Description
Object description
Circa 50 letters mostly written during the Second World War (June 1940 – December 1950) by Lois Allan from her home at Farnham Common (Buckinghamshire) to a family friend, Elizabeth Lowe Gamble, in New York (USA), together with associated correspondence and cyclostyled 'round robin' letters from the Allans to family and acquaintances in the USA, containing amongst personal and family news observations on wartime conditions on the 'home front' in Britain, with particular reference to the Allans' work with evacuee children from London, their part in placing a number of British children with families in the USA, wartime gardening and food self-sufficiency, the small-scale war-related manufacturing industry which they ran in out-buildings attached to their Vine Cottage home (as a by-product of which Lois Allan created the popular 'Fuzzy Felt' toys), and the fortunes of their son Lieutenant A M Allan who was taken prisoner of war and held in various German POW camps, notably Colditz Castle; circa 40 letters and postcards written during 1940 – 1944 by Lieutenant A M Allan (variously known as 'Jock' or 'Peter' Allan) to his parents and to Elizabeth Gamble, mainly from Oflag IVC (Colditz), containing particulars of his and his fellow POWs' situation in captivity (Allan was the principal subject in the ultimately unsuccessful 'mattress escape' attempt from Colditz in late 1940), with a few related documents, photographs and newspaper cutting; 11 letters written during 1940 – 1944 to Elizabeth Gamble by the mothers of children who were sent to the USA to be placed with host families and for whom she had acted as guarantor, with associated documents and newspaper cuttings; also a small number of other letters, photographs and ephemera.
Content description
Circa 50 letters mostly written during the Second World War (June 1940 – December 1950) by Lois Allan from her home at Farnham Common (Buckinghamshire) to a family friend, Elizabeth Lowe Gamble, in New York (USA), together with associated correspondence and cyclostyled 'round robin' letters from the Allans to family and acquaintances in the USA, containing amongst personal and family news observations on wartime conditions on the 'home front' in Britain, with particular reference to the Allans' work with evacuee children from London, their part in placing a number of British children with families in the USA, wartime gardening and food self-sufficiency, the small-scale war-related manufacturing industry which they ran in out-buildings attached to their Vine Cottage home (as a by-product of which Lois Allan created the popular 'Fuzzy Felt' toys), and the fortunes of their son Lieutenant A M Allan who was taken prisoner of war and held in various German POW camps, notably Colditz Castle; circa 40 letters and postcards written during 1940 – 1944 by Lieutenant A M Allan (variously known as 'Jock' or 'Peter' Allan) to his parents and to Elizabeth Gamble, mainly from Oflag IVC (Colditz), containing particulars of his and his fellow POWs' situation in captivity (Allan was the principal subject in the ultimately unsuccessful 'mattress escape' attempt from Colditz in late 1940), with a few related documents, photographs and newspaper cutting; 11 letters written during 1940 – 1944 to Elizabeth Gamble by the mothers of children who were sent to the USA to be placed with host families and for whom she had acted as guarantor, with associated documents and newspaper cuttings; also a small number of other letters, photographs and ephemera.
History note
Cataloguer SWW
