Undated letter from Stan (No. 2)

Sgt. S. Bristow                                                                                                  (2)
2364226
Headquarters
9 Corps Signals
c/o APO 4660 

Undated

My Very Own Darling,

The flaming sun is beginning to sink into the calm blueness which is the sea, warning us that evening is approaching.  All day it has been beating down on the deck &, but for a stiff cooling breeze which has been blowing off the sea, the day would have been as hot as any English summer day.

I have been sprawled on the sun deck of the ship all afternoon dreaming; dreaming of England and of you and of the future which we have planned.  I must admit it has made me feel a little homesick & so I thought the best thing to do was to come into the lounge & write to you.  Writing to you, next to being near you, always makes me feel happy.

Oddly enough, just as I have started writing this letter someone has started playing the theme tune from the Warsaw Concerto.  I always look upon that piece of music as our Theme Tune my dear: both our lives seem so bound up in it.  Do you remember at first, whenever we had nothing much to write to each other about, we could always fill up an odd page arguing as to the difference & the merits between it and Tchaik’s Concerto in B Flat?

Ah me, I was only thinking when I was laid on the deck an hour ago, how grand it would have been if you had been stretched at my side & instead of being surrounded by bodies in khaki we had for our shipmates a crowd of gaily dressed holidaymakers.

Personally, however, when we are married I sincerely hope that you will never wish to go on a cruise, for despite the fact of making allowances for the cramped conditions, I can’t for the life of me think of anything more boring.  I am quite ready for the day when we dock & I can have my feet on dry land & go for a decent walk to stretch myself.  A walk on the deck doesn’t seem the same as walking along “terra firma”.  The majority of my off-hours (which have been numerous) have been spent in sleeping, reading, writing & playing cards.  Just lately the first named as been most popular, as the change in the temperature & the balmy breezes are making me most lethargic.  (Alright, I can just hear you saying that I am always in that condition!)

I am sorry to have to tell you that my efforts at being a sailor were not crowned with success.  On the first day out there was a pretty heavy swell on & the ship heaved & rolled & my tummy objected in no uncertain manner.  It was small consolation to know that about 80% of the men were similarly affected.

How I could have done with all your nursing skill on the first night at sea.  You would have found me a most receptive patient (You always have, if it comes to that!).  I woke during the night & was sure I heard the Angel of Death calling my name.  It was a false alarm, however.

There’s a definite improvement to report now, however, & I have almost recovered my normal appetite.  Luckily the food is quite good, so there is nothing to worry about in that direction.  The Sergeants share the First Class Dining Room with the Officers for their meals.  The only difference is that we eat an hour earlier than the officers & have to take our own mug & “eating irons”, whilst the officers have the ship’s linen & silver.  But why worry?  As one of my pals pointed out the other day.  If anything happened the officers would have to swim in the same sea as the Sergeants!

Our sleeping quarters are comfortable, if not convenient.  They defy description, however.  When all the hammocks are slung they look like the drying room at an overworked Chinese laundry, whilst it is about as hot as the Mecca Locarno was at Leeds that summer’s afternoon when we visited it!

Still, it’s all experience, & believe me it will make me appreciate all the more the home we are planning to make together as soon as this so-and-so war comes to an end.  I only wish it would show some signs of coming to an end.

How are things going at Nottingham, Darling.  I hope the studying is going O.K.  Such a lot depends on it you know.  There is not a day passes but that I wonder how you are getting along & how much you are missing me.  The absence of  any letters from you just lately has made the days drag along almost interminably.  They were one thing which helped the days to pass when I was in England.  I am counting the days to the time I hear from you again.  I hope it is not too far distant.

Remember me to your Father & Mother & Vera when you write or next time you see them, won’t you?  Tell your Father I think of him every time I go into the ship’s canteen & see pipe tobacco like he smokes at 4s per pound!!  Cigarettes, too, are only 1/8d per 50 packet & just imagine in England one pays 2/- for 20 & is perfectly happy at times to queue up for them.

Talking of queues makes me shiver!  I hope I never have to queue for another thing in all my life.  You have to queue for everything on this boat – yes, including a visit to the lavatory!!!

Well, Darling, there’s lots more I could write and tell you about, but for the fact that they either embarrass the Censor, or annoy him.

I could for instance recall those grand evenings we have spent stretched before a roaring fire at your home but they are “Just Between Ourselves”.

So I am afraid this letter will have to coming to an end, Dear.  Keep smiling & like me, praying that the day won’t be long before we’re together again & for good.

As always, you have my love, Darling.  Yours, Stan

P.S. Have also written to Mother today.  S