News from Nowhere

It's ten years today since my father died. It's hard to believe it's been so long. After the first few years I stopped thinking "I must remember to tell Tom that next time we speak," although I still think "Tom would have loved that, I wish I could tell him," and probably will all my life.

Anyway, this seems like the right time to post the last of the letters he wrote to his brother during the war:

( On leave in Palestine )

989689. LAC. Rogers
R.A.F. STATION
CARTHAGO,
Sudan.

7.8.42

Dear Ralph & Edith,
Many thanks for your long letter of April which has arrived here. News from home has fallen thick and fast, the latest item being that David and Phoebe are to marry on the 24th. I suppose everyone will be as pleased as I am about this. My only regret is that I could not be present at the ceremony. This piece of news came from Freda via an airmail p/c, the quickest form of mail from England. She is now at the North Staffs R.I. (?) but she has joined the Princess Mary's Nursing Service and expects to be enlisted in the Air Works this month.

Ted must still be on his way out, if he is lucky he will spend some time at a S.A. port, but I hope to have news of him within a few weeks.

Sorry to hear of your attack of influenza, it is a very unpleasant illness. Convalescence is, however, a delightful period when one can laze without being pricked by a guilty conscience and read books which normally one would be too busy to look at.

Quite a few papers and some books have arrived from home so that I have reading material to last me awhile. The papers of course are rather stale but they do help to fill in the gaps left by the BBC news.

I have just finished reading The Poacher by H.E. Bates, and found it very enjoyable. It deals with the life of a poacher who was a young man in the '80s. His father is a wonderfully drawn character and the book loses a lot of its interest after he is shot by a keeper. It was surprising to hear the hero say he could be hanged for poaching and gaoled for even making a snare.

The station cinema continues to give its shows thrice weekly but seldom rises above a 3rd rate program. Two notable exceptions were Mice & Men and Dark Victory both of which I enjoyed, although both were badly cut and suffered from the projection breaking down a dozen or so times.

Last week we had a lecture on "Current Affairs" by our Intelligence Officer. This was the first of its kind I had heard in the RAF and was interesting although nothing new came to light. The discussion which followed was very free and animated and centred around the issue of the 2nd Front.

The weather has been showing signs of initiative recently with brilliant storms of thunder and light[e]ning (sic) and downpours of rain. This helps to break the monotony but the rain usually holds back the trains so that we get no mail for a few days.

I must close now. How is the baby? I look forward to getting some snaps and hearing a lot of news about her progress.

Love to all,
Tom

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What is this?

989689. LAC. Rogers
S.H.Q. RAF. STN.
WADI SEIDNA.
18/1/42 SUDAN.

Dear Ralph & E.,

Your two letters dated May & July '41 arrived whilst I was in Egypt together with a large bundle of mail which had accumulated whilst I was in Durban. It was great to get all these letters and reading them to be able to fill in all the gaps left by the mail I got in hospital. However, much time has passed since July and John must by now be almost ready to celebrate his 3rd b./d., I am afraid he will be going to school before I get home. Both mother and Freda have kept me well posted and now that David & Phoebe are engaged (a piece of really good news) I expect to hear even more of Farnham. I have not, of course, heard directly from Ted, but apparently he is doing well, working hard, and Mike is in the running for the title of the world's most lovely baby.

The journey down here was both long and interesting, in all I travelled about 1,800 miles from Cairo, by train and river steamer. The trip down the Nile was very pleasant as the immediate Nile valley is the only part of Egypt which has any value. We paused for a few hours to see the Temple of Ramesis II which is cut out of the solid rock cliff. About 4,800 years old it contains the carved rock bodyguards of the King and the walls are covered with carvings & writing depicting the King’s triumphs and victories. It seemed the sort of monument Hitler would like to leave to impress his greatness on the succeeding generations, but he is more likely to end his days breaking rocks than carving them.

This camp, at which I arrived after travelling for 4 days has advantages which are not usually found in these parts. It was formerly an agricultural college and we have good billets, a swimming pool, and a few yards of carefully irrigated lawn. The work seems strange after almost a year's inactivity but I imagine I shall get into the way of it soon. At the moment our hours are from 6 - 8 am, 9 am - 1 pm, and 2 - 4/5? pm, but soon it will be too hot to do any work in the afternoon and then we shall have to work in the evenings.

I spent the last 3 minutes trying to tell a native to scrub the floor of this office. As he did not understand English and as my Arabic is at present limited to about 3 words it was difficult. At length after much mimeing and much use of the operative word "moya" (water) he caught the drift and got mobile.

The biggest trial here is being completely cut off from the rest of the world. Even the war seems remote and I have not heard any news for three days. Then we were falling back in Malaya & the Russians were advancing in the Leningrad sector.

Sorry this letter is so short but it has the advantage of being fairly speedy.

Looking forward to your next letter.
Lots of love to you all -
Tom

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This is another letter from my father to his elder brother Ralph and his wife Edith; he had been transferred north from South Africa, possibly on compassionate grounds, as his brother Ted (also mentioned in this letter) was in hospital after being badly burned. David (engaged to Phoebe) was yet another brother. Only the eldest brother, John, is not mentioned.