438th AAA AW BN
APO 578 % Postmaster, N.Y.
England
8 April, 1944 0930
Darling Wilma –
Well the first day of our being alone here passed by rather uneventfully. There just wasn’t a darn thing to do around. Being Good Friday – the town was closed up in its entirety. After lunch I took a nap for the first time in a long while – I mean a real nap. The net result was that despite going to bed for the night at about 2330 – I didn’t sleep too well. One thing, darling, you’ll not have to worry about – and that is sleeping away the time. I’ve always felt that it’s really a great waste. I’d much rather be up doing something. Of course, sweetheart, that’s from a single man’s point of view.
When I got up – I washed and decided to ride down to the Dispensary on my bike. On the way down – I passed Mrs. Whitfield – who was also on a bike. She is the woman who was trying to get us ration coupons – presumably for Mother’s Days gifts. She had tried to contact me to tell me that her efforts were unsuccessful but that she and a friend of hers would like to give Charlie and me some of their own. I of course refused. Anyway – she invited me to supper at her house tonight at 1930. She wants me to meet her son – you remember he was the fellow who went to the Rivers School in Brookline while she was traveling in the U.S. So I accepted – although I wished she had asked me to come over another night. It means, dear, that I play squash in the p.m., then have tea with the Reverend and his wife and then dinner. What a way to fight a war! It will be a full day – but I’ll have nothing to do the rest of the week.
After supper – the four of us went up to one of the rooms to play bridge. I hadn’t played in a long time although I’ve tried not to get rusty by reading Culbertson’s problem hands – a column presented daily in the Phila. Inquirer which Charlie gets.
All would have been well, sweetheart, but from nowhere one of the fellows – Bruce – produced a full bottle of Haig and Haig Scotch. Paradoxically – it’s rarer in this country than at home. We kept drinking – for me it was the first hard liquor in some time – and playing, drinking and playing and then drinking and drinking. When the bottle was finished dear, my partner – Bill Bowman – and myself were down – two rubbers to one. So we decided to go downstairs to the main drawing room and play the games off in ping-pong. You can imagine what a game of doubles we played. We ended up winning two and six ($.50). By game’s end we were all running around downstairs in shorts, whooping it up and running all over the place. Try and imagine 4 guys a little bit tight running around in a place this size. And that’s how I spent the first night of Passover, darling, – not very religiously I’ll grant you – but what could I do? It was a good escape mechanism – that’s all.
I got mail yesterday, dear, one V-mail from you – written March 22 and I can gather now why there was so much delay in our exchange of letters. Apparently something went haywire around the middle of March – and just when we wanted to hear from each other most – there were days on end of no mail. If I hadn’t received your dad’s cablegram – I’d still be hanging around on thin air – so thank him again darling for sending it. Now I’m waiting to hear what has followed. It’s so nice to be in love with you, dearest, and to know that you are really going to be mine. It makes my missing you a mixture of satisfaction and patience – and you must know what I mean. Sweetheart – I do miss you so much – it’s hard to measure – but I can wait for you as you’re doing for me and when we have each other – it will all have been worth it. Best regards and love to the folks – darling and remember sweetheart that my love is only for you and for always –
Well the first day of our being alone here passed by rather uneventfully. There just wasn’t a darn thing to do around. Being Good Friday – the town was closed up in its entirety. After lunch I took a nap for the first time in a long while – I mean a real nap. The net result was that despite going to bed for the night at about 2330 – I didn’t sleep too well. One thing, darling, you’ll not have to worry about – and that is sleeping away the time. I’ve always felt that it’s really a great waste. I’d much rather be up doing something. Of course, sweetheart, that’s from a single man’s point of view.
When I got up – I washed and decided to ride down to the Dispensary on my bike. On the way down – I passed Mrs. Whitfield – who was also on a bike. She is the woman who was trying to get us ration coupons – presumably for Mother’s Days gifts. She had tried to contact me to tell me that her efforts were unsuccessful but that she and a friend of hers would like to give Charlie and me some of their own. I of course refused. Anyway – she invited me to supper at her house tonight at 1930. She wants me to meet her son – you remember he was the fellow who went to the Rivers School in Brookline while she was traveling in the U.S. So I accepted – although I wished she had asked me to come over another night. It means, dear, that I play squash in the p.m., then have tea with the Reverend and his wife and then dinner. What a way to fight a war! It will be a full day – but I’ll have nothing to do the rest of the week.
After supper – the four of us went up to one of the rooms to play bridge. I hadn’t played in a long time although I’ve tried not to get rusty by reading Culbertson’s problem hands – a column presented daily in the Phila. Inquirer which Charlie gets.
