No. 1 Radio School
Dec. 18, 1941

Dear Mom, Dad & All:-

     Just came in from supper so I'll start a letter and add to it until there's enough to mail.
     School is going on as usual and I'm now studying the transmitters we use.  Really requires an Engineering background to understand their operation.
     Being Thursday we had the afternoon off for study or athletics.  I went down to the gymnasium with a couple other fellows and had a swim in the camp pool.   The pool is dandy, tile lined and varying from 4-1/2 to 8 feet in depth and about 40 x 100 feet area.  It was plenty cold outdoors, it having frozen ice Wednesday night, but the water was about 70 and after swimming the length of the pool six times I was glad to climb out and dress.  Sure felt good afterwards and warm for the first time all day.  Went over to the transmitter hut afterwards to copy circuit diagrams.  Got into a discussion with the Instructor and a couple of other Canadian instructors so didn't get much done on the diagrams.
     After this we went into the nearby town to get some colored lead for my Eversharp for diagram drawing, but everything was closed up so we had to turn around and come right back.  Don't know yet whether we could have got the lead or not, we use red, green, and blue or yellow, for the different circuits.
     It rained all day last Sunday so there was nothing to do but stay in, which we did until about three o'clock when we went for a hike in spite of the lousy weather.  We walked around the countryside for about two miles and then came on back to supper at the Naafi.  Did a little studying in the evening and shooting the bull on radio.  Just stopped for a few minutes to explain a circuit to Beekman.
     I hope to get my bike or as they call them here, my cycle, at one of the larger towns Saturday afternoon as we have the week end off from Sat. noon to Monday morning.  We only get two days at Christmas, Thursday and Friday. The day after Christmas is a holiday over here, called boxing day, and that is the day presents are exchanged.  Christmas day itself is reserved for the religious celebration, I haven't received the gifts you sent as yet, but don't expect them for another month unless you sent them air mail, in which case they should get here between Christmas and New Years if not before.  I understand all air mail routes have been cancelled so it'll be quite a while between letters arriving from now on, the length of time varying as the speed of the boats varies from ten to 28 days to cross the ocean.
     The price of a cable from here to the good old home town is about $2.00 for a night letter telegram of twenty-five words.  The word count includes the address and signature so I will just address mine to - Martin Wakefield - St.Paul, Minn. and sign them Martin since you must use your surname.  This will leave 19 words in the body of the message.  An additional twenty-five words can be sent for about ten cents a word, or for double the cost a twenty-five word return telegram may be paid for in advance.  This is what I am sending at Christmas.  I don't know how they handle the address on the return, but I get it anyway.  It takes about thirty-six hours each way ordinarily, so I'll have your reply pronto.
     Interruption for a bit of gab on dialects and pronunciation with the boys and the corporal.
     By the way, inquire at the post office whether I can put a US Air Mail stamp on my letters here in addition to the regular mail British Stamp so that, now that transatlantic air mail is discontinued, I can send a letter via the regular channels and have it sent air mail from the point it lands in the U.S.  If this can be done send me some air mail stamps and I'll make use of them.
     The weather here continues to vary from freezing to about 45 or 50 above with the sun shining from about 8 to 4, when it shines, which is about once a week.

