Letter No 22
Aust No 34171
LAC Cooney JF
No 3 Squadron RAAF
Middle East
2nd Nov ’42
Dear Mum,
Mail day again today. I received letters No. 12 & 13 from you & also one from without a number written on 16th of Sept. which I presume was No 11. Also received a ‘short story’ from Betty, a letter from Joan Pullen from Wagga, one from Peggy & two telegrams, one from yourself & one from Miss Wilmot.
There’s no way of telling how long a telegram is going to take to get over here because the last one I received took thirteen days while these only took three days
I have been writing very often this last month & if I can I will keep it up but as we won’t be getting any leave for a while & I naturally can’t talk about the happenings of the squadron. I’m afraid there will be very little news. Anyhow I will try & scratch out a couple of pages to yourself & Betty each week.
I’m still eating as well as ever but don’t worry about my clothes not fitting me because all I wear over here is a pair of shorts but lately I have had to put on a shirt in the early morning.
I can’t understand what could have happened to George Brissett but I suppose you have heard from him by this. As yet I have had no word from him, I hope Betty gave him my address.
In regards to saving money, I am still a long way ahead in my pay book & it is mounting up each week. As long as we don’t get leave I can last out on 150 pilasters (37/6) a pay. There is nothing to spend it on but cigarettes, tobacco, a few good things to eat from the canteen & an occasional bottle of beer.
I drew a couple of Gyppo pounds extra this pay so as to buy a case of beer for my 21st. “Putting on” a case of beer at one’s birthday is an unofficial squadron order so I had no choice of getting out of it.
From what you say Dad seems to be going “silly with the shovel” but still it’s a good idea to have plenty of green vegetables to eat. I only wish we could get a few more of them. We are lucky if we can get cabbage a couple of times a week. Occasionally we get fresh beans but the only other greens we get come out of a tin.
I suppose you have seen Micky Max’s mother & told her about Arthur Lee so next time you see her tell her that Arthur has been in hospital with a poisoned leg for the last two months & from what I hear it’s going to be quite a while before he’s up & about again.
In reference to that slip of paper, it has me puzzled. It was in your letter No 12 & the only references to an enclosure were the one about Ray Kays weddingn& that was there. The only other thing I can see that may have anything to do with it is when you mentioned about the ticket from my Comforts Fund parcel, which may have been misplaced by the censor.
I thought the crack you made about “keeping the cake for my birthday” was rather good because as you know it would have lasted as many minutes as it took to open the packages knowing how much I like cake & with four hungry mates to help me. Unfortunately, I haven’t received any of the parcels you mentioned in your last letters & if they don’t arrive with this mail I’m afraid I won’t get them at all.
I’m sorry you misunderstood the cable I sent in reference to the parcels I sent from B…… but I was worried about the one I sent to you than the one that Betty received. The parcel I sent to you was a box about 10” square & 4 1/2 inches deep & it contained a model of the Taj Mahal, the famous Indian Temple, made of solid marble, beautifully carved & coloured. I didn’t send it myself but leftist at the shop & they promised to send it for me. Rex Palmer did th same thing with three Taj Mahals & several other things & he has had word that they have all arrived. Anyhow I will write to the shop & see what can be done about it.
I hope the cross I sent to Aunty Molly arrives OK. but I know she will have a good howl as you mentioned.
My letters seem to travel quite a bit from what you tell me. I wrote to Aunty Lizzie & told her all about my trip to Palestine so if you sent it to her it will only be a waste of time.
Well, Mum, its getting too dark to write any more so I will close. I’m doubtful if I will be able to write any more for the next few days for reasons I can’t explain.
Give my love to Dad & Betty & tell Betty I’m writing as soon as possible
Tons of Love
Frank
Letter No. 23
Middle East
4th Nov ’42
Dear Boop,
I finished writing to Mum just on dark on Monday but I have been kept too busy yesterday & this morning to drop you wouldn’t lose ration tickets if I sent you the pyjamas & kimono that I bought but, unfortunately I sent them down to Cairo in my kit-bags with my surplus gear. However if I get a chance to go to CairoI will get them & send them to you. I will also get the filigree necklace etc. that I left at the pay office & send them to you some time this week.
In regards to those filigree serviette rings that you mentioned, I think I have seen them in at the Alexandria Fleet Club & I’ll see what I can do when I get some leave - if ever. I will also see about those other things that you mentioned.
You said you were terribly abashed to hear that I did not receive your first letter but I think the first letter you wrote contained your photo & copies of George Brisket’s letters & I received it alright as I wrote & told you. But maybe the letter I wrote to you got lost on the way. Next time you write please tell me what number letters you have not received. The letters I have from not received from Mum are 2, 4 & 10 from you the first three were not numbered so I called them 1,2 & 3, four was missing, five arrived on 11th October & the one I received yesterday was No.8 so that leaves 6 & 7 somewhere between home & here.
You said you were sending the Women’s Weekly over to me, I hope you keep it up, because there are more of them sent with each mail than any other paper & there is always lots of interesting reading in them.
Next time you see George Buxton tell him that I thought he had more sense than to join the A.I.F. also tell him I will be writing again shortly & will give him a piece of my mind.
Glad to hear that you received the copy of the A.I.F. News that I sent home. If the Christmas issue arrives please keep it because I want it for a souvenir & I can also explain about a lot of the places in the photo section if you haven’t already had them explained by Allan Kemmis.
