In the last batch, Jack had mentioned a planned trip to London. Well........
November 9 1944
Dear Ma
I guess I hit the jackpot the last couple of days. All of your mail finally caught up with me and it seems I got a few letters. I haven't counted them but I must have gotten around 8 letters from you alone. I got one from Bo, 2 from Nene, 1 from Little Jim also one Vmail from Glady. I had the time sorting them all out so I could get the conection of one to the other. I just hope from now on that it comes in a little better.
I was glad to hear the color pictures came out pretty good. I was surprised the ones I took even came out. I haven't seen Eaton about if he wants prints but will take this up & let him censor it, and put it down then. I really don't belive he wants prints we just want the slides. If you would put one or two in each letter I suppose they would get here about as fast as any way you could sent them.
We went to London on our 48 hour pass & tried to take the town in. We went on a tour and saw some of the places London is noted for. The one I really liked was St Pauls Cathedral.
II
We also saw London Bridge, Westminster Abbey, Houses of Parliament Buckingham Palace and a whole lot of other places. We also were on Downing St It was all rather interesting. As a whole I don't think too much of London. The business distric is very poor to my notion. Its all so old and such, I guess thats why I didn't like it. Oh yes tell Nene we were at the Piccadilly Circus (its not the kind she thinks either) We took a roll of film and ran out befor we got 1/2 way started I wish we could have had some more but we are planning on going back and see if we can't get some pictures of the windows in the Cathedral & the Abby. They are really very beautiful if the sun would just come out while we were there. It started to rain so I guess its a good thing we ran out or we would have ruined the film. As soon as I get the film developed I send either the negatives or some pictures.
So Bo really raves about her little Bro. Well tell her if he was just 1/2 the guy she thinks he is he woule be a pretty good guy.
Every thing has been going along swell. Infact I think we have one swell crew t seems they have all settled down quite a bit.
So Bro Smith has been having his share of trouble as well as the rest of them. I suppose they will find the guy but none of the stuff so evey one will be the loser.
III
I suppose I should start tapering this off as I have some more letters to write.
I hadn't heard any thing, until you wrote, about Carol. It's too bad but I guess those things do happen. As soon as I get a hold of his address I'll see if I can get to see him. I may be able to meet him some place on a 48 if he's not too far from here.
You can tell Bo I don't know where her friend is stationed. The A.P.O. no doesn't mean too much, of course if I knew him it would be too much trouble to look him up.
Well I'll close now and write a few more letters
Jack.
He mentions talking to Eaton about the promotion and taking the letter to him to be censored. Indeed, the envelope has the censor stamp and F/O Eaton's signature. F/O Donald Eaton, you may recall, was Jack's crew's navigator.
And he writes to his sister Bo:
November 9, 1944
The way you write, or at least the impression I get is that I dont write you. Now you know better than that. you know I write you evey day it must be the mail system, you know it wouldn't be me. I guess I'll stop lying & tell you I figure Ma writes to you all I write so I neglect it some times.
I went to London on my 48 and did the town up. I saw quite a few of the different places of interest. I really enjoyed seeing St. Pauls Cathedral. It is such a large building and is really beautiful. As a whole I didn't care too much about the town, evey thing is so old. I also saw where the blitz hit and also saw where a buzz bomb hit. It sort of blew up a few buildings infact there were quit a few buildings in sort of a dilapadated condition.
I am resting up from it all today, trying to recuperate. I was writing away not bothering any one and a fellow came in and said we had missed a class. I guess we will catch it about tomorrow or the next day. Oh well all they can do is restrict us and when we can't get a pass we just set around and save our money.
While I am on that subject, if I can manage to get a little cash ahead and sent it to you do you belive you could help me out for Christmas. I wouldn't swear to it, that is about getting ahead of my self so if & when I do Ill leave it up to you from there.
While I am on that subject, if I can manage to get a little cash ahead and sent it to you do you belive you could help me out for Christmas. I wouldn't swear to it, that is about getting ahead of my self so if & when I do Ill leave it up to you from there.
Don't tell ma but I am up for the air medal, it will probably be a couple of weeks befor I get it though. It will probably come out in the paper at home so don't write or tell her anything about it. I guess I'll have to get the Pilot on the ball and see if I can get another strip in the next 2 or 3 months. Don't get me wrong I am not strip happy just want the old stuff they call money. You see I don't have but about $140 a month but by the time they take it all out I get is about $100 of it.
Well don't be to mean to your little kids, rember you were yet that were young once your self.
Well I'll close so write soon
Jack.
To remind you, the Blitz was an unrelenting air assault from Germany against the whole of Britain from September, 1940 through May, 1941. Here are some photos.
- 15 Powerful Photos of the Blitz
- and a set of composite then-and-now photos from The Atlantic.
A buzz bomb was also known as a V-1 flying bomb, and it was an early type of cruise missile that Germany used against London.
