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Date: January 25th 1942
To
Esther McKnight (cousin)
From
Frank
Letter

Dear Esther,

Remember me? You know Frank?! I've written and written to everybody I can think of but apparently nobody remembers me. The mail takes so long to get across I guess I haven't been here long enough to receive any, yet Willie Amato dropped me a telegram and a letter a couple of days ago telling me about my father's passing away. He also told me about receiving a letter from you. Keep up the good work Pepper! Get Jimmy to put in a P.S. some Sunday when he isn't asleep. The little one won't remember me but you can give her a kiss every now and then just for me. It's been pretty easy going for the last couple of months - dances, parties and shows. The people out here are very "hospitable" to us Colonials. I spent the first two months in the South of England. It was grand weather, mild but foggy. Now I'm in Scotland, much like Canada. Snow and rain, one day hot the next day cold. The weather is as undecided as the Canadian Government. What I miss most of all is the Canadian system of heating. There are no furnaces here. You come in out of the cold and you stick your feet into a fireplace. The draft seems to go down your neck, out of your shoelaces and into the fireplace. The best way to keep warm is to put on another coat and go for a walk. If it weren't for tea these British hardheads would chill just like jello. Incidentally it is so foggy outside that if I were to doze off and wake up I wouldn't I wouldn't know if it were day or night.

I think I'm going to be at my present station for a long time. I don't mind it one bit. I'm a staff pilot. I take the plane up and by the time the plane reaches a few thousand feet it's time to have tea. So down I come for tea. I get a day off every week and a week off every seventh week. The boys are chummy and sociable. The girls are sociable and amiable. But very! I'm writing this letter with my feet n the fireplace, a cup of tea in one hand, a piece of bread and jam to nibble on and three girls to keep the draft out of my neck. All the girls talk about is where their next pair of silk stockings is coming from. The boys think the same about their cigarettes. Scarce as snowballs in heaven. There is a skating rink in the city 10 minutes from the aerodrome. I've seen some good hockey games there. It's a beautiful place - good ice, theatre seats, skating day and night, music, a cocktail bar and a restaurant. Skating is popular but very few can skate good and most are just learning. They all use figure skates except for hockey. They call tubes speed skates - nit wits! You know the difference don't you Pepper? Your cigarettes were a luxury but they went up in smoke. I wrote home for some but they should be here before you get this letter. The gloves and scarf I got from Millie and her girl friend are very useful. In fact I wear them day and night. I keep the scarf on even when I'm indoors. Will drop her a line in a few days. Regards to Jimmy, your mother and father and your own little family (and additions, if any).

Love from your cousin,
Frank