               ---------------x---------------

     Just found this today, Jan. 12th.  Thought I'd mailed it long ago. It's rather hard to write here in the barracks with only a small table for twenty men and everybody climbing over you.  It's Tuesday afternoon and we've had our first real snow here last night and this morning.  It's cold and slippery out and looks like Minnesota after its first snowfall.
    And now to go back a bit over my activities since I last wrote.  On the twentieth of December George Boone and I decided to go to Nottingham and see the sights, we caught a bus at 2:30 in the afternoon to Grantham and after doing a bit of shopping there got another from there to our destination.  We arrived after dark and had a heck of a time finding our way around in the blackout.  However, we finally located the YMCA and after a hot cup of tea and something to eat went in search of a hotel.  We found one right next door which had one room left.  After engaging it and getting rid of our overnight bags we went out again in search of night life.  We walked up and down every street but the right ones to find a pub.  We walked into one place in a hotel but everyone was formally dressed so we turned right around in the revolving door without going in at all.  Eventually we located one which was pretty well crowded, but we could squeeze in.  Our night was short lived, however, since they closed at ten thirty, but we did get a few drinks of Light Butter Ales.  And so back to the hotel to bed.
     We woke up the next morning and after a good breakfast of oatmeal, bacon, toast & tea set out on our travels to see the town.  Upon inquiry I found there was a mass at the Cathedral at 11:00 o'clock so we walked to it.  Boone isn't Catholic so he left me there and went roaming, planning to meet me at noon.
     I entered the Church, which was about 15th century and was ushered to a seat by one of the Padre's.  Mass was just about to begin and I was surprised to see a small group of about twenty men with white bands about three inches wide of white silk or something hanging around their necks and down in front and back in the form of a V, seated in the front of the church.  In the first pew on either side sat an elderly man and woman.  The women were in regular street clothes, but the man on the right was wearing a black flowing cape and had a long golden chain with links about two inches in diameter around his neck.  The man on the left was similarly dressed, but his robe was more decorated with gold trimmings and the chain about his neck had rectangular flat links about the same size as the first.  My curiosity was yet unsatisfied when the religious procession came down the aisle from the back of the church, first about twenty altar boys, then a group of priests, the three celebrants of the mass and the Archbishop and Papal delegate.  It was to be a solemn high Mass much to my surprise, attended by the Bishop and Papal delegate.  When the priest had finished making the routine announcements and reading the epistle and gospel my curiosity was finally satisfied.  He walked out and the Bishop entered the pulpit to deliver the Sermon.  He opened in the usual manner of a formal speech, addressing himself to the Lord Mayor of Nottingham and his lady, The Sheriff of Nottingham and his Lady, the papal delegate and, of course, the parishoners.  It was "Sheriff's" Sunday, the Sheriff of Nottingham having recently been elected the Mass was in his honor and was offered for the success and well being of the city for the coming year.  The bishop was a very good speaker and was well worth listening to.  At the conclusion of the Mass the altar boys, who had sung the mass responses, led the procession out followed by the priests, bishop, papal delegate, the British and Church flags, and then the Sheriff and the Lord Mayor followed by the rest of the group with the V ornamentation.  By this time I had decided that their attire symbolized the armor of the days of yore and they were the Sheriff's Guard.  It was the first time I had ever heard the National Anthem inside a church although a prayer for the king is offered at the end of every Mass.  It was quite a pageant and I was sure glad I had had the good fortune to witness it quite by accident.
     I met Boone after Mass and after roaming around the town awhile we sought out the best hotel in town to have dinner.  We walked in and were ushered to a table by a head waiter in full dress.  After our order had been taken a young visitor came up and asked if we wished anything to drink.  I asked for a dry wine so he had to go for the head waiter who came over and apologized very profusely for not having any and suggested either whiskey and soda or a dry gin with lime and soda.  We took the latter and it really was good.  I had a leg of lamb with roast potatoes, cauliflowar, bread & butter, and cabbage.  This was preceded, of course, by a good hot soup, and followed by Blanc Mange and Coffee.  We sure enjoyed it and set about our sightseeing quite satisfied.  After roaming around the town for another couple hours and not seeing too much we got a bus back to Grantham.  We then had a light lunch in a milk bar, as they call a soda fountain here, and grabbed another bus to camp.  We arrived there about 9:00 o'clock and after a bottle of Ale at the Naafi, went to bed, well satisfied with our week end.
     This was Christmas week so we decided to have an American Christmas as near as possible under the circumstances.  We put everyone's name down on slips of paper and everyone drew to see for whom he would buy a Christmas present, we set a $1.00 limit on the price of the gift.  Christmas Eve a couple of us went out in the blackout and procured a fine Christmas tree from the large clusters growing about the camp.  Bringing it back to the hut we made a stand for it on top the table from the sand bucket for fires which is kept in each hut and then made trimmings for it.  The funny papers cut up as we had done back in the old kindergarden days made colored ornaments and streamers, red bottle caps from soft drink bottles, bits of colored cellophane, cigarette package tin foil, and sundry other items, topped off by a neon light at the top completed the decorative scheme.  A party had been held in the sargents' mess a couple nights previous so we raided that for holly branches and more pine branches to decorate the whole hut.  A couple of fellows were sent to the Naafi with an overnight bag which they proceeded to fill by numerous trips to the counter with cakes and cookies.  By the same method we secured three dozen bottles of beer and a dozen of pop.  Another bit of bribery, as it was, secured two dozen chocolate bars and we were all set for a party.  Everyone put his gifts under the Christmas tree, the food & drink also found a place there, the coffee cans (large tinned fruit cans from the mess hall) were put on the fire and the party was on.  Word of our tree, the only one in the entire camp, spread among the Canadians and we soon had many visitors.  After eleven o'clock everyone was served coffee & cakes and it sure was swell.  It took the Americans to show them how to really celebrate Christmas.  A fellow from another hut came in about eleven-thirty with a piano accordian and played Christmas carols and everybody joined in on singing the favorite ones.  About twelve-thirty, when everyone was about gone two young Canadians knocked at the door and wanted to know if they could still come in.  They had been to three nearby towns trying to find some Christmas spirit as we know it and said that they hadn't seen anything to even remind them of it.  The youngest one said, "This sure looks good to me, we always had a tree at home and it's my first time away".  We served them the last of the coffee and cake and they left feeling a bit less homesick than when they came in.
