World "War II Letters Home August 25, 1938-Estelles Wickenkamp

                                                                                                         Officers Mess
                                                                                                         Royal Air Force
                                                                                                         Uxbridge
                                                                                                        August 25, 1938

Dear Esther:

I have another home for a couple of weeks, so I'll have to send you a sample of the notepaper we have here.  We don't do any flying here, just drill, and drill.  We get up at 6:30, eat breakfast at 7:00, color hoisting and parade at 8:00 until 9:00, then we have a lecture, then more drill until 12:00, then we eat. From 1:30 we drill, etc. until 5:00, then we have tea.  Then we can play tennis or study until 7:00 when we appear for dinner, in full dinner dress  (not in tails, just our tuxedos with black vest or waistcoat as it is called, and a black bow tie).  There are about 120 of us pilot officers and we all eat in one big mess, with long tables in it.  We get a lot better food here than we did at Hatfield.

Our uniforms will be finished and brought out here London to us on this coming Monday, the 29th.  They are sort of gunmetal gray (I'll send you a sample).  first I'll describe our service uniforms - for wear on duty, while flying etc.  We wear a sort of blue pin-point shirt, separate collars, and cuff links and a black 4-in-hand tie.  The trousers are just standard pattern, vest, and the coat, ordinary pattern.  black shoes and black socks, and brown leather gloves and 2 different style caps, one for field service, a sort of scotch style and the other a parade cap.  Our other uniform is our mess uniform (same cloth) but to begin with you put your wellingtons in your skin tight pants.  Wellingtons are a sort of Wyoming cowboy boots. there is a strap at the bottom of the pants that goes under the boots to hold them tighter 'n a fiddle string, the (don't forget they are held up by a tight pair of braces). Then the waistcoat which is very short (we have the gray one and also a white one for guest nights), then comes our mess jacket - it is short like a bell-hop's. Anyhow, to end it up you look like you were melted and poured into it, but don't think it doesn't look natty, because it sure does.  I'll send numerous pictures later to prove my point.

Well, I have to struggle into my stiff shirt and dinner suit so I'll finish this aftah dinnah!

Well, that's over and here I am - stiff front, stiff cuffs, and stiff collar.  I'll try to tell you a little more about our dinners, especially the more peculiar points.  In the first place, we do not get slices of bread here, it is cut in hunks and a hunk is laid down beside your service.  Our cutlery is colossal - I mean spoons and knives are terribly large.  Our meals are served in courses.  After we are through eating we retreat to the lounge and get ourselves a cup of coffee with chicory in it.  If you want anything to drink you just go over to the wall to one of the speaking tubes, press a button and phone in you order - the waiter comes out with it and sign for it and it is deducted from your wages - you can't pay for anything in cash.  Here is a rough sketch of the mess - this is quite out of proportion but it will give your a fair idea.  This whole depot is covered with long buildings which are our quarters, classrooms, hospitals, etc., etc., barracks and what not.  Most of the wings are about 200 feet long and about 30 feet wide.  There are 2 of us in each room.   We have soccer fields, tennis courts, squash courts, gymnasium, theatre and everything here.

One thing that is very noticeable is the importance of prestige of officers (don't forgot I am one) have to carry around here .It is not allowed to speak to an airman (ground man) because he is below your rank, etc.  After dinner you cannot go into the lounge unless you are in dinner jacket and at no time can go around unless you are properly attired, coat and tie or scarf.  It just isn't cricket! I think you get to be a hypocrite or something like that, reserved, the whole atmosphere has sociability erased from it.

We had a set of our text books issued to us the other day and the consist of: 1.  King's Regulations and Air Council Instructions - a book about 7" x 10" and 2 1/2" thick with 1,450 pages.  2. Manual of Air force law - 6" x(' and 2" thick - m916 pages.  3.  Part 1 and Part 2 - 2 books on Royal Air Force War Manual, 5" x 7" about 100 pages each.  4.  R.A.F Pocket Book 4" x 6" x 1" with flap that folds around it.  This contains a brief summary of anything you want to know more or less what is in these books  - how one goes about it, I don't know.

We also get issued with our flying suits and gas mask while we are here.  so you can imagine the amount of trunks it will take to take care of all our belongings before long.

I am going to take a bunch of pictures of this place and various things on Sunday.  We haven't time otherwise - they keep us hopping.

