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Date: August 20th 1941
To
Phyllis Gautschi - (sister)
From
Hampton Gray
Letter

Hut 12-A,
31 S.F.T.S.,
Kingston, Ont.
Aug. 20.

Dear Phyllis,

I am afraid I have neglected you again because I have owed you a letter for some time and have just let it slip. I am in the habit of letting all my correspondence slip except letters home but I really should write to you more often. I see by your letter, that Mother sent me, that you got my wire. I expect that you didn’t get it on the fourteenth as I was out of town visiting when I suddenly remembered the day so I had to wire it to the plant as I did not remember your address. However, I hope nevertheless that you and Ed have many more happy ones and my congratulations again to you both.

I expect Mother will have sent you some of my letters so I need not go into all the news around here, she has probably told you too that I am expecting leave around the first part of October so I shall probably be seeing you. My present plan if it is alright with you is to spend a couple of days in Calgary and then go on for a couple more in Vancouver. This will cut down my time in Nelson a bit but I should still have about a week. Mother and Dad want me at home, of course, as much as possible but they seem to think that this is a good idea too. Boy, am I ever looking forward to seeing you!

John Stewart and I went up to Ottawa last Thursday to see what we could find out about our group. Our mission met with complete success. To begin with they are sending each of the Canadians her $150 with which to buy our own uniforms. That will help a lot. We do not get our commissions here but when we do get them (as soon as we get back to England) they are antedated to Dec 31/40 with full back pay since that time. So you can see we are pretty well set and have not done so badly after all.

That $75 I borrowed from Uncle Russ was quite a trouble. I got him paid back soon after I got back here but had to borrow money around here to do it. I just managed to get in the clear a couple of weeks ago. However it was worth it.

I went up to Toronto the other day, having Saturday and Sunday off. I went up to see Doug Ritchie who is interning in the Toronto Western Hospital there. We had quite a party with Pete [Rule?] and Jane and I stayed the Night in their apartment. Please don’t tell Mother I was there as I just did not have time to go and see the Ellises and she will think I should have.

Jane was telling me she had asked a girl, Grace Egglestone to call on you. Has she called? I hope that you have met some of those university people up there. They are really a nice bunch. However from what I can see you have spent most of the summer getting settled. I do hope you like where you are now. It really must have been pretty miserable staying in the Hotel and having all that trouble.

Well I shall close now and hope to hear from you fairly soon. I shall let you know later just when I shall arrive in Calgary as nothing is definite yet.

Love to you and Ed and will see you soon,
Hampton.

P.S. Give my love to Aunt Jean, Uncle Earl and family, also to Dora and family if she ever calls you.

 

[Editor’s note: While no year was included with the written date, the letter’s contents indicate it was 1941.]

Original Scans

Original Scans

Page 1 of WWII letter of 1941-08-20 from Lt. Robert Hampton Gray, VC, DSC