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Extracts from Arthur’s Letters to his wife, Gladys, September 1944

11-9-44 Yes sweetheart the news continues to be good and it won’t be long now before peace ‘breaks out’ — what jubilation and celebration we’ll see then darling.

Most of the coast from which the flying bombs were launched has now been cut off as you will know so you should not be having many more bombs to make your life miserable my dear but you mustn't become rash and take unnecessary risks in consequence but remember that there are still a certain number of mobile installations capable of launching a few bombs. Therefore darling please continue to sleep inside the shelter and don’t go too far afield.

With the mail we also received newspapers … I also read with great interest that the blackout is being partially lifted I a little while except in London and the south east. I expect that soon too arrangements will be made to brighten London. Won’t it be wonderful when the lights in London are shining again.

I see that your parents are going to have a few days holiday at Felixstowe and I hope they enjoy themselves. It’s a nice little place with an excellent beach which nobody was allowed on when I was there. I expect all these seaside places have already assumed a very different aspect since D. Day. There was a fine beach at ________ the place in Normandy where I landed. I don’t suppose there are any troops in Garrison Lane now — that’s where I was billeted whilst at Felixstowe.

We’ve just had an issue of 2 cigars per man from some benevolent source.

There isn’t much in the way of news to communicate to you dearest as I naturally mustn’t speak of current events in detail but everything is going well.

I’ve just begun to smoke one of the cigars. They cost 1½ d each so you can guess they’re good. I hope Churchill brings his own when he comes over here.

Food is still good though not as good as it was in the first month or so. Canteen rations, smokes, matches, razor blades etc reach us regularly so I have sufficient of the necessities. Occasionally we receive books which are very welcome …

P.S. I had to complete the burning of my noxious weed outside the C.P. owing to the pointed remarks of the remainder of the staff.

13-9-44 I’m surprised to learn that some men are having leave which is not on compassionate grounds. I’ve never before heard of anyone having a leave to England though some people have secured leave to Paris I hear.

Recently we were quartered in a farm house and whereas the rooms generally occupied were kept in a clean condition, the scullery possessed a very unusual feature in that the animals occupied one side of it. This scullery communicated with the living room by means of a door — there wasn’t even a passage between it and the scullery-cum-menagerie. Our C.P., luckily, was in a room on the farther side of their living room so that we weren’t uncomfortably close to the animals. On one side of the scullery was the sink with a pump from which yellow, evil smelling water was obtainable and the other side was separated into mangers or stalls containing respectively a horse, a few pigs and a cow. When first I saw horse and cow being conducted into the house I was perplexed but was even more astounded to find that they lived indoors. As I told you in Sicily and Africa the animals share a room with the human beings but I did not think such things were done on the continent but one lives and learns.

I am now living out of doors and am situated in very flat country similar to parts of Norfolk. The soil is sand and the grass grows sparsely on it but, apparently, it doesn’t lend itself to cultivation… but a kind of purple heather blooms and beside us is a plantation of fir trees, tall and very thin. This country is not nearly so interesting or picturesque as the places I have recently passed through.

There’s good news of Allied troops on German soil which I suppose you’ve heard. Well the war can’t continue much longer and I’m longing for the time when I can get home…

Having been given a few hours freedom yesterday I walked into a village a few miles away to look at the shops but there was very little in any of them. I had an idea that I might be able to get some small present for you dear but there was really nothing there to buy.

18-9-44 I’m sorry to hear of the damage to Mum’s house which is the first intimation I had about it, and I’m awfully sorry that our possessions are in such a sad state my darling after the great care you have taken with everything — it’s a shame that our first possessions should be treated in this fashion. However as you say, the furniture is not of such importance compared with human beings and I’m glad that nobody was harmed by the bomb. Never mind darling after the war we’ll replace everything that has been damaged. I do hope that your claims for compensation are met by the Government in due course… Ultimately we shall, of course, get everything repaired or replaced irrespective of whether the Government recognises our claim for compensation though I don’t really see that they can do other than recognise these claims in view of the War Risk Insurance scheme.

I certainly agree that it would be advisable to have our name entered for accommodation in or around Enfield after the war or it may be too late… It looks as though I might manage to obtain employment at E.R.M. [Enfield Rolling Mills] …

I’m afraid my dear that all this business is going to keep you awfully busy and it is a great nuisance and how I wish I could be there to look after our affairs. However our troubles will come to an end soon when the war is finally over…

Well dearest wife soon you will have a birthday coming along. Alas I’ve had no opportunity to get you a present so I have made arrangements to send you a remittance through the army since I have accumulated some credits. I have already signed the necessary papers and within about a week’s time you should receive the usual claim form enabling you to collect £8 from Elmer’s End P.O. in addition to your usual weekly endowments. With this I want you to buy yourself a nice present for your birthday and also a little gift for our baby.

We are now in a barn beside a farm house and have the usual agglomeration of livestock in our vicinity. Next to us on one side is a stall containing a horse and there is a communicating door between the stall and our barn. Well in the door is a hole about 8 inches square and through this we gave it a biscuit; thereafter the horse periodically pushed his nose through the hole in the hope of securing more biscuits but without success. I was sleeping in my blankets in front of the door and it was amusing to see his nose coming through the hole at intervals. The chickens have their roosting place in some straw in the C.P. and create an uproar when they’ve laid their eggs. Also we have some nice dogs including an Alsatian and its puppy.

20-9-44 As I haven’t a lot to relate at present this is merely a short note to let you know that I am perfectly fit my darling and there is nothing for you to worry about.

Needless to say, we mustn’t give any account of our movements and activities these days when the war is of such a mobile character that the enemy is at a loss to know our whereabouts and our policy is, of course, to keep him in the dark as much as possible. Therefore you will understand why I refrain from mentioning anything that is going on here.

Yesterday I had the first real bath since my arrival on the continent at a baths attached to a large factory. Each cubicle contained a bathing compartment with hot and cold showers and a compartment in which to undress. This was luxury indeed and it was very enjoyable to bath in such conditions as these. From the foregoing I hope you won’t think the worst because I have been bathing regularly but my bath has been merely a biscuit tin and I’ve had to bath in any odd place — in the fields if away from civilians or in barns or any secluded spot.

Today I’ve been playing a card game called ‘Lexicon’ as we’ve been very slack… In our off-duty spells (even in war it’s necessary to have a system of reliefs to enable the men some rest or relaxation as far as possible, though when necessary we scrap the system and, in any case, we are more or less chained to the C.P. the whole time) or when we have no demands for fire we amuse ourselves in various ways; a dartboard is nailed up, or a pack of cards is produced, but, as usual, my favourite form of relaxation is to read a book and we’ve been rather lucky in that we usually have a few books with us supplied out of the book salvage drives carried out in Britain.

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