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17.2.45

MY OWN SWEET DEAREST LOVING ADORING JOAN,
I RECEIVED YOUR LAST LETTER DARLING DATED 9 FEB. I KEEP THINKING OF YOU MORE AND MORE AS EACH DAY PASSES DEAREST AND SOMETIMES THE ACHE IN MY HEART IS TERRIFIC, YOU CANNOT POSSIBLY REALIZE HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU. I AM KEEPING FIT AND WELL AND AM STILL OUT OF THE LINE. I WISH IT WAS FOR DURATION. THE FLY BOMBS COME OVER PRETTY REFULAR BUT OTHERWISE IT IS VERY PEACEFUL AND QUIET. WE HAVE QUITE A BIT TO DO LOTS OF CLEANING UP ETC. AND INSPECTIONS.ALL WE CAN DO DARLING IS TO GO ON HOPING THAT IT WON'T BE MUCH LONGER BEFORE WE ARE TOGETHER TO LOVE AND FORGET OUR LONELY HOURS AND TIMES OF ACUTE DEPRESSION. GLAD YOU RECEIVED THE PARCEL OK. I SHOULD LIKE TO BE ABLE TO SEND LOTS OF SWEETS FOR JUNE AND RONNIE (AND YOU OF COURSE MY SWEET). WE ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO AND I DON'T GET MANY THESE DAYS AND MOST OF THE CHOCOLATE OR SWEETS I GET I GIVE TO THE KIDS. GLAD TO HEAR JUNE IS DOING WELL AT SCHOOL AND A PREFECT ALREADY. DAD IS VERY PROUD OF HER AND RONNIE WILL SOON BE TODDLING OFF TO SCHOOL.I HAVEN'T HEARD FROM MUM AND DAD LATELY I EXPECT THEY ARE OK.HOPE THE ROCKETS ETC., HAVE BEEN STAYING AWAY DARLING. I HEARD ON THE WIRELESS THAT THERE HAD BEEN ACTIVITY OVER SOUTHERN ENGLAND BUT THAT MEANS ANYWHERE TO ME.WELL MY DEAREST, I MUST LOVE YOU AND LEAVE YOU NOW. I AM ENCLOSING A POEM WHICH HAS BEEN COMPOSED BY ONE OF OUR CHAPS. WELL GOODNIGHT SWEETHEART,REMEMBER I AM ALWAYS THINKING OF YOU AND MISS YOU LIKE HELL. I LOVE YOU, YOUR ALWAYS LOVING, ADORING HUSBAND RON.XXX XXX JUNE XXX RONNIE

THE BRITISH THIRD DIVISION

When the bitter war is over and the guns have ceased to roar; And the gallant lads who fought and won are marching home once more;
When the tattered flag of freedom flies proudly to it’s mast, and the tyrants who besmirched it’s name have met their doom at last;
When the graves of fallen heroes, in liberated lands are tended with special care by sympathetic hands;
Then will be told a story, of the deeds of fearless lads, who made the British Third Division ‘Monty’s Ironclads’.

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They railed away on ‘D’ day, they left their native land, to be the first to set their feet on Normandy’s shingled sand;
For them began a bitter fight, on the beach at Ouistreham. Yet yard by yard, and mile by mile, they fought their way to Caen. Where round that fair French city they faced a merciless foe’, they fought the best the Germans had and gave them blow for blow;
They fought and died as heroes do, ignored the ‘Huns’ derision, and proved the worth and greatness of ‘The British Third Division’.

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Then on to shattered Gaumont to Vassy and to Vire, their courage was magnificent, and example to inspire;
No thought of self,no holding back, no respite could they take;
They simply did their duty, their honour was at stake;
From victory on to victory they trod the hardest road;
Their comrades falling round them yet on they grimly strode;
Theirs is a glorious epic they forced by bold incision.
The withdrawal of a brutal foe before the British Third Division.

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When finally their enemies held fast within a trap, were doomed and cut to pieces in the famous Falaise Gap; Our heroes rested, paused awhile to heal their many scars, and then began the charge once more of those whose God is Mars. Through Belgium with great skill and speed, they helped to smash the ‘Hun’. With lighting stroke and counterstroke they kept him on the run; ‘Cross Holland’s dykes, canals and streams they fought their bitter way, The British Third Division, towards ‘airborne men’ at bay.

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From Middlesex and Shropshire, from dear old Norfolk too, from Warwickshire and Lincolnshire there men so strong and true. From Lancashire and Yorkshire, no wars of roses here, but all together, side by side their path of duty clear. Stout lads from bonny Scotland have fought and made their stand, with the fearless sons of Ulster who came from Shamrock-land; their courage and tenacity, their boldness of decision, writ large the name in history of the The British Third Division.

These men, the're heroes everyone, the living and the dead, shirked not the call for sacrifice from those who ably led; Immortal and undying their glory will not cease. Their names will live forever in the hallowed years of peace. The might of Britain whence they came, enchanced by men like these will live and grow to greater heights, ne’er to wane or ease; Twill rise again yet ever strong, will know no indecision; Whilst men are born in Britain, like the British Third Division.

Unknown Author — thought to be a soldier in The British Third Division, 101st Field Bty, 33rd Field

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