CHAPTER 8. 8/8/44 TO 10/31/44 PHOTO LAB & GOODBYE JEAN

8 AUGUST ‘44 TUESDAY MY DARLING WIFE;
HELLO SWEET, I’M BACK AGAIN. I’M IN BED AND IT IS ONLY ELEVEN IN THE MORNING, SO I FEEL VERY LAZY.

I TURNED OFF THE LIGHT LAST NIGHT AFTER I FINISHED YOUR LETTER, BUT I COULDN’T GET TO SLEEP, SO I FINALLY TURNED IT ON AGAIN AND READ FOR A WHILE. I READ A READERS DIGEST AND THEN READ SOME MORE OF THE OGDEN NASH BOOK YOU SENT. I SURE LIKE HIS STUFF, IT IS SORT OF CRAZY BUT HAS A LOT OF SENSE IN IT TOO. I FINALLY WENT TO SLEEP ABOUT 12. . .

ABOUT 7:15 I HEARD HENRY POUNDING ON MY DOOR, BUT I WENT BACK TO SLEEP AND THE NEXT THING I KNEW IT WAS 8:30. I GOT UP THEN AND SHAVED, WASHED, AND DRESSED. I FELT BETTER THIS MORNING, BUT DECIDED TO GO BY THE DISPENSARY ANYWAY. AFTER A WAIT I SAW THE DOCTOR; I HAD A SLIGHT TEMPERATURE, SO HE TOLD ME TO GO HOME AND TAKE IT EASY TODAY. . .

. . . . . I PUT ON MY SWIMMING TRUNKS AND TOOK A BLANKET AND WENT UP ON THE ROOF FOR A SUN BATH. I LAID THERE FOR OVER AN HOUR, AND THINK I GOT A BIT OF SUNBURN FROM IT; AT LEAST MY SHOULDERS AND BACK ARE SOMEWHAT PINKISH. . .

. . . . . THINGS HAVE GOTTEN A ITTLE NOISY IN HERE, LOMAX AND HENRY JUST CAME IN AND WE WERE TALKING OVER THE ROOM SITUATION. . . . . GUESS I’LL MOVE IN WITH HENRY SOON. HE COULD COME UPSTAIRS WITH ME, THE APARTMENTS ARE ALMOST IDENTICAL, BUT HIS APARTMENT IS A LITTLE MORE THAN A POUND A WEEK CHEAPER. THAT DOESN’T MAKE ANY DIFFERENCE NOW SINCE WE JUST GET REIMBURSED FOR WHAT WE PUT OUT, BUT WE ARE HOPING WE WILL GO BACK ON PER DIEM AND THEN IT WOULD MAKE A DIFFERENCE. . .

(The typewriter used above was one I found in my roommate’s room. Since it was labeled US ARMY, I didn’t think he would mind me using it. I guessed it was meant for writing telegrams, since it had only caps. In addition to my usual typos and type overs, it had a tendency to put in spaces where they weren’t supposed to be.)

9 August ‘44 Wednesday My darling wife;
. . . . . After the newsreel show we went to the Prof’s (Woodruff’s) hotel room for our poker game. There were only three of us, so we couldn’t have much of a poker game, but we played “red dog” and seven card stud all evening and had a good game. I played from 7:15 til 1:15, and came out within a few coppers of what I started with. My finances fluctuated plenty during that time, so it was interesting enough. First I lost, and then I went way ahead, and then I lost again, so that I came out just even. The Prof didn’t do so good, John winning what he lost. We held up the game long enough to go downstairs to the lobby and listen to the nine o’clock news. The Prof hauled out a bottle of Seagrams, but I went light on that ‘cause of my cold; it was good, tho.

It was a beautiful night out, and all the way home I kept thinking how wonderful it would have been to have you walking with me. I always feel that way, but when the moon is out and there are some pretty cloud formations in the sky, well - - - I just wish you were with me to enjoy them too. . .

11 August ‘44 Friday My darling wife;
. . . . . This afternoon I went out to the photographic store where we had asked about 35 mm developing tanks; they still didn’t have any in, so I walked on and asked at another place. They didn’t have any either, but they directed me to a place where they might have one. I went there and finally found one and bought it. I brought it back to the office, and then went out again and bought some chemicals, etc. The whole bunch of stuff was fairly reasonable. . .