     Christmas morning we all gathered around and Corporal MacDonald distributed the presents.  I got a fine photo-album and some mounting paste from Boone, who had drawn my name, everybody was happy.  I went to high Mass and sang with the rest of the audience both the Mass responses and the Latin Hymns.
     Dinner was at 12:00 o'clock and consisted of roast pork and apple sauce, mashed turnips, cabbage, mashed potatoes, and very fine plum pudding.  Beer was served when we first sat down and awaited our turn to be served dinner.  Each man also received two packages of 10 cigarettes.  The meal, in the ages old tradition of the British Army, was served by our officers, and the general spirit of the whole thing was marvelous.  It will always be remembered by me as one of the high points in my experiences over here.  The rest of the day was spent in general indolence and we went to bed thankful for what we had.  No one had received any of his packages from home so we were all in the same boat in that regard.
     The next day we were back at our studies again, which were getting no less difficult.  We were spending 13 hours a day at our tasks so didn't have much time for anything else except on Sundays.
     Things went along in this fashion until the ninth of January, a Saturday when Warner Thompson, another one of the fellows and I accepted the invitation of one of the instructor NCO's to pay a visit to Manchester.  We took off at noon Saturday on a bus to Newark from which we caught the train to Manchester. We had to change trains twice on the way and were having a drink in the bar at the depot when a Naval Junior Officer came in.  We asked him to join us and then a Gunner from the merchant navy came in.  Before we got the train an RAF pilot, an Army man and two more sailors had joined us.  We were all going the same way so we grabbed off one compartment in the train and proceeded to argue out the war.  It sure was fun with all the fighting forces represented and we had a rare time, everyone blaming everyone else for the various defeats and blunders.   We ended up before we got off by singing songs together, the usual war time ones that everybody knows, "Tipperary" and the like, and parted at the next stop two hours later with hand shakes all around.
     We arrived in Manchester at about eight in the evening and were met by our friend and his girl friend.  They lived at a small town, Glossop, about thirty miles from the big city, and after a bit of conference decided to go out there for the night.  We caught another train at a different station and ten o'clock saw us booking in at the Royal Arms Hotel in Glossop.  Our friend left us there and after we brushed up a bit we came downstairs for a drink, we were served at the little bar in the first floor and when I went to pay for it one of a group of three Englishman standing there said nothing doing, they were on him.  He introduced us all around and they said they were also staying at the hotel permanently and invited us to go over to the Club with them for another drink or so.  We accepted and away we went.   The "Conservative Club" as it was called was a rather nice place, but we were a bit abashed when we went in as there were only Officers of the various forces there and several businessmen.  However, it was the first time in this war they had seen anyone from the U.S. in uniform and we were warmly welcomed and introduced around.  We got well aquainted over a few glasses of beer and had to answer hundreds of questions about how the states felt about the war, etc.  The presence of two large American slot machines made us feel a little at home, too, and as one of our new found pals won consistently we went the whole evening and were never even given a chance to buy a drink back.  The next morning our friend and his gal met us again and we went for a walk through the hills and all around the outskirts of the town.  It was a beautifully picturesque countryside, dotted with stone fences and hedges uphill and down.  I took several pictures but the haze overhead spoiled them somewhat.  At noon we stopped in at one of the small cottages and had tea and cakes at his grandmother's.  It was a typically English place with a large fireplace with ovens built into it and a glowing fire on the hearth.  She showed us several large bomb fragments and shrapnel she had picked up around after a raid and we were duly impressed with their death dealing possibilities.  After tea we caught a train back to Manchester and spent the afternoon walking about seeing the sights it had to offer.  About five o'clock we took a bus out to some friend's of his home and were given another warm welcome.  The family was an average one and made us feel right at home.  A girl Jerry's age was thrilled at our coming there and the two twin boys aged nine were chased upstairs to play as they, as boys will, made too much racket.  The youngest sister, aged seven sat by the fire without a great deal to say unless spoken to.  When the head of the house came in he mixed us a good Scotch and Soda and shortly the mother called us into the dining room for tea.  There, believe it or not, I saw my first two real fresh eggs on my plate since I left home.  What a surprise.  Also home made bread and biscuits, home made mince pie and apple sauce, and of course, good tea with sugar in it.  We sure did justice to it to the intense delight of the mother.  After supper the old man and I had quite a long talk on the international situation, home life in England and America, business and what not.  Our friendly guide and his girl left at nine o'clock to catch the last bus they could get and we stayed on until ten to catch our last bus to the depot.  Before we left she again served us hot tea and sandwiches of home made pressed meat and tongue and then, after giving each of us a large red Wine Sap Apple from America, insisted on walking to the bus with us to be sure we got the right one.  I told her, and really meant it, that it was the best evening I had yet spent in England.  We caught our train at 1:30 A.M. and after travelling all night got back in time for classes at 8:30 Monday morning.  As I'm out of paper at the moment I'll mail this much now and send the rest of my story in the next day or so.

Cheerio. Bob