| APO 640, US Army
Nov. 25, 1942 |
Dear Mom, Dad & All:-
I was hoping to catch up on all my correspondence this week with this
typewriter which I rented, but it's such an antique it's just as slow as
writing longhand and you can't see what you're writing so I don't think
it's going to help much.
1. Insignia received November 13,
And now I'11 have to go back a ways to tell
you of my doings. On Friday afternoon, Nov. 13th, I went in
to London on the late afternoon train for the weekend. The trip down
was rather something of an adventure for reasons which I can't tell you
about since I can't mention the names of towns. Suffice to say that
I met a couple WAAF sargeant instructors in my line of work and a munitions
manufacturer and we had an interesting trip in spite of the fact that the
train was late and we missed connections and had to take a bus part way
and ended up in the big city about one in the morning. The manufacturer
had a car in a garage near the station and he gave me a ride up to the
Red Cross Officers club where I spent the night. I had a very nice
single room and when I got there I was naturally hungry so the woman at
the desk told the general handyman to take me up to the kitchen and glve
me something to eat. There was a big kettle of hot vegetable soup
on the stove and I had some of that and a cheese sandwich while he entertained
me with a rather gruesome story of his experiences as an ambulance worker
during the great blitz. I didn't get to bed until about two thirty
and although I left a call for seven thirty I was too doggone sleepy to
get up and finally made the grade about nine thirty. I had breakfast
and then set about my business of seeing my tailor about my other uniform,
which needed a few minor changes to be made in it and will be mailed to
me this week when it's finished. Part of the typewriter just fell
apart and I had to go around the floor looking for a spring, however it's
working again now. I did a few other odd shopping jobs and went over
to the Eagle Club to see if there were any messages from any of the boys
and had a waffle and a bottle of coke while I was there.
[Already taken into account for this trnascription]
We returned and had a very nice supper with many delicacies which I
never have up here. George and Joan went home about ten thirty when
the last bus left and shortly the rest of us went to bed.
[illegible hieroglyphics]
What a typewriter. I'll do that over again.
Love,
Tatch
I received the following packages since I last
wrote and they were a welcome treat and change from the usual fare.
The pajamas fit okay and certainly came at the right time.
2. Cigs, candy and magazines Nov, 16,
3. Choc. and pajamas Nov. 19,
4. Dad's letter of Nov. 8, rcv'd Nov. 22,
5. Package of newspapers Nov. 25
6. Letter from George Knoll rcv'd Nov. 25
7. Mom's letter of Oct. 16th received November 27th
Having thus completed all my business I caught
the subway out to Tottenham, where Evelyn was to meet me at 1:30.
Whoever called this a typewriter had a vivid imagination.
I got there on the dot for once and she was
waiting for me looking very attractive. We took a trolley bus over
to her place and her mother insisted on me having something more to eat,
which I did, it being against my principles to turn down food, especially
home cooked food. I had two boiled eggs, the first since I'd left
Scotland, some bread and butter, tea and an English doughnut, which had
no hole in the middle. We had planned on going to a show but Evelyn
had called George and Joan and they said they would come over about six-thirty
so we decided to stay home instead. I went downtown in Tottenham
with Evelyn and her mother in the afternoon while they did their shopping
for the week and I got quite a kick out of it since I was quite the center
of attraction among the Humphrey neighbors. We had tea about five
o'clock and about six thirty George and Joan arrived. We just sat
around and talked and looked over the snaps of the wedding which George
had brought along and which I will send you when he sends me some reprints.
About eight thirty Mr. Humphrey, George and I walked down to the neighborhood
pub to have a beer while the women got supper. I know this sounds
a bit screwy to you but over here they have tea at five and supper anywhere
from eight to ten. I see this thing messed spacing once so I'll type
those two lines over again.
I was awakened next morning by Mrs. Humphrey
with the usual cup of tea and biscuits and the morning paper. After
digesting both I got up and dressed and shaved and than went down to breakfast
with the family. Then I buzzed off to church and upon my return Evelyn
and I took a long walk down along the river. It was a bit chilly
and there was a typical London fog but we enjoyed ourselves and bought
a bouquet of a dozen beautiful white carnations for her mother on the way
back. Dinner was just about ready when we got back and we certainly
enjoyed it after our walk in the brisk air.
Evelyn and I left early in the afternoon to
go over and see where George and Joan were living and found only George
at home. We talked for a little while and then want to the station
from which I was to catch my train home. I found upon arriving there
that I had misread the timetable and there were no more trains back that
night, but could catch a nonstop train to a city nearby mine so I decided
to take that. I had only five minutes to get aboard so I bade Evelyn
adieu and got aboard. The train was packed as usual and another English
soldier and I had resigned ourselves to standing in the aisle when, just
as the train was about to start the door of the compartmant behind us opened
with a bang and three people rushed out and off the train. They had
thought the train stopped at their station but found out it didn't.
