Letters, diaries and photographs from World War II

War news at this time was encouraging: on the 17th Warsaw was entered by Red Army troops and a government favourable to the Communists was installed. On this date also it was announced officially that the Battle of the Bulge was at an end. On the 19th Hitler ordered that any retreats of divisions or larger units must be approved by him and on the 20th the Red Army advanced into East Prussia and the  Germans renewed their retreat. On this date also Franklin D. Roosevelt was sworn in for a fourth term as U.S. President and Harry Truman as Vice President.

 

 

67 LAA Reg RA

W/S Section REME

Army Base P.O. INDIA

22nd January 1945

My Dearest Wife,

Well, don’t you think I’m a good boy, seventh letter this year and still going strong.

Everything is going fine here. We have had a little rain and cloudy mornings and evenings with lighting effects reminiscent of home and really it’s grand to hear the rain pattering on the corrugated iron roof, shades of the romantic India of my childhood at the hill station we used to live at in the hot season, and Mum in particular. You see Dad used to stay down in the plains. I remember distinctly how Maurice used to cry when it rained hard because the noise on the iron roof was terrific.

These showers are not of course the rains. They don’t come till the beginning of May and then it’s just terrific but a very welcome respite from the terrific heat and the thing about the heat up here is that there is just no breeze at all and it’s damp, just like a glass hot house. However it’s very nice just now and as far as I can I’m enjoying it.

The other morning a magnificent “tusker” elephant walked through the camp. He was huge and tusks fully a yard in length. He was the one Mr.James (the planter) uses for shooting. Anyway we have a deep monsoon  ditch, it takes our six wheelers, but Mr. Tusker took one look at it, sniffed and walked around it, stepping right across the ditch quite easily.

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Recently the evenings have been very clear so I took the car out across the tea gardens to where I could get a good view and there many miles to the north were the great snow capped Himalayas. It was a magnificent sight although as far as I can gather they are seasonal snows not the everlasting snows of the giants further back. I believe there are times when we can see these as well. 

I think I told you darling in my last letter that as a result of the Brigadier’s inspection I had to prepare a report on rations, costs etc., Well, it took me twelve hours of work, facts, figures and all that sort of thing and I sent it to RHQ. This report coincided with the visit of the Catering Corps officer and the balloon went right up. Every figure was checked, each of my suggestions thrashed out. Honestly, honey, it’s just as well I took a great deal of trouble on the report because I’ve positively stirred up a hornet’s nest and it isn’t finished yet. It’s gone back to Army HQ. This Catering Corps fellow was very good and knew his stiff from A to Z. He had been an Army cook in the ranks himself. He spent hours in our cookhouse demonstrating and he made many useful suggestions to me. But you see the point don’t yu darling? I’m supposed to be san engineer inspecting and repairing instruments and things but I spent the best part of last week on rations and cookhouse.

It’s Sunday evening and incidentally I’m writing with Harry’s posh pen. I have had five marvellous sets of tennis. I played solidly from three thirty till five thirty. I played simply dreadfully. I think it must have been because I was playing part of the time with one of the planter’s daughters and she is quite pretty. I find that after all this solitude things like that have a bad effect on my nerves. Pretty dreadful isn’t it when we have to come down to excuses like that. However I do enjoy my tennis. The first time I played, that was four weeks ago, I was absolutely knocked out after three sets, ow I’m absolutely knocked out after five sets so I seem ti be getting fitter.

Last Tuesday I missed my weekly movies because of that aforementioned Catering Corps chap, however I forgive him that because he did me a lot of good.

More confessions sweetheart.  I’ve had another letter from Joan Halbert. I told you she was married, well, he’s in the army and at present in South Africa and so she follows him around lucky devils. She admits as much and sympathises with our plight. She always asks after you and Anthony and confided in me this time that her second son is to be called Anthony Peter (her husband’s name is Peter), the first is to be David John and a daughter Philippa. Ambitious, aren’t they, and they haven’t been married twelve months yet. Oh, sweetheart, I’m saving all her letters so you can censor them and real with them accordingly. Do you still love me? I promise I’ll try and be good. Please Janie.

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Joan Halbert the nurse John met in South Africa on his way to Alexandria

 

To continue, my love, I had my Xmas parcel from the Minehead chapel: socks, a writing pad and a pencil, same as last year. Jolly good of them to continue to remember me. I also had a very nice letter from Humbly. That makes three from you, one from Girlie and one from the church.

And now it’s about time for our new feature: anniversaries. This will be the second one. Do yo like them? I dig into my diaries for the necessary information. Well, the nearest interesting item is Sunday 19th January 1941. I had taken the weekend off from Portsmouth to go to London. Apparently I went to Morning Service with Evie and saw her as far as the bus. I recall quite well she didn’t stop talking about Stephen the whole time. I also went down and saw your folks at 46 Wharncliffe Gardens. I had to return that night and while I was waiting at Waterloo Station thee was an air raid going on uncomfortably close but the train wasn’t very late leaving. Oh yes, and now I come to think of it, when I got to Portsmouth there were no cabs or anything so I had over an hour’s walk in the rain and it was bak as pitch. Well, twelve months later we were on our second ship. Most of the week we were at Suez I was in the hospital having the most careful medical examination I’ve ever had in my life. But I told you all about that before. Of course as usual we hadn’t the vaguest idea where we were going, Bombay, Ceylon, Singapore. Thank goodness it wsmt the last name. 

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Evelyn married to Janie’s cousin Stephen Barker

Well, the news is ok isn’t it sweetheart, bang goes Tripoli, but what I want to see is bang goes Burma because my end of the war looks as though it’s going to take years longer than your end and by the time we get back everyone will have forgotten that there was a war.

Well now, in reply to yours of 18th December, your airmail letter took just one month. This is good but I haven’t recovered, not yet.

I’m very troubled about Russell going sweetheart especially as you have no maid. I do hope you have succeeded by now but sweetheart in my mind I have no doubt that you wull, as always, be equal to the situation when it arrives. Nevertheless I feel terribly helpless and I can tghik of nothing more exasperating and now this additional call up, but I still have every confidence in you and the same goes for Russell.

Now why is my promotion troubling you sweetheart? I’m stuck I tell you. The powers that be think ours is a good outfit and won’t spilt it. It’s much harder luck on the ‘men’ who are in just the same boat. Is it troubling you that Stephen is catching me up?

I do so hope that Russell gets, or I should say has got, his BSc but why is he going across to REME after all his ATS training? I shouldn’t put too much stress on his getting a commission where he is and I think I know the job he’s after in which case he’ll hardly have time to complete his training before it’s over (says he hopefully).

All my love to you my dearest wife. Chin up and take care of yourself and our little boy. How I do long to see you both and get that home going again in the full sense.

But I’m still absolutely all yours sweetest,

Johnnie xxxx

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Not to be reproduced without permission
johnfinal.jpgJanie Askew

John's wife

johnfinal.jpgAnthony Askew
First son of John and Janie

johnfinal.jpgRussell Barker Janie's Brother
johnfinal.jpgGirlie Askew

John's younger sister

johnfinal.jpgMaurice Askew

John's younger Brother

johnfinal.jpgStephen Barker

Janie's Cousin

johnfinal.jpgEvelyn Barker

Stephen Barker's wife

davidfinal.jpgDavid Barker

Janie's cousin

freda.jpgFreda Cobley

Janie's cousin