her decision to join him. Continues with discussion about the shelter and that gardener had not been since Christmas. Concludes with long discussion of chess moves.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941-01-13
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Twelve 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
EValentineUMValentineJRM410113
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
Wales--Dyfed
Wales--Aberystwyth
England--London
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-01-13
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
shelter
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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
Lido Wednesday
Darling Johnnie I hope the Maths & Gen. Exam went OK. Thanks very much for your letter of Monday & also for parcel of washing - & chocolate! You are a dear to think of me, & I do love it, both the gift & your sending it. The clean washing I hope to return tomorrow. The figs were lovely too, we ate them this evening. Yesterday the gardener came. We have various things to decide in connection with him. I told him I was going away & arranged that next Tuesday we should go down to the allotment together so that he knows which is ours & can bring our tools & pea sticks etc. back. It may take him several journeys. Also he must dig up for us such root vegetables as can be stored (parsnips & swedes) & which we haven't managed to eat, before the allotment gets taken over by a new tenant. I wish I could find some deserving
[page break
2.
poor family who would eat up the greenstuff. There is still lots of curly kale, broccoli, some savoys, a few sprouts, & later brussel tops & miscellaneous greens, spring cabbage too, more than we could have got through even if I had remained! I may try to make some arrangement with Bridget, the girl who comes here to work once a week. I believe her sister has lost her husband & is left with several young children. If I could arrange for Ba to get a few fresh vegetables occasionally too, all the better.
However, the problems connected with the gardener are the following:-
1) Can we really afford him? I suggested that he wouldn't need to come much till spring sowing time, only really for clearing up the allotment, as the top is dug now & the rest dug over & cleaned up, & he agreed. So we
[page break]
3.
could perhaps stipulate that he comes only once a fortnight (I am arranging with Mrs Neal for her to let him in, so that the gate is not left unlocked) The whole point is, am I coming back early in May or not? If no. it seems worth a certain expenditure on the garden & getting the gardener to do the spring sowing, so that I can enjoy the benefit of it, but if I'm not coming back for any considerable length of time, then it's definitely not worth it. So what? The most likely thing seems to me that I shall stay on there for a couple of weeks & then return, so on the whole I should think we'd better have him. But can we afford it?
[page break]
4.
2) Supposing we decide “yes” to the above, what shall we sow in our new veg. patch? Have you time & inclination to think about it, or shall I try to work it out alone, or just give him a rough idea & some seed & let him do it? I suggest we rule out turnips, swedes, beetroot & some of the fancier winter greens. True spinach & spinach beet we must have, carrots, plenty of onions, peas, beans, a few broad beans, lettuce, leeks, radish. I must measure up the ground & see how many rows we can have – at present it's deep under snow again.
[page break]
5.
3) [underlined] The shelter [/underlined] The gardener says the materials for making floor etc. would cost about 30/- (tho' cement has gone up a lot & he's not sure of the present price). He himself would make it, so I suppose that would come out of his gardening time, & would doubtless mean he would have to come oftener than once a fortnight, specially as he can only work on the shelter in dry weather. It would probably cost us a £5 or so all told, but he himself says he won't guarantee that it will be water proof in winter, practically no underground shelter is, however costly. As regards this special stuff he spoke about before, it is apparently a trade secret of a chap
[page break]
6.
who lives near him, & he's not sure whether he could get it. If he did, it might be better. Shall I tell him to go ahead with it or not? As regards paying him if we do keep him going, I have his name & address now, so we could do it as we go along, or in advance, or afterwards. What do you suggest?
Your PO. Book & crossed warrant arrived this morning, & I duly sent off a cheque for £4.6.6 (the income tax was only £13.2.6, not £13.5.) I will return the book in the next parcel. I popped into Barclay's today & arranged for me to be able to draw up to £5
[page break]
7.
a day up at Aberystwyth. Tomorrow I hope to go up to the West end, shall go to Grindlay's & arrange for them to pay for the pram & also to send Ba's & my allowances to us separately from Feb. onwards. I also want to choose the pram at Restcot's, who will send it to me when I get back here (or elsewhere for that matter). Miss Kerr is coming tomorrow with my maternity corset. I hope it fits, my present thing is worse than useless & I shall be glad of the Spencer.
I had a bill for
[page break]
8.
allotment rent up to June today, so went to the Town Hall & explained we were giving up in March but I think we may have to pay the whole 5/-! There seems so much to think of & arrange, I must admit I had a small cry about is this morning, when neither Mrs Goodrich nor Mrs Mack turned up, as usual. I felt much better afterwards, & went out & put an advert. in the local paper to get rid of the piano painlessly & shall hope for results from Friday onwards.
I had a reply from Miss Clift this afternoon – she will be glad to have Jane
[page break]
9.
back for as long as we want at 5/- a week. I should think this is pretty cheap (she said herself most kennels charge 10/- but I should think 7/6 is the usual). However, it comes to £3-4 for the 3 months, but may be it's the happiest solution from Jane's point of view. Have you got any further yet with regard to digs? Do try & get something settled as soon as you can for Feb. 1st definitely with an option for a day or so earlier, I'm getting absolutely fed up with housework
[page break]
10.
– what the place will be like when I get back I shudder to think – there'll be spring cleaning to tackle as well!
Now I must really get on with the darning. Let me know what you think about the gardener. Have you worked out what all this is going to cost? I daren't! All my love to you darling. I was on fire picket last night but there was no raid so I got off for nothing! Will see if I can get you anything on aircraft recognition but rather doubt it. All my love again, 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
Thanks him for letter and mentions arrival of washing and chocolate. Mentions negotiations about future affordability of gardener and work and crops required on allotment. Providers long discussion over pros and cons for future for gardener and shelter. Continues with financial matters and that she is a little overwhelmed at the moment. Asks for his views on the issues she raised.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941-01-15
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Ten 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
EValentineUMValentineJRM410115
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.
