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Extracts from Arthur’s Letters to his wife, Gladys, October —November 1944

4-10-44 I have just received your letter of Sunday 24th September together with the packet of tobacco for which many thanks…

As regards our furniture which needs repairing, in view of the Government having controlled the charges for this work, it would appear to be advisable to effect the repairs as soon as possible though I realise it will probably take a long time. I hope it will be ready by the time we have our new home darling.

Yes it’s sad about the fate of the Arnhem airborne troops but you mustn’t think this airborne operation was fruitless because all other objectives were taken and held which immediately assisted our advance through Holland; had the bridges across the canals been destroyed much valuable time would have been lost whilst new bridges were built.

Also dearest I don’t think you need have the slightest qualms about me going to the Far East because I hear that people who have served in the Middle East and on the Continent won’t be called upon to go East.

Well dearest wife all is going nicely out here though we aren’t galloping along at the rate we were a week or so back. The fact is the Germans dare not retreat now we are on their frontiers and they will fight back as long as they possibly can but we shall soon crack them and they’ll have no alternative but to surrender unconditionally. It shouldn’t last very long now darling.

It’s getting very cold and autumnal here and one needs to wrap up well at night. I have three blankets only, one I sleep upon and have two upon me but it’s not enough. Therefore, when at a recent position I came upon some blackout curtains, I appropriated one and it serves nicely as a blanket. It’s very heavy and thick, about 12 ft x 6 ft and I have it folded double over me which keeps me nice and warm.

9-10-44 Don’t worry about me darling as I am under cover and so can keep myself dry despite the frequent rainfall. Today has been misty and damp and already the autumn leaves are falling… This is the season of the year which you like so much dear while it induces in me a feeling of sadness that soon the barren winter will be upon us…

Today I left the battery to go to a rest camp for 48 hours though I had no wish to do so but was detailed to go and had no option but to do so. I feel that I don’t want to rest until the war is finished …However here I am at the rest camp and it’s very dull. It’s in a monastery — a large modern building of many rooms and corridors standing in its own grounds. I am in a room equipped with electric light, radiators and luxurious bunks with straw palliases; there are wooden cabinets to contain our possessions and, in the past, it was used by a certain German grenadier who still has his name inscribed on the bunk. We sit down at a table for our meals which are substantial and do as we please with our time, but, since there’s nothing whatsoever to do, this is a doubtful concession.

Don’t worry about the course of the war my dear because, though we are no longer galloping across country, we are doing very well and the war won’t last much longer. The Germans, admittedly, are making a desperate stand to save their frontiers from being overrun but we’ve had tougher nuts to crack and it’s only a question of time now — don’t you worry darling.

11-10-44 On arriving back at the Battery this afternoon I was very pleased to find your wedding anniversary card awaiting me; thank you sweetheart, it was a nice card and I’m sorry I wasn’t able to send you one.

The weather here has been rather similar to that on our wedding day — the sun has shone whilst the dead leaves have come dancing down from the trees. There are many trees in this part of the country and they are now displaying all the beautiful autumnal tints. Needless to say I have spent this day in far less happy circumstances than that wonderful day three years ago…

15-10-44 Mum told me in her letter that you have flying bombs nearly every night still and I am sorry to hear this and hope you will sleep in the shelter in future. I was hoping that when the Belgian and French coasts had been cleared the bombing would cease but I suppose the Germans are releasing them from that part of Holland which remains in their possession. Please continue to take care.

17-10-44 It’s raining now and I’m feeling very tired so shall finish this letter tomorrow. You see I was up and down all night as we had many targets; I would just be dozing off, dreaming of you, when the telephone would ring and a bombard be ordered so up I must get and plot the target almost having to hold my eyelids open with my fingers. However deeply I am asleep I immediately awake when a target is named. I must turn in early tonight and conclude this letter to my darling wife tomorrow.

It’s now Wednesday morning dear, a dull and rainy morning.

Have you seen in the papers that at last the Germans have admitted the death of Rommel although it’s months since he was killed.

Leaves to Brussels and Antwerp are now being granted so it does not seem as though there will be any Blighty leaves till Germany is beaten. Well dear that won’t take so long now even though the Germans are putting up a stubborn resistance at the point of the S.S. men’s revolvers. Their position is that, with the Nazis’ S.S. prepared to shoot any would be defeatists they must choose the line of least resistance every time, fighting on whilst they must but surrendering when they can safely do so. However, when we have demolished the Siegfried line and reduced the Rhine cities to rubble then I think the final surrender will occur and the even the most ardent Nazis won’t be able to prevent it. I’m confident the war won’t last much longer dearest and not merely because the wish is father to the thought.

In answer to your question it’s a fact that all the fellows with whom I used to resort are on the guns and I seldom see them now. However I get on very well with all the people in the C.P. That fellow with whom I used to go up to London from Felixstowe is a wireless operator and he is daily about the place. Of the people who are my fellow acks there is Jimmy Naismith, a bombardier, who hails from Glasgow and he is a very nice fellow with whom everybody is on good terms. There is a sergeant, Fleck we call him for short, and he also is a very decent chap. These two were both in the desert and Sicily but the other acks are new people who joined us over here. One is a Londoner and was a clerk for an export and import house, and the other is a Scot from Stirling, who was a baker. Fleck was at a university and is a Durhamite who worked at a coal mine.

There are ENSA shows and films nowadays in a club, which many attend, work permitting, but I spend most of my spare moments reading…

20-10-44 I have just received your letter dated 9th October together with the packet of tobacco for which my best thanks…

I’m pleased to hear that Mum has managed to obtain some money to partly cover the expenses repairs to her furniture etc. will incur and it certainly would be wise to apply for our expenses likewise darling.

I have just returned from dinner which was very good as we managed to acquire a young pig and so had pork chops, potatoes and peas followed by fruit roll. There’s a lot of the pig left so we will enjoy this delicacy for some days yet.

I expect I shall shortly have a 48 hours leave to Brussels or Antwerp and, though I am not particularly keen to go on leave on the Continent, it will be interesting to see these cities which I by-passed on my way here. I have seen very few towns or cities on the Continent as yet though I have been in some of the smaller places, e.g. Bayeaux, Petanges, Tilly, Argentan, Amiens, Tournay and various villages but have had no opportunity to wander around in these places. Consequently I haven’t been able to get you any presents as I would have wished dearest wife but in any case I don’t think there is anything much worth buying.

The weather remains dismal and unpleasant and the aspect becomes decidedly wintry. I suppose it’s just the same in England but the nights will not present the same terrors as in the past owing to the relaxation of the blackout.

We’ve just had a wireless set installed in the C.P. though it’s not going well but at least we should get the ´óÏó´«Ã½ news. We aren’t badly off for news these days since we receive papers only a day old when we are not travelling.

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