Letter No. 83

AUST. No 34171 

LAC Cooney, JF 

No. 3 Squadron 

R.A.A.F. 

MIDDLE EAST

16^rd April ‘43

               

Dear Mum,

                                     It’s over a week since I wrote to you last but to-day is the first time that I have felt like writing & so I thought I had better scratch out a fe lines in case you started worrying about me.

 After I left the squadron I went to No. 21 M.R.S. (Medical Research Station) & after considerable discussion on the part of  the doctors it was decided that I had a sub-acute appendix & for the present at least there is no need for an operation & so I will be in possession of that part of my anatomy for a bit longer at any rate –  sub-acute or otherwise.

                   I was at the M.R.S. for four days & during that time I was fed or rather starved, with a light diet which consisted mainly of fruit & jelly. 

After four days the unit had to move up & so I was taken by ambulance to Gabes & dropped at an air evac centre & from there I went by ambulance plane to Tripoli & then by another ambulance to the 48^th General Hospital just outside the town & I was put into bed & I’m still there.

 I’m not fussy how long I stay here either because I can put up with a lot of this sort of life as we sleep in beds with clean sheets on them, we wear pyjamas – quite a novelty in these parts - & we are looked after by some extremely pretty nurses so you can see that I am in good hands.

The hospital was previously an Italian civilian convalescent home & has accommodation for about a thousand beds. All the cleaning up in the building is done by Italian prisoners & they walk around the place as happy as can be as they seem extremely happy to be out of the war.

 For the first three days I had absolutely nothing to eat at all but now am on a light diet & to-morrow I hope to be out of bed on full diet ‘cause the lack of tucker is no good to me at all.

 Before I left the squadron I gave instructions for them to hold on to my mail which was due in the last week so I will have some reading to do when I get back to camp & also a parcel or two – I hope.

Well Mum, I have a few more letters to catch up with so I will close. Excuse the pencil but I can’t use the pen in bed.

     Much love to Dad & Betty & my regards to Leo

 

                                                                                          Lovingly Yours

 

                                                                                                            Frank