. . . . . I came back to the office after I ate, and after attending to a little business, I started developing a roll of film. Jean came along soon, and he had a couple of rolls to develop too. It is really a simple job and I wish I’d started doing it sooner. There isn’t much of an incentive to take pictures when you have to wait months to get film back from the pictorial service. The developing tank I got is such that only loading the film into it has to be done in a dark room, the rest can be done with the lights on. All you do is load the film, pour in the developer and leave it for a certain length of time depending on the film and the temperature of the developing solution, pour out the developer and rinse, pour in an acid hypo fixing solution and leave that for a while, pour that out and then rinse for a while. Then you hang the film up to dry. It looked pretty good, too. Now we need an old camera to make into an enlarger and some printing paper, and we’ll be all set. . .

13 August ‘44 Sunday My darling wife;
. . . . . I stayed at the office til about three and then went with Russ up to his and Bill’s place. When we got there Jean, Bill, the Prof, and John were already there, and Jean was hard at work preparing a meal. Russ and I decided to help by getting out of his way, and went up on the roof to sunbathe. Jean claimed to have a specialty preparing spaghetti, so we weren’t reluctant to let him prove just how good it was. I climbed into a pair of Russ’s short GI suntans, after rolling them up above my knees, we took our cameras and went up on the roof. Pretty soon Bill, John, and the Prof followed us up; we spent most of the time taking pictures, but I was out in the sun enough to get slightly pinkish around the edges. It surprised me that there weren’t any other people up there; they put sliding tops in their cars to get the sun, and then don’t take advantage of a nice roof like that one.

We went downstairs about time to eat, and “helped” get the supper on. It was a good meal, but the spaghetti itself wasn’t so hot; I think it was the fault of the pasta and not the cooking, the sauce was delicious. We had some very good wine, and some tasty mulberries for dessert.

After we ate we sat around and talked, and then Jean, John, the Prof, and I left for a “lesson” in poker from the Prof in his room at the hotel. And that is why I didn’t write this last night. I would have liked to see the game break up earlier, but when it was early I was the winner and I thought that I shouldn’t try to break up the game then. We played until after one, meanwhile disrupting a little of the Prof’s good liquor supply. I didn’t drink much, but it sure tasted good to have some Seagrams again! At the end of the evening I was still the winner, so the Prof (EE Professor Woodruff of M.I.T.) says he is going to take me in as asst. prof. now. He also says that since his pupils are so apt, he won’t charge any tuition, and even gave out a few scholarships. He is really a darn nice guy, hard as heck to get to know, but when you do he doesn’t at all fit my impression of what a university professor would be like. . .

15 August ‘44 Tuesday My darling wife;
. . . . . I’m at the office, on as duty officer; that duty is coming all too often to suit me now, I didn’t know that I was on tonight until Russ let me know about 5:29 this afternoon. Oh well, at least I have lots of time to write and visit with you this evening, and I probably wouldn’t have so much time if I weren’t on duty. . .

. . . . . About 10:30 I went to the apartment; I had told Henry I would meet him then. We went upstairs and straightened out the payment for apartments with the landlady, and then started moving my stuff down to Henry’s apartment, or rather, our apartment it is now. I have the room that Tom used to have, which is like the room I had upstairs. Henry gave me a hand with my footlocker, then he went back to work while I stayed to straighten things out a little.. . .

Tonight's papers were full of the new invasion of southern France, but there isn’t really much information about it yet, and there probably won’t be for a while, except for the “news” the Germans put out as feelers for information. . .

16 August ‘44 Wednesday My darling wife;
I’m getting a later start than usual on my letter tonight, but that’s all right ‘cause I don’t think I’ll go to sleep at all tonight; I’d better not, since I’m on duty and am supposed to stay awake. . .

. . . . . I left with Jean and went to a camera shop and bought a cheap used camera to make into an enlarger, and some other junk. Maybe we’ll get set up soon so we can print our own pictures, as well as developing the film. . .

