Letter No. 8
Aust. No34171
LAC Cooney JF
No.3 Squadron RAAF
Middle East
25.8.1942
Dear Mum,
The letter from Betty that I have been waiting for for so long arrived here yesterday & by the look of the envelope it has been halfway around the Western Desert trying to find me. There is only a couple of days difference in the Australian post marks on yours & Betty’s but Bet’s took three weeks longer to get here. Just about what we expect form these toms at headquarters. Let me know how many parcels or letters you addressed to me at the R.A.F. Base Accountant Officer so that I will be able to check up on them.
It is nearly two weeks since I wrote to you last but since then I have been writing a letter each day to someone in Aussie. I wrote to eleven different girls & told them & told them a little about our trip over, & a little about life in the desert but the majority of the letters consisted of the fact that I was 21 years old in November, that I like fruit cake very much & then went on to tell them what good cooks I though they were. Even if only a few of them take the hint I will be quite satisfied but don’t let this stop you from sending one every now & again because none of them will be as good as yours I also wrote to Aunty Lizzie & Aunty Emily & I think I put over a rather sad story to them.
My leave in Palestine cost me quite a lot of money as a matter of fact it was about 16pounds & this knocked my daybook about rather heavily but now I am starting to save again & as soon as the pay clerk comes from base I will get a form from him to make you an allotment of four or five shillings a day because I am getting a lot more money than I need & will only spend it. Actually I am getting nearly 11/6 a day & also 2/- a day deferred & a few days ago I passed a trade test for a re-muster to fitter IIA & when that comes through I will be getting another 1/8 so you can see that I can well afford to make an allottment.
Betty asked me in her letter if I wanted any Canteen Orders but I always have plenty of money & it would be better if you made a parcel of things & sent them to me. If you can buy any Log Cabin tobacco you might put some in th parcels because lately we have had a bit of trouble getting it.
From what I read in the papers, dress material etc seems to be hard to get so next time you write let me know what sort of material you want, how many yards, and somewhere near the price & I will get some & send it home because over here we don’t need any ration tickets. Tell Betty that the only things we need tickets for is diamond bracelets & so on & at present I am right out.
At present I don’t need anything in the knitted line but I believe that when winter comes we will need every possible thing I can find, but don’t bother knitting anything because I can always find enough to do me.
It was rather decent of Lovelocks to give John Day his job back. As soon as I finish this letter I will write one to Betty & then one to Mr Hansen.
Betty said in her letter that she had rang my darling & that you and invited her over for a week-end as soon as you heard from me so I suppose that by now she has been over but next time you see her tell her that I am still waiting for the photo that she promised me. You can also tell her I want a post-card size & not a small one.
The papers I have been sending you are the weekly newspapers which are delivered to every Australian unit in the Middle East & in it we get all the latest news from home.
So far I have not had any word from George Brissett but if he has my address I don’t suppose he will waste any time in dropping me a few lines.
A few days ago the squadron started a beach camp & now we get one day in every four at the beach. Believe me its a real treat to be able to get away from the heat & dust of the desert & spend a very peaceful day on the sand where we can swim in the beautiful surf of the Mediterranean Sea whenever we feel inclined.
By the time this letter arrives it should be very close to Betty’s birthday so you can tell her that I have already bought her a present but I won’t send it for fear it gets lost. This also applies to your birthday but don’t worry U will bring them home myself shortly.
I think I have just about written all I can think of so I had better close & write to my darling.
Give my love to Dad & wish Betty many happy returns of the 12th of October
Lovingly Yours
Frank
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