It's awfully hard to get any nice neckties over here, either they are terribly drab or something that I wouldn't want to wear. All the fellows wonder where we got our nice ties. They think our clothes as a whole are gaudy.

I have my box camera yet but I think I will get a  folding one sometime - they are handier to carry about.

I haven't told you much about London I guess., so I'll start at the bottom - that will be the underground electric railways.  To get to them there are entrances on nearly every downtown street corner.  You walk down steps for about 30 feet, then go to a slot machine or ticket office and get a ticket - then you go down 1 or 2 escalators for about 100 to 150 feet lower down.  You get on a platform in these tunnels and you see trains whizzing by at about 50 m.p.h  They stop and start with a bang and the doors are automatic.  You get in from the sides - furthermore you don't waste any time doing so unless you want to be left standing there.  Most of the time they are so packed you can hardly get standing room - but that doesn't mark any difference.  These tubes don't run in London - they go way out in the country.  After they get out a ways they come to the top of the ground.  It sure is a wonderful system for quick travelling.  It is about 25 miles from here to Piccadilly Circus and a return ticket only cost 1/7, about 31 cents.

I am so tired from all our marching, etc.  I am going to call it quits, have a bath and go to bed.

Esther, you had better send this letter home after you read it, because I don't write long descriptive letters like this every day.  It is only :00 o'clock so I sure mus be tired.

Send my next mail to: Acting Pilot Officer E.A.W
                                 No. 2 Flying Training School
                                 Brize Norton, Oxfordshire

I got an air mail letter from the folks - it took about 10 days to get here. I'll try to write another long letter when i get in the mood again.

                                                                                         With Love, Your Brother

                                                                                         Estelles

World War II Letters Home June 27, 1938-Estelles Wickenkamp

Cunard White Star

"Andania"

June 27, 1938

 

Dear Folks:

 

I just ran out of ink so I will have to write this letter in pencil. Now to go on from where I left off in my last letter: We got into Liverpool at 8:00 p.m. Saturday night at about 10:00 p.m. Doug Morris and I got off the ship and took a bus (pronounced boos) and went into downtown section. it was a double-decker so we got up in the top and the front seat - well, we thought we were going to hit every post and sign along the street. It sure seemed funny, everything is so odd - we just sat there and laughed all the time. The streets are so narrow and they are made of bricks - not paved - so they are sort of rough. Anyhow, we wandered around for a while and laughed at the funny little cars and the ancient old crates they use for taxis. The streets are terrible dirty - newspapers blowing all over. At different places along the sidewalks - (nearly every sidewalk has a stone wall along it unless it passes in front of buildings) there are little spaces penned off that are used for public toilets - we nearly died laughing at them. After a while we took another bus and got back to our ship.

 

We slept aboard that night and left the ship Sunday morning at 9:00 and after a lot of fooling around at the customs office we wee taken by "charabank" or something meaning bus to the station. They don't check your suitcases here; they just load them into an express care and  have to claim them when you get to your destination and all you do is "tip" everybody. It cost me $10.00 for tips -- you just have to do it - of course that was on the ship too.

 

Well, we got into one of these funny little trains and went as far as London. Wherever a road of sidewalk crosses the railroad it either goes over or under the R.R. There are quite a few little rivers and canals all through the country. When we got into London, we transferred into  another train -- it was divided into compartments and you get into these compartments from either side. Gosh, it was funny. I'll take some pictures later on and you an see for yourselves. Anyhow, we got here to our school at 3:00 p.m. Sunday. After we got cleaned up w went over to the airfield and looked around, then went to bed.

 

This morning we went over there at 9:00 a.m. We signed a few papers, then we were fitted out in flying suits (inner ones are some kind of brown imitation sheepskin with woolly outside - outer one is a sort of light khaki cloth with a lining in it and fur collar and our helmets with goggles and earphones) and a nice pair of soft leather gauntlets.

 

This afternoon after we took another medical exam; we got into a plane and went for a ride (Lesson No. 1). There is 1 instructor for every group of pupil pilots. We fly again tomorrow afternoon. That is, one half of the pupils do - the other half fly in the afternoon. When we don't fly we have lectures.

 

There are 28 pupils altogether and 20 of them are here in Longfield House. Four of us Canucks have one big room together. It is a lot better than having a bloomin' bloke in your room with you.