All would have been well, sweetheart, but from nowhere one of the fellows – Bruce – produced a full bottle of Haig and Haig Scotch. Paradoxically – it’s rarer in this country than at home. We kept drinking – for me it was the first hard liquor in some time – and playing, drinking and playing and then drinking and drinking. When the bottle was finished dear, my partner – Bill Bowman – and myself were down – two rubbers to one. So we decided to go downstairs to the main drawing room and play the games off in ping-pong. You can imagine what a game of doubles we played. We ended up winning two and six ($.50). By game’s end we were all running around downstairs in shorts, whooping it up and running all over the place. Try and imagine 4 guys a little bit tight running around in a place this size. And that’s how I spent the first night of Passover, darling, – not very religiously I’ll grant you – but what could I do? It was a good escape mechanism – that’s all.
I got mail yesterday, dear, one V-mail from you – written March 22 and I can gather now why there was so much delay in our exchange of letters. Apparently something went haywire around the middle of March – and just when we wanted to hear from each other most – there were days on end of no mail. If I hadn’t received your dad’s cablegram – I’d still be hanging around on thin air – so thank him again darling for sending it. Now I’m waiting to hear what has followed. It’s so nice to be in love with you, dearest, and to know that you are really going to be mine. It makes my missing you a mixture of satisfaction and patience – and you must know what I mean. Sweetheart – I do miss you so much – it’s hard to measure – but I can wait for you as you’re doing for me and when we have each other – it will all have been worth it. Best regards and love to the folks – darling and remember sweetheart that my love is only for you and for always –
Greg.
* TIDBIT *
about Whitby and Whitby Jet
about Whitby and Whitby Jet
In yesterday's letter Greg mentioned that most of his unit went to Whitby to do what they did in Wellfleet. Earlier letters identified that activity as firing practice. He said he was sorry he wasn't going. Here's "That little sea-coast town" that he missed.
The Route of the Question Mark mentioned "Whitby Jet". Whitby Jet, a hard, black, shiny gem closely related to coal, was undoubtedly one of the earliest gemstones used to create artefacts and items of jewelery and has a cultural heritage that extends back to early tool making man. This history can be charted from the Bronze age, through the Roman occupation and Viking invasions and onwards to its meteoritic climb to fame in the mid 19th century Victorian England. During the Victorian period, when the ritual surrounding death and the long mourning of Queen Victoria made black fashionable, jet became hugely popular. Although jet is found elsewhere in the world, it is the jet from Whitby that excites collectors to such an extent that even jet jewelry manufactured elsewhere is often called Whitby Jet.
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The Route of the Question Mark mentioned "Whitby Jet". Whitby Jet, a hard, black, shiny gem closely related to coal, was undoubtedly one of the earliest gemstones used to create artefacts and items of jewelery and has a cultural heritage that extends back to early tool making man. This history can be charted from the Bronze age, through the Roman occupation and Viking invasions and onwards to its meteoritic climb to fame in the mid 19th century Victorian England. During the Victorian period, when the ritual surrounding death and the long mourning of Queen Victoria made black fashionable, jet became hugely popular. Although jet is found elsewhere in the world, it is the jet from Whitby that excites collectors to such an extent that even jet jewelry manufactured elsewhere is often called Whitby Jet.
Jet Mourning Brooch
Whitby Jet's geological history starts in the middle of the Jurassic era, some 150 million years ago at the bottom of the Liassic Sea, which then covered much of England. Fossil evidence from this fascinating era is abundant and easily detected in the cliffs and on the beaches that adjoin Whitby to the North and South. Jet is the fossilized remains of the Araucaria tree from the Jurassic period and is only found along a seven and a half mile stretch of the North Yorkshire coastline centered around Whitby. (The common name of the Araucaria tree is the Monkey-puzzle tree or Chilean pine.)
On the floor of the sea there had already been deposits of materials that subsequently became the Main Seam Ironstone, and on top of this there were deposits of mud being washed down the rivers from adjoining landmass, forming an ever-increasing sedimentary layer. The Araucaria trees formed a significant part of the vegetable debris washed into the Liassic Sea and gradually became waterlogged. The accumulation of mud plus the weight of sea above produced enormous pressures and the individual trees were flattened into narrow 'seams'. The glutinous nature of the sedimentary layer completely sealed these seams and pockets of wood and an anaerobic fossilization slowly took place. Thus the new stratum of rock then being formed contained a plethora of these trees, scattered entirely at random. Jet is usually found in seams ranging from 5mm to 50mm thick and in a variety of lengths.
More about Whitby and Whitby Jet can be read where much of this information was gleaned, The Whitby Jet Heritage Centre web site. The following video of master carver and Whitby native restoration artist, Hal Redvers-Jones, was found there.