Great Britain
England--London
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-01-15
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
-
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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
Lido Thursday 16th Jan
My own Johnnie, I am most awfully sorry that you have been left for so long without news from me. One long letter I sent in your parcel of socks, cigarettes, tea-cloth, rubber, which was perhaps foolish as parcels always take a bit longer. I posted another this morning in the NS&N (written in pencil I'm afraid) full of questions about the garden, which, as I said over the phone, I should like to have your opinion on by next Tuesday if poss. when the gardener comes again.
[page break]
2.
I hope the earlier letters will turn up, I can't remember them individually but I know I haven't omitted to write for as long as a week ever (nor ever will!).
Tuesday started off badly, first Miss Kerr phoned to say she couldn't come over with my Spencer in the morning, so I had to arrange to get back from town early to suit her this afternoon. Then Mrs Neal phoned to say Bridget said she couldn't come & work here either today or tomorrow but might oblige on Saturday. I'm getting fed up!
However, we went up to town as arranged, first to Grindlay's to fix up about their paying for the pram for Mother, & for them to pay our allowances into Ba's & my banking accounts.
[page break]
3.
That seems to me the simplest plan, since I have already arranged to be able to draw out of my account at Aberystwyth up to £5 a day. Then we went to Liberty's who are having a sale & I got a lovely piece of linen to make into a smock for mornings, a spare to the green shantung one I have just finished. I hope to get this cut out & prepared & will bring it with me to sew up at Aber. (I'm going to have plenty to do up there!) Of course Mrs O'Donovan's promised smocks never turned up, & for mornings I have at present only the one I have made & one borrowed from Ba. Then we had lunch & proceeded to Restcots
[page break]
4.
to get the pram, chose a simple but very elegant one, an Osnath if that conveys anything to you, in navy, cream inside with an extension to take a child up to 3 years lying full length. It is a very nice one, but no means the most expensive but still without purchase tax. It was £10.15.0 & the mattress to fit brings it up to £11.8.6, so it is a very great help indeed if Mother presents us with that. I'm sure she would approve of it. I also got several other things, to wit: a really good quality rug for the pram, blue check one side & camel-hair the other, reduce in sale to 10/6. an eiderdown for the cot,
[page break]
5.
also reduced, for 10/-. It is pink at present & later on I shall doubtless want to recover it to match the nursery, but the main thing is to get a real down quilt while they are still going, & I think 10/- is cheap.
I also got a brush & comb & soap box & powder box, all for 3/6 (they have mickey mouse on them, who is, I suppose, now considered out of date, but I didn't think that mattered awfully much). Then I also got 3 face towels & 2 bath towels, made of very fine gauzy materials, such as a baby is supposed to have.[the purchases above are here reproduced in table form]
[page break]
6.
Then I dashed back home for Miss Kerr who duly appeared with my corset into which I am now severely strapped, & it certainly is a great relief & comfort, & supports me beautifully. I don't think I shall get nearly so tired now, as the weight , instead of coming on the small of the back, is spread about & mostly supported on the hip-bones. All very scientific, but very comforting anyway. That set me back £4, which I paid out of sundries a/c thus taking the whole of January's allocation. However, I have managed to buy all these other oddments for the baby out of housekeeping & my birthday present, so we're not doing too badly.
I'm particularly sorry you haven't had my letter as this means you
[page break]
7.
haven't been able to get any further as regards digs. As I said over the phone, I can if necessary dispose of Jane for 5/- a week down in Gloucestershire to Miss Clift, so she need not be an insuperable difficulty. In a way, it might be the most sensible thing to do, tho' an added expense & of course I should miss her company. I do hope you have booked up at the Maternity Home , or will now do so without more delay. I'm terrified lest they can't take me after all. That would put the lid on everything!
[page break]
8.
I'm quite determined to come up & be with you for as long as possible, I simply must have you to love me & make a fuss of me, so do try to get it all taped as soon as poss. I do realise how difficult it is for you when your time is so fully booked up, but of course I can't help there; things aren't too easy for either of us just now. I'm longing to be able to relax & do nothing but work for the baby & enjoy myself with you. I wonder if I could mug up enough morse to be able to tap it out for you to read – of course it's much more difficult to read so it might be some help. Do tell me what the Maternity Home is like. Is it modern or old, cheerful? Apparently well run? Sunny?
Lots of love to you , 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
Writes she is sorry he has not heard from her and details letters and parcel she has sent. Asks that he gives his opinion on the way forward with gardener. Relates her daily activities, shopping trips and baby preparations. Provides detailed list of purchases and prices. Comments on how she is feeling with impending birth and hopes he has everything arranged with the maternity home. Intends to stay with him as long as possible but realises he will be very busy.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941-01-16
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Eight 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
EValentineUMValentineJRM410116
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
Wales--Dyfed
Wales--Aberystwyth
England--London
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-01-16
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
Ursula Valentine
home front
military service conditions
training
-
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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
I take back what I said about our artichokes – they’re enormous & abundant!! Lido Sunday 19th
Darling Johnnie, think of it, perhaps we shall only have one more Sunday to spend apart for months! It seems too good to be true. Today I went down to the allotment & saw Thompson. I told him that I have arranged for Mrs Sullivan (Bridget's sister, widow with five small children) to take any green vegetables she wants from the allotment & shall give her a note to that effect to give Thompson so that he can show her which is our allotment & she won't get jailed for stealing. He told me that he has let our allotment to a chap called Searle, who lives near the Quadrant, so I shall get in touch
[page break]
2.
with him this week & hope to arrange to go down with him next weekend & show him what we have left in & what we he is free to dig. I am also going down on Tuesday with the gardener to collect as much of our tools, pea-sticks, bean-poles & storeable crops as poss. A chap at the hut was saying that it hasn't been a good season for leeks, ours certainly aren't really big enough to pick yet. I only wish I could arrange for Ba to gather them in March sometime, but tho' she says she will come over to the house at regular intervals to see that all is OK. Inside (pipes etc) I don't suppose she would ever be bothered to go
[page break]
3.
down to the allotment to pick leeks, altho' she loves them so! Perhaps I could arrange something through the gardener. I shall also get the seed for the top of the garden from Thompson next weekend & leave for the gardener to put in. He had some shallots there this week & I think I shall get some, loathsome little things, because we may not be too successful with onions on this newly broken ground up the garden, & we must have some the smelly things.
I hope incidentally that this man Searle will be made to pay the rent for the allotment which they tried to squeeze
[page break]
4.
out of me last week, after all we paid up for a full half year last Spring. Thompson is always very sweet to me & enquires after you. There is nothing much else to report since I wrote to you yesterday. I hope you will have received the little parcel by now containing soap, 2/6 & face cream. Lanolin is about the best thing there is for the skin & surely masculine enough for you since it is just the fat from sheep's skin. It is the fat which most nearly approaches the oils in the human skin. I thought even the scent wasn't too pansy, tho' heaven know most men's toilet preparations smell pansy enough (especially [underlined] hair oil [/underlined])
I would have sent you more than 2/6, which is rather a niggardly sum, but I shouldn't have had
[page break]
5.
enough change left in the house to pay Bridget. She came on Saturday afternoon for 4 hours, & made some impression on the place. Superficially it all looks presentable, but I have the unpleasant knowledge all the time that shelves & cupboards haven't been turned out for weeks. I set to & polished all the silver yesterday afternoon, that's another of those jobs which is so easily skipped until at last you can't bear it any more. When I come back I shall certainly need a regiment of chars. “If 7 maids with 7 mops swept for half a year do you suppose,” the Walrus said “That they could get it clear”
[page break]
6.
“I doubt it”said the Carpenter, and shed a bitter tear (Do you know your Alice Through the Looking Glass?)
I wrote to Mrs Stenzel the other day, haven't heard from her since Christmas & don't know if she's here or I.O.M. I asked her what she thought of the idea of coming to live & work here after May if she's free. I think she'd probably like it. I want to get Bethune to examine me thoroughly before I leave – the corsets are proving a real boon, you'll be tickled to death at the sight of them but they're worth it. Make me look about half the size too! I must also get my free milk business transferred – the formalities as regards RAF allowance are to be conducted from Aber. PO. Things are beginning to straighten out gradually – Ba's digs are fixed up again with Miss Henry.
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 from Ursula Valentine to her husband John Valentine
Description
An account of the resource
Writes that they will soon be together. Mentions arrangements that have been made for their allotment. Hopes he has received parcel she sent with lanolin face cream. Talks about state of cleaning their house and catches up with news of family and friends.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941-01-19
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Six 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
EValentineUMValentineJRM410119-01
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
Wales--Dyfed
Wales--Aberystwyth
England--London
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-01-19
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
-
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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
Lido, Sunday evening.
Darling Johnnie, I have just been typing out a list of instructions for myself on how to bath a baby! After all, one can't expect everything to come by instinct, & until it comes by experience, it seems a pity that the baby should suffer. Apparently you should only roll the baby over once during the whole process of dressing, bathing & undressing, so there is more in it than meets the eye! I have also been cutting out & machining the baby's petticoats, leaving all the hand sewing on them to be done up at Aber. Gosh, it is getting near now, I am beginning to see the end of the things that I simply must get done. Today Peter came over in the morning & so did Allan Hicks, do you remember him? A very tall, pink-faced boy with curly yellow hair who popped in one morning last summer while I was cooking & you were down at the allotment. He is 21 today & has 7 days leave. Unfortunately Mr Greenish called in too for more pi-jaw about the fire-watching, so we didn't have time to hear much of Alan's doings I had to go down to the allotment at 11.30 to meet this Mr Searle who is taking over the allotment after us. I told him that I had arranged for Mrs Sullivan, Bridget's sister with 5 children, to go down & pick the greens, & was going to remove what root crops I could before leaving. He began to be a bit unpleasant asking how long the woman would take to remove the greens as he wanted to get on with the digging, so I reminded him pointedly that it was a concession for him to start work at all before our lease was up & he certainly wasn't to touch the greens which are yielding their crops now, specially as she is a deserving widow. I showed him what we had in & the way the crops ought to rotate to make the best of the nitrogen in the soil. But I don't believe he is going to do it the right way. Then I proceeded to dig up as many leeks as I could carry away – they are much bigger & finer specimens than I had thought from the looks of the leaves, & we had a lovely dish for lunch today. The two rows we transplanted first I shall
[page break]
remove on Tuesday when I go down with the gardener (he didn't turn up last week, so I wrote & asked him to come this week even if the weather is bad, because I want him to carry the pea & bean sticks & tools back from the allotment, as well as dig the parsnips etc. The manure heap I shall just have to leave as it is for Mr Searle – we inherited the beginnings of it from the previous owner. The second two rows of leeks are not nearly so fully grown & are not worth bothering about in their present state. If they survive Mr Searle's spade, maybe Mrs Sullivan will take them. I thought I might bring a few leeks up to Aber. with me, & give Ba some – do you know they are 6d each in the shops nowadays, measly little ones too, not half the size of ours! Of course, ours could have done with a few more weeks in the ground, but they are certainly better than lots I have seen offered at shameless prices in the town.
On the way aback I called in to see Thompson, & bought the seeds for the top of the garden, to the tune of 4/9, which doesn't seem exorbitant if it will keep us in vegetables for another twelve months! Of course that doesn't included potatoes, which were the main item last year. I don't think I shall bother with early potatoes, we have still got such a lot up in the loft, enough for us to eat & to provide us with seed potatoes for the main crop. There won't be room to grow so many in the garden, but I think we ought to have some, after all they are a staple food which will help to carry you on if all else fails next winter. This year they are cheap & plentiful, but they may not always be so. Onion seed has gone up a lot, 11d a packet this time, but the others aren't so bad. I bought carrots, early & main crop, peas ditto, onions (Bedfordshires) cauliflower, lettuce, broad beans, beans Canadian wonders (dwarf brown,) parsnips – I think that's all. They hadn't any leek seeds, nor shallots. Then I staggered home with my leeks, pockets bulging with seeds, & the rake & hoe over my shoulder. Of course I had to meet Mrs & Miss Noyelle (Jean) coming back all beautifully dressed from church - & Jane looking like a drowned rat too! Still, if the gardener comes on Tuesday, I shall be able to dispose of the allotment finally – if not I shall have to collect as
[page break]
much of the stuff as I can myself, but I think he will come. I told him in my letter that you definitely want him to do the shelter, & I also gave him my address in Aber.
I have baked a cake which I am hoping to send off to you tomorrow, together with Fawley's pyjamas & other sundries. The idea of the cake is for us to eat together in the evenings, but of course if you want some sooner, help yourself. Ba is on duty tonight – think of it, I shall only have one more night alone in the house, on Tuesday. I shall be quite glad, though I am often so busy that I don't notice it. But I should hate it without Jane – funny how such a small & really helpless little being can be a comfort to an adult human! Did I tell you that I have got a woman coming in each morning till I go (so she says at least, I haven't many illusions left)? She is Mrs Dilly, I suppose that's how she spells it, Mrs Goodrick's daughter who used to work in the Express dairy but for some reason has left. I didn't ask too many questions, I just lock up all possible valuables & thank God she is coming. There is all the sorting & packing, & last minute washing & mending to be done, & I am only too thankful if she will heave the coal & clean the floors & dust.
Did you hear this crack on the radio the other day (I suppose not since you probably don't listen often). A farm labourer was milking a cow when a patriotic old lady passed & asked:- “Why aren't you at the front, my man?” “Because there ain't no milk that end, lady.” I have heard from Mrs Stenzel, she is still at Holloway & I am going to visit her before I leave. She seems to think that if I apply for her release & say I will give her a job in the house, there is some chance of her being let out. It would certainly be a happy solution from my point of view, & I will discuss it further when I see her. In three months the Home Office might possibly have reached a decision too. I suppose your parents would think it very awful
[page break]
of me to employ an enemy alien, even though a refugee from the very things we are fighting? However, times are hard, & I shall just have to have some help in the house when baby is here, & if I can have a woman who is a lady & an intellectual companion as well as a good mother & housekeeper herself, I don't think I can do better, apart from the fact that I should be helping one who has already suffered unjustly quite enough. But maybe it will never come off.
Did you hear the story of the nervous wife who started at every sound outside during an air-raid. Her husband trying to reassure her said, “Don't get nervous dear, that's only a bus.” “Ours or theirs?” Now I must stop & try to get to bed a bit earlier, it has been getting later & later & is hardly ever before midnight nowadays. I expect all that will change when I get to Aber. & I shall go to bed soon after you leave. Have you thought at all about what we shall do when you get your 7 days leave? Of course if it comes towards the end of my time it would probably not be wise to go out of Aber. - I don't want to have the baby in a Youth Hostel after all! I am so longing to be with you again – I haven't had a letter for at least three days & feel quite neglected! Just think of the money we shall save on postage! Have you been able to find out if I shall be able to have a bath occasionally? (it doesn't matter if you haven't & I can't because I shall come just the same.) I will hire a car to go to Paddington, as you command, & will take all the luggage & send the baby's things by goods or however it is they go, there is no hurry for them. Ba is coming with me to the station as there will be quite a lot of fussing round with the travel voucher, R.T.O.,, dog, luggage & all the rest. I will try to have the minimum hand-luggage, & will get a porter when I change if there are no handsome young men to hand my box out to me (there generally are!) I'm glad the girls at Aber. snowball you, keeps your pride down till I come. 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 from Ursula Valentine to her husband John Valentine
Description
An account of the resource
Writes on her research on bathing babies. Talks of people visiting her and meeting man who is taking over their allotment and having difficulties with him over woman who Ursula had agreed to allow to collect current crop. Mentions arranging for gardener to retrieve all their equipment from allotment as well as more discussion on seeds and crops. Mentions baking him a cake and catches up with family/friends news and talk of woman providing domestic help. Writes of acquaintance enemy alien in Holloway prison who might be released with her help. Looks forward to seeing him in Aberystwyth and asks what he has planned for his leave.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941-01-19
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Four 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
EValentineUMValentineJRM410119-02
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.
Great Britain
Wales--Dyfed
Wales--Aberystwyth
England--London
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-01-19
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
military service conditions
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1281/19550/EValentineUMValentineJRM410120-0001.2.jpg
eae73f38c476e4aec10167540917d982
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1281/19550/EValentineUMValentineJRM410120-0002.2.jpg
baf1650cbc6e4cab52d8fda57ac1fdb3
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
Lido Monday 20th Jan
Darling Johnnie, Today I had two letters from you, one dated Friday & one Sunday. Thank you for answering all my questions, & above all for fixing up the digs & maternity home. You can't imagine how I am longing to get to you. Mrs Jones' establishment sounds very suitable, & I should think that on the whole the “apartment” basis would be best, then I can spend the guinea (or more likely part of it) on buying a little of what I fancies does me good,, such as fruit, veg, eggs (if obtainable) & so on, instead of trusting entirely to her dietetics. However, as you say it might be a good thing to start off with full board, especially as I arrive at a weekend. You didn't happen to notice whether there was gas-ring or anything to heat kettle on in the room, did you? If so, that would be very helpful, but if not I shall doubtless be able to arrange things with her. I hope something can be done about a fire, either our electric one or something, because it would be nice to be able to be alone, & I shall bring lots of sewing & knitting with me & shall need somewhere warm to sit & do it. I'm a bit worried about the fire question – we can't very well do your swotting together unless we are alone. I hope she agrees to our using our electric fire. I'm glad about being able to bring Jane too, it doesn't sound quite nice boarding her out with a gentleman, but I think that when they all get to know her personally I shall probably be allowed to keep her with me. However, we shall see. I am going to enquire here about the possibility of sending a dog unaccompanied from Aber. to Gloucester, it seems to me she would have to change somewhere but perhaps that can be arranged. Then I should always know I can send her down to Miss Clift if all else fails. I note that you will give me a warm welcome when I step off the train. Does this mean I shall be allowed to kiss you, since I may not take your arm in Aber.?
Today Ba & I went up to the National Gallery to a Mozart concert given by Myra Hess & the Menges string quartet. It was lovely, as always, & I did enjoy it so. The weather is lousy just now, with masses of rain & slush & melting snow. Ba is on duty tonight, & so am I from 4-6 am., so let's hope there is no raid. [inserted] there wasn’t [/inserted] I have just written a long letter to Mother telling her about the pram she has given us – she apparently had a couple of days in hospital with a nasty does of flu,but was alright again in a few days.
As regards your list of things I should do, the only one I must admit I had overlooked was advising G.A.T. & I will do that at once. Couldn't they pay the cheque straight into my bank? It would save trouble. As regards the RAF pay, I have to get some form at the P.O.there to fill in, it tells me all about it at the back of the allowance book. Incidentally it says that if you don't notify the birth of a child, on a special form of course, within a month, you don't get extra allowance from the beginning, so we might get that form in advance too, from the P.O.
[page break]
I think your suggestion that I should leave some money with Mrs Neal to pay the gardener is a very sound one. When he comes tomorrow, we are going down to the allotment together, & I should think with tomorrow & next week he ought to be able to finish up everything necessary before the spring sowing. It would be a considerable saving if he doesn't have to come during Feb., when I should think the weather is not suitable for him to do anything on the shelter. As regards the piano, I quite agree with your feelings, & of course I am keener on having the piano kept in playable order even than you, since I shall play the thing when at last we get out own home. But I really think the arrangement I have made will do it no harm at all, in fact do it good, since it will get regularly used which it doesn't at present. Of course you didn't know what I had arranged when you wrote, & I shall be interested to hear your comments when you have received my letters. Mrs Neal has just rung up to ask me to go in there as they have a friend in from New Zealand who has some most interesting photographs to show, so I must stop now & go in. Sweet of her to think of me, wasn't it?
[underlined] Tuesday [/underlined]
It was quite fun last night at the Neal's. They had a proper projector & cine films, one or two professional ones of New Zealand & several amateur ones in colour, which were really lovely mostly of Cairns Park where this gent. & the Neal's brother-in-law live.
This morning your parcel of socks & your friend's pyjamas came of course.[inserted] Send any pullovers etc of yours that need washing.[/inserted] I'll wash the latter with pleasure & probably, bring the whole lot up with me when I come. I have confirmed the trains 11.5 – 6.30 – I have to change twice. I was also reassured about sending Jane alone from Aber. to Gloucester, if necessary, but I am hoping it will not be necessary at all. Am going to ring your people & perhaps go over to see them. Lots of love till we meet, 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
Thanks him for letters and answering all her questions. Mentions his arrangements for her seem satisfactory and discusses various points. Writes of days activities and mentions his list of things she needs to do including sort out RAF pay and paperwork after birth of baby. Continues with handwritten addendum with more news of activities, friends and acquaintances.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941-01-20
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Two page typewritten letter with handwritten addition
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
EValentineUMValentineJRM410120
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
Wales--Dyfed
England--London
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-01-20
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.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Ursula Valentine
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1281/19551/EValentineUMValentineJRM410123-0001.2.jpg
16721bc6e758c4c759b21a04cc40df94
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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
Lido Thurs 23rd
Thanks for letter & railway pass. I rang the RTO at Pad. & he said it was OK. & valid for 28 days & if I had any bother with booking clerk, talk to him & he would fix it.
What about making it Friday 31st? Seems a pity to waste the Sat. afternoon by my not arriving till so late on Saturday. Must see if this fits in OK. With Ba's arrangements & half-day (she's on mornings). Rang your people yesterday, but your Mother is at P.M., so wrote to her there giving my new address & saying if she is back in town before I leave I would like to go over to Barnet to see her. Must hurry to town now. Hope to get Mrs Goodrick's daughter to come each morning next week so that simplifies matters. Yes, send all socks & any pullovers for last time in dolly tub. 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 from Ursula Valentine to her husband John Valentine
Description
An account of the resource
Thanks him for letter and railway pass, found out it is valid for 28 days. Discusses possible dates for her to travel and mentions contacting family to give them her new address.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941-01-23
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One 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
EValentineUMValentineJRM410123
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
Wales--Dyfed
Wales--Aberystwyth
England--London
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-01-23
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
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1281/19552/EValentineUMValentineJRM410124-0001.2.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
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
Lido,
Friday 24th 41 [in pencil]
Darling Johnnie,
In great haste as ever. Am sending various oddments so that I needn’t remember to bring them. Fawley’s pyjamas will follow with next consignment, so console him if he needs them urgently. Shall probably send a cake, which you needn’t eat up till I come, if your not starving!
Went to see Bethhune today, baby seems to be alright, he could feel it’s head & back – isn’t it marvellous! Said Bunell seems a good doctor, he looked him up in the medical register.
Have arranged about transfer of cheap milk scheme, also notified change
[page break]
of address at PO.
I am definitely coming on Friday 31st DV. Have paid up & cancelled newspapers to that date. Peter’s coming down this weekend, but staying at Hillmans. It’s his birthday (yesterday!)
Now must dash off, as usual. All my love, & don’t go & get an extra late duty on Friday 31st. simply [underlined] longing [/underlined] to see you
XXXX
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
Writes that she is sending him various oddments.Mentions seeing doctor and baby is fine. Announces she will definitely travel on 31 January and has made all arrangements to leave.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941-01-24
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
EValentineUMValentineJRM410124
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
Wales--Dyfed
Wales--Aberystwyth
England--London
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-01-24
1941-01-31
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
Regards to Jack, Trefilan, Penparke, Aberystwyth April 26th
My darling Johnnie, In a way it's almost easier now that you've gone. At least I know its no use hoping for anything except a letter - & that not before Monday at the earliest - & I can concentrate on Frances. Perhaps it was better too that everything was rather a rush yesterday, it kept us occupied. I shan't be at all surprised it you say in your letter, when it comes, that you hung about & did nothing much all evening after all, tho' I hope for your sake that you got under weigh (or way?) fairly early. Also that you didn't have to stop in Manchester, or, if you did, that you enjoyed yourself & weren't blitzed.
Frances' behaviour hasn't been entirely perfect so far, but after stoically sleeping thro' so much admiration & jerking about in the car yesterday afternoon, I suppose a slight fall from grace was natural. She made loud & frequent protests while
[page break]
the Sandfords & I were having tea in front of the fire – in short, she bellowed; & then after her 6pm feed she wouldn't settle down, after I'd put her to sleep upstairs (needless to say Mr Sandford carried the cot & baby up for me). She howled till nearly 8 pm, & then overslept her 10 pm feed & was too sleepy to take much. I was dead tired myself then, so I put her to bed, & when she woke at 1.30 am. I considered that a little of the natural lactic fluid might perhaps – in short, I fed her. For one thing, Mr Sandford was out with the Home Guard from 10.30 – 12.30, & it seemed a bit hard on him to let her howl, & anyway she hadn't had enough at 10 pm. Anyway, she slept then alright till 5 & I endured her till 5.20 & then gave in again. After that she slept solidly till 10, which was lucky because I didn't wake till 8.30, & after washing (in cold water) appeared downstairs about 9 am. to find Mrs S feeding Michael & when that was over she got me my breakfast (lovely bacon) & when
[page break]
[underlined] that [/underlined] was over it was nearly 10, then Frances was bathed, so that it was 1.20 nearly before she got her feed. Now its a quarter to one & she's still sound asleep, so I suppose I can consider myself lucky. The bath passed off without any untoward occurrence, in front of the kitchen fire, & I suppose in time I shall get quite a dab hand at it. 3 p.m. Both the Sandfords are very friendly & cheerful, & it really does seem an ideal household for me to spend these first weeks in. Mrs Sandford insists on washing out my nappies for the first day or two for me, & of course there is always some washing being done for Michael, baby-clothes always blowing on the line & others airing by the fire, so that Frances causes less upset here than she would almost anywhere. Mrs Sandford is a very cheery soul, & we get on well together – we seem to find plenty to talk about. She has gone into town this afternoon with Michael & her sister-in-law & her 16 month baby Keith, & Mr Sandford is engaged in painting the walls round
[page break]
the hall & stairs, performing aerobatic feats with a plank & ladder. Frances is snoozing in her Karrikot in the window of the front room, with the sun on her – it's too windy to risk putting her out today - & here am I sitting snug by the fire writing to my darling. All very peaceful. I feel slightly weak about the legs today, so I'm taking things very easily, according to instructions. I haven't yet come to financial terms with the Sandfords. I've started off on the subject once or twice to Mrs Sandford but she's inclined to wave it aside. I'll broach it when they are both together & get it fixed. That's about all that's happened so far, so I'll leave this for further instalments. Promise me you'll look after yourself & be a good boy. All my love darling one.
[underlined] Monday [/underlined] am. Your letter has just arrived – I'm so glad you've dropped into such good billets, you certainly deserve a bit of home comfort after all these months of miserable digs. Pity Olga & I & our offspring can't join you & complete the family party!
[page break]
2.
I haven't long before the post goes, so I must be brief. My first good impression of the Sandfords holds good still – we get on very well together. Yesterday I found myself giving her instruction on making white-sauce for lunch, next it's to be soup-making, & I'm also to help her with her dress-making & teach her smocking. In return she looks after me well, does a lot of my washing – whichever of us does the washing naturally washes any nappies that are dirty, yet Frances uses nearly 3 times the number Michael does! I give her a hand with washing up & so on, but whenever I feel weary I promptly retire & sit it out, so you needn't worry that I do too much. Yesterday afternoon I went up to bed & slept from 3 – 6! Frances is pretty well a model baby all day, sleeps solidly from feed to feed, but her weakness
[page break]
is the night, she simply cannot last through from 10 pm to 6 am, with the result that I don't get much sleep in the early hours, So I take it in the afternoon. I shall have to compromise over the night feeding hours, giving it to her at 11pm or so & at 5 or even earlier if she wakes, I'm sure it can't be right for her to howl for 3 or 4 hours on end which she does if I'm strong-minded & leave her. I'll gradually get the hours back to normal little by little – I'm convinced they must have fed her on more than glucose & water in the middle of the night at the maternity Home. She really is a darling thing!
