#3

204 Sqdn
APO 606
c/o The Postmaster
Miami, Florida

27/4/45

Dear Mother:

At first glance you may think I have been travelling again but such is not the case. Will you try this address on some letters as they come over on Pan-American and it may be quicker. I will send some through the same channel as soon as I get some American stamps.

I went into town today for lunch. There is a very good officers section in the NAAFI there. I bought some material and took it to a native tailor for two pairs of shorts and two slacks. He surprised me by saying it would be ready tomorrow. We wandered around the shops a bit but the native made goods are not of a very high standard. There were sots of crocodile handbags which looked as if they might be quite good after some polishing. There is also lots of materials like chiffon or crepe de chine if you want any but no real silk. I hope to visit some of the other bases on the coast sometime for you can get some excellent stuff further south such as equisite ivory or ebony carvings and beautiful leatherwork all at a ridiculous price. North of here is a place to get good silver work and it also is cheap. Here the prices are high probably because the goods come from these other places. Some of the natives right in town aren’t very friendly and start to follow you. After awhile they get around in front of you or between two. Their idea I think is pick-pocketing but they didn’t actually touch or jostle us today.

When we came out of town we heard extra loud chattering and yelling and sudden passed some joujou men running down the street. One of them, the head man I guess, was dressed from head to foot in black raffia with a mask on his face and horns on his head.

I took some pictures yesterday. Two of us against a banana tree and one of our boy outside our ‘chalet’.

I had to bring an aircraft into the slip yesterday. We were towed so it took some time and it was hot. The thermometer said 95 but one seems to feel it much more on the water. It is not nearly so hot today as it is cloudy—our first cloudy day. Last night it rained hard for a short while—the first of the rainy season.

A letter from you yesterday dated April 11. That is pretty good going as it went thru London. Our telegram must have reached you the day after it was sent.

With love from
Tony.

[Editor’s note: Transcription provided by collection donor.]