 

The flying field is about a mile square; it also incorporates the London Aeo Club, pretty swanky place.

 

I don't know ow many planes there are here, probably a hundred more. In our hangar along there are about 30 trainers and pursuit planes so i don't really know what all is here yet as this is the first day here. They have a club here with courts for different games and a swell swimming pool. That costs us about $2.50 a month, whether we use it or not. Our board costs 2, 10s a week. That doesn't really leave us an awful lot out of  about $120.00 a month. The board amounts to $50.00 a month. Also we have to buy a dinner suit or mess jacket of Tuxedo or whatever you want to call them. Of course men's clothes are very cheap here - that will cost me about $12 or $15.00. Also a stiff front shirt, patent leather pumps, buttons, studs and cuff links, etc.

 

There's about as many motorcycles here as cars. There are quite a few 3-wheeled cars.

 

In fact, there are so many queer and odd thins that I can't tell you about all of them in 1 nor 6 letters so I won't try. I'll have to write about some of them every week.

 

I will close now hoping to hear from you within 3 weeks.

 



                                                                          Love,

                                                                          Estelles

 

 

 

 



World War II Letters Home June 25, 1938-Estelles Wickenkamp

Cunard White Star

"Andania",

 

June 25, 1938

 

Dear Folks,

 

We will soon be in Liverpool, that is in a couple more hours. We stopped at Belfast, Ireland last night and at Greenoch, Scotland this morning - that is not far from Glasgow. Two of the R.A.F. boys got off at Greenoch (pronounced Grenok); the remaining 4 of us will get off the ship tomorrow morning. The we will go to London and out to Hatfield - it is about 15 miles north of London, that is, if we go by train. We are not sure yet but we may go by car. One of the girls aboard said she would take us down by car. He dad owns several cars. I believe he must be a Chrysler salesman as she said she would most likely take the De Soto. if we haven't too much baggage probably that is how we will travel. It sure will be a lot nicer than by train.

 

We all got across without being seasick, although for a day after we left Belle Isle we felt rather dizzy, be we never missed any of our meals, and boy, did we eat! We sure have swell meals. I am going to send you some of our menus and programmes so you can see for yourself. We have an orchestra, 3 piece, that plays in the afternoons and evenings for us. From 11:00 to 12:00 we usually have a dance but at first it is hard to dance with the ship rolling and pitching - the rolling is worse though. Now I don't mind it at all. You don't seem to notice it after the 4th or 5th day out.

 

As we came down from Greenoch we met the navy fleet; 2 battleships, 1 aircraft carrier, and light destroyers. We also passed a new battleship and a submarine but we were having a nap so didn't see them. The coasts of Ireland and Scotland are very beautiful - very hill or mountainous, and marked off by hedges into irregular little farms, all as green as could be.

 

I didn't get any of my films developed on the ship as it is too expensive here so will wait until I get to Hatfield. Monday, the 27th we start our training school so there won't be any time to waste. but I am quite glad as it seems as if I have had a real big holiday already.

 

I had supper about an hour ago and as were coming into Liverpool I have been on deck ever since. It seems very peculiar seeing the cities over here. You see rows and rows of brick buildings all the same height and size. It seems sort of odd. As we came into here we passed the big ship yards where they dry dock and build ships. About all it amounts to is a lot of long buildings and numerous derricks sticking into the air. We are not going to get off the ship until 8:00 in the morning. There is exactly 7 hours difference in the time here from home. I haven't changed my watch yet. In my next letter I will try to describe the ship a little more fully to you.

 

We had a fairly smooth trip over here. We saw quite a few iceberg as we passed Belle Isle; the were coming down the coast of Labrador. On our 6th day out we ran into quite a bit of fog and of course every 2 minutes the fog horn went whoo-oo-oo ( mama knows how!) I went up into the crow's nest a couple of times - just sort of sneaked up when none of the crew were around; one of the men up there didn't care; after we were up he couldn't kick us down. You get up there on the inside of the mast, about 50 feet up on an iron ladder; of course the crow's nest is only about half way up the mast.

 

If we go to London by train we leave here at 10:20 a.m. and get into London at 2:10 p.m. I really don't know what else to write about now so I will write again in a couple of days.

 

Hope you are all well.

 

Love,

 

Estelles.