Treasure trove of my parents’ wartime love
I, too, have a stack of letters sent by my father and mother during World War II (Mail).
My father, Jim Allen, who served with the Irish Guards, gave me a small brown suitcase with his blessing to do with it as I wished.
Years l ater, after his death, prompted by a request on the radio for letters and diaries from the last century, I decided to investigate the contents of this case and found documents, booklets, photographs, telegrams, even two sets of bullets — and more than 300 letters, all dating from World War II.
Jim was a working-class man from Lancashire, the son of a coalminer and a cotton weaver. He left school at 14 to be apprenticed at a printing firm, Naylor’s, in oswaldtwistle.
My mother Ella (his sweetheart when he was called up, later his wife) also came f rom an ordinary background. She was a hairdresser in Accrington. Yet the standard of their letter writing is extraordinary.
Most of those that survive were written by Jim. From the first night after his call-up in April 1940 (writing after making up his bed on the gym floor), he describes in detail the events unfolding around him.
the letters continue through to october 1945, when he was discharged because of injuries sustained i n France and the Netherlands.
through his letters, we can see Jim changed from a keen young conscript to a weary ‘old soldier’ of 28. His writing reflects the stoicism and quiet courage of the time.
Jim and Ella enjoyed 50 years of happy marriage until he lost her to cancer in 1991. His letters have extra poignancy for me as I lost my father in a particularly tragic way.
When he was a frail, elderly man, he became a target of thieves. one afternoon, a few weeks after his 87th birthday, he confronted an intruder in his house, was knocked over in the struggle and taken to hospital. He never recovered and died 16 days later, in october 2003.
I edited my parents’ letters and compiled them i nto a book. Naylor’s kindly printed a limited number of hard copies for me.
I have since re-published it as an ebook on Amazon Kindle — it’s called About the Jam, Darling: A Soldier’s thoughts on Love And War, told through Letters. VIRGINIA AIGHTON,
Wilpshire, Lancs.
Give fracking a chance
DEScrIptIoNS of the US fracking boom town of Williston, North Dakota, offer a tantalising glimpse of what could be in store for the Forth Valley — but only if Labour and the SNp surrender their irrational hostility.
Given that the SNp Government i s obsessed with i nefficient renewable energy and intent on ‘de-carbonising’ emissions, I don’t expect any progress before the 2016 Holyrood elections. the lure of being ‘seen to be green’ is irresistible for too many politicians.
Yet those with an interest in Scottish industrial history will be aware of James ‘ paraffin’ Young and his pioneering work in refining oil shale in the 1860s and 1870s. the subsequent ‘ shale rush’ created many boom towns across Midlothian, Fife and West Lothian, with the industry supporting more than 12,000 jobs as its peak in 1912.
With North Sea oil revenues declining, the opportunity to explore f racking shouldn’t be ignored. Not only does it offer a secure source of energy for decades to come, but it also has the potential to revitalise central Scotland.
F. J. MITCHELL, Woodside, Aberdeen.
We’ll bin tourism
I rEcENtLY returned to Scotland after living in Europe for 12 years and it’s great to be back. When I’m asked what it’s like being home, three things spring to mind — two great and one dreadful.
the great things are the friendliness of the people and fantastic scenery, but the third is the amount of litter everywhere. It is a disgrace.
Huge sums are spent by tourist bodies trying to attract visitors to Scotland, but action should be taken to eradicate the litter that blights first impressions.
DOREEN SHAW, Wemyss Bay, Renfrewshire.
Two nations on song
WItH regard to the singing of anthems at Scotland v England sporting events, I suggest the English lads could give a rousing chorus of, perhaps, the Lambeth Walk, followed by the Scots boys giving a sincere rendition of Donald, Where’s Yer troosers, after which both teams could sing God Save the Queen together — not the most inspiring song but it is, after all, our national anthem.
A. M. THOMAS, Largs, Ayrshire.
Keep Alex out
IN a recent interview with the New Statesman, a left-leaning publication, Alec Salmond said: ‘the great secret weapon of the SNp is that it’s a cause, an objective and an ideal, and when you’ve got an objective and an ideal the rest of the stuff is not nearly as important.’
this bears out what No voters always knew: that Salmond and the SNp are driven by the ideology of separation from the rest of the UK at all or any cost.
By ‘the rest of the stuff ’ one can only assume he means well-founded and properly costed policies, of which the SNp is singularly bereft.
It is vital if the UK is not to be torn apart that the SNp is defeated at the polls in the forthcoming election — and nowhere is it more important than in the constituency of Gordon, which Salmond hopes will put him into Westminster.
In 2010 there were approximately 36,000 non-SNp voters and 11,000 SNp voters in the Gordon constituency. the Liberals had a majority of 7,000. It is vital that the people of Gordon, more than 60 per cent of whom voted No in the referendum, regardless of their normal party affiliations, vote for the only person with a chance of defeating Salmond. that is the Liberal candidate, christine Jardine.
If ever there was a time for tactical voting to stave off a nightmare for Scotland and the UK, this is it.
DONALD LEWIS, Gifford, East Lothian.
Let us vote twice
LIKE many who voted No in the referendum, I’m frightened by the prospect of an SNp landslide at the General Election. Unionists have no opportunity to express their choice by voting conservative, Labour or Liberal.
Would it be possible to include a separate choice of Unionist on the bottom of the ballot paper? this would allow voters to vote for the candidate of their choice and also indicate that they were a Unionist.
this would indicate exactly how many voters want the union to remain and perhaps give the lie to the SNp claim that they speak for most voters in Scotland, as they still don’t accept that Scotland voted No. It would also encourage people who don’t normally bother to vote but voted No in the referendum to return to the ballot box and cast their vote.
C. G. M. BEGG, Kirkcaldy, Fife.
Yes, you lost
WEE Eck is still whingeing about his defeat in the Scottish referendum, and now plots to disrupt the UK political process by aligning with Labour. this is ludicrous, as in the Scottish parliament Labour is the SNp’s main opposition.
It would be a tragedy if Salmond were elected as Mp for Gordon on the retirement of Sir Malcolm Bruce. Surely the voters in the Garioch would be better served by an Mp whose main task was representing local concerns and needs than by Salmond, whose only priorities are a craving for independence and his legacy in the history books.
the SNp has a key role to play in administering the additional devolved powers, but Salmond is yesterday’s man.
ROBERT I. G. SCOTT, Ceres, Fife.
Toff comrades
It’S comforting to know that, if the so- called ‘mansion tax’ comes about, Labour’s multimillionaire, mansion- dwelling toffs, present and former, will be serious contributors to it.
they include Miliband, the other Miliband, Balls and Mrs Balls, Harman, Hodge, Jowell and Alexander, not to mention Blair (worth £60million including several mansions), His Lordship (‘there’s nothing wrong with being filthy rich’, I’ve got a mansion worth £10million) Mandelson, Kinnock and Mrs Kinnock). Unhappily, I won’t be in a position to qualify for the tax myself, and neither will the multitudes of traditional Labour voters up and down the UK. champagne socialism? It is for some.
JIM ADAMSON, Cupar, Fife.