The RAF have sent the form for me to collect an extra book for 7/6 a week for Frances. Ba writes today that Mrs Willett may not be able to have me after all. A bombed out cousin from London has descended on her & she can't
[page break]
turn her out till she has somewhere else to go. Very annoying for me, but I shall write & tell Ba that the Sandfords are quite willing to keep me till Whitsun, & maybe I could transfer to Mrs Williams then, or to Barnet, so that this unwanted cousin may be gone by then. Margery Gunn is looking out for something else, or the Babies' Home is of course always open. Anyway there's no violent hurry & I'm very well off here, & quite happy. Jane may become a problem if the Royles do move, but we'll worry about that later on.
I have compounded with Mrs S. for £2 a week all in, & I think that's the best arrangement. She seemed very pleased. She will cook & provide all food, & I eat with them in the kitchen,
[page break]
tho' why they don't use that nice light dining room I can't imagine! Yesterday Mrs Jones & Betty called – they were driving out to the country in the same car with driver that we had, & they brought me one or two letters, the RAF one, receipt from maternity Home & the one to you I am forwarding with this. Ba writes that the Northwest (Gas C.) have tried to get in to read the metre at Lido but of course haven't been able & suggest making an average charge & refunding later. Ba has asked Mrs Neal to let the man in if she see him or by appointment.
That's all for the moment. I hope this isn't quite illegible. I'll pop it off to post now (only next door) I promise I will look after myself, so you needn't worry. So glad you're enjoying life up there, be careful in those nasty aeroplanes. Churchill's speech yesterday was good, wasn't it.
With all my love, Ursula XX from Frances (neigh Pumpkin)
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
Writes that life is easier now that he has been posted and she can concentrate on baby. Writes of baby activities (feeding sleeping behaviour) as well as her own doings. Mentions family she is staying with are very friendly and helpful but still has not raised matter of payment. Adds in addendum that his letter has arrived and continues to describe her activities and catches up with family/acquaintances news.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941-04-26
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Eight 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
EValentineUMValentineJRM410426
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
Wales--Dyfed
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-04-26
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
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
Lido, Jan. 28 Tues
Darling Johnnie, Today you gave me a new thrill, an envelope from you, a cryptic message on the back, & inside – nothing! What glorious, adorable extravagance! My little spendthrift!! Tuppence ha'penny on a mere envelope, expense no object!!! Nevertheless I hope the letter will follow in due course. I have been disposing of the allotment today. I had a fearful
[page break]
2.
presentment that the gardener would let me down as everyone else does who works for me, but no, he turned up, somewhat late, & we went down to the allotment (after a large morning's washing!) & I dug up the 2 rows of decent leeks & brought them up & he transported the pea & bean sticks & all the remaining tools. I couldn't be bothered with the root vegetables, we have such masses still stored up at the house which will take us ages to at through & spring will soon be here. However, the leeks I brought & shall give some to Mrs Neal to make up for all she's going to do for me (paying gardener, laundry etc.) some to Ba, eat some & send the rest up to Aber, they're a fearful price
[page break]
3.
in the shops. I've arranged with the gardener not to come again till March or when the weather is right for sowing & Mrs Neal is going to let him in & out & pay him. Of course he won't be able to work on the shelter till the ground is much drier, probably after the sowing.
This morning I had a communication from the Town Hall to the effect that my lease of the allotment expired on 31st Dec '40 & I must clear my veg. off in 7 days or else.... Now Mr Searle, the new tenant, works at the Town Hall. So I wrote them a letter, copy enclosed, & I only hope Mr Searle reads it. I have also written to Mr Thompson sending him a copy also & saying that this may be a manoeuvre to make us pay the rent, which we
[page break]
have no intention of doing since we paid under similar circumstances last year, & anyway the Clerk at the Town Hall said I needn't if another tenant took over; & asking Thomspon to stick up for us & for this Widow Sullivan of mine if trouble ensues. Mr Searle has very light blue eyes & I don't like him.
Yesterday Mrs Lowe came & brought me a lovely present for the baby, a blanket bag to keep the baby warm when travelling or in the pram I've often coveted one, but they're very expensive. Irene Galitzenstern also came to tea & we had a good chat. Tomorrow I'm going to see Mrs Stenzel, Thursday will be devoted to packing, & Friday – what was I thinking of doing on Friday?? I daren't think about it too much. I do hope you're feeling better & haven't got flu' but for heavens sake look after yourself if you do get it & don't attempt to come to meet me, I'll be OK.
I haven't been able to find anything on Aircraft Recognition apart from those you already have. Haven't had any cash from Touches yet! Its generally comes on 24th of month.
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 from Ursula Valentine to her husband John Valentine
Description
An account of the resource
Jokes about receiving and envelope from him with nothing inside and wasting 2 1/2 pence. Writes of difficulties over allotment, disposal of crops and correspondence with town hall. Mentions presents for baby and her activities. Writes of packing and preparing to travel.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941-01-28
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
EValentineUMValentineJRM410128
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--London
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-01-28
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
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1281/19557/EValentineUMValentineJRM410430-010001.1.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
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
Trefilan, April 30th
Darling Johnny, I'm enclosing herewith Barbara’s latest letter, which please peruse & return, together with your comments. Personally I think it still a good idea, & I would have the slight consolation that I'd be doing something for somebody besides self & babe. However, I want to hear what you think. Thank you so much for your second letter. You are a darling, I love to hear all about your doings, & I like your description, specially
[page break]
Jack & the farmer backing each other up with 'Oh Ahs & Oh Ayes' It sounds good about the week's leave. Tho' after 3 months you'll deserve it - & so shall I! As for the 48 hours, I doubt if that will be much use to us so far apart, unless you try the telegram trick & get it extended.