. . . . . I got this afternoon off, and also get tomorrow morning off to make up for staying up tonight. I cleaned my brass, and it really needed it, and shined up my shoes, and rested. I was interrupted by one call from the office, and after I answered it I saw the landlady and paid her for my laundry and also got back the deposit I had paid on my previous apartment; now I have to give half of that to Henry since he paid the whole deposit on our apartment. The “deposit” is a weeks rent, and I guess it is an added safeguard that we won’t go off leaving unpaid rent, because we normally pay the rent weekly, in advance. (We didn’t have telephones in the apartments, but the landlady did, and would come get us to answer the infrequent calls we had. Later at Portsea Hall Bill and I had a telephone in the apartment, which was modern and had a kitchen in addition to bedrooms, living room, and bath.)

. . . . . I reported for duty, and then went back to the office again (I didn’t actually start duty until twelve). The gang were just leaving for the weekly newsreels, so I went along. After we saw them we walked up to the mess and had steak for supper. (If I remember correctly, the weekly newsreels were put on by the Army after the invasion, to keep us informed on the progress of the combat forces.)

After supper I went by the office and picked up some paper and a book and then went on to a room where I was supposed to sleep until twelve. I undressed and got in bed and read until nine; I’m reading “They were Expendable”. It is Tom’s book, but he left it at the apartment when he moved. I’ve read the Readers Digest version, but that doesn’t compare too well with the book. Around nine I began to get sleepy, so I turned off the light and the next thing I knew it was 11:30, and the phone was ringing, I had left a call for that time. I got dressed and came on over here. Now all I have to do is sit here and answer telephones until 8:30 or so in the morning. I read a New Yorker that was here and then started on this letter. It sure is quiet in here, except for the scratching of this pen and the “booming” of a clock.
I was surprised by Merv getting married, I haven’t heard from him lately, but he has never mentioned the gal. He did mention that he was going in the Navy, and stay at his present job, after he got back from his vacation. Guess I’ll have to write him an epistle soon and offer congratulations. . .

Hmmmmm, 4:30 and all’s well. I wrote a note to the folks, and then finished the book; makes life in the ETO look a lot easier. I’m getting a little sleepier, but haven’t had to resort to toothpicks to prop my eyes open; even if I had some toothpicks, which I haven’t seen yet in England. I found some more New Yorkers in a drawer of the desk and have been looking at them, some good cartoons.

Oh me, I can’t think of anything more to write about; I can say I love you tho, in fact I will say it, I love you. I miss you too, more than I could ever say. I wonder what you are doing now, it should be seven or eight there, so maybe you are writing to me too; if so, we are getting together on our visits for a change. I only wish we could be together now. It’s damn hard not to be impatient when I want so much to see you and kiss you and be with you again. Guess I’ll sign off now, goodnight my darling wife. I miss you every minute, I love you!! All my love and kisses, Glenn

(This is the only time I was duty officer for the higher headquarters. I was relieved that there were no phone calls while I was on duty!)

23 August ‘44 Wednesday My darling wife;
I love you! Hello darling, how’s about drawing nigh and let’s have a little visit. This pen won’t do exactly what I want it to do tonight, but that’s not the fault of the pen, it tries. I tried it out first thing up there, and as you can see, the first three words are almost readable, so I thought it would be OK. I am home and in bed now and it is 9:30. Soon I’ll go to sleep, and if I’m lucky I’ll meet you in my dreams, but darn it, I haven’t been very lucky that way lately. So my visits have to be on paper only, at which I strongly object; objection overruled, the army says, so here goes. . .

. . . . . I got busy right away at the office and worked til 10:30, when I went out in a car on business. I delivered the fly fishing line you sent a month or two ago; the British Major said it was just what he wanted, and was very pleased to receive it, and insisted on paying me for it. I had a pleasant time out with him; we went to their cafeteria and had a cup of java, or what they call coffee, and talked business over it. . .

