March 2nd, 1943
Private Myron Ellingson
Dear Myron:
Perhaps it will surprise you to receive a letter
from me but what's a surprise among friends? I had a talk with your
sister last night and she told me you were moving from your present location.
Wouldn't it be funny if you were sent over with your other friends?
I suppose you know that George and Bob have been together. George
is about 126 miles from Bob but I don't know where George is located.
Bob wrote to George after receiving a letter from George telling him he
was not far from him. The letter reached George, that is the one
Bob sent in answer to George's on Saturday afternoon and in it Bob gave
his girl friend's address. George asked for 24 hrs. leave and was
granted same and left Sunday morning for Tottenham which is about one and
a half hours ride from where George is located. After much difficulty
in a dense London fog, he found the Humphrey home. Tottenham is located
just outside of the northeast part of London. Mrs. Humphrey was standing
on the porch and as George approached she said, "You must be Eddie's brother".
She did not know he was coming and neither did Bob, as Bob thought Bug
would not get his letter 'til Sunday or Monday. Mrs. Humphrey brought
George in and made him feel right at home. She said Bob and Evelyn
had gone to late Mass and since they had not yet returned Mr. Humphrey
was afraid they might have become lost or been injured in the terrible
fog, so he had gone to notify Scotland Yard and ask if there had been any
accidents. Dinner had been waiting the return of the lovers and Mrs.
Humphrey gave Bug his and George wrote home that is was a very good dinner.
At last the lost ones returned and Bug said it was some meeting when Bob
walked in and saw him eating at the Humphrey table. Bug wrote us
that Evelyn is a very fine girl and he thought she would be vary capable.
Art received a letter from her a week ago and she told him all about her
romance with "Eddie". She is 18 years old (nothing like getting them
young), five feet six inches tall, has light brown hair, hazel eyes, weighs
127 pounds and has a fair complexion. She said she had gone to church
with Eddie, although, as she put it "I am not a Catholic (yet)".
I don't know what church she belongs to but evidently she is not bigoted
nor are her parents. They want to be married in June and she would
like a white wedding but she says Eddie would rather run away and be married.
She says she has only 30 coupons to get clothes with so getting ready for
a white wedding is going to be a problem due to rationing. The paper
has become loose in the typewriter thus causing that down hill effect.
You see I don't know much about typing, but I am sure that no matter how
badly I type you can read a lot better the poor typing than you could my
writing. So please excuse all errors and also the fact that I have
used both sides of the paper. I want to send this air mail and it
saves weight to use both sides of the paper. When I write to the
boys overseas I don't paragraph my letters to save space and weight.
Just noticed I didn't leave a margin so that won't add anything to the
looks of the letter I'm sure.
Sincerely,
Mrs, E.L. Martin
Miss Evelyn Humphrey
Lt. Edward L. Martin
Bug's APO is 635 Care Postmaster New York City. He is still with
the 754th Chemical Co. Depot Aviation and his Army Serial is 37278388.
It has been our hope that Laurie and our boys
might meet as they must be near one another. I told Bob to inquire
at the American Eagle club for a message which Laurie might have left for
him. Your sister was going to tell Laurie to leave word at the club
where Bob could find him. I hope they get together.
In his last letter, Bob said he had been invited
to a tea at, Bednor Castle, the home of Lady and Lord Somers. Two
of Bobs friends had been there on several occasions and were told to bring
a pal next time, so Bob was asked. He was wondering how he would
like hobnobbing with the nobility. Said it would be like having dinner
with the governor back home (if he could catch him home). To quote
Bob, "It's amazing the cast being an officer gives you over
here, especially officers in our position. I think we do pretty
well, too, in carrying it off with honor to Uncle Sam's Army. It's
certainly been and is, a wonderful experience and I keep wondering sometimes
if I won't wake up and find it's all been a dream. When I think of
all I've done, what I've seen, the friends I've made and not least of all,
the fiancee I've acquired, in the space of a year, it makes my head whirl.
I've travelled nearly twenty thousand miles by land, water and air, on
trains, buses, trams, subways, afoot, cycling, aboard ship, and in planes
since I left home with the CTC, and I've found friends in three countries.
I can hardly believe it myself." I guess Eddie is pretty well pleased
with the world and what it has given to him, don't you think so?
I hope George will find things as much to his liking over there.
In few lines to Irene, Geo. said where he was located, it was like a gardeners
paradise and ivy and roses grew in abundance. He said some of the
men had bought seed and planned on having a garden. I wondered if
they were to stay in that place long enough to enjoy the fruits of their
labors. I hope they do.
George Knoll hasn't been here for some time now and I am wondering if
he has been sent somewhere. He looks swell in his uniform and has
been doing fine as far as his exams went. He seems to be pretty well
satisfied with his line of work too.
Margaret McCarthy called me last week to tell
me she had given a pint of her hearts blood to the Red Cross. I told
her that was a fine thing to do and I assured her it would do some English
soldier a heap of good. She, like the rest of the Irish, hates the
English. I never fail to get in a good word for the Britishers.
Art and Mary and Cathy are fine. They were
out here Sunday for dinner. Cathy gets smarter every day. She
has a remarkable memory for a child her age. I think she knows every
Mother Goose rhyme and many other poems and songs. Art had been having
her guess the tune he hummed but one evening she reversed the procedure
and she did the humming. Evidently Art wasn't a good guesser.
Once he guessed "When the lights go on again" but Cathy said it was "Praise
the Lord and pass the ammunition." Art was reading to her one night
and she was seated beside him on her little chair. She kept squirming
in her chair and Art said "What is the matter with you Cathy?" She answered
promptly, "It's these damn pants." Art nearly fell out of the chair.
He says she only uses that word when she wants to be extremely emphatic.
Thank goodness that isn't very often. Did you know there will be
another little Martin at 654 Kenneth some time in June? Everyone
is very happy about it. Mary says Cathy needs someone to get her
out of the limelight. She thinks we will have her very much spoiled
if another child doesn't appear on the scene before long.
Well Michael, I guess you are tired of this
long letter by now and I had better end it pronto. I want to give
you Evelyn's address and maybe sometime you might drop her a few lines.
You may be able to tell her what a bum she has picked out for a life partner.
I think she can take a bit of kidding without getting peeved. Now
I must say good-bye and God speed wherever you may be headed for.
Let us know your new location.
64 Flexmere Road
Tottenham London
N 17 England
#0-299847
US Army Electronics Trng Grp
APO 640 Care Postmaster New York City, NY