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A Letter from Middle Wallop
A
letter home from groundcrew member 809178
Ernest Anthony ‘Tony’ Gill
609
Squadron Middle
Wallop Thursday
1940 Dear
Folks, Here
is pretty much the same except that it has rained every day. I had a hell of a
time getting back last Friday for as the train which was on time for once drew
near Kings Cross an air raid warning went and we could hear the ack-ack fire
coming from down the Thames. The time was 3 o' clock. The
tubes were all closed so 3 of us set off to walk to Waterloo Stn. The all clear
went as we were in Trafalgar Square, and then 10 minutes later went again, but
we heard nothing. However, we left Waterloo by electric train to Twickenham and
had to change there for Woking as parts of the main line had been bombed. From
Woking we changed at Basingstoke and waiting for a train to Andover, and from
there we walked six miles back to camp and so ended my leave. Next
morning I heard that we had two DFC's and a DSO awarded to F/O Dundas and F/O
Howell and the CO, but last week we lost Sgt Feary who was shot down on Weds. We
have got two more Polish pilots and this week they have both got two Germans
each. I have been put on another kite as R was shot up a bit last week and is
having a mainplane changed. However I'm still with Oscar and he got a Me110 on
Tuesday Afternoon and Ted and I helped him to write out his combat report all
Weds morning. Oscar can speak a fair bit of English but cannot write it much, so
he looks up every word in a Polish dictionary and translates it into English. He
then has to copy the printed words in the dictionary into writing and he tries
to write the word first on a piece of paper and then if we say its correct, or
eventually show him where it's wrong, he fills in his combat report a word at a
time. He went on perfect until the end of his report when Ted and I went for
dinner, for when we came back Oscar had written "me bloody sure German
gunner him all dead" and then signed his full name in Polish underneath.
When the other two Poles came Nova and Oscar took them into Andover and they got
pretty tight and were all in the best room in the White Hart singing Polish Air
Force songs and ended up by singing their national anthem as they drove around
the Guildhall in Andover about a dozen times, before some of our officers
boarded the car and drove them back to camp. I
have heard that our board for our LAC's is due for the back end of November if
we can obtain a board officer from a school, but I have received no parcel of
books yet and no letters of any description since I returned. Things at present
as regards going out are a bit better, for we have finished for about 7 o' clock
every night, but as the last bus from Andover is 10:30 it isn't really worth
going out much and I have just heard that the CO has been made a Wing Commander,
so we shall have another CO coming. We
are having all the prop noses painted egg blue and we are having a fancy
squadron crest painted on all our kites which incorporates the white rose of
Yorkshire and the two owl's out of the Leeds coat of arms. I think that's about all
except you might send my button stick on and my duster as I left them at home,
but until I write again I guess you've had it. Your
loving son Tony |
Copyright © 2002 609 (West Riding)
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