October 21, 1941
Sorry I haven’t been writing as often as formerly, but there just isn’t any news to report, which makes letter writing quite a problem. We left our billets last week and are at present on the sea coast. This is an evacuated area, so there are plenty of empty houses to be had. Our particular house is situated on a high piece of land about one mile from the sea. A large valley and a line of hills are between us and the water. Through a cleft in the hills I can see a wide expanse of blue-green water sparkling in the late afternoon sun. The whole countryside is very beautiful, in fact, as fine as anything I have seen, with its small green fields, fresh ploughed land, and rolling pastures.
H.Q. is situated in a typical sleepy village, with its spired church and winding narrow lanes. Strangely enough, we are on the scene of the last successful invasion of England, let’s hope history doesn’t repeat itself. I paid a visit on Sunday to our nearest large town, one of the famous Cinque ports, but found it very disappointing, as it now resembles Aldershot, being completely overrun with troops, largely Canadian Second Div. We, being Corps troops, are not in any particular Division and are at present attached to the 2d Division.
As far as we know, we will be here for some time and the prospects of our returning to our old billets very slim indeed. I am very sorry we had to move as I was quite content to stay put until such a time as there was a real job to do. The day before I left, I went to see Liulf, as at that time, we thought we might be on our way to the Continent. This proved to be another false alarm, so here we are. Liulf was in good spirits and looked very fit, due undoubtedly to the fact that he was training for another of his army matches. We had a quiet evening together and later visited some friends I knew there. I stayed overnight and returned the following morning in one of the trucks Liulf was able to borrow. I hope to see him again this week as I go on leave again this Friday. I promised my Aunts I would pay them a visit, so I suppose I must do so. It may seem very ungrateful, but I would much sooner go up to Scotland and see more of the country. The Aunts always seem to make such a fuss over us when we visit them, that we feel uncomfortable. I do hope they don’t think I spend my time there because I have no alternative, as this is far from the case.
Your cigs and Oxo cubes have been coming through very regularly and are much appreciated. I am afraid I am now a confirmed smoker and enjoy a cig.
I have rather a good snap of Mr. and Mrs. Ravenscroft, so will enclose it for your approval. They are really very fine people and I think Mrs. R. became quite fond of me, as I did of her. She is an ardent gardener, but due to the shortage of men, found it very difficult to get help. I won her heart by doing all I could to help her in this respect. I know whatever happens, I can rely on these two to help me. I was very pleased to hear that Audrey had finished her grade twelve, but agree with you that it would be much better if she had until Spring to study music.
It seems hard to realize that young Shirley has passed her grade eleven, as she seems just a kid yet. I expect you will have all changed considerably before I see you again, so don’t be stingy with snaps. Must close now, but will add a few lines before I go on leave.
