Stan and Grace

Nurses Home                                                                                          (19) General Hospital Nottingham 27. 4. 43      My Precious Darling, I received your letter No. 7 this morning.   10 pages too!   It was grand.   I am glad I was off duty too.   It gave me plenty of time in which to read and digest it. Well Dear, Easter has come and gone.   How did you spend it? Easter Sunday was my half day.   I went into Nottingham and to the pictures.   Monday was my day of...

Sergt S. Bristow                                                                                       (19) Headquarters 9 Corps Signals (Rear) B.N.A.F. Tuesday, April 27 ‘43 My Very Own Darling Actually I have nothing new to write to you about, but I have a feeling of restlessness hanging over me tonight and I thought perhaps to share a few minutes with you might cure it.   This is my third letter in three days, so I think I am just about creating a record, since arriving out here.   You will have got my air letter of the 25 th and airgraph written ...

April 26 th  1943         My Own Darling, Following very closely on the heels of your air letter of last night, your ordinary letter No. 11 of April 6 th  arrived as an Easter Monday present – a very pleasant one too!  I’ve no air letter forms at the moment so had to resort to this method of reply.  Easter Monday out here has gone off more or less like any other day out here- perhaps a little bit more exciting than some.  I had to dive into a hole rather quickly, but apart from getting covered in good ‘onest muck’ nothing outrageous happened.  So you can’t make up your mind whether to go to Edinburgh or to Sth. Wales for your holidays.  How I wish I could be with you to share them!  Still there will be lots more holidays in the days that are to come and then I shan’t be thousands of miles away, but actually by your side enjoying them with you.  That first holiday of ours after the wa...

Sunday, April 25 th 1943                                                                            (17) My Own Darling, The bell of the little village church just down the road is ringing out its weekly call to worship over the surrounding countryside.   Its ring, echoing through the sunlit air, reminds on vaguely (an inexplicably, for Grimethorpe never had a bell which sounded so sweet!) of home and of peaceful Sundays of yester-year. The villagers, bedecked in their Sunday finery, are answering to its bidding, and go in a steady stream towards the little white building, which with its red tiles and surrounding cyp...

Usual address   22 April 43                                                                                                                   (16) My Own Darling, I wrote you an eight-page letter last night in reply to four letters I received from you yesterday, all very belated (being a month old) but none the less extremely thrilling.   I had to post the letter by ordinary mail as I have no air letter cards at the moment, so you will get it some time before Christmas!   How long does it take these airgraphs to arrive, by the way?   Your last one took a fortnight. There is not any fresh news to re...

Usual address Wednesday, 21 April ‘43 My Very Own Darling, I have just received your letters 5, 6 and 7 written on 11,14 and 19 March and – at last – your airgraph of 6 April (No. 12).   These airgraphs are not so successful as the air letters are they?   They take much longer and one can’t write half as much on one as can be written on an air letter.   I should concentrate on air letters, Darling, in future if I was you. I simply can’t describe how grand it is to get so many letters from you & read what you are doing and thinking & most of all to send the one bit of news which never fails to thrill me, that you are still loving me as much as ever, even though miles   & miles of ocean are separating us.   I really feel Darling, that this separation is strengthening the bond between us if that is possible. One of the sergeants with whom I am rather pally had a bad blow yesterday.   He had a letter from his girl to say that she had decid...

AIRGRAPH To: Sgt. Bristow, S.   2364226 Headquarters 9 Corps Signals (Rear) British North African Forces No. 17   21.4.43     My Own Darling, I received your Airgraph this morning.   I was so pleased to hear that you have received a few more of my letters. I have decided to risk sending my photograph so I do hope that it arrives safely.   However, if it does not I will have to have another one taken.   I have nearly finished writing you a letter to go by ordinary mail. It is numbered 16, so the photograph will be in that. By the way, how about sending along a few snaps of yourself? All at home are keeping well and wish to be remembered to you. Space is small so I will say Cheerio for now.   I am, yours ever, Grace    xxxxxxxxx

General Hospital    Nottingham 20. 4. 43                                                                                                           No. 16 My Very Own Darling, At last!   The end of a perfect day (I don’t think).   Whew!   Its been hectic.   It has been so hot too.   However, all good things come to an end. It is now about 9.30 p.m.   The evening is cool and very quiet.   I am now sitting in the sitting room with the window wide open and looking out over the green fields and thinking, Darling, of you. Yes, my thoughts are always of you Dear, at this time of night, wondering how and where you are and wishing and wishing ........ ...

Usual address 18 April 1943 ​​​​​​​​​​​                                       14 My Own Darling, I am on top of the world today, for guess what happened last night!  I got two letters from you. One that I had given up all hope of getting was No. 8 (one you wrote on my birthday and posted by ordinary mail) and No. 14, an air letter actually posted on the 11 th .  Not bad going, eh? I must confess I didn’t like the bit of news about the re-registering, but I suppose it is no good worrying we shall just have to take things as they come.  I think actually I would rather you underwent the horrors of a midwifery course  than that you are pushed into the QAIMNS as soon as you qualify, but I know that at the bottom of you you are really acing to get some of this so-called excitement out of life.  Believe me, however, when I tell you that there is nothing exciting in ...

Usual address Friday 16 Apr 1943   My Very Own Darling,   I am so sorry if you have been kept waiting for a letter as you remark in our air letter dated 7 th  April (No. 13) which I have just received.  I know, however, that there is no need whatsoever to tell you that it is not I who is to blame, but the Postal authorities, for although we have been very busy in this last fortnight I have always made time to write to you, my Dear.  We had a special job on hand of which you will have heard now on the wireless without actually knowing that it referred to our efforts.*   You know Darling that there is nothing I like more than writing to you or receiving your letters and all my spare moments (and a lot of working ones too) are either taken up with writing to you or thinking of you.  I never realised that I should ever miss anyone as much as I have missed you during these last two long-drawn out months!  Just as you were kept w...

General Hospital Annexe                                                                         No: 15 Selston Notts                                                                                   Monday 12. 4. 43 My Very Own Da...

Usual address April 12 th 1943       My Very Own Darling, I received your air letter dated 30 March about four days ago, but today is the first opportunity I have had of replying to it.   Your description of going home made me feel very homesick, Darling.   I am simply living for the day when I shall be back in England once more for that day will be the day when you & I can really start living & see all the plans we have made beginning to materialise. Sitting in a car as it is going along a dusty desert road can be very uninteresting and boring & it is then that I can be almost alone with my thoughts.   Yesterday I was thinking how grand it will be “after the war” (three small words which mean such an awful lot) for you and I to live a life of our own, in our own home.   If the success of this war means only that to you & I (although it will mean more in actual reality) then it will have been worth all these months of separatio...

G.H. Annexe, Selston Notts                                                                                                       (14) 10. 4.43   3 p.m.    I received No. 6 from you this morning but No. 5 has yet to come.   I was very disappointed to hear that up to you writing you had not received any more of my letters.   If no more have arrived yet you might receive a dozen or so all at once.   Think how nice that will be – or will it? I liked the “Carte Po...

General Hospital Annexe Selston Notts.                                                                                            No. 13 7. 4. 43        My Very Own Darling, This morning's post brought me a letter from your Mother saying that she received a letter yesterday from you.   Of course I was very disappointed that I had not heard from you but pleased to hear that you were alright.   I was just getting a little worried as it is over a fortnight now, since I received a letter from you. Selston ha...