Description
Object description
82 ms letters (701pp, plus 80 envelopes) written by Edith Florence Cochrane (known as 'Peggy', later Gibson) to her boyfriend/fiancé (later husband), Signalman Ronald Gibson (May - June 1944, March - November 1945), while she was living in Crouch End and working as a clerk in the War Cabinet Office in the Cabinet War Rooms (CWR), and later in offices in Whitehall, London, starting 28 May 1944 when he had vanished, confined to camp for the Normandy Landings, and confessing that she has also been seeing a married man but that it was going to end, mentioning the nice weather but that it was cold in 'our dungeon' (CWR) (May 1944), apprehension about the news of the second front (6 June 1944), her brother bringing home a Wren to meet his family (Olive, later his wife), the noticeable decrease in numbers of troops in London, the letters restarting 25 March 1945, her fire-watching shifts ending as the bombing and V weapon attacks had ending, asking about Ron's experiences in the Netherlands, posting him a humorous poem/song that had circulated the office about ‘Sonia Snell’ who got trapped in a toilet, saying that she cannot take leave in May or June (due to the expected end of the war), helping with the canteen, writing from Sheffield where she was staying with Ron's sister Dot (April 1945), visiting his parents and discussion of their engagement, news of his family and her stay in Sheffield, trying to get photos of his family, the Dominion Prime Ministers being in the office next to hers (4 April 1945), annoyance that people think she works in the War Office rather than the War Cabinet Office, hearing that Ron was now in Germany and billeted in a farmhouse with his friend Ken who was engaged to Peggy's friend Margaret Harris, the lack of excitement about the coming end of the war in Europe, tube shelter bunks being removed and railings replaced, worry for Ron now he is in Germany, staying with a friend, Marjorie, near Epsom, seeing houses decked with flags for returning prisoners of war, hearing about the horrors of Belsen and wondering how people could do that, being short of money, a friend having a baby by another man while her husband was in Burma and having it adopted, Hitler's death (May 1945), planning for staffing over VE Day celebrations, lack of news from Ron, weather in the channel holding up post and men coming on leave, preparations for VE Day in London, good details of VE Day celebrations (letter of 9 May 1945), the good weather, people gathering in Whitehall on V-1 for news, going in to work as one person had to be in the office, ‘of all the places to be on that day, London was the only one’, crowds gathering at 10am, seeing crowds gathered on the Mall, PM’s speech broadcast by megaphone at 3pm, going to the roof of her office, Ministry of Health side, to see Whitehall and Parliament, the huge crowds, seeing Churchill being driven in an open car to Parliament, all the MPs walking over to St Margaret’s Chapel next to Westminster Abbey, returning to work and seeing Churchill drive past towards Buckingham Palace, her boss Colonel M R Norman telling her that Churchill would be coming down the corridor to give a speech to the crowd at 5.30, following Churchill and looking out of the window next to his on the balcony of the Ministry of Health building, seeing the throng of upturned joyous faces, packing up work and going with Margaret and Jessie to hear the King’s speech at Buckingham Palace at 9pm, floodlights lighting up all the buildings including Trafalgar Square, flares and fireworks, tubes being packed so starting to walk home, managing to get in at Goodge St, getting home at 1am, watching a show at the theatre, the second day of celebrating feeling slightly down, tawdry and played out, the ending of the decorations (14 May 1945), a friend taking her to the roof of St Martin in the Fields and letting her ring the bills, her sister-in-law Olive being ill, showing Dot Gibson around London when she came to visit, discussing their marriage and the difficulties of her getting a transfer to Sheffield, hearing that Ron had got in trouble and had lost his Lance Corporal stripe, Peggy deciding that she didn't want a church wedding, her cousin Bert getting married, her brother Ernie trying to buy a house and his socialist views, Major General Jacobs and other colleagues returning from San Francisco (June 1945), the canteen she worked at closing down to her relief, news about Ron's leave, hearing news from her colleagues who had been to America, her cousin Bert's wedding and details of his RAF air crew friends including Australians, General Jacobs giving a late VE Day party, Ron losing one of his front teeth, the upcoming general election, Ron's leave in July 1945, hearing news from colleagues at the Potsdam conference, feeling that Churchill had been let down by the country after the election, dances at the YWCA (August 1945), colleagues returning from Potsdam, Colonel Norman bringing back some German wine for her which she would use for her wedding reception, hearing about Japan’s unconditional surrender and crowds gathering in Piccadilly, uncertainty with end of the war about demob and getting married, Olive and Ernie getting a flat but having to wait for repairs