28 July 11th /45 Okanagan Mission BC
My dear Tony
Peter [Mallam] arrived in Vancouver this morning, he phoned his mother to order a ham and onion pie but could not say how soon he would be able to get back. Primrose also phoned them from Kamloops to say she had seen him when the train went through there and he was looking very well—We are all looking forward to seeing him again.
We are really quite upset to learn of the fate of your ship it seems a frightful thing to do! [RAS450623] Very disappointing for you, I should think after being all set to fly back to England. We hope to hear soon that you have arrived there by some means.
I have never seen anything about airforce repatriations in the Province but according to what you say, I figure Dick [Stubbs] ought to be back here in August and you by the end of October. Wouldn’t it be simply wonderful, if only one dared believe it! Dick’s birthday today, and I was 60 last week!! Mary [Stubbs] thanks you for all your good wishes! I hope your engineer got all his things safely through the customs. His wife should be very pleased with him.
Colin Carruthers has got out of the navy and got a job with U.NRRA [?] and expects to go to Germany soon. Harry Webb is home on leave but has to return to ?????? next week. He expects he will then be sent back to Vancouver to get his discharge! Leicester and his wife are on leave, staying at the Colletts and Nan also turned up unexpectedly. Joyce Haverfield has broken her engagement again and so has Lorna Houblon! Beryl [Archie’s fiancee] came to supper tonight and she and Archie [Stubbs] have gone off visiting. There [sic] took their bathing things in case they did not find anyone at home. On Monday they went to Mr Collett’s birthday party. Beryl has such a large circle of friends that they look like leading a very giddy life! We are on the last lap of thinning much to everybody’s joy as we are having a bit of a heat wave, only in the 90s though. Very pleasant I call it! But I don’t like it hot at night, it was 86 at 10 o’clock last night and nearly as bad with a hot wind tonight and getting a bit smoky.
Dave Garbutt and Connie Ward have just got married. It seems they were keen on each other in High School and when he came back a few days ago, he just grabbed her on the street and said “Let’s get married!” Teddy Dodd has got his discharge. I heard he might go into the Loan Co.
There are some bad fires on Vancouver Island and the loggers have had to stop operations and a bit of lumber has been burnt which will make it harder than ever to get the where-withal to build houses.
With best love from Mother