description
Content description
Letters and other items relating to his service, comprising: a ms letter (6pp) written in humorous language to his sister and brother-in-law, Ruby and Eric, as a Signalman with 2 Company, 1st Holding Battalion, Scarborough, Yorkshire (February 1941), with details of his boredom, grumbling about being on guard and not following uniform orders in protest, his hatred of the army, the poor weather, food, and accommodation, and sending sweets home; three ms letters sent to his parents, George and Ethel, and brother, Keith (5 – 25 May 1942, 14pp, 20pp, and 8pp) while serving as a Lance Corporal, Royal Corps of Signals, attached to 1st Armoured Brigade Group Signals, and then 1st Royal Tank Regiment Signals, Middle East Force (MEF), talking about the heat, flies and mosquitos, friends coming down with diseases, the bad conditions on the ship taking them to North Africa, his health, the importance of letters from home, his very poor opinion of the Egyptians he has met but being unable to beat up thieves, contrasting with the lovely welcome from the South Africans, infestations of fleas, lack of washing facilities, making sure his family are looking after his wife and son, Madeline and Graham, not wanting to let his family name down, collecting stamps, getting a lump in his throat when receiving a letter from home, receiving letters even though his father was putting the wrong address, worrying as his wife's letters were a bit stilted and being scared that she may not love him as much as he loves her, being pleased that he is in a Wireless van as it is not as big a target as a tank, money issues, and that he has "got to come through dad, as I have got so very much to live for". He was killed in Libya when the tank he was in was hit (10 June 1942). Together with: a ms letter (2p, 5 September 1942) from Hurlock's Sergeant, Harold S Sibborn, to Mrs Madeline Hurlock, talking about her husband being cheerful and hopeful to the last, the return of his personal and private belongings, and how well he was liked by the men in his unit; a newspaper article (1p) stating that Hurlock's grave had been found, and a cross had been erected by the Germans who had buried him; a photograph of Hurlock and his son, Graham; a portrait photograph of Ronald Hurlock 'Taken in Cairo, May 1942'; a photograph of Ron and another soldier; a photograph of Hurlock and his troop Sergeant, with a note saying they were 'like that' with a sketch of crossed fingers; a photograph of Hurlock dressed in Arab dress with images of his wife and son; a Graves Registration Services photograph of Hurlock's grave at Knightsbridge Cemetery, Acroma, Libya; a newspaper cutting about the victories and losses sustained by 1st Battalion RTR (1p, n.d.); a newspaper article from the 'Daily Mirror' (November 1942) about Graham Hurlock, aged only two, selling poppies in memory of his father.
History note
Cataloguer SJO
