Somewhere In England
Sun. 24 Dec. ’44 – 11:20 a.m.
Somewhere in England.
Dear folks,
Tonight is Xmas Eve but it surely doesn’t seem like it. I remember when Xmas fell on a weekend before and we used to like the long holiday it made. I didn’t like last year but it was a lot better than this one probably. I don’t know what sort of meal we’ll have but with things the way they are the meal is all there is to the day. I can just see our old time Xmas and I wish I could – chicken, mashed potatoes, good gravy, sage dressing, hot biscuits & all the cakes & pies & the olives and little things that went along too. A rumor just wafted up from the mess hall that there’s turkey aplenty for tomorrow so that’s good. I know you don’t have a tree this year. I’ve seen but one so far – a little one on the boat. I’ve been sort of wondering if Julius might get home for the holidays again like last year. I hope he did.
I got to bed quite early last night at about 9:30.
Back now at 4:35. I wrote a short letter to Marie last night before I got to bed. I was up at about 8:00 and off to breakfast. It’s a long process to wait in line but it was O.K. – scrambled eggs, bread, shredded wheat & milk. The milk is powdered but it tastes O.K. to me. After breakfast I went to work but nothing was doing so I came back and started this letter. I quit for chow at 11:30 and it was after 1:00 by the time I got back but it was a good meal – roast beef, potatoes, string beans, cabbage salad, bread, butter, & cake. We went exploring for awhile this afternoon. There are some big hills nearby which we climbed – myself, Buck & the 3rd member of our trio – Staff Sgt. Everett Haines from Warsaw, Ind. – our mess sgt. The view from up there was pretty good. The sun was shining for some strange reason and even then it was sort of hazy and hard to see too far.
They had a Red Cross “Clubmobile” down here for us awhile ago so I went down and got my 2 doughnuts. They had it all decorated with wreaths & stuff & even had a little Xmas tree there by the truck. That’s the second one we’ve been served by in 3 days so they are around. I ate about ½ dozen doughnuts in nothing flat the other day. The Red Cross seems to be doing a pretty good job over here. They gave us cards with the name of the truck so I’ll send it along to you to see.
Now I’m waiting for supper. I turned down a pass for tonight and I’m glad I did as our money hasn’t come yet that we turned in for conversion to English currency. Time out for chow.
Back at 6:45. Chow tonight was O.K. I hit the line twice and really got filled with spaghetti, cooked cabbage, beets, bread, butter, and pears. The showers were hot tonight so I took one and then shaved. I’m scheduled for a pass for tomorrow so I think I’ll take off after dinner. I’m not going to miss Xmas dinner if I can help it. I was on for C.Q. tonight & tomorrow but Kumins took me off when I told him I had a pass. I haven’t collected by English money yet and I haven’t sent that $50 to you either. I probably won’t need much money as there isn’t much one can buy. It’s practically useless to try to buy food and just about everything else is rationed. Probably once in town will be enough for me. There are a few theaters but they’ll be pretty crowded I imagine.
I’m wondering what you are doing tonight. I know you haven’t had any mail from me for about 2 weeks and I figure it will be until the first week in Jan. before you do get any. I wish I could sneak up and pop in on you believe me. There’s not a bit of snow in sight here and naturally I don’t know how it is back there. I’ll always be about 2 weeks behind you.
Well I guess that’s about all the dope for today so I’ll be closing. No mail for us until Tues. due to the holidays so I’m hoping to hit the jackpot then. Anyway I’m wishing you the best possible Xmas & maybe next year it will be different (or did I say that last year?)
Good night (Good afternoon to you – 2 p.m.) & Merry Xmas
Love to all of you
Son
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