January 21, 1944

2030 21 January 1944

Dearest,


I just sealed up an air mail letter for you + when I put it in the T ?? A “programme” I realized I had not written you one since Monday. I was thinking that I told you about the show in the last long letter, but it seems it was in a V-letter. However I don’t think I could have enlarged on it much more unless I set out to describe the show scene by scene and that wouldn’t be at all interesting. I did not have a chance to go shopping for stuffed animals or anything else. By the time we got the Major under way there was just time to ride in, grab some tea, + go to the theatre, although, we did find that the show began half an hour later than was printed on the tickets. But we didn’t find that out until we had waited in line to get in the place + bought the programme. Until then we couldn’t’ understand why people were lined up in the street when they all had reserved seats. C’est la guerre. Today I got your V-letter of the 5th and a copy of Time (12/27). Evidently somebody bought me a subscription, but it’s the first I knew of it. Who was it? You? Please elucidate. I think somebody very, very much. Life in Ireland continues the uneven tenor of it’s way, so there isn’t any other news. But I’ve spent the whole evening “with you” in the pitifully inadequate way, which is the only way I can do it. Still it’s far, far better than no way at all. It helps a lot.

Love B

January 20, 1944

2215 20 January 1944

Dearest,


Hooray. It’s one day less that I have to wait to see you. The faster they go the better, now, because I love you and I haven’t got you with me. Tonight we had another movie- every Sunday and Thursday now- this time it was “Sundown”. I read the story in one of the magazines (one of those ?? I used to upset the house over, trying to find all pieces) and it left quite a vivid impression on my mind. I think it was a particularly good story. The movie got quite a lot of publicity when it came out a year or two ago- with pictures of Gene Tierney looking sultry against a ?? background + so forth- so I was thoroughly disappointed in it. I don’t think it makes much of an effort to follow the original story, and when the acting got hot + heavy I couldn’t even follow the movie story. And Miss Tierney certainly doesn’t add much to it- the only outstanding features of here performance is her bust, which always seemed to be highlighted so it was the most noticeable object (or is it plural?) in sight. Fortunately, she doesn’t appear very much. Before that we had the “Battle of Britain” of the “Why We Fight” series, which was good, even if we did see if by order at Ft. Sam. Having see some of England made it more interesting. I love you.

B.

January 20, 1944

2215 20 January 1944

Dearest,


Hooray. It’s one day less that I have to wait to see you. The faster they go the better, now, because I love you and I haven’t got you with me. Tonight we had another movie- every Sunday and Thursday now- this time it was “Sundown”. I read the story in one of the magazines (one of those ?? I used to upset the house over, trying to find all pieces) and it left quite a vivid impression on my mind. I think it was a particularly good story. The movie got quite a lot of publicity when it came out a year or two ago- with pictures of Gene Tierney looking sultry against a ?? background + so forth- so I was thoroughly disappointed in it. I don’t think it makes much of an effort to follow the original story, and when the acting got hot + heavy I couldn’t even follow the movie story. And Miss Tierney certainly doesn’t add much to it- the only outstanding features of here performance is her bust, which always seemed to be highlighted so it was the most noticeable object (or is it plural?) in sight. Fortunately, she doesn’t appear very much. Before that we had the “Battle of Britain” of the “Why We Fight” series, which was good, even if we did see if by order at Ft. Sam. Having see some of England made it more interesting. I love you.

B.

January 19, 1944

1030 19 January 1944


Beloved,

The most soothing pastime I have is to sit down and “talk” to you. I haven’t realized how comforting it is for so very long, but I’d certainly get desperate nowadays if I didn’t have you behind me, so to speak. Every now and then, al day long I get an urge to write to you, but when I start thinking about just what there is to say, I usually find that all I want to do is to tell you how much I love you and how much I want to be back with you an so on, and a certain amount of that is enough. If I wrote you as much as I think about it, you would surely start feeling sorry for me, and there is no call for that. There’s nothing really wrong with things here- it just gets tiresome and I get a little lonesome- or maybe lonely for you. I have several very good friends here, and they say there is nothing so rare as a good friend. But the best of friends is not half so rare as a wife like you. So- no matter how well things are going, if you aren’t around, I’ll get lonely. You can be sorry for me on that account if you want to. And you see, if I had more to tell you that was worth reading, I’d write more but not much happens that calls for repeating, so I usually put off writing until there is something to say. This however was put off from last night because first we had a “clinical conference” and then we got some blackout casualties + I, an OD, was occupied over that until nearly midnight, by which time I was very, very sleepy. I love you as I never did before.