At six I went with Bill to the Senior Officers Club where I was to attend a dinner given by some “visiting firemen” who won’t be visiting us for many more hours. Bill and I got there a little early, so we had a scotch at the bar, and then the others showed up, bringing a musette bag full of bourbon and rye, which explains why this pen tends to travel in wavy lines tonight. We had a bourbon and then a rye, and then we ate a good steak supper. Afterwards we stood around and talked for a long time, and then I finally headed for home. I had planned to work tonight, but the dinner was as good an excuse as any not to. . .

28 August ‘44 Monday My darling wife;
. . . . . I saw some pictures of “my” Colonel (Reed) in Life today, the Aug. 7 issue. He was showing Churchill around on one of his visits to France. I had seen him in the newsreels too. Look it up, the officer in the light raincoat and leggings and overseas cap is him. . .

(Colonel Reed used to call the magazine “Training Manual Life”, due to the articles they had with excellent explanations of arms and equipment that he thought should be kept secret.)

29 August ‘44 Tuesday My darling wife;
. . . . . I walked up to the mess, only stopping long enough to buy a paper, got the one that always says the war is about over, ‘cause that is what I like to read. No kidding tho, the news really looks good, lots of towns and rivers coming into the news now that have a familiar ring to them. Names that spelled defeat for the Germans in 1918, and the same names are spelling defeat for the Germans in 1944. I get a kick out of the papers here that headline the “drive for the flying bomb sites”. Reading the London papers you’d think that occupying that area would be one of the major campaigns of the war! Maybe so, but I think the important thing is to defeat the German army, wherever they are, and that's what the boys are doing. . .

31 August ‘44 Thursday My darling wife;
. . . . . It was getting dark as we came out of the show and onto Leicester Sq., that sure is a unique place. We walked west toward Picadilly Circus, and the sidewalks were overflowing, as usual - seems like no matter what side of the walk you walk on, you bump into someone coming the other direction - soldiers all over the place, and sailors too - some with girls, and some drunk - a group here singing away - a push cart on the corner with black market (priced) grapes - more soldiers, eying the girls going by - half way between the Square and the Circus are a couple of men in the street, one playing a saw, and one playing a hand organ, the tune sounds a little like the “Marseilles”. We walked on, Bill left me at Picadilly Circus to catch a subway home, and I went on home, past the Regent Palace Hotel with it’s crowd of people out front waiting for taxis, which are very scarce at that time of the evening. . .

(The apartment I shared with Larry Henry was at 15 Clifford Street, across the street from the Reindeer Red Cross Officers’ Club. It was an easy walk of about four blocks from Picadilly Circus, and about six blocks from Grosvenor Square via Bruton Street, Berkeley Square, and Mount Street. On Bruton Street a pub stood alone with buildings on either side of it destroyed, and the rubble cleared. We attributed that to the strength of British beer. A photograph of the pub follows this chapter.)

2 September ‘44 Saturday My darling wife;
. . . . . We took a taxi down near Picadilly Circus to Gourmetes Restaurant, a French place. We had a martini at the bar and then ate supper. I had an excellent soup and raviolis. I’ve heard of a place where you can get sea food, and especially oysters on the half shell, mmmmm, I’ll have to try it soon. We don’t eat in restaurants much here ‘cause the mess is so much better and cheaper. . .

. . . . . It has been 410 days and long nights now since I’ve seen you and kissed you, at least that is what the calendar says, but the calendar is such an impersonal thing and doesn’t take into consideration how much slower the time goes when I’m away from you!! . . .

4 September ‘44 Monday My darling wife;
. . . . . I had intended to work tonight, and did for a while, but spent most of the evening on the telephone talking to Bill; I also had a few words with Tom and Miss Devine. (Bill Durrenberger was temporarily in Paris, but Tom Daly and Miss Devine had permanently moved there with the theater headquarters.). . .

6 September ‘44 Wednesday My darling wife;
. . . . . I met Jean and Russ; we had decided to go get some seafood, so we walked downtown to Scott’s Restaurant on Coventry Street just off Picadilly Circus. It is a swanky place, for England, with waiters in tails. We wanted oysters on the half shell, but they didn’t have any, so we had soup and some good hot lobster. . .

