May 30, 1944
Dear Folks:
Hello again. Well here I am back again with another very dull letter, but just wanted you to know that everything over here is still tip top and raring to go.
It's just 9 P.M., and we've just finished for the day. Usually we're thru' a little after five, but we had to attend some horribly dull play in the camp theatre, so went over there directly after supper. The theme was O.K. -Security -but we had a hard time hearing, so you can imagine the restlessness and catcalls that would come from a bunch of Canadian sergeants etc.
Today at noon I was horribly browned off, & to top matters off, we decided to take a shortcut in order to see the Can. Liaison Officer before parade. Since shortcuts are strictly taboo around here, two guesses what happened. Right the first time. I, or rather, "we", got caught, and our name and numbers taken, so we'll probably hear about it; but right now I'm not the least bit worried & care less. Who knows, perhaps they'll punish us by sending us home. "No, not that!" Am I kidding? Well, to top things off we were late for parade. You know, there's more darn discipline connected to this station, and more guff that's it's almost serious.
Oh well, a week from tomorrow we're finished our ground school & then go to flights. From what I gather, things ease up a little, and you can have a bit of fun occasionally. As yet we haven't been off the station, but the fellows that have gone to town say there isn't much to do and the shows are lousy. These last few nights have been packed with dinghy drill, parachute drill, and cockpit checks. It's really a lot of fun & and I've learned more about an aircraft than I ever knew before. In fact, if anything happened, I feel almost confident enough to take over. Larry's really a swell fellow, and I certainly have real confidence in him.
The average age of our crew is 20 ½, and we have a lot of fun. They're really a keen bunch of fellows too, and already I've taught the W.A.G. the fundamentals of navigation, and he's ginned me up on the radio, etc. In fact we all know a little about the other fellow's job, and in that way I believe we're all drawn a little bit closer together. It's really going to be fun flying together, although I'm a little bit frightened of my cross-country trip. I'm confident enough & can do it, but they send a nav. instructor up with you & you have to be right on the bit. So far I haven't flown any higher than 8,000 feet & and that was at A.O.S, and over here we'll soon be flying from 10 to 20,000 feet. Boy, that should be a thrill, although we'll have to wear our oxygen, and that will be a bit cumbersome. However, I feel certain I'll like it.
I received a parcel from Mr. Murphy yesterday-a two pound box of Annie Lauries. Boy, they certainly went the rounds quickly, but I still have quite a few left, so will have to ration myself. I haven't had any letters sent directly here, but have mailed my change of address card & a few should be coming along any day now. Let's hope so anyway. There's one pilot in our course who got 13 letters the day before yesterday and another 16 today. Lucky him! Oh well, I guess he who writes shall receive. I guess that's where I miss out. I guess I'll just have to get cracking.
The last few days over here have been a brute. The temperatures have been up to 90 and above, & we've been sweltering. They gave us one concession that we can discard our tunics.
The meals though were choice: cold plates with lettuce, potato salad, two kinds of cold meat, onions, radish, pickle, ice cream and cookies; so you see that, in that respect, we are not doing badly.
Well, paper's short & must sign off. Keep well, and write often. Say hello to Skip for me. So long for now.
Love as ever,
Bill
