大象传媒

161 Revidge Road,
Blackburn, Lancs.

28th March 1941
My dearest Annie & Harold,

Don鈥檛 feel worried if letters are long of arriving or perhaps don鈥檛 arrive at all. Your letter of 11th February reached me only last week, over five weeks since you mailed it. I thought it was one for my birthday till I saw the date. I have not had another. I hope you got mine thanking you for the Christmas gifts (received mid Jan.) and two written since and one to Marjorie for her birthday. I think we ought each to write every week as we used to do and trust to luck. It is certainly very hard not to get news of us when every day brings danger to some. You will have read in your papers that Glasgow had very bad raids two nights鈥� running and a lot of people killed and injured. All our friends seem to be safe but I have not many details and would not be allowed to say anyway, but it was a frightful experience. We had it, too, all round about but no bombs were dropped in the town. Ernest was here that day - Friday 14th March - and spent all afternoon and evening with us, travelling home that night. He was on a lecturing tour in Lancashire but most of his meetings were cancelled owing to raids.

Florence is very busy and has hardly time for anything outside of club work. She is on several committees, besides, the Youth Co. and the education etc. On Sundays she has nearly 100 lads for whom she has to arrange some sort of entertainment. These are over and above the girls who are members. She has them on Monday evenings too and they dance. Friday is her day off and that is today and we planned to go to a picture show. Instead, at 12.30 she left here to go to the infirmary to donate some of her life鈥檚 blood, at 2.30 she had to attend a committee meeting, after which home for a meal at 5 and at 6.30 rushed off to preside at another committee and I don鈥檛 know when she will be home. How鈥檚 that for a day off?

Thank you for offering to send us some food but we don鈥檛 need it. We can鈥檛 get what we used to get by just ordering it but we get quite enough and a lot of people will be much healthier by being forced to eat less. Do you remember our dear old Dr. Brown? He used to say a lot of people dug their graves with their teeth. And believe me there is a great deal of truth in that saying. We are not fading away by a long chalk. We may have to do with even less if we go on losing so many ships, but if it gets very bad I will let you know.

I hope you have quite recovered from your attack of 鈥榝lu, Annie. I was in bed, too, and have not been out for 6 or 7 weeks. I am all right now and will get out when the weather improves. It has been very wet lately. This district gets more than its share of attention from Jupiter Pluvius. Hence its importance as a centre of the cotton industry. We are very particular about having everything well dried and aired before use, but in the process of manufacture, dampness is absolutely essential to cotton fabrics.

Everyone here spoke very highly of your Mr Wilkie. He certainly made friends among the workers. I like all I hear about Mr Winant. I like his looks too and think he won鈥檛 talk too much, but when he does it will be to the point and worth listening to. This war is certainly bringing a lot of very fine men to the fore. As for our young air-men - they are a race apart. It is simply amazing what they can undertake. The navy is just as good but we don鈥檛 see them at work. You can stand and watch a fight going on in the sky and thrill at the sight of an enemy bomber brought down in flames, but our battleships and submarines are out of our sight and our reach and we can鈥檛 even read of their exploits as their whereabouts must be kept secret from the Nazis. Therefore the RAF remains the more spectacular.

I have not heard from Mabel since their raid. They have a good shelter so would likely be all right. Willie & Eva have a good one too down in their basement. Did I tell you in my last letter that Aunt Lizzie Thomson had died? That is the last of that generation. The girls (2) will miss her but they must be glad she did not have to endure these two frightful nights. Willie was through the weekend before and spent Saturday evening with Willie & Eva and met Annie & Lizzie there. Both were well but tired. Young Robert is at Kyle of Lochalsh at present and is doing a grand job of work as an army cook. There was so much good food wasted by bad cooking that the army heads decided to train cooks and asked for volunteers. Robert offered and was sent to Edinburgh where he trained and got his certificate and the men say they have got the best cook in the army. He is only 19. Doesn鈥檛 life take queer turns? And isn鈥檛 it just like the war office to think any man could cook well enough for a lot of common soldiers? No wonder there were many complaints. I hope all the other cooks sent for training will be just as successful as Robert as it is a most important branch of army life. We have been told that 鈥渁n army marches on its stomach鈥� but it would be pretty hard if that stomach suffered from chronic indigestion. What a ghastly thought - to be defeated, not by Hitler, but by our culinary failures? Up the army cooks.

Willie said in his letter last week that my birth-place had been bombed and added 鈥淲hat they found there to bomb, heaven knows鈥�! It is impossible to keep writing to everyone you know in bombed areas and we are asked not to wire or use the phone, so we never really know who is safe and who has been injured. That itself keeps you anxious whenever a raid is reported.

I am busy making a coat for Florence. It was to be a winter coat but is now a spring one instead! It is almost ready for the lining so looks like being worn this spring. It is a blue check tweed and looks like being a success. I bought old gold satin for an underskirt for Lysbeth from you and she is delighted with it. If I had not been ill I would have made it too. I am getting a fruit knife for Billy with his initials on it. That is something he can use when he is older and can understand who gave it to him. Aunt Annie means nothing to him at present..

It is time now to say 鈥済oodnight鈥�. Have you done any more flying, Harold? I suppose the first time is the biggest thrill. It is about time for the 9 o鈥檆lock news and we are all agog to learn more about Yugoslavia and its gallant little boy king Peter. We are all glad that they have just taken a stand and not lain down to let that Hitler walk over them.

With warmest love to you all,

Mother.

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