A Vmail dated December 5, 1944. For some reason, Gram did not save most of the Vmail envelopes.
Dec. 5 1944
Dear Ma
I'll drop you a little line tonight having recived a letter from you. I also got one from Glady and Bo and all 3 were dated Nov 5 & 6. That's pretty fast time I know.
I have been pretty busy the last couple of days. Infact I am pretty tired tonight and I'm going to bed eary.
I haven't been doing a whole lot other than work, just lay around.
The weather has cleared up some of late but it's still pretty cold out. It's just a little too cold out for me and I don't go out except when I have to.
Did I tell you I got a letter from Goodwins recently. They didn't say much as usual
I'll close now
Your son Jack.
To Bo he writes:
Dear Bo
Well I have to write some one to try to get it out of my system so seeing I owe you a letter I'll write you.
I got a letter from you the other day, it was only a month old but it was still a letter I also got one from Glady, she seemed to be feeling pretty good gave me all the gossip.
I washed some cloths to day, believe it or not, I don't exactly wash them just boil them until they are 1/2 way clean and rinse them out. Its pretty hard on me but its about the only way to get them in a hurry. We have laundry service 9 pieces a week & it takes about 10 days.
It got pretty cold last night, there was frost all over evey thing this morning. The pools of water we frozen too.
Say did you see the pictures I took of the crew in Ardmore. You probably wouldn't know what they were all about but we sure thought they were good. They look so real we couldn't help but laugh about them. I got a couple of pretty good pictures of you and one good one of Neva too. All they guys look at them and ask where I was when the looks were passed out thats what I have often wondered my self, ohwell I guess my Ma still loves my puss.
I want you to stop picking on the poor little Mex cause he can't help it. His feet may stink but so do mine.
I wish Xmas would hurry up and get over with so the mail would start comming in 1/2 way decent. It takes so darn long for any thing to get through. By the time I get an answer I have forgotten what it is all about.
Say what are we going to do about that Neva She seems to be too popular in school, I guess from what Ma says, she really knocks them out well look who she is. Don't tell know one but wait until next year when that Nene gets there they will probably close up all together
I guess this enough for tonight so will close
Jack.
December 7 1944
Dear Ma
Well here I go again trying to write as usual.
As you see by the date the war started 3 years ago today. I sure wish it were all over but I know I am not alone in that thought. A lot of things have happened in those 3 years haven't they
I never got any mail as usual but am still hoping maybe tomorrow. They brought in a big bunch of packages today but none for little me, I really wasn't expecting any so I wasn't dissappointed about it.
I got the Air Medal today, it was just about a month old. The date was Nov 10 but better late than never. I'll send it to you as soon as I get the time. Its not a bad looking medal but it doesn't mean a whole lot, you get it for a certain number of missions. From what I hear you probably read about it in the news paper some time ago.
I am so tired tonight I can hardly keep my eyes open. A couple of the crew came in rather late last night and kept me awake. This morning they slept & I got up but I'll get even yet.
I got a couple more shots yesterday so that doesn't help me fell any better, they made me rather sick yesterday.
Eaton the Nav. gave me a sun tan shirt today so I had some washing to do. Its a pretty nice shirt but he didn't wear it so I claimed it. I also got a hold of another flying suit so washed it also.
Well maybe I should close –
Oh yes Glady keeps asking if I have ever met any one from Vegas. Yes when I met Chas Mayfield there was a Mex cook there that was from Vegas. He wasn't very smart so I didn't even try to talk to him. He didn't know Wayne & hadn't heard of him, enough said.
Well thats it for tonight
Jack
And here is Jack's actual medal:
Tucked away in the medal's box was this gun license, which has probably never been moved since Jack received it at about the same time he received his medal. He probably biked to Oundle to buy it.
10 shillings is about £22.68 today, or about $30.84.
Latest missions. Text and image from 351st.org.
Jack flew December 4 and 5, the first missions since November 26.
December 4, 1944: Mission 238, Target: Railroad marshaling yards.
It appears to have been a smooth mission overall. Here are a couple notes and remarks on the mission:
"This is too early in the morning!" [They took off at about 7am]
"If shot down, kindly crash at A-70 or A-83 (Vincennes [near Paris], Laon Couvron [75 miles NE of Paris])"
"No enemy aircraft were encountered. A moderate, scattered and inaccurate flak barrage was encountered at the target."
Notes from the 508th squadron (Jack's squadron):
A/C 753-C: I can't see any necessity for tail men in Low box to have to pull 200 miles per hour. - Lt. Wiese.A/C 711-F: Poor lead formation - 22 minutes late over target.Why did we let down to 500 feet over the Channel in very rough air when the weather forecast was 1/10 at 3000 feet?- Lt. Galloway.A/C 567-G: Squadron climbed too fast and had to draw terrific power to maintain formation.Excellent formation for about an hour shortly after target. - Lt. Kale [Jack's pilot]
December 5, 1944: Mission 239. Target: Berlin, Tegal armament works
One aircraft went down, with all the crew surviving to become POWs, later liberated.
Here is a map of the mission flight path:
