Joe’s Letters, WWII: “Mail Drought”

Wonderful news this week as I finally traced Joe’s best pal, with whom he spent the majority of his Gunnery training. Alive and well, we are now in contact and sharing stories. Amazing!

One of my Uncle Joe’s letters will be posted to this Blog each and every Friday until they are done. Please see below for a link to Joe’s full story and the other letters in this series so far.

Joe and crew have experienced their first bombing raids over Germany, the first of which ended in disaster. Joe is now back at Chedburgh, following emergency leave, and it is New Year 1945.

 Letter 96; 8th January 1945

Letter transcript:

“Friday.

Hello Mom,

Well I have still not received a letter from you. I hope everyone is OK. Maybe I will hear tomorrow. Anyway I hope so. I haven’t been so long without mail from you since those 11 days at Castle Kennedy. I went up to the Post Clerk’s today to see if they had been keeping any letters back by mistake, thinking perhaps I’d been posted, but there was none.

There’s not a great deal to write of today. We haven’t been on ‘Ops’ since that one to Leipzig. Hope you got that £1 ok.

Joe and Tom are having a barmy argument on what is best on fish, sauce or vinegar!!! It’s been going on for day snow!! Somehow it got onto the various merits of razor blaes!!! Maybe I’M nuts!

I saw a wizard film in the camp cinema tonight called ‘Dragon Seed’. If it comes around Northfield any time I strongly recommend it. It’s something like ‘The Good Earth’, you know, all about China. I would like to see that ‘Phantom of the Opera’ again should it come around here. That was a really good picture. A few nights ago I saw the ‘Song of Russia’, a good film that too.

Well as I said just now I’m afraid I can’t write much tonight so this is all for now I guess. Hoping everything is OK and hoping to hear soon. Keep smiling, I do.

Lots of love, Joe xxxxxxxxxxxx”

A break between ‘Ops’, coupled with a drought in incoming mail from home to reply to, has left the news a little dry. Looks as though they’ve been filling the time with movies though!

To read more about Joe’s letters please follow this link. There you will find the full selection of letters to date, as well as more information about his fascinating yet ultimately tragic story. He was our family hero. He IS our family hero. If I knew how to complete an effective RAF salute, I would salute you now, Joe. Long may your memory live in our family stories. I hope to post a new letter from Joe’s correspondence with his Mother here every Friday until they’re done. It will be a turbulent and heart-wrenching journey. Subscribe to the Blog to make sure you don’t miss any of it.

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