In Memory of
Sergeant STEPHEN HODGE CARTER
1545420, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
who died
on 23 July 1943
Son of Stephen and Annie Carter, of Sunderland.
Remembered with honour
SUNDERLAND (MERE KNOLLS) CEMETERY
Commemorated in perpetuity by
the Commonwealth War Graves Commission
22 Aug 43
Dear Angela
First, I must ask you to excuse the paper, I am having to use college file paper because it is almost impossible to obtain large writing pads here, and I don’t care for writing on small paper.
Your air-mail letter arrived about 3 days ago having taken just over 3 weeks to get here. I think the photo was very good, I had no bother in finding you at all and the X on the back was just a check on my eyesight. I can’t send you any photos like yours because, as I suppose you know, the N.E. Coast is noted for its heavy industry and smoke I think a pool like that on the photo would soon become full of grit and dirt if it were over here. However we are quite proud of our little ‘bits’ of country here and there and are very proud of our moors and dales. You will probably have heard about another thing we are very proud about – the best Infantry Regiment in the British Army – The Durham Light Infantry – there are always great arguments over here between the supporters of the 50th and the 51st Divisions but no one seems to gain anything.
We have had two good weeks from the weather point of view and I had one of them as my holiday week from work. I had quite a novel holiday – I spent four days with a long distance ‘lorry’ driver. The driver is a great friend of mine and we had quite a good time, we went down the Great North Road to a place called Newark and we spent two days in Nottingham. We had a little fruit but there was only apples, nothing as good as apricots. I have decided to spend my next holiday in the same way for a few reasons first – it is cheap, it’s different, and it doesn’t stop rail traffic needed for the war. The next week of weather was terrible, and I think that the American soldier who said that “Sunderland hasn’t got a climate, it just has weather” was just about right. You will have heard about the “Holidays at Home” schemes which we are having over here – they are quite a good idea and I went to hear an opera in one of our parks and I really enjoyed it, the singing was easily up to any Radio Opera standard. The beach has been open for bathing and I have been in about five times – usually about 8.00am – you can imagine it wasn’t too warm then.
Your mention of apricots and fruit has made mam very jealous because of the trouble to get fruit here. I have had a few very bitter cooking apples and mam has managed to bottle a few pounds of plums, so you can imagine her feelings when she heard about picking apricots and peaches. We have had to use stewed apples and rhubarb as jam in order to spread out our jam ration – jam takes a great part in our menu now. Mam and dad were away for a week about a month ago and did I have a trying time keeping house, I lived like a king for the first few days but towards the end of the week my diet consisted mainly of bread, jam, cheese and milk – you can imagine how pleased I was when I ‘answered’ the door (crazy phrase isn’t it) and found mam and dad standing there.
I was thinking I ought to engage you to write my college notes or should I say print them, because your printing is certainly easy to read. As for my lecture notes they are written on this paper and with the same scribble you are reading now (or trying to read) – there is one advantage and that is that no one else could use your notes because they could not decipher them. At present I am counting the weeks to the time when I get rid of boiler suits and start writing lecture notes again, I can’t quite decide now which is the worst work or college. I think work is the worst when I am at work, and college is worst when I am there – sounds a bit ‘Irish’ doesn’t it?
I got a piece of bad news the other day Steve Carter was killed. He was the boy who was writing to Kay Macaully and asked her to get me a correspondent in America. He was a navigator in the R.A.F. and was killed in a crash about a fortnight ago. It may seem a hard thing to say but we have got quite used to hearing of friends being killed – either on active service or during raids (-I am pleased to say that we haven’t had any for a while now). Perhaps sometime after the war I will be able to describe an air-raid from my point of view – I suppose you will have had plenty of descriptions from newspapermen’s points of view. I believe I mentioned another pal in the RAF who had been on some earlier daylight raids – he has been awarded the D.F.M. and also a bar to it, news like this makes me feel quite unsettled at still being at home but I suppose ‘they’ will come for me when they want me.
Well I am afraid I can’t think of any more to write hence I must close or start to ‘ramble’ in order to fill up space – I think you would prefer me to close so I will do so.
Be good!
Love
Harold
PS Please excuse the paper
Dear Angela
First, I must ask you to excuse the paper, I am having to use college file paper because it is almost impossible to obtain large writing pads here, and I don’t care for writing on small paper.
Your air-mail letter arrived about 3 days ago having taken just over 3 weeks to get here. I think the photo was very good, I had no bother in finding you at all and the X on the back was just a check on my eyesight. I can’t send you any photos like yours because, as I suppose you know, the N.E. Coast is noted for its heavy industry and smoke I think a pool like that on the photo would soon become full of grit and dirt if it were over here. However we are quite proud of our little ‘bits’ of country here and there and are very proud of our moors and dales. You will probably have heard about another thing we are very proud about – the best Infantry Regiment in the British Army – The Durham Light Infantry – there are always great arguments over here between the supporters of the 50th and the 51st Divisions but no one seems to gain anything.
We have had two good weeks from the weather point of view and I had one of them as my holiday week from work. I had quite a novel holiday – I spent four days with a long distance ‘lorry’ driver. The driver is a great friend of mine and we had quite a good time, we went down the Great North Road to a place called Newark and we spent two days in Nottingham. We had a little fruit but there was only apples, nothing as good as apricots. I have decided to spend my next holiday in the same way for a few reasons first – it is cheap, it’s different, and it doesn’t stop rail traffic needed for the war. The next week of weather was terrible, and I think that the American soldier who said that “Sunderland hasn’t got a climate, it just has weather” was just about right. You will have heard about the “Holidays at Home” schemes which we are having over here – they are quite a good idea and I went to hear an opera in one of our parks and I really enjoyed it, the singing was easily up to any Radio Opera standard. The beach has been open for bathing and I have been in about five times – usually about 8.00am – you can imagine it wasn’t too warm then.
Your mention of apricots and fruit has made mam very jealous because of the trouble to get fruit here. I have had a few very bitter cooking apples and mam has managed to bottle a few pounds of plums, so you can imagine her feelings when she heard about picking apricots and peaches. We have had to use stewed apples and rhubarb as jam in order to spread out our jam ration – jam takes a great part in our menu now. Mam and dad were away for a week about a month ago and did I have a trying time keeping house, I lived like a king for the first few days but towards the end of the week my diet consisted mainly of bread, jam, cheese and milk – you can imagine how pleased I was when I ‘answered’ the door (crazy phrase isn’t it) and found mam and dad standing there.
I was thinking I ought to engage you to write my college notes or should I say print them, because your printing is certainly easy to read. As for my lecture notes they are written on this paper and with the same scribble you are reading now (or trying to read) – there is one advantage and that is that no one else could use your notes because they could not decipher them. At present I am counting the weeks to the time when I get rid of boiler suits and start writing lecture notes again, I can’t quite decide now which is the worst work or college. I think work is the worst when I am at work, and college is worst when I am there – sounds a bit ‘Irish’ doesn’t it?
I got a piece of bad news the other day Steve Carter was killed. He was the boy who was writing to Kay Macaully and asked her to get me a correspondent in America. He was a navigator in the R.A.F. and was killed in a crash about a fortnight ago. It may seem a hard thing to say but we have got quite used to hearing of friends being killed – either on active service or during raids (-I am pleased to say that we haven’t had any for a while now). Perhaps sometime after the war I will be able to describe an air-raid from my point of view – I suppose you will have had plenty of descriptions from newspapermen’s points of view. I believe I mentioned another pal in the RAF who had been on some earlier daylight raids – he has been awarded the D.F.M. and also a bar to it, news like this makes me feel quite unsettled at still being at home but I suppose ‘they’ will come for me when they want me.
Well I am afraid I can’t think of any more to write hence I must close or start to ‘ramble’ in order to fill up space – I think you would prefer me to close so I will do so.
Be good!
Love
Harold
PS Please excuse the paper
