Old letters give us a real insight into what life was like during WWII, the letters I am about to share are the first WWII letters I obtained several years ago. I found them so interesting and the family so likeable that it got me wondering, what else is out there? What other stories might I come across? It kicked off my personal collection of old letters and diaries. After a number of years of collecting I realised that I should share some of these accounts of life in the past, and so began the idea for this blog.
These are the Heywood letters, mostly letters too and from Peter Heywood, a young chap who joined the RAF in 1943 and became a pilot. Peter’s brother Des was serving in the Navy, and Peter’s sister Joan, a WAAF in nursing. The letters tell us what it was like for them, all living very different lives and missing each other immensely. I have decided to convey them mostly in their words along with a few thoughts of mine. We get to see how Peter joined the RAF in 1943, went through basic training in the UK and then flying training in Rhodesia, all the while writing home to relay his experiences.
The first letter i have in this very interesting story, is from Des who is serving in the Navy. The date is 29th Nov 1942 and he writes to his sister Joan in Buxton England. It is an airgraph which was a system where letters were photographed in miniature and then sent by air mail, as such they are quite hard to read. It starts like this:
" My dear Joan, How are you? Expect you are having one of the usual Buxton winters. Wish i could come home and stay for a change. You will see from my address that i have left the ship and am having a spell ashore"
His address is a Royal Naval camp in South Africa and he goes on to explain that he is waiting on the board to decide on his commission and if successful could stay out there for some time.
Regarding how the war is going, he writes that he feels things are "decidedly more hopeful now" and " I hope that this really is the beginning of the end"
He asks how things are at home and says that he expects Joan is also very busy with nursing. He says he received a good lot of mail on Christmas day which cheered him a lot.
He signs off with:
"Am simply longing to get home again, but each day that passes is one nearer the 'all clear'"
I really feel for him because in all his letters, he really hates to be away from his family and misses them deeply. We know from the position of reading them now, that he still has a way to go before he can be with them again.
The airgraph on the left has quite small and hard to read writing.
The next letter is to Des from his brother Peter, and it is Peter i will concentrate on mostly throughout as most of the letters are to and from him. This letter is dated 31st Jan 1943 and starts like this:
"Dear Des, we were all very sorry to hear that you had the misfortune to have to spend Christmas in hospital with jaundice, i sincerely hope you are fully recovered now."
Peter goes on to tell Des that he is reporting for duty with the RAF on Monday Feb 8th. He is very pleased about this as he has been waiting for ten months which he found discouraging, but hopes that he completes his training successfully. Peter goes on to say:
"We are all quite well at home, your little wife keeps wonderfully well and always seems to be cheerful, whilst mum and dad are just the same, though we have all suffered from very heavy colds. Mum and May are quite enthusiastic 'film - fans' and often go to the pictures twice in a week. Yesterday mother and Enid (who is a WAAF friend of Joan and is stationed nearby) and myself went to see " Pride and Prejudice" with Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier, one of the best films i have seen."
Going to the pictures was a big thing at the time and something, i notice, is mentioned in just about all the letters and diaries I have from different people no matter what was going on in the world. I always find it interesting seeing comments on the films they thought good or the ones they didn’t enjoy so much.
On the 5th March 1943 Peter writes to Des again and congratulates him on passing his long awaited board and says it is certainly a step in the right direction. Peter goes on to say that he has now been called up and points out his new address which is where he is staying while waiting a posting to basic training, the address is C Squadron, RAF, Grove Court, London. I believe this was the Grove Court hotel. He says:
"At the moment I am having a remarkably easy and pleasant time. I was chosen with another fellow who used to be a bank clerk, to assist the officer in charge of documents etc. and there is really very little work to do. We are allowed 2 hours for lunch and after taking the RAF lunch we go to a really grand canteen near Baker St, where we can have a sleep if we feel like it, and enjoy the excellent honey - buns for which it is noted."
I wouldn’t mind trying those honey buns myself. When I read these letters, I was quite surprised to find out how much waiting around they sometimes did. I always imagined that during the war everything was all go all the time, but often there were times of waiting and boredom.
A letter home from Peter.
To be continued....
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