Sunday, 1 August, 1943 - Two letters from Stan

Firstly, an 'air letter':

 

2364226
Sergt. S. Bristow
Headquarters
15 L of C Signals                                                                           41.
C.M.F.

Sunday 1 Aug 43

My Very Own Darling,

I am sitting under my flynet with a huge bunch of grapes (purchased for a shilling straight from the vine this morning) & for the first time since I landed, I am feeling more or less at peace with myself.

To-day is the first rest I have had since I got here & I don’t quite know whether the Colonel has given me the day off as a reward for working so hard or just because it is Bank Holiday Sunday to-day!

I have just been wondering how long it will be before we spend a Bank Holiday together & how we shall spend such holidays.  It is my favourite pastime sitting thinking what we shall do together when this war is over. 

Getting this war over means so much to you and I, Doesn’t it?  We have such a lot to do & such a lot of time to make up for when I get back to England, Darling, haven’t we?

What is your impression of the recent happenings in Italy?  One cannot help but be optimistic & hope that it is the first sign of the Axis cracking, can one?  Personally I do think it will shorten the war quite a lot.  As far as I am concerned it cannot shorten it enough!!

I suppose that to-day being August 1^st, you will be back at work.  I have been thinking of you more than usual to-day, my Dear.  Work will not be going at all well, I don’t suppose.

I have just finished doing my daily laundry (it is so hot out here that we can only wear a shirt of drill for one day). I am beginning to be quite expert at this washing business, (Not for your future use!!) but I suppose it is a matter of plenty of practise making perfect.

It is over a week since I had a letter from you, so I am beginning to look at the Post Corporal  every time I see him.  Your letters, Darling, are one of the very few bright spots in an otherwise hum-drum existence.  They are always so cheering & when I feel down in the dumps I always get out your letters & re-read one or two of them.  I was reading the ones you sent me after our last leave together last night.

They recalled very happy days, Angel.  That leave was really one of the highlights in the whole of my life, but what is more cheering still is that we have still happier days ahead of us, once this barrier is surmounted.

Well, my Darling, this is the end of this letter, but I intend to write a longer ordinary letter later to-day, so until then – “Cheerio”!

As each day passes, Dear, my love for you gets stronger.  Always yours, Stan xxxx

Later in the day, an 'ordinary letter', which should take longer to arrive:

2364226
Sergt. S. Bristow
Headquarters
15 L of C Signals                                                                                     42.
Cen Med Forces

1 Aug 43

My Very Own Darling,

I have certainly used this day off to good purpose.  I have at long last caught up with my correspondence.  This is the sixth letter I have written since I wrote the air letter to you this morning.

Oh, Darling, I wish you could have been with me this afternoon.  Your companionship would just have added the finishing touches to an otherwise delightful afternoon.  I have been down to the seaside which is about half a mile away & had a grand swim.  The coast here is not unlike that of Devon or Cornwall.  It is scattered with little bays & coves & if you just walk along for a little way you can always find a secluded spot where one can bathe without being disturbed.  The only trouble is that there is no sand.  Larva from the neighbouring volcano, Mount Etna, takes its place.  You can see how when it was molten it poured down the slopes to the sea, which turned it into solid rock.

We discovered three caves which the sea ran into to-day & were very bravely exploring them until with much flapping a bat flew out just over our heads.  It startled us so much that we decided that we would not go any further without a flashlamp.  (It was as good an excuse for beating a retreat as any)!

The sea around here is grand.  Mingled with the blue of the sea are the various colours of the seaweeds, purple, orange, black & red & together with the sun shining on them they make a colourful picture.

Situated in one of the little coves is a very picturesque fishing village, with gaily painted boats & fishing nets drawn up onto the rocks.  You would certainly have enjoyed the walk.

The Sicilians seem to delight in painting, for all their carts bear vary-coloured pictures on them & the horses & mules’ harness is always decorated in startling colours.  The interpreter was telling me that they love having processions on the various Saints Days & that they are extremely colourful affairs.

I have got two Sicilians working for me now – one is doing the job of cleaning up the offices & the other is a draughtsman.  It is O.K.  They work very hard, but it is a damned nuisance every time you want to tell them anything having to run & find the Interpreter.  I shall have to start learning the language.

A German reconnaissance plane has just passed overhead at such a great height that in the rarified atmosphere, the petrol fumes were vapourising, leaving a white feathery trail behind it.  The ack-ack guns had the audacity to fire a few desultory shots but it was far out of range & just carried on across the sky.

Did I tell you that I was living in a Barracks perched up on the cliffs about half a mile from the sea.  I bet in peacetime it was quite a pleasant place.  The gardens here at one time been well laid out.  Geraniums are now beginning to go wild as it looks as though they have not been tended since the war started (from Italy’s point of view).

In a plot in front of the Sergeants’ Mess there is the word “DUCE” in flowers & the RSM is going around with a frown on his dial wondering what English word he can change it into.  There have been several suggestions, but none that he can act upon.

An amusing incident has just happened.  A little bird has just been up to the door of the Mess on the scrounge for food & someone said “Have you come to join up” & he nodded his head, much to the amusement of us all.

Well, Dear, it is beginning to get dusk & as I have no light in my room I shall have to bring this to a close.

I love you so much Darling, so much that this life gets so irritating at times.  I suppose its because I get impatient for the war to end, but who wouldn’t with such a marvellous girl like you waiting for them?  Do you ever get impatient too?

How I wish I could hold you in my arms again & feel that thrill of your lips touching mine.  Life always seems so full & thrilling when I am with you & has been so empty for this last six months.

Still, there’ll come a day, Darling, & until then I’ll keep loving you as much as I know you are loving me.

Always yours  Stan  xxxxxxx

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