Stan and Grace

2364226 Sergt S. Bristow                                                                             80. Headquarters 15 L of C Signals Cen Med Forces 24 Nov 43         My Very Own Darling, Today has been most pleasant.   Yes, you have guessed right – I’ve had lots of letters from you.   Four to be exact, one ordinary letter dated 14 Oct and three air letters covering the period 4 – 13 Nov 43. I was very sorry to read in the first air letter of your disappointment in not meeting Eric and his wife in Nottingham.   Things apparently turned out O.K., however, for I noted ...

G.H.N.                                                                                                     (72) 21-11-43                  My Own Darling, I have dated this letter the 21 st but really it is now five minutes to mid-night on the 20 th .   Yes, I am really on night-duty again.   I have been on since last (Tuesday) sorry – Wednesday. What a time I am having too!   At the moment I have thirty-seven patients and most of them are very ill.   In fact there seems...

2364226 Sergt S. Bristow                                                                                        79? Headquarters 15 L of C Signals Cen Med Forces 19 Nov 43                My Very Own Darling, I am afraid that there has been an enforced silence for the past few days during which time I have moved my abode to Italy.   I can’t say that the change has been one for the better, except, of course, for the fact that it is a bit nearer home!   I have now been robbed of all the pleasures of ...

Nurses Home, General Hospital                                                                            (71) Nottingham 16-11-43                  10 p.m.            My Very Own Darling, As I am waiting for night nurse to come back on duty I thought that I would start writing this.   Once again I am relieving night nurse whilst she goes to the “Dramatic Society” rehearsal.   I guess I shall have to try and get a day nurse to relieve me for a few hours when I am on night duty. Night Sister has j...

15-11-43                                                                                                                  (70) G.H.N. My Own Darling, This morning's post brought me two letters from you.   One airgraph dated the fourth of this month and one sea letter dated the fourth of last month. In the letter you told me that Gracie Fields did not turn up to entertain you as you all expected.   There was quite a bit of criticism in various papers about it.   From what I could gather she had to return to Hollywood to fulfil a contract.   I should imagine that you look forward to a bit of English entertainment out there. Do you remember me te...

G.H.N. 12-11-43                                      P.S. Sorry I have forgotten to number some of my letters but                               I think this is 69. My Very Own Darling, Your air-letter dated Oct 27 th arrived Wednesday 10 th Nov.   I could not reply to it before as I went home Wed: evening and did not arrive back until 10 p.m. yesterday.   If possible I like to reply to your letters as soon as they arrive. Thursday morning I went to Lundwood to see Eric, and Bessie and Eric went back to Grimethorpe with me.   We arrived back just in time for dinner and in the afternoon I took them both up to 19’ to see your Mother.   Eric looks much the same as when he went away.   He is hoping that he will not be sen...

  According to Stan's record of wartime service, on 10 November, 1943, he "Entered Italian Theatre of Operations". Stan and his unit are on the move, so it's not a surprise that there will be no letters from Stan for a while.  Grace's letters will keep us going in the meantime. I believe that the town Stan was leaving was Catania.  Here are a couple of postcards of Catania, which are part of the collection but were never posted.  Stan must have brought them home with him.  Presumably the photographs for the postcards would have been taken in the mid 1930's, before the war #lovestory  #lovestoryWWII   #lovestoryworldwar2  #1940slovestory  #wartimelovestory   #lovestoryinletters   #loveletters   #royalsignalsWWII   #royalsignalsworldwar2   #soldierWWII  #sicily1943   

G.H.N. 9-11-43     My Very Own Darling, It is now 9.20 p.m. and I am writing this on duty.   No! do not jump to the conclusion that I am on night duty.   I am still on day duty but the night nurse of this ward wanted to attend a play practice to-night so I offered to relieve her for an hour. Everything is very quiet at the moment, we have just been round and shaken everybody's pillow and tucked them up for the night so I thought that whilst I was waiting for Nurse to come back I would write this letter to you. Your air-letter dated Oct 30 th arrived this morning.   It had only taken 10 days to come.   The A.P.O. seems to be excelling itself once again. Yes, Darling, I did receive that long letter which you sent me about Malta.   I also received the Maltese note and your photograph.   I have written a letter in reply to same so may be you will have received it by now. The photograph most certainly does not do you justice.   I pr...

2364226                                                                                       77. Sergt Bristow S, Headquarters 15 L of C Signals Cen Med Forces. 6 Nov 43        My Very Own Darling, I am afraid that I couldn’t manage to keep my promise about writing a long letter last night as a spot of work came on the scene at the last moment. I couldn’t let the sixth of the month pass, however, without writing to you.   I was thinking last night about the last 21 months, Darling.   Time is rolling relentlessly on, is...

  2364226   Sergt Bristow S, UHQ, 15 L of C Signals, CMF 77.                                                                                      4 NOV 43 MY VERY OWN DARLING, I USED MY LAST AIR LETTER CARD LAST NIGHT IN WRITING TO YOUR MOTHER TO SAY HOW SORRY I WAS TO HEAR OF THE DEATH OF YOUR GRANDFATHER, SO THIS AIRGRAPH WILL HAVE TO SATISFY YOU FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS, UNTIL THE NEXT ISSUE OF A.N.L.C.’S COMES AROUND! HOW JEALOUS YOU MAKE ME FEEL WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT ERIC COMING HOME! !   I WISH I WAS IN A SIMILAR POSITION ALTHOUGH I SUPPOSE I SHOULDN’T...

G.H.N. 4-11-43          My Own Darling, I started writing you an ordinary letter last night but I thought that in the meantime I would write you this as these air-letters do travel quicker. When I started writing you last night I felt on top of the world but as I write this I feel down in the depths.   Yes, there is a good reason for my feeling this way.   I was expecting Eric and Bessie down to see me to-day.   It is my day-off and after waiting at the station for two trains to come in I came back to the hospital to find a telegram waiting for me from Eric, saying that Bessie is ill, so they cannot come. You can imagine my disappointment.   Somehow, I knew they would not come but I think that it is rather a coincidence that Bessie had to be ill the very morning they were coming to see me. Yes, maybe I do sound nasty saying things like that but a similar thing happened once before, before they were married.   However, I suppo...