8 September ‘44 Friday My darling wife;
. . . . . After I finished your letter last night, I made up my cot and went to bed. I didn’t go to sleep right away, but lay there thinking of you and wishing. I finally went to sleep and then the next thing I knew it was morning, and the charwomen were making so much noise that I couldn’t sleep. It was only 7:15, but I got up anyway. A Lt. came in as I was dressing; he had changed all his money to French money and didn’t have any for breakfast. I loaned him 2/6 (50 cents}; he paid it back later. I finished dressing and went up to the mess a little before eight; had fresh egg, fried potatoes, and cereal for breakfast.

I got back to the office at 8:30 and collected my three colonels and started out on the trip. We had a good day for the drive too. We drove down to Dover, and then along the coast to Folkstone and beyond. We had lunch at a British mess, and a good lunch it was too. It was a good day, and we saw a lot. We got back to town at 8:30 this evening, and the colonels took me to dinner at the Senior Officers’ Club; that was a good meal too. I enjoyed today, and one of the Cols. is Port Ordnance Officer at one of the ports in the US, so I was especially nice to him; you never can tell, maybe he’ll need another officer in his outfit some day! . . .

9 September ‘44 Saturday My darling wife;
. . . . . When we got back from the mess, Bill had come in. I was able to do some work during the afternoon, but most of the time I spent listening to Bill tell about his visit to Paris. He was very enthusiastic about the town, and the women. He raved on and on; from his description, it must really be nice. I hope I get a chance to see it while I am over here. Bill said that Paris was hardly touched by the war. He went to some of the nightclubs in the Latin quarter and said they were just like he had seen in movies of the last war. . .

10 September ‘44 Sunday My darling wife;
. . . . . While we were out there we heard distant gunfire. Henry said later that it was announced on the radio that gunfire from across the channel was heard in London today, so that must be what we heard. Conditions must have been just right for that, ‘cause it is about 70 miles to the channel, and another 20 to the other side. It doesn’t seem possible that gunfire could carry that far. . .

. . . . . we came back to the Red Cross Club across the street and had a snack. There was a dance going on there, I danced a couple of dances and then got to talking with Mary, who was on duty there. She is the Red Cross gal I’ve mentioned before, and is a very nice kid, not exactly a kid, but thirty-ish. She is engaged to an Ordnance Lt, so is partial to Ordnance people. She was trying to tell me that I got married too young and I was trying to convince her that she was foolish not to get married right away, but she wanted to wait til they could settle down to a normal life. I still think she is wrong, don’t you? I wouldn’t trade that year we had together for anything, and it means an awful lot to me that I have you waiting to come back to. I don’t think I convinced her tho. . .

12 September ‘44 Tuesday My darling wife;
. . . . . I had arranged another trip for our visiting officers and Bill and I went along too. We had a really good lunch at an old British army mess; we had steak, not too large, but it was rare and had lots of flavor, and we had port wine afterwards. There was quite a group at our table, a major general, a brigadier general, seven full colonels, three majors, and me. (What a come down). There were a couple of British colonels there Bill and I knew quite well, and we liked, so we had a lot of fun talking with them. They were explaining some of the customs, or rather traditions, of this mess; one was that on big dance nights they used to put planks on the stairs, and grease them, and then toboggan down. Sounds like fun, and not what you would expect from the conventional Englishman. . .

. . . . . I went to the mess With Russ and two other officers. Russ is from Carolina, and the other two were Alabamans, so I was completely surrounded by the deep south, but managed to survive. I had to laugh at them, they said they didn’t mind the southern boys picking up English expressions and accents, but they’d better not pick up any damnyankee accent. . .

14 September ‘44 Thursday My darling wife;
The color pictures finally came back today!! I thought they came out pretty good for my first attempt at color. They hadn’t been so long developing them as I believed, ‘cause there was a picture of Lucile’s wedding on the roll, and that was only three months ago, so it took about the same time as black and white, which is still a long time! . . .

I had decided to go see the Tower of London this afternoon, so I left about two. . . . I think the only people that can get in now are service personnel and their guests. There were a couple of civilian girls who started to go in and the guard stopped them, but some quick thinking GI told the guard they were his guests, so they got in.

