July 8: 1945 Okanagan Mission
B.C.
My Dear Tony.
You[r] last letter [RAS450623] left us boiling with rage. I was getting a wonderful vicarious thrill out of your flight from Africa to England & was hoping your letter would be an account of the trip. (I suppose the censorship is lifted enough now for you to mention such things) & then to have it cancelled at the last moment like that. It must have been sickening for you. This drowning business seems almost incredible. I think criminal is probably the right adjective. It certainly leaves a nasty stink behind. I suppose we may take it as definite that you are not taking part in the Jap war. You did at one time say you were going to volunteer for it & at one time we thought you were on the verge of leaving for India or somewhere & then you turned up at W Africa & now I gather are waiting to be repatriated. What on earth are they going to do with all you F/O’s for the next 3 months or more. I’m afraid its [sic] going to be a tough time. You personally can probably find enough places to go to & people to visit to use up a lot of leave (if you get a lot) but a lot of men are going to find time hang very heavy on their hands. Peter [Mallam] may show up here any day now. It will be nice to see him & hear what he has to say about you. I will head him off if he gets indiscreet after a drink or 2 or 3 but you may have told him some flying experiences which we of course haven’t heard about. We seldom hear from Dick [Stubbs]. He seems very busy in Germany but we have no idea what he is busy at & of course we have no idea what his future plans are, if any. Another week should see us through thinning. The crop at the moment looks quite a good one. Luckily owing to my 3 women from town I haven’t had to thin a single apple myself but have found lots to do without that. No more for now. There is still a faint chance that your next letter may tell us that you flew back after all. Very likely you are back in England anyway.
Love from us all
yrs Dad