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Copy of letter No.18 from Sgt. Pilot W. M. Wilson to H.M.W.
Silloth, 2nd Jan. '42
It is twelve days since I last wrote and I really meant not to allow such a long time between letters again, but it seems that my resolutions didn't amount to much. As it is I have about an hour and a half before I have to do a bit of Link so I will at least get this started.
At lunch time I collected three Letters - from you, Mother and Jean. Somehow I had an idea I'd get a letter, I went along to the mess and just asked as if I was sure there was something for me, and sure enough there was. It was No.12 written 30-31 Sept. and even though I've had much later ones from you it didn't make the slightest difference.
Saturday 3rd. I didn't get far yesterday, it is almost impossible to write in the hut, there is always a lot of talk and chatter going on there, so now I am trying to get going in the mess but its not much better here.
I think I told you that our course is mostly Aussies - we should get ten crews and the rest are locals and Canadians. I am again the only Aussie Sgt. Pilot but there are two English chaps too and they are good fellows.
We are in the hut with the Wireless Op/Air Gunners of our course - about 25 in the hut altogether - the accommodation is only fair. They build their huts with the ceilings far too low here and it is so cold that it is all boxed up at night and the air gets pretty stale by morning. However, it is good to be in with the gunners as our crews come from them and it gives us a chance to get acquainted before we crew up in about three weeks i think.
Beds are good with decent mattrasses and sheets so that is a big help. There aren't enough lockers to go around and as I came along after all the gunners had arrived I haven't got one but will have next Tuesday when I couple of strays we've got with us leave. They are good lockers too - steel with three drawers and hanging space, they are much like a lowboy.
There are two stoves in the hut and they are kept going continuously and they need to be too - I don't know what we'd do without them. I use one to dry my boots at night also overcoat sometimes, without them it would be impossible to have dry things and as it is we all have rotten colds.
Which brings us to the weather. Its lousy. Last week it was bitterly cold - one day the temp. rose to a max. of a couple of degrees above freezing and then only for an hour and a bit, for the rest of the day and the previous night it stayed well below freezing and we almost froze with it. It is a damp cold which works the same as a damp heat and the Canadians - used to their 30 and 40 below in a dry cold - feel it more than the locals and as much as we do. The whole place is always wet, it seems as if a lot of the rain comes in a drizzle and although the annual fall is about the same as Perth it is much more spread out - like Melbourne, only worse. The last couple of days it has hardly stopped at all - intermittant rain and drizzle and the soil is very clayey and boggy. The only time it is possible to keep shoes dry is when the ground and water are frozen, then you just walk over it and it crackles under your feet but of course it is dry.
This sounds like a moan and I suppose it is, but I know you are interested in how things are here so I'll continue a bit further. Cold showers in the morning are out of the question, although on Xmas. morning I did have one. but the water is really far too cold. We have hot water of course but it is only there sometimes, apparently someone is too lazy to keep the boiler going but we can get a hot bath or shower - yes, for a wonder they do have showers - but not every day, only when the water is hot - about three or four times a week. As far as I can see there are very few people here who bath more than once a week and they think we are a bit silly to do so.
The meals are jolly good and also it is not going to be such an expensive place as the last. I think the main thing about that is that here we live on the Station and there we slept out and messed at the hotel and worked at the Station. Another thing is that the beer isn't much good here so we rarely drink it whereas before we got around quite alot.
- 2 -
The weather isn't much good for lying but we have got in quite a bit and these kites are great. I'm sure I am going to like them very much. They handle very well and are good to fly. They are certainly too slow and they've one or two other drawbacks - I'd better not say things I shouldn't - but one can't have everything and I'll be happy flying them.
The old nav. ticket came good which pleased me muchly. It is rather decent to have it and is something tangible after all the anv. we have done. I won't get in much nav. practice from now on - I'll get what I can but will have very little opportunity. Still I'll keep my hand in as much as possible. Anyhow I know that you will pleased that I have got it and that means a great deal to me.
Xmas. has come and gone, also New Year.
Sunday 4th. Was interrupted again last night but it is something to have got going for three successive days. Last night I rambled on about this place before I told you about the wonderful part of Xmas. Day. As you probably know there was a lot of work done in England on Xmas. day, but we had the day off, and I wondered into the mess about 11 o'clock in the morning and found my name on the "parcel list". I had given up all hope of anything arriving by Xmas. day, by then of course, but your cake was waiting for me. Strange that it should arrive on Xmas. day and it just "made" my Xmas. It seemed a little bit as if you had just brought it out and given it to me yourself - that is how I thought of it. So you see my dear I actually got a present from my wife right on the day.
If you knew the pleasure it gave me to have a cake from you and right at the psychological time too - well it was simply wonderful. I didn't open it straight away - meant to keep it until after tea but couldn't wait that long and opened it after dinner but just had a look at it then - but had some for supper. It tasted wonderful - I should say tastes as there is still a little bit left - and you can be sure that I was pretty popular with it. Some of the others had cakes but none of them were in the race with mine. Such a big one too - I took it out of the tin and cut it in two sideways and then cut the top half before the bottom, it made good sized slices like that. Of course it kept perfectly. Anyhow thank you ever so much for it - it made all the difference to my Xmas.
Otherwise the day was pretty quiet, we went into Silloth in the morning - or rather at about 12 and had a few drinks and then back here for dinner. The Air Force put on a decent sort of a spread including turkey. A bit of a snooze after dinner and more grog in the evening and in bed by 11 and that was Xmas. We worked on New Years Day and I didn't realize that it had come until it had nearly gone. It is hard to keep track of the days here - we work on Sundays but at present get Mondays off.
Some of us went into Carlisle last Monday - its 22 miles away and a fair sized town - and I bought me a suitcase. I got heartily sick of my things in kit bags. It is not a very good one, they are terribly iexpensive here now and even then hard to get. Anything decent cost three or four quid.
The Aust. Comforts Fund came good - I got a parcel a couple of days ago, nearly missed it too, the Chaplain here handed them out. It has a tin of fruit, cream, sugar, cake, choc. and toothpaste - it is jolly nice and I haven't touched it yet.
I think I will send this by boat mail to give it a try and you can tell me how long it takes.
Received 21st. April, 1942.