The soldier and I got their seats and called to a girl about twenty and
a boy about sixteen we had noticed standing further along the aisle to
come in too, and we squeezed over and made room for them. They spoke
with an accent and didn't look to be English. The girl was rather
chatty and it wasn't long until we found out that they were two Spanish
refugees who had been brought to England in 1936 to get them away from
the civil war in Spain. Their names were Helvecia and Elvio Garcia
and they had come to England with about two hundred other children who
had been evacuated much the same as the children were evacuated from here
to the US and Canada late in this war. They had been 15 and 11 years
of age then. They were Basques from the northern part of Spain.
We had a great talk then, all of us in the compartmant, about the war,
the conditions in Spain, educational and other opportunities in our respective
three countries, and so on. The girl was working as a stenographer
after having learned English, shorthand and typing in an English school
and the boy was working in a factory now and going to school nights.
We reached our destination in no time it seemed and I found I had to go
to a different station to catch my next train. I didn't know anything
about the city so the two of them said they went near the other station
and would show me the way there, which they did. We had to
laugh over the circumstances of two Spanish refugees showing an American
around an English city. We reached the other station after a few
minutes walk and they bade me goodbye after inviting me to a social evening
their Anglo Spanish club was giving the nineteenth of December. I
found I could make the next jump on my journey homewards on a train leaving
in a half hour, so waited around the station until it came in. I
got aboard along with about a thousand others and this time I did have
to stand up. I reached my next destination without incident, but
found I couldn't make the last jump until morning. I called on the
Railway Transport Officer and he phoned up and got me a hotel room for
the night and a taxi to take me there. It was now midnight so I ate
the nice lunch Evelyn's mother had packed for me and went to bed.
Next morning I took the first train back and got here in time to go to
work after a very pleasant and surprising weekend.
On the following Wednesday was the dance given
by the Womens Volunteer Service for the benefit of the Free French and
to which all the American officers had been given tickets. I took
a girl from here who works in one of the hotels as receptionist.
Her aunt owns the hotel and she has bags of dough. She was quite
delighted to go as it was one new dress for the occasion which must have
cost a pretty penny. It was quite a nice affair and I had a pretty
good time.
I started this letter two days ago and since
then on Nov. 27th received Mom's letter of October 15th. From this
it's easy to see that the V-Mall is much faster coming this way.
I sure wish I could see Cathy now but I can get a fair idea of how cute
she is from the pictures you sent of her. I hope my mail Is finally
getting there by now as I have sent about six or seven letters during October
and November and they should be getting to you. I'll use the V mail from
now on if I can get the forms so you will get them quicker. When
I send them airmail I thought they went airmail all the way, but I guess
they only go from the point of arrival in the US by air.
The weather here now is quite chilly and I've
got on my long underwear once again. I still have a couple pair of
those two piece ones I was issued in the CTC, but don't like them as well
as the single piece kind I always wore in the states. Most clothing
over here seems to date back to the gay ninety days. They still wear
separate collars and their shirts don't open all the way down the front
but have to be put on over the head. I can get all the military clothing
I need from the PX operated by the army here, so don't worry about me on
that score.
I stopped writing the other night because the
folks were going to bed and their bedroom is just across the hall from
mine. As it's just about that time again I'll cut this short and
mail what I have now.
There hasn't been much doing except work since
the big dance, Thanksgiving being just another Thursday as far as I was
concerned.
The American troops here gave their turkeys to the hospitals.
The news has certainly been good lately. The weekend I went to London
the church bells rang throughout the Island to celebrate the good news
from Egypt and Lybia. It was the first time they had rung since the
blitz on London began and although a lot of people thought it rather a
foolish idea I'm sure it gave all of them a great deal of satisfaction
and encouragement. I'm sending you a book called the story of the
war, as taken from the reports in the daily newspapers and it will give
you a more realistic idea of the hell the people here went through in the
peculiar personal style that the newspapers over here use. You may
think you've heard enough about it already, but read this once again and
recall the attitude of the US at that time. It's a wonder to me that
they didn't give up when everything was going against them and even their
allies didn't seem particularly anxious to help them and their continental
allies were falling one by one before the might of Germany.
But it's a different story now.
Well I'd better close and get to bed.
I'm well and happy and hope you are all the same. Merry Christmas
to you all and wish the same to all my friends and relatives for me.
I hope you get this before then, but just in case. And so cheerio.