Hut 12A,
31 S.F.T.S.,
Kingston
Aug. 1

Dear Phyllis,

First of all excuse this paper but I decided in lectures that I must write to you without any further delay. So here goes.

I was glad to get your letter and I am sorry to hear that you have had trouble finding a place. But you have one at last and you sound pleased with it. Don’t neglect the spare bed in case I get to Calgary.

I must admit that I am a bit discontented here in Kingston. I am so close to home compared to with before but that just makes it more tantalizing. It would be great if I were in some place like Lethbridge or something. However that cannot be helped I suppose and Kingston really is not too bad. We can swim and once in a while maybe get to Toronto or Montreal.

How do you like Calgary? Have you met any of Lois’s friends? She has a lot of them there and I expect she will ask some of them to call when you get settled. You must hate by now staying in the hotel. In fact you don’t sound any too happy at the moment. I hope everything is O.K.

I do feel for Mother and Dad now. They must be pretty lonely with us all away. I do hope you will be able to get down there once in a while. But I expect you think of that too.

I am enclosing Jack’s letter. Will you send it back to Mother when you are finished with it. I am also enclosing a snap taken of me the other day. Those things in my hands are signal pistols. I was out on the aerodrome the other day as Duty Signaller. If any planes try to come in without their wheels down (as they sometimes do) the duty signaler must fire one of these pistols to keep them up until they do lower it.

We are starting our Wings exams next Wednesday. That is the last great hurdle in this flying game. After that we are supposed to know how to fly and spend all our time in application of flying, gunnery, bombing, navigation etc. It will be much more interesting.

I wish Jack could tell us something of what he is doing. I am sure he must be on operations. If he were still in training he would probably be saying something about it. It would be nice to know.

Tell Ed to look out for a chap called Bob Lowe at the plant. He has just been a common workman on the construction but he graduated in Engineering at U.B.C. last year and will probably be going into the plant eventually. If he ever runs across him remember me as he was a very good friend of mine at U.B.C.

When you get settled in your own place let me know. I shall write to some of my married friends and get them to call on you if you like. I think you will like them. The Calgary bunch at U. of A. was pretty good.

This letter is a pretty bad one. I find it hard to concentrate with this stupid lecturer droning on as if the whole world turned on the way a internal condensation engine works. I don’t know why they give us all this stuff as it is certain we will never have to fix our own engines. However it is in the syllabus so we must know something if just to pass the examinations.

Very much love to you and Ed and get settled soon,

Hampton.

[Editor’s note: While no year was included with the written date, the letter’s contents indicate it was 1941.]