Search The Archive

Search form

Collection Search
  • Notice: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in oa_core_visibility_data() (line 607 of /app/profiles/viu/modules/contrib/oa_core/includes/oa_core.access.inc).
  • Notice: Trying to access array offset on value of type null in oa_core_visibility_data() (line 607 of /app/profiles/viu/modules/contrib/oa_core/includes/oa_core.access.inc).
Date: December 7th 1943
To
Mother & Dad - (Wilhelmina & John Gray)
From
Hampton Gray
Letter

RH Gray Lt R.C.N.V.R.
Box 517,
℅ F.M.O. Kilindini
B.E.A.
Dec. 7/43

Dear Mother and Dad. –

This week I have had another letter from you dated Nov. 10. Thank you. It was a good one. – I don’t know what I shall find to write about tonight. My mind is quite empty and I am feeling quite tired and weak from the heat. – The short rains which were supposed to come seem to have failed or else it would be a bit cooler. But as I have said before I will never again trust anyone when they are talking about their own weather. Yesterday afternoon we had a short swim which helped but the effects do not last very long. – I am glad you got the snaps and will send some more soon. Don’t worry about your looks Mother, you are O.K. with us. – Thank you for telling me about my legacy and for putting it in the right place. I hope Aunt Betty and Aunt Jan will be alright. I am afraid they will feel at loose ends at times. – Before I forget, you asked me about my knee. Don’t worry about it, please, because it is quite as good now as it ever was. – I expect by the time you get this Christmas and New Year will be over. I hope you had a nice time and were not too lonely. We maybe can hope to be together for the next one. Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin & Chiang-Kai-Shek seem to have got together at last. Maybe they have some bright ideas. Well if they just tell us what to do we will try to get it over quickly. – Nothing changes here. We are not going as hard as we did before. We are just waiting and hoping that something will happen soon. That I think is the most trying thing about this war. There are always long periods of dullness almost boredom and you begin to wonder if anyone is doing anything (obviously they are). But as one person once said it is the person who can stand that sort of thing who is the best man, not the person who can rise to a crisis because almost anyone can do that. – I got another of those little bulletins about Canada the other day. It was all about what they will try to do for us after the war. It sounded good to me and I only hope the carry on with it. Apparently they will put me through university or lend me money for business or farming etc., in fact it seemed to cover everything – No more paper –

Much love,
Hampton

Original Scans

Original Scans

Page 1 of WWII letter of 1943-12-07 from Lt. Robert Hampton Gray, VC, DSC