Letter 119- September 1, 1944

September 1-2, 1944
(England-still)

Dear Mother and Dad,

I received three letters from you today: one dated Aug. 15, one Aug. 17, and one dated Aug.21. The V-mail letter of the 15th took a week to get to me after it had arrived in the U.K. Wot a system. Your letters were certainly newsy, however I was rather surprised to hear about Herbert¹. I guess in his condition any illness is pretty bad, however, I note by your latest letter that he’s better or at least there is no worse news.

By the time you get this letter you’ll probably be pretty discouraged by the scarcity of letters from me, but believe me over here it’s a “hellova” lot different than it is in the states.

The Harvard boys sure get around don’t they. (I read Ozzy’s write-up) Ozzy sure never impressed me as the type of fellow that would make a Fortress pilot. I noticed also that Tony Trainor was killed over in France. It’s sure a hellish thing when a man does all he’s done and then gets run over by a friendly tank. He got quite a write-up in all the British papers.

The war news is so exciting and fast moving these days that I hardly dare mention it. The bloomin’ war might be over by the time you receive this letter.

Again this isn’t much of a letter but I’d better close.

Best Love,
Bill

September 2, 1944
(England)

Dear Folks,

Well, I didn’t write or I should say send the letter. That’s obvious isn’t it. I’m sure down in the dumps tonight. It’s Saturday. I haven’t got a pass. Tomorrow (Sunday) I’ve got K.P. We’re having some lovely English weather, and I’m overcome with the blues in general. My cold is worse and I’ve got a touch of diareaha, diarrhea, diarrhea (I’ll take a chance on that last spelling). All in all everything is just wonderful.

I hardly know where to start tonight. Several questions that you’ve asked and which I should have answered long ago have just popped into my mind. One thing is that course in German. I’ve still got the papers and all I have to do is send it to the London offices but I’ve kept hesitating due to the uncertainty of the situation over here. I don’t know from one day to another how long I’ll be here or where I go when I do leave.

I never did receive that telegram from Elizabeth² but I have written to her. You know, as much as I hate this army life it’s doing a lot for me in some respects. I think it’s making me more certain of myself. I’ve had a greater chance to stand on my principles, such as they are, and have succeeded in this so far. Having principles is a drawback in the army and one has to pay for living up to them, but nevertheless personally I feel stronger for having them. As I reread the above, it sounds like so much baloney and muddled at that. I was trying to be serious, however.

At any rate I think I shall be able to live a fuller life when this is over. I want to do things and see things and just for the “helluvit" I want to kick the pants off the very first gazebo who up and sez “Hey! You!”


Best Love,
Bill

1. Herbert is Bill’s paternal uncle.

2. Elizabeth is Bill’s paternal aunt.

Letter 114- August 5, 1944

August 5, 1944
(England)

Dear Mother and Dad,

I received my first mail from you yesterday and it sure gave my morale a big boost. The “bee-oo-ti-fool” English weather plus a cold plus the lack of anything to do over here just about had me down and out, but the letter and also the nice day we’re having today has me feeling like a human being again. By the time this gets to you, you should have received several V-Mail letters most of which will have been notable for their lack of information. One is not even dated. The reason for all this is that things were pretty well messed up when we first arrived and no one knew if we could write anything or not. still yet there are a million things I’d like to write about but can’t—the voyage over and so forth.

Living conditions over here can’t compare with the states but things aren’t as bad as I thought they’d be. The food we get is good and besides we get certain rations. This makes us very popular among the children. Generally a whole slew of brats will follow a soldier around hollering “any gum chum” and “any lifesavers” and “gimmie this or that.” It gets a guy down. The people over here try to be nice but already I’m getting that “I wanna go home’ feeling. The English countryside is very pretty what with it’s clipped hedges and winding lanes. Most of the houses are very old and it’s obvious that many of them were built without the aid of a straight edge or a level—damndest things I ever saw—quaint though. They’d look like the devil, however, if it weren’t for the beautiful gardens that they are almost always surrounded by.

The roads are good but narrow and are generally made of asphalt. If we go on a hike and it’s hot, (it usually gets warm in the afternoon), we come back to camp with half the road stuck to the soles of our shoes.

I can’t say I was sorry to hear about Gramp’s death. In his condition it was a blessing for those around him as well as himself.

Why did you have to write about that ice-cream, Dad? Over “hyar” they don’t know what the stuff is, and you know me. My tongue is just about draggin’ on the ground.

I did get those last letters you sent me along with the stamps I can use very nicely. The nice thing about those letters was that I received them when I was a day out at sea. I also received a letter from Elizabeth in which she said that it looked as if Gramps was headed for pneumonia.
That’s about all for now. I think my cold is about broken. “Those goims can’t stand dis army life.”

Best love,

Bill

Letter 113- August 1, 1944

August 1, 1944 (England) V-MAIL

Dear Mother and Dad,

I’m awfully busy and have very little time in which to write. However, I’m sure you want at least a word from me. I’m well and working hard but I already miss the good old U.S.A. England’s all right but you know how it is. That’s about all I have to say.

Best love, Bill

Letter 112- July 30, 1944 (est.)

July 30, 1944)
(estimated date)
(V-MAIL)

Dear Mother and Dad,

I have arrived safely in England. I had a pleasant crossing and am feeling well. Of course I can’t say anything definite, but I am having an interesting time. England is very pretty and the people quite friendly. I’m busy now so I’ll have to close now. I’ll write again soon.


Love,
Bill