January 23, 1945

Dear Mom and Dad,

First of all, my new address is 426 (Thunderbird) Squadron, RCAF. Overseas: and I am now a Flt. Sgt. So now that we have got that straightened out, we can go ahead. We were posted here 3 days ago and they have really been throwing the work at us ever since. Lucky for us, the weather has been our friend, or I should never get time to write to you. This is the ‘gem' squadron of the RCAF. group here in Yorkshire and we were very lucky indeed to get posted here! The Sqd. Ld. at our last station was very fond of Dick and posted him to his old squadron. So, we have a very good record to live up to. My promotion came through on Oct. 14, 1944, but I wasn't told about it until today. So I have about $30.00 to spend on myself next time I go on leave. On the Squadron here we are billeted about 4 miles from the ‘drone' in a manor house. It is a posh place too: five of us in my room with lockers, a radio, a fire place and a good bunch of fellows. We have a bathroom for about every twenty fellows and lots of hot water, so I have a bath every night. It's good after the other place I have just left. I only had 4 baths during the eleven weeks I was there! It was so cold all the time that we didn't dare bathe! It is even colder here - but the house is warm, so we don't worry. It has snowed very heavily this past month and they have had us out ‘armed with shovels' shoveling snow off the runways. The snow ploughs have been bogged down once or twice. I saw Stanley at his hospital in Southern England. He was much better than I suspected he would be. He is not bad physically and there is nothing wrong with him mentally that a couple of months rest won't cure. I expect he will be getting leave pretty soon and then he will be able to go up to London to relax and come up here also to see me. You know, I'm going to have a hard time writing letters to you now. I can't write about my work, the weather is strictly limited and there doesn't seem much else to talk about. The greatest fear amongst us at present is that ‘Uncle Joe' is going to be in Berlin and declare the war over before we get a chance to get on Ops. ourselves. If he keeps going the way he has started out, it is certainly going to be that way before 2 months are over! Must close now.

Love to all as always,

Jim