Letter
No 79
22nd March ‘43
Dear Mum,
Its two days since we received our big batch of
mail but this is the first chance I have had to answer any of it. Out of this
mail I received seventeen letters, 21 bundles of papers, & only one parcel/
Of these letters 7 were from you & 3 from Betty.
Your letters were
33,34,35,36,37, 37(cont’d) & 38 dated 15/1/43. I answered No 38 dated
24/1/43 in my last letter. That makes all letters complete up until No. 38.
Our canteen truck is away at present looking for some more parcels.
I still haven’t had any
word from George Buxton although I have written to him several time. He’s
probably up north by this.
I will certainly write to Ethel Harris as soon as I
get a chance but at present I have no idea when that will be.
Thanks for the cuttings out of the papers. It’s
good to see what they write about us in the home papers.
I also received a letter from Bert Richie in this
mail & he told me that when Rex Whiting’s kid was very sick & Mel was
having a rather hard time, Rex didn’t even bother to go & see her but
instead he was running around with another girl. Melva, so Bert says , is going
for a divorce very soon.
There should be plenty of cash in the Cooney
household these days with Dad making a bit & drawing insurance & me
adding a little bit.
The canteen truck just arrived back with four bags
of parcels & one of the boys brought over one for me – it was No. 11 –
thanks very much.
As soon as I read the letter in which you told me
that Elliott was killed somewhere along the Derna Rd, I went over to our
orderly room & the adjutant is going to drop a note to the War Graves
Commission & find out exactly where Elliott was buried. If we are ever
going back that way I may get a chance to straighten the grave up a bit. We are
allowed a little time off to attend to this sort of thing. I only knew Elliott’s
name & where he was killed & so they may not be able to trace his grave
so when you write again let me know his Number, Unit etc just in case I need
them.
Glad to hear that you liked the jewellery that I
sent to Betty. The set that I asked ‘Stork’ to get for me consisted of three
pieces that matched perfectly but the brooch I sent was not supposed to be in
that set. Somebody must have bought the brooch that matched the other two
pieces & so they put in the first brooch they could find in the set. Of
course, I couldn’t say anything to Stork about it but had I been buying it I
would have got the three pieces to match or none at all, I will see if I can get
a set something the same for you if I’m ever lucky enough to go up to Palestine
again.
In the parcel of books which I received from Aunty
May there was a letter addressed to her at Edgecliff. Thinking that it was a
note for me I opened it & it was a reply to her from the manufacturers of “Borkora”.
I had a letter ready to send to Aunty May so I put the other letter in it &
explained how it came to get over here. Please thank Aunty May for the books
& the chocolate – also Aunty Elsie & “Son or Savi” (not sure).
You may not hear from me for another week or ten
days. The reason for this I can’t tell you here but if I get a chance I will
drop you a few lines.
No more now, much love to Dad & Betty.
Lovingly Yours
Frank.
PS. I told Arthur Lee to
call in & see you as soon as he gets home.
F.
Letter
No 80
22nd March ‘43
Dear Boop,
Just finished a letter to Mum & this note is in
answer to your letters No. 18, 19 & 20 which arrived here a few days ago.
Please thank the two twirps for their brief notes which were included in your
letter 18.
In reference to your getting married you seem to be
very undecided when the event is going to take place ‘cause once before you
said you would not be married before the beginning of next year & now you
say it will be in October. If I’m lucky I may be able to get some leave home by
then. My twelve months overseas will be up in about a weeks time.
Tea & sugar are very short over this part of
the world but there is always plenty for the forces. But tea is the national
drink of the wogs & it costs them 25/- a pound for tea & about 4/6 for
sugar. I still don’t drink tea yet.
Glad that you like the jewellery which I sent &
as for giving the brooch to Mum that’s alright with me because the brooch didn’t
match the other two pieces. I may be able to get a brooch to match next time I
get to Palestine – if ever I have been trying to get something for Mum but so
far I have had no luck. There is absolutely nothing in the way of souvenirs
round these parts.
Fancy all those fellows names being in the first
120 names of P.O.W.’s in Japan. Suppose there’s much excitement in the Proctor
household.
Haven’t been able to get any dress material yet but
this part of the war should be cleaned up by the time you receive this letter
& after that I may go somewhere where I can get you something.
‘Fraid that’s all for now but I will write to Mum
again as soon as I get the chance.
Excuse the writing but I am
in a hurry & this is written with a pen which does not belong to me.
Much love to Mum & Dad & my regards to Leo
Lots of love
Frank
Letter
No 81 …………MISSING
Letter
No. 82
3rd April ‘43
Dear Mum,
It’s over a
week since I wrote to you last, but, as I said in my last letter, I have had no
chance to write at all. It is not that I have had so much to do but for a few
days all our gear was loaded on the truck prior to moving & then we spent a
few more days camping by the roadside & so letter writing has been out.
I have got twelve months overseas service up to-day
& I sincerely hope I don’t have to spend another one over here.
While we were camp on the side of the road &
waiting for things to happen up further we managed to get a few hours leave in
Gabes.
7.4.43
I started this four days
ago & was in the middle when I got a bit sick. I am now in a field hospital
& waiting to get my appendix out so I will close now & give this letter
to the medical orderly who will be going back to camp shortly.
I don’t know when I will be feeling well enough to
write again but as soon as I am I will write again.
Don’t worry – Much love to all at home
Lovingly
Yours
Frank
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