B

January 18, 1944

1030 18 Jan 1944

Dearest,
Yesterday was quite a day. We went to see “This is the Army” as planned, and we were very glad we did. It’s really a swell show. I don’t know just what I expected it to be, but it turned out to be better. Of course most if the music is pretty old now, but it is good just the same, and there are a couple of good numbers ? in it that I don’t remember ever hearing before. A lot of the vaudeville ? stuff may not be quite top class by New York standards, but since “it’s all in the family” everybody thoroughly enjoyed it. The whole thing is extremely well put on. If it ever gets back to Phila. I hope you have a chance to see it + take the trouble to do so. The audience was a most thoroughly mixed crowd of all the ?? both British and Americans, about evenly divided, I should say, and quite a lot of civilians. They all seemed to get a big kick out of it no matter who they were. Fortunately we had tea, with sandwiches, etc beforehand at the Officer Club, because when we went back to the club for dinner afterward we had to wait until 9:30 to get in the dining room + then all they had was “pressed beef” (cold), bread + butter, orange marmalade, pickled cabbage, + some stuff they called coffee. Got back at midnight. Now I’m OD + home back writing this between trips to the admitting Admitting Office. Oh, how I wish I could be back with you. It hurts, terribly, some times.

Love, B

January 19, 1944

1900 19 January 1944


Dearest,
It seems like spring around here. The weather has been quite warm for a week or more, with a little more rain than we had the preceding month. There has been none of that penetrating cold that is so common in England when the thermometer is getting down toward freezing, and very often it has been warm enough to go around without a field jacket (but with a wool undershirt). Also the days are getting appreciably longer. It was broad daylight at 6 PM today, whereas a month ago blaockout time was about 5:30. But it’s still dark after breakfast. This afternoon was bright and clear and tonight it’s a bit snappy. Yesterday I got two V-letter from you, Dec 30 + Jan 2, and today your long letter of Jan 3 and alos your mothers’. Lately, we’ve started getting some V-mail in white envelopes (like yours I think) + no postmark, instead of the usual brown envelopes postmarked in England. I don’t know what that means. I had forgotten I asked you for a thermometer. Now that I’m in a hospital I guess I could steal one without any difficulty- they are expendable. I now have a 10X12 X-ray film box which makes a perfect lap-desk, and also provides an ideal place to keep V-mail blanks which are somewhat too big for any kind of a writing-kit (ours don’t fold, you know). This afternoon I did our 4 appendix, which was a tough one. So now we’ve ? had one to do. It sort of peeped me up a bit.
Love B

January 16, 1944

2230 16 Jan 1944

Dearest,
If this was home, which it most certainly isn’t, we’d be having a nice warm, wet spring rain. It has been pattering on the tin roof for a couple of hours and I sort of like it. It’s unusually wet for here, where they go in more for quick showers ?? and prolonged drizzles. The only trouble is that one has to go out in it now + then. This evening we had a very nice movie- “My Sister Eileen”- It sort of wears me out to see it, but it has a much more wholesome effect on the morale than “This above All”. It’s the craziest collection of ?? you ever saw, if you haven’t seen it- I suppose it went out of circulation in the States months ago. Yesterday, I got your long letter of Dec. 30 + V-letter of Dec. 28. The letter took 4 days longer then the one you sent to 813 the next day. I just wrote you an air-mail letter. Last night we had a little party at the club, which did some good- nothing wild, just fun- so I didn’t write yesterday- there was no mail out today, anyway. They give our mailman Sunday off. But I will never do like some people who write from tow to six V-letters a sitting + date them from consecutive days so their wives will think they write every day. Any wife who insists on a letter every day is a dope + deserves to be deceived. I’ll write you two letter a day when I want to+ I’ll skip a week if I want to+ you can do the same. I love you just as much either way. I have bought no linen in Ireland, other reports notwithstanding, + probably will not buy any. They say its costs more here than in the US (100% luxury tax) + there are no more coupons for us anyway. Stay as ?? as you are, because I’m coming home one of these days.
Love B