The Tower is an old castle with a moat (drained) around it, and two rings of buildings, and then the Tower in the middle. The guards are all dressed in fancy costumes, an Elizabethan get up in black with bright red trimmings. Maybe they were guides rather than guards; one took us around and explained the history and interesting points about each of the buildings. In the main tower there was a collection of old arms and swords. I think the crown jewels are supposed to be kept there during peace time, but are somewhere in safekeeping now. We saw the site of the beheading of Lady Jane Grey and Anne Boleyn, and the chapel. It was all very interesting, but the group the guide was showing around was about 50 people, and I couldn’t often get close enough to hear all the comments he made, but it was well worth the time. . .

16 September ‘44 Saturday My darling wife;
Guess what, your husband is a high brow now. I actually (my deah) went to the opera tonight. Frankly I was disappointed, it didn’t come up to my expectations at all, but Jean said it wasn’t like the opera in the States, war on, and stuff like that, you know. We saw Madame Butterfly, put on by the Stadler Wells company. . .

. . . . . it was a pretty normal day, except for the Col. being back. I worked til ten thirty, dispossessed from the Col.’s desk which I’ve been using for almost two months now. . .

At 5:45 Jean and I went to the opera; it was at the Princess Theater, an interesting place. We had “stalls” (seats on the main floor), there were two balconies, and on the sides were two tiers of boxes. Madame Butterfly seemed to me to be more like a Gilbert & Sullivan presenta-
tion than anything else. The best part was the song “Some Day I’ll Find You”, that was good. During intermission we had a glass of port at the bar; there were gals going around with trays slung from their neck selling tea and biscuits also. . .

20 September ‘44 Wednesday My darling wife;
. . . . . After supper I came back to the office and worked on my enlarger. It should be in working order in a couple of days, especially since two of the EMs are helping fix it. . .

21 September ‘44 Thursday My darling wife;
Ah, here I am in bed again, and ready to start my visit with you. And there’s that awful date up there again, 14 months since I’ve seen you, months that have seemed more like years to me. I’ll probably have to get someone to reintroduce you to me when we meet again; but really, I won’t, ‘cause you’re stamped indelibly in my heart. I can’t help but wonder if we haven’t changed a little since we’ve been apart. I think I have changed some, my experience here has given me more confidence in myself. One way I haven’t changed, and I won’t change, is in the way that I love you!! . . .

22 September ‘44 Friday My darling wife;
. . . . . After supper I came back to the office and worked for a while. The Col. was in and we talked some; he sure is in a good mood since he got back from the States, and I hope it lasts a while. Come to think of it, I could get into a good mood too if I could have a couple of months in the States!

After he left I went downstairs to where the boys were doing some enlarging. I watched, and then blew up a couple of prints myself. It works pretty good! I have a pin up (?) picture of me to send you now that is pretty good, except where I got a few fingerprints on the negative. . .

(My “photo lab” was very handy. The army service set up to develop and print photographs for us must have been overloaded with work, because it took months for them to return our film. Developing the film was easy, after I found a small tank designed to develop 35 mm film. The enlarger was more of a project, the core of it was a cheap used camera I bought in a camera store August 11th. Lacking adequate tools, we made the enlarger using scrap lumber and nails pulled out and straightened. Jean provided a lot of help and advice; he had built one at home. The work was done in the evenings when we could find time for it. The completion was hastened September 20th with the help of two enlisted men (who wanted to use it) and was in operation by Sept. 22. It was available for use by anyone in the office.)

24 September ‘44 Sunday My darling wife;
. . . . . Henry & I had decided to do some sightseeing, so after we ate we went to the English Speaking Union to see about places to visit, and how to get there; we wanted to see either Hampton Court or Windsor, and the trains to Hampton Court were more convenient, so we went there. We left from Waterloo Station and took a train that stopped one station from where we wanted to go, and took a bus the rest of the way.

Hampton Court was formerly a favorite country palace of the kings and queens and is now a public park. It is about a half hour train ride from London, has very spacious grounds that are well kept up, and the palace itself is a huge thing with a housing capacity of about a thousand people. We first looked at the outside of the buildings and walked around the grounds. They have one of those mazes; we went into it and almost got lost.
We went back to the building and inside. They have the walls practically covered with paintings, but I understand the best ones have been removed for safekeeping during the war. One room I liked best was the King’s Guard Room where the walls are decorated by pistols, rifles, swords, etc., all arranged in patterns. At first it is hard to recognize they are weapons, and not just fancy carvings. . .

