Busy Days, no Time to Write…

My Uncle Albert apologises for not having written to his parents for four days, as he has been busy settling in to his new location and duties in Torquay. Four days really is nothing, Albert, compared to the two years that I have allowed to lapse between posts.

What can I give you, dear reader, as an excuse? Nothing that bears scrutiny.. busy times. So read on, transport yourself back to 1942 and read about Albert, trainee navigator, and the start of his south-westerly adventures.

Thursday June 11

Dear All,

I have suddenly realised that it is Thursday, and my last letter was written on Sunday, so I had better hurry and get something done. I have also a parcel to be made up – socks and handkerchiefs  and a vest, but am held up temporarily for lack of wrapping materials. Also lack of time for packing it up. I have also tied up Jean’s pen in the ‘Scribe’ box but now find that it is too narrow of a stamp, and must see what I can do about it. Your parcel arrived safely, though the paper was beginning to burst in places. I seem to have temporarily mislaid your letter, though there are lockers here, they are very tiny things and not a patch on the ones at Yatesbury, so I shall have to recall what points about it I can.

I was interested in your ride to Broughton. I certainly should not have thought of going there so late in the day, but you seemed to do it in very fair time, and getting to Portswood before dark was good and certainly enabled you to take full advantage of the lovely evenings we get now. I believe we visited them last year and saw how the tomatoes were progressing – to little purpose as it turned out. I hope the weather this autumn will be better than last.

I am glad you went along the road I recommended by Durley Church to Horton Heath, though it is so long since I have been along there that the old (?) cottage escapes my memory, though I remember the piggeries (not now used) and of course the little cottage with the orchard just at Horton Heath.

I had better mention one or two things about what we do here. Firstly the hours – they are long, from 7.30 to 6, with a dinner hour that is frequently 45 minutes, and the morning and afternoon respectively breaks of 20 and 15 minutes, but we are lucky to get anything at all, as the time taken up in marching between classes usually comes into the break, and not all the classes stoop in time. The classes are mainly maths, signals (morse and lamp signalling), armaments (machine guns), hygiene and law, and drill, P.T., and organised games. The maths is very elementary, and only continues for a fortnight, when there is a test and then the periods are devoted to navigation. Whilst on that subject, it would probably be best for me to have a hard pencil, as all the navigation is by drawing. I believe I have a 4H unused or nearly, in my Venus pencil box, so could you send that and a good rubber, perhaps you could get one of those yellow “gum erasers” at Wiseman’s or somewhere similar, and send them in the next parcel – anywhen in the next fortnight will do for that. I think that navigation will prove very interesting.

Another class which is very important is aircraft recognition. I do not know a lot about that yet, but I expect to learn in time, the classes are very well done with large silhouettes, talks and epidiascope demonstration. Of course, great stress is laid upon sport. Fortunately there is now swimming and that is what I am going in for in the ‘organised games’ periods.

Afternoon 3.00pm: We are now on one of these said ‘games’ periods. I have been swimming but as the water is on the cold side, and a good wind is blowing up, it is quite rough and I did not stop long, though it was good fun in there. It is now even rougher and the waves are breaking over the lower part of the ramp down from the sea wall and on which we are sitting. The waves hit the wall with a terrific thud, sending the spray high into the air, to spatter down on the concrete. The place we are at is called Meadfoot sands. I forget whether you have a map of Torquay at home, but I believe there is a town plan in one of our guidebooks.

On Monday I bought a 1” map of ‘Torquay’ – on cloth for 2/6. They had quite a pile of them in Smiths’, quite in the open, so I don’t know if they are old stock or if the O.S. have printed some since war. The map goes from Teignmouth & Dartmeet (North) round the coast past Start Point to Bigbury-on-Sea, which I have heard is a very nice place. We do plenty of marching about from class to class, and it is very nice as there is always something interesting to see, especially out in the bay. This morning was lovely and clear, and the countryside over towards Paignton looked very lovely.

At the moment the sun is obscured (in the words of Burrough’s Wellcome exposure book) by “light cloud or slight mist” and is not beaming down with full heat. It is also a trifle hazy, but I can see some ship, possibly minesweepers, out to sea, each one with a balloon. There are also some balloons at Brixham, but I cannot be sure if they are in the town or on ships in the harbour. I don’t think there is enough for another sheet, so goodbye and love from Albert.

Albert, not one to especially enjoy football, seems happy that swimming is considered ‘Physical training’. In this next short letter, which he writes the next day, he requests his ‘swimming costume’ is sent on, ‘if it is still serviceable’. That makes me wonder what he chose to wear in the sea at Meadfoot Sands!

Friday June 12

Dear All, just a very short note with the parcel of socks and vest and pyjamas. It is grey and windy today and the sea even rougher than yesterday. It is a good job that we did not have our swimming today. Perhaps you could send along with the next parcel my swimming costume if it is still serviceable.

By now you should have received my letter and fountain pen which I decided to send, I thought it would be alright in that way, after all. The weather has changed for the worst I fear: we have had a little rain and even now it is drizzling slightly. I expect it is very misty up on Dartmoor – by the way I want to go up to Haytor one Sunday. I see that the Tor bus still runs from Newton Abbott. I think that had better do or I shall not finish packing the parcel, love to all (including Jean) from Albert.

P.S. I have some envelopes like this (the long ones I usually send my letters in) at home in my ‘homework’ cupboard or front room drawer – would you send them with the next lot of stuff?

And a P.S. from me, I shall not leave such a long gap between this post and the next.