Letter No. 15
Aust. No34171
LAC Cooney JF
No3 Squadron
RAAF
Middle East
13.10.42
Dear Boop,
I wrote to Mum yesterday afternoon & your letter No 5 arrived this morning & this is a few lines in answer to it.
Very glad to hear that you have sent another parcel as they are very handy & we can always do with a few extra eats.
In the last batch of mail one of the boys in my tent received a tin of home-made biscuits & they lasted about as long as it took to get the lid off the tin. If you can get a kerosene tin from somewhere & if you can persuade Mum to make some of those beaut shortbread biscuits & send them over then I will be able to let the boys see what real shortbread should taste like.
I might as well add that cakes are more welcome than anything else in the eats line so if it is not too much trouble & you have the time to spare you can make me one after work each night &two on Sundays & holidays & your brother may be able to find a present of some sort to send you next time he goes up to Palestine.
As a matter of fact two of the boys in the tent are going up to Palestine in a week or so for their seven days leave because they missed out when we went up there a couple of months ago & I am going to get one of them, “Stork” by name, to get you a bracelet, brooch & necklace all to match. There is also a rather nice evening jacket that I had my eye on so if you behave yourself, I may let my head go & get it for you too.
Don’t forget to leave a space in your hope chest for these pyjamas etc that I have already bought & if you can think of anything else you need to fill it be sure & let me know what it is & I will see if I can get it for you.
From the description you gave of Jack Deeves he must have been in the same mood as I was when I gave him your address. That accounts for the scribble on the “beautiful” piece of paper. Just the same you received the message so that’s the main thing.
The picture you mentioned “Keep ‘em Flying” is showing in Alexandria at the present time so I may go in to see it tomorrow or the next day. We still get leave each week but I have just about seen enough of Alex & Cairo so haven’t bothered about going in for a couple of weeks but I may go in next week because there are a few things that I want to get. The trouble with Alex is that there is hardly anything to do except spend all day at the bar & as we can get all the beer we want at the camp its hardly worth the trouble of going to town.
I am still keeping the diary going but some days i can only get one or two lines because there is nothing to write about but each time we move or anything happens I put it down so I will have plenty of reading in it especially if those letters I wrote about our trip over do not arrive.
There seems to be a lull in the war over here lately & we have had very little to do & now the boys have gone silly with the exercise & each night after tea we get out & race around the desert till even the dogs think we have gone mad.
Well, Boop, I think that’s all for the present but I will write again next week.
Give my love to Dad & Mum & my regards to Leo Lots of Love
Frank
Letter No. 16
Middle East
16th Oct. 1942
Dear Mum,
You will probably be thinking that I have gone a bit sand-happy seeing as how I have written about six letters in the last ten days but this afternoon there is a hell of a sand storm blowing & I suppose you like to receive a letter as much as I do. The sand-storm naturally suspends Flying operations in these conditions so that we can’t see more than about 25 yards & flying in these conditions would be rather difficult.
As yet the parcels you mentioned in the last mail have not arrived. I only hope that the cake gets here & that it is not at the bottom of the the sea, As a roulette parcels arrive a few days after the letters but now nearly a week has gone past & still no sign of them. Maybe there wasn’t enough room on the boat. At least that is what I am hoping.
The only thing I have received since the letters is the copy of “Man Annual” so please thank Betty for same.
I have now been elected the chief cook of the tent because yesterday afternoon we were all feeling a bit hungry seeing as how we had not had much of a meal for nearly two & a half hours, so I dragged out those soup cubes that you sent in the last parcel & made a billy of soup & even if I do say so myself it was pretty good. I know soup is hardly the thing to eat in the heat of the afternoon but the mob in my tent are not at all particular what they eat anytime, anywhere.
With regards to Christmas presents I think that, rather than take the risk in sending stuff home It would be better for you to take what you need out of my allotment & buy something for Betty, Dad & anyone else that you think is eligible forgone. A couple of the lads out of the tent are up in Palestine on leave now & you can tell Betty that I let my head go & bought the things that I mentioned in my last letter to her. When I say I ave bought them I mean that I gave ‘Stork’ the money to get them & I hope he gets them & doesn’t buy 10pounds worth of beer with the cash. Anyhow I will let you know what happens in my next letter.
I had nothing to do last Wednesday afternoon so I started reading through some old letters prior to burning them & I came to one that you sent while I was at I.E.D. & in it you told me about your new neighbours. The daughter part interested me very much so seeing as how I am in the black book with Betty Nelson. It might be a good idea if you would establish a connection with the best of the daughters for me.
Went all religious last Monday night & went to church at the camp. It was held in one of the tents & the service was given by an English Squadron Leader, Padre
This week has been rather important from a social point of view as we have had visits from two of the top Air Force Chiefs. The first visit was last Wednesday afternoon from Air Vice Marshal Sir Charles Conningham & he spoke to us all about the situation of the war in the desert & what is going to happen in the next few months. Sir Charles Cunningham is Air Officer Commanding of the Air Force in the Middle East.
Our second visitor arrived this morning & he was Air Chief Marshal Lord Trenchard & he just congratulated us on the work we have done & told us to keep it up etc, etc. Lord Trenchard is very old he is known as the ‘Grandpa of the Air Force’ & next to the king he is in command of us all.
Yesterday afternoon an English Entertainment Party was here & they gave a concert in a building near the camp. Naturally enough it was rather rough & everyone enjoyed it.
to night is picture night again & we are going to see Irene Dunne in ‘Penny Serenade’. I only hope the sand & the wind dies down a bit or the whole show may be put off.
I’m still waiting on the letters from Aunty Lizzie. They should have been here a few days ago.
I don’t remember whether I mentioned it before but Rex Palmer asked me to congratulate Betty on her engagement. I sent Betty a cable on the 10th so I hope it arrived in time for her birthday.
I sent Vivi & Maureen a Christmas card the same as I sent you so let me know if they receive it.
Well, Mum that’s about all for now so I will close Give my love to Dad & Betty & my regards to Leo.
Lots of Love Frank
No comments:
Post a Comment