We walked along the bank of the river, the palace is near the Thames, and found a hotel-pub where we could get something to eat; the something being “tea” since it was that time of the day. It hit the spot tho, ‘cause I was getting pretty cold by that time, and tired from walking. . .

. . . . . It was a pleasant day; I didn’t even stick my nose in the door at the office, so it was a day of “rest” from work at least. I wish you could have been along tho . . .

28 September ‘44 Thursday My darling wife;
. . . . . I was leaving on a trip with Bill at 9:30, we got off to a slightly late start ’cause Bill had to go by his place to pick up a coat. However our driver wasn’t hesitant about pushing down the throttle, so we made good time. We were due at our destination at twelve, and got there at 12:15, so that wasn’t bad. It was a nice day for a drive again; we went to the same place I was at last Tuesday. We roughed it in a Buick Eight, complete with leather upholstery; it was a General’s car, and even had the General’s star, covered while we were riding in it, of course. Toward the end of the journey we noticed that all the GIs were highballing (saluting) us, and remarked that the cover must have come off the star, and when we arrived, we looked, and the cover had come off.

We had lunch at the camp mess, and then went on out to the demonstration. Jean was there, and we bulled with him; he has been running the tests and demonstrations. We left about 5:30 and headed back to London; we stopped on the way for “tea”, only we had coffee and donuts instead at a Red Cross Club. . .

2 October ‘44 Monday My darling wife;
. . . . . Another thing, I had oysters on the half shell tonight, ummm they were good!!

. . . . . Marty went with me; it was a beautiful day again for riding, clear, but cold. We got to the demonstration on time, and stayed watching til after one. We had stopped on the way in and booked lunch at a local pub, so after the demonstration we went there and ate a good lunch.

We picked up a couple extra passengers on the way back, a British major and a colonel. We drove by a seaside resort, Southend, and stopped at a cafe-market there, where I bought a dozen oysters. I had to pay seven shillings ($1.40) for the dozen, but they were worth it; they were big, and fresh! They were Portuguese oysters, transplanted here; they regularly do that with Blue Points too, but haven’t had any during the war.

We got back to the office about four, and after reading your letters, I went over to the clothing sales store to try to get a field coat. I got one this time, by going back in the stockroom with the captain that runs the store; he had a case opened and I got the coat out of it. It has been a job snagging onto my size, usually their stock consists of smallest size 40 or 44, or something like that. Anyway, I got one, they are real warm raincoats, double thickness of material like the field jackets, and then have a heavy button-in liner. They are as warm as an overcoat, but waterproof and more serviceable, just the thing for winter in England, and since it looks like I’m going to be here this winter, I thought it would be worthwhile. They cost about $30. My other raincoat and liner is too light for this climate; and is getting worn and dirty. It will be OK for a civilian raincoat when it is cleaned and reprocessed.

I got back to the office and talked to the Col. and Jean til after six. I had forgotten and left the oysters in the car, so Jean and I walked up to the garage, and were able to secure them. We caught a bus and came to my apartment, stopping at the Red Cross Club across the street and getting a bottle of catsup from Mary. Then we had oysters on the half shell & rye crackers. They were very good, had a slightly stronger fish taste than Blue Points. The English catsup is a lot hotter than American, so it made a good sauce; we took one oyster to Mary when we returned the catsup bottle. . .

(A day and half after eating the oysters, I was laid low with an upset stomach. I reasoned it wasn’t the fault of the raw oysters because of the time delay, and also because Jean didn’t get sick, and he had shared them. When Betty and I were at Aberdeen Proving Grounds our Sunday treat was an afternoon chicken dinner at the Colonial Hotel in Havre de Grace, always including delicious Blue Point oysters on the half shell; they remained as our pinnacle of opulence for many years, but we never had them in California. In the ‘80s our French restaurateur Pierre in Guadalajara, Mexico persuaded us to try his raw oysters; they were even more delicious than we remembered the Maryland Blue Points to be, and did not upset our stomachs)

7 October ‘44 Saturday My darling wife;
. . . . . I worked til six, and then Bill and I took off for the theater; it started at 6:30, so it is always too much of a rush to try and eat first. We saw “Something in the Air”, and the “Something” was a disagreeable aroma, if you ask me. In short, it stank. The leading lady and man were probably very good back in 1920, but since then have aged somewhat, and besides probably haven’t changed their act. There were some good spots, but they were few. . .