Last night Frances showed some slight improvement. True, she woke at 3.30 & cried, but I only turned her over & didn't give her anything, & she whimpered off & on but not seriously till 5.15 & then I fed her. So we're
[page break]
coming on. I'm sure she must have been given a hearty meal in the Home. Yesterday the district Nurse called – a rather soppy woman; her only practical advice was that I should take some extra vitamin c pills to make up for the lack of fruit, & this I'll do – I take Sanatagon & Epsom salts already so who cares about another pill or two?
We started our dressmaking course last evening & got the dress cut out. I hope to goodness it's a success. The pattern is 2 sizes too large for Mrs S. so its quite likely to be queer.
[page break]
Am going into Aber this morning, & hope to see Jane if I feel up to it. By the way, I'd have to find out about taking her to the Babies Home that may be a snag. Must hurry off & bath your daughter.
Lots of love & kisses, Ursula
[page break]
Also Wed. 30th April Please ask Mrs Howie to air these things for you. They [underlined] must [/underlined] be aired before you wear them, & all the available space is taken up here with nappies! Don't forget. She's bound to have a hot cupboard in such a posh house. I'm so glad you're so happily settled. I'm very contented here too. Am going into Aber. today for 1st time, by bus both ways of course, to get my rations, & try & get an April jam ration for Frances! I'm writing a separate letter, so no more now.
All my love, Darling one, I think of you so much Ursula
[page break]
By the way, if you went to Heaven, how would you recognise Sue?
See over for answer
Because she wouldn’t have a navel.
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
Writes she is enclosing sisters latest letter and invite his comment. Thanks him for his letter and likes his descriptions of activities. Talks about his upcoming leaves, baby's activities and visit of district nurse. Mentions starting dress making course.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941-04-30
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Six 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
EValentineUMValentineJRM410430-01
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
Wales--Dyfed
Wales--Aberystwyth
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-04-30
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
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1281/19558/EValentineUMValentineJRM410430-020001.1.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
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
Trefilan
Penparke
Aberystwyth
April 30th
My darling, this is the third epistle I've penned to you today. One in the parcel of socks, & the other with the birth certificate & Ba's letter, were dispatched this morning from Aber. P./O. I've survived my first excursion into the wide wide world. The bus didn't turn up at the appointed time so I was forced to hitch-hike into town – much cheaper & pleasanter! I paid £1.10 into Frances' P.O., collected £1.1.5 back money on her account, now I start tomorrow with the regular 43/6 a week. I also paid the crossed warrant for £19.12.3 into my bank a/c, that was right wasn't it? I hope to return your P.O. book herewith. Certainly put anything you can save into your P.O. book, I don't need any more – specially if I go to the Baby's Home & don't have to pay for board & lodging.
[page break]
We shall really be able to save up for our own home then! I hope you'll let me know what you think about it as soon as poss. As you'll see from Ba's letter, the jobs I should do are quite genteel & you needn't fear that they'd make a skivvy of me. Anyway I could try it for a few weeks, as Miss Crow suggests. I'm hoping in any case that some day I shall be able to live with you again, tho' I suppose that won't be for 6 months or so, & if I can make myself useful & save money in the meantime & bring Frances up in the way she should go, & keep Jane, that's all we can hope for. I am writing to Miss Crow today to thank her for her offer & tell her I'm consulting you – I won't commit myself. But I hope you'll approve, as I do.
[page break]
[underlined] May 1st [/underlined] I put Frances out to sleep yesterday afternoon in the front porch. It was beautifully sunny & sheltered, but I didn't feel too sure about her & sat watching her thro' the front window all afternoon while I wrote letters (to David Blaikley, Mother & Aunty Meg, Dundee). However she survived, & slept well, so I've put her out at the back this morning, & shall continue as long as the weather is fine. I want her to get some colour in her cheeks, tho' I suppose she's pretty young yet for sun-tan. I'll have to be careful with that fair skin, too, or else she'll get burnt instead of tanned.
We started on smocking lessons last evening – Mrs S. is always asking my advice about sewing & cooking, I feel rather an ass telling her what to do in her own house before I've been here a week! I went to the NAAFI yesterday & got last week's ration for Frances
[page break]
& me, & can get another double set for this week if Mrs S. wants them. I deducted the cost from the £2 & paid her for this week, & she seemed to consider that quite in order. I also went round to call on Jane – she certainly seemed pleased to see me & bounced all over the place. Mrs Royle says she's not going away just yet. Apparently they haven't got accommodation in Coventry, so that's OK. From Jane's point of view. They remind me vaguely of the Micawbers! I have enjoyed D. Cop. I've almost finished it & you can consider me converted.
I've got a large tablet of Morny's Gardenia soap for Irene & shall send it off today, to Barnet for forwarding, as I don't know her address. I'm longing to hear how you enjoy flying, & if its very different navigating in the air from navigating in the classroom. I've asked Ba to send your slippers if she goes to Lido. With all my love – do look after yourself, darling Ursula
XX from Pumpkin
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
Writes this is third letter she has written today and mentions her days activities going out into town. Discusses finances, her future plans and job. Hopes she will be able to live with him again someday but in the meantime bring daughter up in the way she should do as well as keeping the dog. Continues with description of baby and daily activities including going to the NAAFI to get rations. Asks how he is enjoying flying.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941-05-01
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
EValentineUMValentineJRM410430-02
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.
Great Britain
Wales--Dyfed
Wales--Aberystwyth
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-04-30
1941-05-01
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
Navy, Army and Air Force Institute
training