Letter to Jesse from Glenn Brooks
Title
Letter to Jesse from Glenn Brooks
Description
He is getting regular mail from Canada but not many parcels. He writes about family news and the quality of food not being as good as before. He mentions flying with an all Canadian crew. He has been on leave in London and Birmingham.
Creator
Date
1944-03-10
Temporal Coverage
Spatial Coverage
Language
Format
One double sided handwritten air letter
Publisher
Rights
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Contributor
Identifier
EBrooksGWVanNestJ440310-0001, EBrooksGWVanNestJ440310-0002
Transcription
10 Mar 1944: Dear Jesse. [Ed: Glenn’s Uncle Jesse Van Nest]
Just a line to let you know I'm alive and still kicking. Haven't received any mail from you as yet but mother said you had sent her your letter from me.
At present I am huddled around a small stove in my bunk house mixing up some soup which Dora sent me in a parcel. My mail is coming quite regularly now although parcels are pretty slow.
Received a letter from Aunt Verna today with all the news at that time available. Apparently they have had quite a time with their turnips.
Hope that this finds you and the family in the best of health. I am feeling fine and in the pink. The food isn't so good here but it's enough to get by on. How is Norm and Elmira and family there these days. I never hear much about them.
We are kept fairly busy here now with lots of flying1. I have an all Canadian crew a swell bunch of fellows. I was up to see Dora's brother while on leave and he looks pretty well but is fed up with everything in general. I received a letter from him today, however, informing me that he is on his way to Canada for some leave. A fellow in his position deserves a rest.
As far as I can make out from my letters, they are all keeping quite well and happy at home. It will soon be the busy season for them over there.
I am in the Midlands2 now and it’s a terrible climate, seems to stay damp and cold for weeks on end. I'm looking forward to summertime and some sunshine I hope.
Suppose you are kept busy at the shop all the time and find it rather tiresome no doubt. There is always new things to do and see over here and you seldom ever get bored but I'll be glad when this thing is all over. News is looking good at present but it will take a while yet I believe.
I had 7 days leave a week ago and saw quite a lot of the historical parts of England: Parliament Bldg, London Tower, Westminster Abbey and scores of old castles around London and Birmingham. It was quite interesting for a day or so but became boring after that.
I saw George and Liz [Ed. this has to be King George and Queen Elizabeth] at the Beaver Club in London. I could have reached out and touched either of them. I didn't get to shake hands with them however.
Well Jesse, there isn't anything more I can say now. I really can't tell you much of what I'm really doing over here but will tell you all about it when I get home again.
Remember me to all the folks in Windsor and drop a line when you have time.
As ever, Glenn
Just a line to let you know I'm alive and still kicking. Haven't received any mail from you as yet but mother said you had sent her your letter from me.
At present I am huddled around a small stove in my bunk house mixing up some soup which Dora sent me in a parcel. My mail is coming quite regularly now although parcels are pretty slow.
Received a letter from Aunt Verna today with all the news at that time available. Apparently they have had quite a time with their turnips.
Hope that this finds you and the family in the best of health. I am feeling fine and in the pink. The food isn't so good here but it's enough to get by on. How is Norm and Elmira and family there these days. I never hear much about them.
We are kept fairly busy here now with lots of flying1. I have an all Canadian crew a swell bunch of fellows. I was up to see Dora's brother while on leave and he looks pretty well but is fed up with everything in general. I received a letter from him today, however, informing me that he is on his way to Canada for some leave. A fellow in his position deserves a rest.
As far as I can make out from my letters, they are all keeping quite well and happy at home. It will soon be the busy season for them over there.
I am in the Midlands2 now and it’s a terrible climate, seems to stay damp and cold for weeks on end. I'm looking forward to summertime and some sunshine I hope.
Suppose you are kept busy at the shop all the time and find it rather tiresome no doubt. There is always new things to do and see over here and you seldom ever get bored but I'll be glad when this thing is all over. News is looking good at present but it will take a while yet I believe.
I had 7 days leave a week ago and saw quite a lot of the historical parts of England: Parliament Bldg, London Tower, Westminster Abbey and scores of old castles around London and Birmingham. It was quite interesting for a day or so but became boring after that.
I saw George and Liz [Ed. this has to be King George and Queen Elizabeth] at the Beaver Club in London. I could have reached out and touched either of them. I didn't get to shake hands with them however.
Well Jesse, there isn't anything more I can say now. I really can't tell you much of what I'm really doing over here but will tell you all about it when I get home again.
Remember me to all the folks in Windsor and drop a line when you have time.
As ever, Glenn
Collection
Citation
Glenn Brooks, “Letter to Jesse from Glenn Brooks,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed June 16, 2025, https://ibccdigitalarchive.omeka.net/collections/document/31120.