due to bomb damage, VJ Day coming, but apathy about it, details of the VJ holiday but being busy at work the second day, seeing the floodlights in London with Margaret, St Pauls looking good, but poor weather, most people not celebrating VJ Day, not feeling like celebrating, going to a dreadful dance, looking at a huge bonfire in silence, being glad that the war is over and the majority of people they know are all still alive, thinking they should wait to get married until Ron has been demobbed, her job being frozen until she has a husband permanently home so she can’t move, also they wouldn’t be able to live with his parents, her fears over the atomic bomb for future wars but hoping it will be like gas and no-one will use them, remembering time as Clerk of the ‘Tube Alloys Committee’ (Britain's nuclear programme) and wondering what had happened to its work, and then finding out about the bomb, hearing that Ron might not be demobbed until March 1946, Ron’s anger at his demob delay, confessing that she knew that his demob would be late, although earlier than it was due to be, questions over when they would marry, possibly on his next leave, her friend Margaret breaking off her engagement with Ron's friend Ken, having a holiday with friends in East Dean, still looking at possibility of transfer to a government job in Sheffield, Olive and Ernie getting a bungalow in Dagenham costing £750, being invited to the wedding of a former colleague, Jane Pleydell-Bouverie, daughter of the Earl of Radmor (September 1945), being fed up of working late with all the Civil Affairs in Europe, being busy at work as only two in her office and extra work due to the Council of Foreign Ministers in London to discuss the Italian Peace Treaty, looking into registry offices and getting annoyed with the bureaucracy, discussing guest lists and catering, wanting a smaller affair if possible, being shocked that Ron was probably getting leave in October, so having to organise dates and wedding plans, preferring to get married in early November after she gets paid, looking for wedding rings, the festive atmosphere in London as it is Thanksgiving Week, V1s and V2s and other German equipment on display in Trafalgar Square, still busy with the Council of Foreign Ministers work, views of one of the participants, possible tensions with Russia, likening the situation to a football match, discussing possible honeymoon destinations, looking into the cost and timescale of getting marriage licences, wedding rings being disappointing, especially utility rings, trying to get eggs for a wedding cake, not wanting official wedding photos, Ernie getting utility furniture for his house with costs involved, Colonel Norman being demobbed (October 1945), giving her brother’s house in Dagenham as her address for the registry office, the good news that Ron is first on the roster for leave in November, hoping to settle on 10 November for the wedding, having to give the notice, reconnoitring Registry Offices, inviting Dot and the rest of Ron’s family to the wedding, worrying about food and drink, thinking about honeymoon places, making enquiries about Wilson’s in Crouch End as a reception venue, having to do some conventional wedding things against her wishes, but not wanting to be dressed up like a bride, being practical over sentimental, having to change the wedding date to 17 November as she wouldn’t be able to register in both their registry offices in time for the 21 days’ notice, putting Ron’s address as her father’s house for the forms, booking a car to take them to the reception, Ron worrying that she had bought a second hand wedding ring so buying a new one for £6.15.0, describing the Registry Office, saying she didn’t want formal photos or invitations printed, sleeping arrangements for family coming for the wedding, not being superstitious about not seeing each other before hand, guests for the Registry Office, sourcing eggs for the cake, writing to a hotel in Torquay for the honeymoon, time of the wedding set for 11.15 am, only having two cars for the wedding party, reception being fixed for 11.45, not wanting to live all her life in Sheffield, wanting to keep her surname [she didn’t], the last letter (7 November 1945) mentioning last minute problems, having to try a different place in Torquay, taking two weeks off and getting three days special marriage leave with pay, views on living in Sheffield and the dread of being provincialized, worries about leaving friends and family and having to find new friends, but ultimately being sure that she does want to marry Ron. Throughout she gives details of holidays and day trips with various friends, dances at the YWCA, cinema and theatre visits and her opinions of films and plays she had seen, friends, colleagues, keeping in touch with her father and Ron's family, sending Ron cigarettes but praising his attempts to cut down, Ron's cousin Gordon who had been a prisoner of war, rationing, and the difficulties she had in organising a wedding from scratch without knowing exactly when Ron would be home on leave. Also included is one ms letter to Ron from his sister, Dorothy ('Dot') Gibson (4pp, plus envelope, 29 July 1945), and one ms letter to Ron from his mother, Emily Gibson (2pp, 11 September 1945).
