Thursday
Skegness
Dearest,
Lecture time has come and gone so I’m making a start on your weekend letter, although there’s not a lot of time left and some sod is sitting on the far end of the table and rocking it backwards and forwards. You should see the literary activity in the mess tonight as the lads write home to break the news. They’re all at it. I should think you were about the first to know that we were on the move, as few, if any, of the lads got letters away by the early post. I hope the news was not too much of a shock. We are all resigned to it now and we hear, although most of the rumours are mere gossip, that we will attend a school and, as a result, will get he same holidays as the civvies. The lads here argue that on those grounds we should get a week at Easter. Don’t bank on that, but I believe it is a possibility. It sounds feasible enough.
The weather has gone colder here again and the warm spring sun is hidden behind thick layers of drizzling mist. Still, I have the feeling the sun is there, just waiting for a bit of encouragement to break through.
On the financial side, when I read that you had £12-15s to come I imagined what a binge we could have when I get home, so that your following note about two months’ rent was rather a cold douche! Still, I think you have done remarkably well. If you have any extra money from that I left with you, it might be as well to put that in the Post Office too. It’s safe there and you can always draw out what you need. By the way, I think you’ll find you need to put more than 26/- a week away. When there are only four pay days in the month you will find you have not enough – only £5-4. On the other hand, when you have a five week month you find yourself well off. At least, that was my experience. Get hold of that insurance bloke and tell him that you want to see him more regularly. And also make certain that none of the policies have lapsed. Will 5/- a week cover everything in the way of insurance? Wendy’s is nearly 3/- a week and mine 1/- (the quarterly one that is). Make sure of those things or you will find yourself in a mess. Anyway, I think all your suggestions are excellent. You will be wise to save every penny you can. By the way, I must tell you that I have reduced your allowance by 3/6 a week under this new scheme. That amount will be paid by the Government, however, so your total allotment will remain the same. It means I get an extra 6d a day. Whoopee! The commanding officer here solemnly told the men that they should give their wives part of the extra money, but did not tell them that if they did so any additional allowances would be reduced by that amount, as they undoubtedly would. I was wondering about the children’s savings certificates and if you can complete them I would do so.
About my own finances. I’m going to do my damnedest to manage on service pay. I shall feel I have failed if I don’t, but will certainly let you know if I get into a real jam. I might be glad of a bit of extra money when I come home on leave, but we’ll see. I have spent very little of the extra money I brought with me. In fact I’ve turned miser. One thing we will miss when we leave here will be the tobacco issue. I don’t think we will get that but we will have to wait and see.
Friday
It’s now dinner time. We are cooks today so time is rather cramped, but I’m rushing this away in the hope that if I get the lunchtime post you may get it on Saturday afternoon.
We have heard nothing more of Aberdeen beyond this: we are likely to be in private billets. So now we have to await the luck of the draw and see if we are lucky or unlucky. We leave the camp at 7pm on Friday and are due in Aberdeen 1.30pm on Saturday. I believe we are due at Edinburgh for breakfast 8am. That is as far as we know at the moment. If we are going into billets, I don’t be suppose we can let you have an address until we actually get there. Must go for the post now and the two periods of rifle drill. Bye my darling, I love you such a lot and if Aberdeen means an early seven days’ leave, as it may, I shall bless it forever. All my love.
Ever yours,
Arthur
Mar 201942