17 August 1940

56 Bond Street
Sunderland

17 Aug

Dear Angela
Please excuse me for not writing before now, but I have just returned from a week at camp. We were out in the wilds of the Pennines. The weather behaved itself fairly well and only rained once, when we were seven miles from camp on the moors! The cooking was much better than last years, we even tried a fruit pudding made of wild fruits which we had gathered. We also helped the country by working on the farm, my hand are tender now, because of the hay forks - but I will get over it.
The results have not been published yet and my chances of passing seem to be getting smaller each day - but I am still hoping!
Dad and I have just returned from the “battlefield” that is where the last bombs were dropped when I was at camp. I believe you asked me what it was like in an air raid, well I can tell you much better now as I have been in one. It was last Friday, I was just retuning from the swimming baths and when I reached the middle of the bridge a terrible crash and a great red flash came from the end of the bridge - only fifty yards away, a few seconds afterwards another crash and flash came from a timber yard below the bridge – I saw the black pieces of shrapnel flying, then I ran for shelter. “He” dropped fourteen bombs, killing four people and wounding about sixty. The latest raid was last Thursday when I was at camp. About 150 planes approached our coast, our fighters went out and brought over 40 down before the raiders reached the coast, the total of Germans brought down here was 52. Out of 1,000 planes over England 169 were shot down. About 40 bombs must have been dropped and we have just been touring about ten wrecked houses and some bomb holes in the roads. Only four were killed and about ten wounded. In “his” first raid military objects were bombed, but not in his second as only houses were hit. These raids were during the day, we also have many at nights when the convoys are attacked, but little damage has been done by these. Well so much for that, we are quite confident of our fighter planes and A.A. guns.
We have started a “Spitfire” fund in Sunderland. It is a fund to gather £5,000 to buy a “Spitfire”. Everyone is selling old things, having concerts, raffles etc to raise money. One man has already given £10,000 to buy two planes. Many other towns are doing this in order to replace the fighters we have lost.
Mam has had a busy time lately as she has been allowed extra sugar to make jam with. We have had a busy time too - taking samples. We have started to take the rationing as a matter of course now, it seemed very little at first but with care it lasts out.
Well I must close now - hoping you will excuse this letter being so full of “war”, it is the only thing we have to think of over here. Please excuse the muddled style and writing but it is very hot here and my blistered hands don’t seem to have been made for a pen.
I remain your war weary, but, never been hit correspondent
Harold