Content description
82 ms letters (701pp, plus 80 envelopes) written by Edith Florence Cochrane (known as 'Peggy', later Gibson) to her boyfriend/fiancé (later husband), Signalman Ronald Gibson (May - June 1944, March - November 1945), while she was living in Crouch End and working as a clerk in the War Cabinet Office in the Cabinet War Rooms (CWR), and later in offices in Whitehall, London, starting 28 May 1944 when he had vanished, confined to camp for the Normandy Landings, and confessing that she has also been seeing a married man but that it was going to end, mentioning the nice weather but that it was cold in 'our dungeon' (CWR) (May 1944), apprehension about the news of the second front (6 June 1944), her brother bringing home a Wren to meet his family (Olive, later his wife), the noticeable decrease in numbers of troops in London, the letters restarting 25 March 1945, her fire-watching shifts ending as the bombing and V weapon attacks had ending, asking about Ron's experiences in the Netherlands, posting him a humorous poem/song that had circulated the office about ‘Sonia Snell’ who got trapped in a toilet, saying that she cannot take leave in May or June (due to the expected end of the war), helping with the canteen, writing from Sheffield where she was staying with Ron's sister Dot (April 1945), visiting his parents and discussion of their engagement, news of his family and her stay in Sheffield, trying to get photos of his family, the Dominion Prime Ministers being in the office next to hers (4 April 1945), annoyance that people think she works in the War Office rather than the War Cabinet Office, hearing that Ron was now in Germany and billeted in a farmhouse with his friend Ken who was engaged to Peggy's friend Margaret Harris, the lack of excitement about the coming end of the war in Europe, tube shelter bunks being removed and railings replaced, worry for Ron now he is in Germany, staying with a friend, Marjorie, near Epsom, seeing houses decked with flags for returning prisoners of war, hearing about the horrors of Belsen and wondering how people could do that, being short of money, a friend having a baby by another man while her husband was in Burma and having it adopted, Hitler's death (May 1945), planning for staffing over VE Day celebrations, lack of news from Ron, weather in the channel holding up post and men coming on leave, preparations for VE Day in London, good details of VE Day celebrations (letter of 9 May 1945), the good weather, people gathering in Whitehall on V-1 for news, going in to work as one person had to be in the office, ‘of all the places to be on that day, London was the only one’, crowds gathering at 10am, seeing crowds gathered on the Mall, PM’s speech broadcast by megaphone at 3pm, going to the roof of her office, Ministry of Health side, to see Whitehall and Parliament, the huge crowds, seeing Churchill being driven in an open car to Parliament, all the MPs walking over to St Margaret’s Chapel next to Westminster Abbey, returning to work and seeing Churchill drive past towards Buckingham Palace, her boss Colonel M R Norman telling her that Churchill would be coming down the corridor to give a speech to the crowd at 5.30, following Churchill and looking out of the window next to his on the balcony of the Ministry of Health building, seeing the throng of upturned joyous faces, packing up work and going with Margaret and Jessie to hear the King’s speech at Buckingham Palace at 9pm, floodlights lighting up all the buildings including Trafalgar Square, flares and fireworks, tubes being packed so starting to walk home, managing to get in at Goodge St, getting home at 1am, watching a show at the theatre, the second day of celebrating feeling slightly down, tawdry and played out, the ending of the decorations (14 May 1945), a friend taking her to the roof of St Martin in the Fields and letting her ring the bills, her sister-in-law Olive being ill, showing Dot Gibson around London when she came to visit, discussing their marriage and the difficulties of her getting a transfer to Sheffield, hearing that Ron had got in trouble and had lost his Lance Corporal stripe, Peggy deciding that she didn't want a church wedding, her cousin Bert getting married, her brother Ernie trying to buy a house and his socialist views, Major General Jacobs and other colleagues returning from San Francisco (June 1945), the canteen she worked at closing down to her relief, news about Ron's leave, hearing news from her colleagues who had been to America, her cousin Bert's wedding and details of his RAF air crew friends including Australians, General Jacobs giving a late VE Day party, Ron losing one of his front teeth, the upcoming general election, Ron's leave in July 1945, hearing news from colleagues at the Potsdam conference, feeling that Churchill had been let down by the country after the election, dances at the YWCA (August 1945), colleagues returning from Potsdam, Colonel Norman bringing back some German wine for her which she would use for her wedding reception, hearing about Japan’s unconditional surrender and crowds gathering in Piccadilly, uncertainty with end of the war about demob and getting married, Olive and Ernie getting a flat but having to wait for repairs due to bomb damage, VJ Day coming, but apathy about it, details of the VJ holiday but being busy at work the second day, seeing the floodlights in London with Margaret, St Pauls looking good, but poor weather, most people not celebrating VJ Day, not feeling like celebrating, going to a dreadful dance, looking at a huge bonfire in silence, being glad that the war is over and the majority of people they know are all still alive, thinking they should wait to get married until Ron has been demobbed, her job being frozen until she has a husband permanently home so she can’t move, also they wouldn’t be able to live with his parents, her fears over the atomic bomb for future wars but hoping it will be like gas and no-one will use them, remembering time as Clerk of the ‘Tube Alloys Committee’ (Britain's nuclear programme) and wondering what had happened to its work, and then finding out about the bomb, hearing that Ron might not be demobbed until March 1946, Ron’s anger at his demob delay, confessing that she knew that his demob would be late, although earlier than it was due to be, questions over when they would marry, possibly on his next leave, her friend Margaret breaking off her engagement with Ron's friend Ken, having a holiday with friends in East Dean, still looking at possibility of transfer to a government job in Sheffield, Olive and Ernie getting a bungalow in Dagenham costing £750, being invited to the wedding of a former colleague, Jane Pleydell-Bouverie, daughter of the Earl of Radmor (September 1945), being fed up of working late with all the Civil Affairs in Europe, being busy at work as only two in her office and extra work due to the Council of Foreign Ministers in London to discuss the Italian Peace Treaty, looking into registry offices and getting annoyed with the bureaucracy, discussing guest lists and catering, wanting a smaller affair if possible, being shocked that Ron was probably getting leave in October, so having to organise dates and wedding plans, preferring to get married in early November after she gets paid, looking for wedding rings, the festive atmosphere in London as it is Thanksgiving Week, V1s and V2s and other German equipment on display in Trafalgar Square, still busy with the Council of Foreign Ministers work, views of one of the participants, possible tensions with Russia, likening the situation to a football match, discussing possible honeymoon destinations, looking into the cost and timescale of getting marriage licences, wedding rings being disappointing, especially utility rings, trying to get eggs for a wedding cake, not wanting official wedding photos, Ernie getting utility furniture for his house with costs involved, Colonel Norman being demobbed (October 1945), giving her brother’s house in Dagenham as her address for the registry office, the good news that Ron is first on the roster for leave in November, hoping to settle on 10 November for the wedding, having to give the notice, reconnoitring Registry Offices, inviting Dot and the rest of Ron’s family to the wedding, worrying about food and drink, thinking about honeymoon places, making enquiries about Wilson’s in Crouch End as a reception venue, having to do some conventional wedding things against her wishes, but not wanting to be dressed up like a bride, being practical over sentimental, having to change the wedding date to 17 November as she wouldn’t be able to register in both their registry offices in time for the 21 days’ notice, putting Ron’s address as her father’s house for the forms, booking a car to take them to the reception, Ron worrying that she had bought a second hand wedding ring so buying a new one for £6.15.0, describing the Registry Office, saying she didn’t want formal photos or invitations printed, sleeping arrangements for family coming for the wedding, not being superstitious about not seeing each other before hand, guests for the Registry Office, sourcing eggs for the cake, writing to a hotel in Torquay for the honeymoon, time of the wedding set for 11.15 am, only having two cars for the wedding party, reception being fixed for 11.45, not wanting to live all her life in Sheffield, wanting to keep her surname [she didn’t], the last letter (7 November 1945) mentioning last minute problems, having to try a different place in Torquay, taking two weeks off and getting three days special marriage leave with pay, views on living in Sheffield and the dread of being provincialized, worries about leaving friends and family and having to find new friends, but ultimately being sure that she does want to marry Ron. Throughout she gives details of holidays and day trips with various friends, dances at the YWCA, cinema and theatre visits and her opinions of films and plays she had seen, friends, colleagues, keeping in touch with her father and Ron's family, sending Ron cigarettes but praising his attempts to cut down, Ron's cousin Gordon who had been a prisoner of war, rationing, and the difficulties she had in organising a wedding from scratch without knowing exactly when Ron would be home on leave. Also included is one ms letter to Ron from his sister, Dorothy ('Dot') Gibson (4pp, plus envelope, 29 July 1945), and one ms letter to Ron from his mother, Emily Gibson (2pp, 11 September 1945).
History note
Cataloguer SJO
