September 19, 1944

Many thanks for the letter of Sept. 7th which arrived tonight. Yes, Mom, the Flying Bomb menace has been greatly reduced. I follow the progress of the Allied troops particularly along the Bomb Base coast. The campaign in France and the Lowlands is certainly going well these days, isn’t it? Old Gerry is just learning the full meaning of his coined word “Blitz.” On this front, we see our bombers, fighters and fighter-bombers blitz him all day long. The best he can do with his once powerful air force is carry out a few sneak raids at night. The latter type can be very annoying as you will have gathered in my last letters. One finds it very hard to understand why he hangs on so grimly in the face of the inevitable. I can see why the Nazi party continues, but one would think the army would get wise.

At the moment, we are out of action for a few days to get some much-needed rest and service our equipment for the next push forward. A full report of my gunfire and how we managed to save the gun went in to a higher formation yesterday. All of the officers are of the opinion that it was a job well done, which is very gratifying for a brand-new sergeant. I am a full Sgt. by the way now and receive $2.20 a day. So you can address my letters deleting the Lance rank. It is quite a boost in pay and also the realization of a long-standing ambition. My crew certainly stood by me the night of the fire. (If they hadn’t, we would not have saved the S.P.) It is a grand feeling to have won the respect of a group of men working under you. It makes the task of giving orders so much easier.