17 October ‘44 Tuesday My darling wife;
. . . . . It was a lot of trouble just to move a half block (still on Grosvenor Square). Now we are in a nicer building, but on the third floor instead of the ground floor, which isn’t so convenient. . .

19 October ‘44 Thursday My darling wife;
. . . . . After we ate supper I went back to the office with Bill. There I filled out my absentee ballot and got it ready to mail. That sure was a job, combined with an affidavit of registration. I got Bill to sign for me where an officer had to certify, and there were seven different places! He said that after all that work He should have had a say in how I cast my vote! Anyway, that is done and is on its way and will probably decide how the California electoral votes are cast!!. . .

About 9:30 I walked home and was going to get caught up with my letter writing and get to bed early. Fine chance! Henry was still up and talked me into playing a game of chess, and there went my letter writing time. . .

20 October ‘44 Friday My darling wife;
. . . . . After lunch I had quite a talk with Jean, business. During that time we decided to go to a show tonight, so I had Lucile call and reserve tickets. Later I took off and grabbed a bus to the theater to pick up the tickets, which had to be picked up before 4:30. There were six of us going to the show, Russ, Bill, Jean, Mac (a friend of Jean), Major McGruder, and me. We met at 5:30 at the office and walked to the theater, arriving in time for a gin drink before the show started at 6:15.

The show was “ Sweeter & Lower”, a revue, and it was darn good. It did a lot to restore my faith in the English theater that had been shattered by “Something in the Air”. It was just a series of skits with no plot, or attempt at plot. It was fast moving and had some good singing and dancing and good looking girls. No nudity, instead some very nice looking costumes. I thoroughly enjoyed it. . .

24 October ‘44 Tuesday My darling wife;
. . . . . I awoke at the ungodly hour of 6:20 this morning at the insistence of my alarm clock. I got into my field clothes and left the apartment a little before seven; it was just starting to get light at that hour. I walked up to the mess and was one of the first four to eat. Bill came in a little after I got there and we had breakfast together. We left the mess about 7:30, picked up our car which was waiting for us at the door, and left on our trip.

We saw a test, and then at noon went to the local pub for lunch. We had a good lunch, as we usually do there; had roast beef, two varieties of potatoes, etc. . .

. . . . . it was time to eat, but first Jean, Mac, Russ, Bill, and I gathered in the office; we drank up a third of a bottle of bourbon that Jean had left. That gave us a good start on an empty stomach and then we went over to the mess and had a beer and ate. After supper we came back to the office, that is, Bill and I did. Jean went home to finish packing ( for his return to the States), and the others drifted off somewhere. . .

25 October ‘44 Wednesday My darling wife;
Here I am at the office again tonight. We just said goodbye to Jean, the lucky so and so will be home in a couple of days, more or less. I hated to see him go, ‘cause he is a pretty good egg. I was glad to see him get home to his wife tho, they are expecting another offspring in about a month. . .

27 October ‘44 Friday My darling wife;
. . . . . I’m glad I got my field coat, it is suited for the weather here. It is waterproof enough you can stay out all day in pounding rain and still stay dry, and with that heavy wool liner in it is also very warm. . .

. . . . . Now it is time to sign off and get some shut eye, maybe I’ll be lucky and dream of you. Goodnight my darling wife, I love you and miss you every minute, especially about this time, but all the rest of the day too. I love you. I love you. All my love and kisses, Glenn

(After our office moved , we were dispossessed from our photo lab room in the old building, but found a new room in the new building to set it up in. On Tuesday, Oct. 31 I wrote: “After supper I went back to the office and worked on my enlarger, getting it set up in the new place, and then enlarged a picture”. . .)