Description
Object description
80 ms letters (308pp) to his wife, 'Marby' [Mary, née Ross] (September 1939 - December 1945) both before and after their wartime marriage in 1941, covering his employment as a schoolteacher in Sandwich, Kent (1939 - early 1940) and his conscription into the East Kent Regiment at Canterbury, Kent, where, as a PT Instructor, he trained new recruits until he was transferred to the RAOC (Engineering, later REME) in March 1941 and posted overseas following his training as an engineer (August 1944). Most of the letters are concerned with their romance, but a few give details of the atmosphere in his barracks (being situated in a vulnerable part of England and subject to frequent air raids), comments about the bomb damage to his own home town of Wanstead, Essex (ca August 1940), the lethargy felt among his unit in north-west Europe, waiting for the end of the war (March 1945), and his concern about his relationship with his young son, Geoff, born in 1943. Also with the collection is a word processed account (25pp) giving the background to this wartime romance, with copies of poems sent between the couple during their courtship.
Content description
80 ms letters (308pp) to his wife, 'Marby' [Mary, née Ross] (September 1939 - December 1945) both before and after their wartime marriage in 1941, covering his employment as a schoolteacher in Sandwich, Kent (1939 - early 1940) and his conscription into the East Kent Regiment at Canterbury, Kent, where, as a PT Instructor, he trained new recruits until he was transferred to the RAOC (Engineering, later REME) in March 1941 and posted overseas following his training as an engineer (August 1944). Most of the letters are concerned with their romance, but a few give details of the atmosphere in his barracks (being situated in a vulnerable part of England and subject to frequent air raids), comments about the bomb damage to his own home town of Wanstead, Essex (ca August 1940), the lethargy felt among his unit in north-west Europe, waiting for the end of the war (March 1945), and his concern about his relationship with his young son, Geoff, born in 1943. Also with the collection is a word processed account (25pp) giving the background to this wartime romance, with copies of poems sent between the couple during their courtship.
History note
Cataloguer PJG
History note
Catalogue date 1995-10-26