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.

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.

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. 

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

War news at this time was full of incident: On January 1st the Germans began a surprise offensive (Operation Nordwind) in northern Alsace.
Also on this date 46 American B-29 bombers based near Calcutta, India attacked a railroad bridge near Bangkok, Thailand and other targets in the area and the Japanese increasingly used kamikaze tactics against the US naval forces nearby.

On the 3rd the Allies took the offensive east of the Bulge but they failed to close the pincers (which might have surrounded large numbers of Germans) with Patton’s tanks.

On the 5th the German offensive Nordwind crossed the border into Alsace and the Japanese retreated across the Irrawaddy River in Burma with General Slim’s troops in pursuit.

The 6th January January saw American B-29s bomb Tokyo again and on the 7th Germans, as part of the plan to retake Strasbourg, broke out of the “Colmar Pocket”, a bridgehead on the Rhine, and headed east. On the 8th the battle of Strasbourg was underway, with Americans in defence of their recent acquisition.

On the 11th the first convoy moved  on the Ledo (or “Stilwell”) road in northern Burma, linking India and China and on the 13th the East Prussian Offensive began. The 14th January saw British forces clear the Roer Triangle during Operation Blackcock. Hitler was now firmly ensconced in the bunker in Berlin with his companion Eva Braun.
On the 17th January it was announced officially that the Battle of the Bulge was at an end.

69 LAA Reg RA

w/s section REME

S.E.A.C.

19th January 1945

My Darling Janie,

I’ve just arrived back in camp after a marvellous holiday. My, when I came to say goodbye it was nearly as bad as leaving home, particularly as I know fairly certainly that I shall not see them for two years and never again see the bungalow that has been the scene of so much of my happiness during this exile. Then Nathalie kissed me (which really made it worse) but I wouldn’t have had her do anything different. She did the same on my arrival. Jack was there both times of course which just shows you how sweet she is, if you needed any convincing.

Anyway, I digress somewhat. All the above occurred at 10am yesterday since when I have driven 370 miles on my own, arriving at camp 4.45 this morning. So you see sweetheart I haven’t slept since I left and I’m a bit tired but those lovely Xmas gifts and grand letters demand immediate answers so here I am my sweet.

Yes darling, all the contents of the parcels were in good condition. The photos were wizard. Say, who is Anthony intending to hit in the group photo? Goodness, how that kid alters and grows. I met that kid the same age as Anthony at Mary James’ birthday party. I told him about my little boy and he stood against the door so that I could measure him. This lad was half an inch taller than Anthony’s 5th birthday specifications so I imagine they must be almost the same so of course I couldn’t take my eyes off him.

I am also very impressed with the extremely smartly dressed young lady standing next to the vicar. Forgive me for saying so sweetheart but it looks as though Bond Street had walked into Selfridges (the rest of the group). By the way that crack is between ourselves (all right, all right). 

Thank you sweet for all those useful bits and things so needed and yet to me virtually unobtainable. It was beautifully wrapped up and was more dear to me as you had done the decorations yourself. The book I shall start on as soon as I get to bed.

Please forget that letter when I was blue and worried but I simply could not understand why having received your Christmas parcel from me you should forget to make any mention of it, even thank you. Forget it sweet, only it was rather depressing to me.

Nathalie was also asking if Anthony has ever received those fur lined slippers she sent him in one of my parcels? I told her yes of course and apologised  for not mentioning it before but really I can’t remember you ever mentioning them.

Yes, Diana wrote to me three times around Xmas and had me worried so I spent the weekend there. As you know my fears that she was having another ‘attack’ were groundless thank goodness so the beautiful Diana will fade out of my life, a thing I thought she’d done ages ago.

Diana Franklin, daughter of one of the tea plantation owners.

Now I must turn in sweetheart or I shall go to sleep right here. So, till I sleep with you again darling all my love is yours and Anthony’s.

God bless you both darling and bring me safely home to you.

And I’m your own,

Johnnie xxxx