大象传媒

27 Tangiers Way,
Tadworth,
Surrey.
4th May 1941.

Dearest Anne,

I am determined to get at least part of this letter written today. I have been trying to do it for ages, but the days go so quickly.

To begin with I must thank you for your Christmas letter and your present to one. With the money, Mother bought material for me to make an underslip. It is so lovely I am almost afraid to put the scissors to it. Thank you dear, very, very much.

Bessie Shafto has just spent a week with us. She is in a military hospital in Berks. It is really connected with an army training school for boys. She is very happy there and the work is not hard. She is getting quite stout, but certainly does not look her age. I wish I had as few lines on my face as she has. She is at least a year older than me. Can you believe it, I will be 55 this year.

Muriel is now working at the B.I. headquarters and travels into London every day. I am glad there are no bad day raids now. Last year I was always thankful to see her safely home from Croydon, where she was taking her secretarial training. I am always thankful too, to see Ernest safely home from all his tours. Twice when travelling during the night from the North, the train was aimed at by the 鈥淏utchers Birds鈥�, but missed. He has seen dreadful devastation in different parts of the country. I suppose Mother told you about our experience before going to Blackburn in Oct. It was rather unpleasant, but a flea bite to what others experienced even here. It is surprising what one can get used to. At first I couldn鈥檛 sleep when a raid was on, but now unless it is very bad we go to sleep. We haven鈥檛 even gone into our shelter all winter. A good many people here have brought their beds downstairs but we haven鈥檛. In the day time downstairs, our rooms look quite normal. In the livingroom we have a full length couch. Mrs Copelli sleeps on that. (She, by the way, lives a few doors away from us. Her husband had to join up last Oct. and she is quite alone so comes here to sleep. They will have been married two years on June 1st.) Then as you know, before the war Mrs Couldrey lived with us. She had a feather bed so I brought it downstairs and with the big feather cushions off the couch, laid alongside it, it makes a double bed on the floor and Muriel and I sleep on that. When Ernest is home he has a couch in his study. Several times when things have been very bad and Muriel and I have been alone we have slept under the billiard table, sometimes with our clothes on. Only once have we stayed up all night and that was the Wednesday two weeks ago. I expect you read about it in the papers, I mean the raid. We went to bed at dawn, 5 o鈥檆lock, and I was supposed to be up at 6.30 to get Muriel off to business, but it was nearer 7. We phoned to find if the trains were running. They were, but not straight through. As Ernest was going into town to get his connection for Canterbury, they went together. It took them 3 hrs. to reach London. It usually takes 1hr. Ernest couldn鈥檛 get a connection to Canterbury. Instead he looked around at some of the damage and he says it is awful. I haven鈥檛 gone into London to see any damage. I have seen enough nearer home. That night the sky (if seen) was literally black with planes. It was continuous the whole night. What we had here was the same all round London, coming in at different points. We all try to make the best of things and try to see the funny side, especially when we hear a bomb coming and we all go flat on the floor. That Wed. part of the time we sat under the billiard table trying to read. We can see the fires in London from our back windows. On the Sat. following that Wed. they were bad again, but not so many planes over here and no bombs in our vicinity that night. In some places people say the bombs were not dropped but rained down. There were numerous fires in London that night too. There was quite a bit of damage done not far from here on the Wed. In one place 27 were killed. It was a hotel. The owner and his wife were killed. The wife could not be found for three days. A house was demolished near Banstead station. Two little children in it were unhurt. The mother鈥檚 face was cut. Blast is a very queer thing and does queer things. Some time ago in a place not very far away, a house was hit by blast when a man was in his bath. Most of the house fell away and he was left suspended in his bath. They were both thousand pound bombs our house got the blast from. There wasn鈥檛 one casualty and I was surprised at so little damage done. I hope I have not wearied you with all this. It has been a little difficult writing with all the company and the wireless going.

We have very nearly adopted a Canadian. He is a nice lad and is stationed near us in the dental corps. He comes long most evenings and spends a good deal of Sat. and Sun. with us. He has left a sweetheart behind in Toronto and feels very homesick at times. He is only 21. He is teaching Muriel to skate. She is thrilled.

I got no further with this on Sunday a now this is Wed. This morning I have been over to the village, 陆 hr. walk each way. There are quite good shops near here, but I like occasionally to go to Banstead village. In a very short time a neighbour will be calling for me to go to a cookery demonstration (war-time). There are four, today is the third. I remember going to them in the last war. Some of the dishes are the same as then. We are not anything like starving yet, but there are many things we can鈥檛 have we would like. Fruit for instance. Before the war there was as much we took for granted. I am also attending anti-gas lectures and taking first-aid classes. For a time I was helping in a canteen. Even tho鈥� it was only a four hour shift once a week, I had to give it up. The standing so long was too much for me. It was in connection with the W.V.S. I helped instead to mend clothes, which came in, for refugees and evacuees. Then of course there is always plenty of knitting to do. There is always plenty to do, but that is best these days. In spite of everything we have found the winters pass very quickly. The only thing we don鈥檛 like having wintry weather now. Then there is the garden, always plenty to do in it this time of year. Last year we grew all our own vegetables and tomatoes in the greenhouse. We are going to grow tomatoes out of doors this year. We are having to rebuild the greenhouse as it was very badly damaged with the blast. Very little glass left. The peas are well through the ground.

I do hope most of the stuff America has promised us will reach us all right. I do hope the country of your adoption will never suffer that we have. Anyhow we are not downhearted, no long faces here. We may have reverses but we are going to win, only tho鈥� with Lord鈥檚 help. Ernest gets great audiences, more than ever since the war. His last meeting just a week ago at Brighton, 100 had to be turned away, as there was no room for them. This week he is in Wales. Tonight at Swansea. Hope 鈥淛erry鈥� won鈥檛 be there. By the way, we saw that plane you sent the cutting about. We were in the garden watching the dog-fight. It was really rather dreadful seeing it falling to pieces burning. We saw a lot of fights last summer and also airmen coming down in parachutes. You can鈥檛 go far here without knowing there is a war on. Trenches, tank traps, black houses everywhere, I won鈥檛 go into detail.

Had a letter from Mother last week. She and Florence are going to Scotland on the 12th. I expect you have heard that they have a mother and little baby of 9 months living with them just now. They were bombed out during that last big raid in London.

I did like your Xmas card.

Well, I have been to the cookery class. We are now at the end of another day and I wonder what is in store for us tonight. Our turn for a blitz will soon be here I fear. We have had much too long a spell without to be healthy. Lately it has been the docks. The last two nights Clydeside have had heavy raids. Last night and tonight we have decided to sleep downstairs. The gas is turned off and we roll up our clothes and have them beside us. Muriel is already fast asleep and I shall soon be down beside her.

I hope this long screed will not go to the bottom of the ocean. You won鈥檛 be answering it right away but when writing to Mother you might mention if it arrived safely.

In your letter you didn鈥檛 say much about yourselves. I hope everything is O.K. with you. I suppose Ian is quite the young man now.

I guess when I have finished this and mailed it I will remember all sorts of things I should have written. Love and best wishes to each of you and kind remembrances to friends.

Yours,
Lysbeth.

漏 Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.