In one of my letters I told you that I met some of the boys out of Allan’s unit & I spent one night roaming around Adelide trying to find him. I also met the manager of the bank at Cremorne Junction. He had just come back from over here & was going up to Darwin.
I suppose by now you are settled down in your new office so don’t forget to send me the address just in case I need it some time.
From your letter I take it that you don’t think much of my mo. well in another couple of weeks I will take a photo of it & send it to you & give you a bit of a shock because it is now about 3/4 of an inch long &, with the addition of a little soap or something like that I can twist the ends.
Well, Boop, no more for now but I will write again as soon as possible.
Give my love to Mum & Dad & give my regards to Leo
Lots of love
Frank
Letter N0.24
Aust. No34171
LAC Cooney JF
No 3 Squadron
R.A.A.F.
Middle East
5th Nov ’42
Dear Mum,
It was only yesterday that I wrote to Betty but as I have a little time to myself & a little news, I thought I had better drop you a few lines because I could tell from your letters that the more I write the happier you are so here goes!
Wrote to George Buxton yesterday & told him what I thought of him for joining the A.I.F. so I suppose I will get a rather saucy letter back from him.
The clocks were put back an hour on the first of the month. The days are a lot shorter than they were when we arrived. Before it used to be light at about 5am & we would still be going at eight at night but now we can’t see our way around until 7 o’clock & it’s dark again at 6 at night. We have to have tea at 5 & by the time we cover up the kites it’s dark. That leaves us about 13 hours for bed & as we can’t see or write in the dark we just lay on our beds & talk. It’s easy to see that the boys are getting a little homesick because hardly a day goes past unless one of us mentions something about “what we did before we left home” or “what we will do when we get home again”. We received a very cruel blow a few days ago though, when an order came through from the Air Board in Aussie to the effect that we could not hope to be received until we had been away for at least 18 months & as it’s only seven months since we left home we still have quite a while to go. but still having plenty of fun & the only thing that worries me is mail so I suppose the time will go fats enough. It doesn’t seem nearly seven months since we were in Aussie.
Seeing as how I’m the chief cook in the tent I’ll have to get out of a few of my habits before I come home or I will make as big a mess of your kitchen as I do in the tent. I’ll now tell you how to make the best fried bread.
First of all you fry one side of the bread & then turn it over & cover it with cheese. By th time the other side is cooked the cheese is ready to. That’s my own recipe & all the boys think its pretty good because they get through two loaves of bread & a couple of tins of cheese each day. What do you think of it?
Now that things are starting to happen at the front we get the daily news put up in the mess & we can tell exactly what is happening. It’s just as well the men are the only ones that read it because its written in real 3 Squadron fashion & some of the phrases would hardly get past the censor, because of the language.
I have started to pack up the parcel of filigree jewellery for Betty but I won’t finish it until tomorrow. Tell her not to get a shock when she sees the size of the parcel but I made it big so that I could fit the address etc on it. If they arrive alright please mention the fact in a couple of letters because if you only mention it in one it may get lost & I won’t know what to think.
Well Mum that’s about all for now but will write again shortly.
Give my love to Dad & Betty.
Lots of Love
Frank XXX
LETTER No 25
Middle East
5th Nov ’42
Dear Betty, I had just finished & posted a letter to you this morning when I received your letters number 6 & 7, also letter number 10 from Mum & a telegram from Dad. This just about fills up all the gaps in the mail that I mentioned in this mornings letter.
Sorry to hear that you have had another cold but I suppose I will be suffering from the same complaint as soon as the winter sets in properly.
I hope the parcels you sent to me arrive alright because I would hate to think that you put in all that work for nothing. To say nothing of the eats side of it. I will send a cable in a few days & let you know if they arrive or not.
Your trip to Penrith was rather a waste of time because after Aunty Emily telling me to write & remind her you surely didn’t think I would let an opportunity like that go astray. I wrote to Aunty Emily a couple of months ago & I should get an answer back in the next lot of mail.
One of the boys got a letter today & in it was a photo of his wife wearing a necklace the same as the one I sent to you. She was also wearing earrings to match. I didn’t see them when I bought the necklace or I would have certainly sent them as well.
The vegetables seem to be coming along quite well & that seems to be a good thing because in a few of the papers we have received lately the prices of vegetables are rather high especially the spuds.
I’m sending cables regularly enough now so I hope they are arriving alright.
As yet I haven’t seen Wally Sullivan but seeing as how he’s an air gunner he may be in any one of the many bomber squadrons stationed on this side of the world. Graham certainly has the art of writing letters if that paragraph is any indication. I only wish I could write an interesting letter but as I know I can’t I just scratch along & hope for the best.
I don’t know whether you were listening to the radio last Friday but the German Radio made an announcement to the effect that Three Squadron was celebrating the shooting down of the two hundredth kite that night, but they would have the laugh shortly because they were going to give us one bomb for every kite we had shot down. If he doesn’t stop running shortly he won’t have a chance to bomb-up his kites let alone find us & carry out his threat. It’s marvellous how he found out we were going to have our party last Friday.
Well, Bet, that’s all for now. Give my love to Dad & Mum & regards to Leo.
Next time you write to F/O Tom Williams send him my regards & the same to Cpt Dot Horton
Tons of Love
Frank
PS. Have finished packing the necklace etc will post them tomorrow . F
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