His $140 ($100 net) in pay would be worth $2170 ($1550) today.
And to my mother he wrote that day:
November 9 1944
Dear Margaret
Having recived another letter from you I'll try to answer it while I have a little time. If I don't do it now I probably won't get another chance for a couple of days.
I wrote I was going to London on my 48, well belive it or not I did. We went down and really took in the sights. I had my camera a long so we also got some pictures, the only trouble we had was we ran out of film. The navigator started in and had the roll finished befor we really got started. We took in Westminster Abby, St. Pauls Cathedral, Buckingham Palace and a whole lot of other places. I really enjoyed going in St Pauls, it's really a enormuse place and really beautiful. We are planning on going back and spending a little more time at a few of them. I didn't think much of the business discric but I guess it's all right. You can't buy a thing because evey things rationed. You can't even get a good meal, just take what you get and hope you can make it back to camp. I gave one old man a can of tomatoe juice & you should have seen him he was really happy.
Oh yes I'll really have to start on you. Now are you or aren't you going to have that picture made. I don't know how I could bribe you, but I am going to have to do something. Lets not give excuses and rush right down next Sat afternoon and get it done.You know you can't look at excuses or the like so there too. Is that enough or do I have to really do something to get you to do it.
I wrote I was going to London on my 48, well belive it or not I did. We went down and really took in the sights. I had my camera a long so we also got some pictures, the only trouble we had was we ran out of film. The navigator started in and had the roll finished befor we really got started. We took in Westminster Abby, St. Pauls Cathedral, Buckingham Palace and a whole lot of other places. I really enjoyed going in St Pauls, it's really a enormuse place and really beautiful. We are planning on going back and spending a little more time at a few of them. I didn't think much of the business discric but I guess it's all right. You can't buy a thing because evey things rationed. You can't even get a good meal, just take what you get and hope you can make it back to camp. I gave one old man a can of tomatoe juice & you should have seen him he was really happy.
Oh yes I'll really have to start on you. Now are you or aren't you going to have that picture made. I don't know how I could bribe you, but I am going to have to do something. Lets not give excuses and rush right down next Sat afternoon and get it done.You know you can't look at excuses or the like so there too. Is that enough or do I have to really do something to get you to do it.
I really hit the jackpot as far as letters go, yesterday I got about a dozen of them. I guess my mail is just about to catch up with me I hope. I even got a letter from India, it got here as fast as Moms letters have been.
I haven't heard from that dear uncle of mine but I guess he still has woman trouble. The last time I wrote him I told him he ought to just go a head and get married and either end all his trouble or start it all over again. He hasn't answered that one.
I have had a break on the work but will probably start in a day or so. They throw it at us for a few days & then let up. I like the let up part of it.
Oh yes did I tell you I froze a ear the other day. I didn't know it until the next day, when it started hurting. It seems to be all right now all though it hurts some when it gets cold.
The weather has turned off cold, infact it froze last night. Its cold enough that I guess I'll have to start wearing my long handles.
I hope you are a good Demo because it looks like Roosevelt has it for another 4 years. I was glad to hear it, mostly because of the war. If it wasn't time of war I wouldn't feel that way.
I am having one big time trying to finish this thing The boys are always pestering.
Mom never did say why she didn't get to see you while she was in Alb. I don't know how much time they spent there, but I don't' think it was over a couple of days. I guess while I was home I should have left her your address or a Phone no. or some thing.
I am still going strong on the bike, but it's still pretty hard on me. Just about evey day we take and ride around a little.
Well I guess I'll have to close now so write soon.
Love
Bill
Have you noticed that since his trip to NM, he has been addressing his letters to Margaret instead of Maggie? I wonder if she told him that her preference was Margaret. She once told me that she never much cared for Maggie, a nickname he had bestowed on her.
Longhandles is a slang term for long underwear. I had never heard it before!
Jack has flown three more missions since his first bunch in late October.
On the morning of Saturday, November 4, they were one of 38 planes who bombed an Oil Refinery in Hamburg during Mission 227. It was a successful, no-casualty, no-damage mission.
They bombed railroad marshaling yards on Mission 228 and another oil refinery on Mission 229 on November 5 and 6.
From Mighty Eighth War Diary by Roger A. Freeman:
When the bombers returned from Frankfurt on 5 November 1944, deteriorating weather caused some formations to be diverted to coastal airfields in England. Part of the 351st group put down at RAF Beccles in high winds, blowing rain and overcast. When conditions improved the B-17's prepared to take off but the pilots could not understand the instructions from the control tower given by an RAF man with a very pronounced accent. Confusion reigned until the formation leader, Major John Gorham, decided the only thing to be done was to go to the tower himself and handle the radio "American fashion." It was yet another case of two nations divided by a common language.
Gorham was the lead pilot in the formation that Jack and his crew were flying (Kale is Jack's pilot). Images from 351st.org.
Their flight path:
